Rock of Ages 10th Anniversary Tribute (1979)

Here is a video tribute to the long-running WCIU Channel 26 program "Rock of Ages" in honor of its 10th Anniversary. Features still pictures, clips and music from the program's history.

"Rock of Ages was a gospel music show hosted by Isabel Joseph Johnson. Isabel also hosted a similarly named show on Sunday mornings on WVON-AM. Both shows featured local talent from churches all around Chicago. Rock of Ages, it it's original format, was a live 90 minute show with the first half hour featuring live commercials for a local furniture store. The show was later cut back to an hour when they lose the sponsor.

It was a logistical miracle. There were nights when several hundred people were on the shows. Mostly choirs, but some nights would have three or four of them. Mixed in between them would be smaller groups. You would have to see a map of Channel 26's studio back then to appreciate how well run this show was - and how well behaved the choirs and groups had to be to make this work. As mentioned, it was a live show and during the breaks we would often be resetting the entire musical set from a choir to a soloist with a piano while an interview was going on just a few feet away.

The music was always rocking and praising the Lord. It was a show the entire crew looked forward to. It really brought out the best in everyone who worked there." - Frank J. Chambers, Jr.

Happy Ten Year Anniversary - From the Present Crew:

Leonardo Oblinski
Gary Peterson
Steve Stabile
Jim Pease
Gus Artega
Norm Cherry

And All Those Past Crews:

Jim Paterson
Jim Sargent
Tom Evans
Mike May
Chester Lewicki
Pete Janotta
Frank McCoy
Mildred Lightfoot
Bob Weber
Tom Mikolitas
Jan Janowski
Kim Friedman
Gary Shore
Patricia Michel
Emanuel Achille
Tony Almuniaskis
Dean Hanen
Ray "Ace" Waters
Larry Logman
Bill Hughes
Frank Accardi
Aubrey Mumpower
George Kapoulas
Willie Sneed
Larry Fisher
Ellen Karp
Richard Gaucher
John Vodenik
Harold Weiland
Chuck Piant
Joe Federici
David Freer
Jose Marcus
Paul Thompson
Dennis Czechanski
Clinton O'Conner
Marty Reynolds
Ron Shapiro
Nate Metzger
B.D. Shuster
Kirby O'Conner
Yukiko Tokunaga
Ray Mienke
Lynn Baroff
Debbie Woods
Andrea Wonais

Happy Ten Year Anniversary Isabel - Love, Frank.

Produced & Directed by Frank J. Chambers Jr.

This aired on local Chicago TV on Friday, March 3rd 1979.

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