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SCOTT & TODD IN THE MORNING {WPLJ COVERAGE OF
WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK} {TERRORIST ATTACKS}
(TAPE 2 OF 3) (RADIO)

Summary

Continued from R:24130. Tape two of three. One in this series of New York morning radio programs that air each weekday, comprised of traffic and news reports, celebrity interviews, and music "from the Eighties, Nineties, and today." This edition opens at eight a.m. on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, as hosts Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill (introduced by first name only) play the song "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. At the end of the song, Shannon declares, "It's sunshine, blue skies, and beautiful today!" After a brief weather report, the hosts continue to discuss the previous night's Michael Jackson concert at Madison Square Garden. They end the discussion by playing "ABC" by the Jackson Five. The disc jockeys then turn to their daily "showbiz report." The top stories on the wires, they state, concern Jon Bon Jovi's upcoming role on the television program "Allie McBeal," Mariah Carey's imminent release from the hospital, and an upcoming movie on the life of "Gong Show" host Chuck Barris. Reporter Carla Quinn then turns in her traffic report, and the hosts play the song "You're Gone" by Matchbox 20. After a commercial break, the D.J.s welcome their first guest of the day, author/comedian Moon Unit Zappa. Zappa discusses her engagement to the drummer of the band whose song Shannon and Pettengill just played, Matchbox 20, as well as her new book, "America the Beautiful." Zappa calls her book a "funny look at loss, grief, and severe depression." After Zappa's interview, Shannon and Pettengill play the song "Superman" by Five For Fighting. At the end of the song, Shannon exclaims that there is apparently "a problem" at the World Trade Center. Although the whole staff appears confused about what has happened at this point, Shannon observes from looking at a television set in the studio that "smoke is billowing out of the building, just below the top twenty floors." Members of the show's crew can be heard in the background, asking about a plane in the building. Shannon begins to speak with an unidentified reporter who works for ABC radio, and the reporter mentions that a similar event happened in 1941, when a plane clipped the top of the Empire State Building. "But this is different," the reporter declares. "The weather is clear today." After a pause, he adds, "This could be terrorism." The hosts take eyewitness telephone calls as they flip back and forth between news coverage on WABC-TV and WNBC-TV on their studio television set. As Shannon begins to relay the details that NBC is announcing, another airplane crashes into the second tower of the World Trade Center. The live footage evokes exclamations among the crew members. "New York City is under attack!" someone shouts. The ABC reporter whom the hosts were interviewing tells listeners, "Wherever you are in Manhattan, don't move." Shannon, however, shouts into the microphone, "Don't move? Get the hell out!" Traffic reporter Carla Quinn asks, "Where's our Air Force?" Shannon then cuts to a commercial break "to regroup," as he puts it, and when the program returns he announces that all New York City airports, tunnels, and subways are closed. Making telephone connections, he adds, is very difficult. Shannon then begins to run the audio from WABC-TV's television broadcast, although he occasionally cuts back to his crew members for commentary. Those present discuss the whereabouts of President George W. Bush, and a few people in the studio are heard crying. On the television audio track, a man stuck on the eighty-sixth floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center tells a reporter that he wants to "tell anyone listening that the situation is, for the time being, under control." The hosts then receive word that a third airplane has crashed into the Pentagon. Shannon returns to the WABC-TV audio coverage, which is switching back and forth between a local team and ABC network anchor Peter Jennings. Shannon declares, "This is one hell of a day in American history," and then the hosts learn that the North Tower of the World Trade Center has collapsed. Includes commercials. Continues with R:24134.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by Ralph Guild, 2002.

Details

  • NETWORK: WPLJ-FM
  • DATE: September 11, 2001 Tuesday 8:00 AM
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:59:36
  • COLOR/B&W: N/A
  • CATALOG ID: R:24132
  • GENRE: Radio - Music/Variety; Radio - News
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Disasters; Hijacking of aircraft; Music, Popular (Songs, etc.); September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001; Terrorism
  • SERIES RUN: WPLJ (New York, NY) - Radio series, 1991-
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • Radio - Commercials - "Aida" theatrical production
    • Radio - Commercials - "Don Quixote" theatrical production
    • Radio - Commercials - "Love Cruise" television program
    • Radio - Commercials - "Mamma Mia!" theatrical production
    • Radio - Commercials - "That '70s Show" television program
    • Radio - Commercials - Foxwoods Casino
    • Radio - Commercials - HSN.com women's clothing web site
    • Radio - Commercials - Hotwire.com online travel agents
    • Radio - Commercials - JetBlue airlines
    • Radio - Commercials - Lean Cuisine frozen diet foods
    • Radio - Commercials - New Jersey State Lottery
    • Radio - Commercials - Spirit Airlines
    • Radio - Commercials - Travelocity.com online travel agents
    • Radio - Commercials - Trimspa weight-loss drug
    • Radio - Commercials - Voicestream cellular telephone company
    • Radio - Commercials - Volvo automobiles
    • Radio - Commercials - Walbaum's grocery stores
    • Radio - Commercials - Weight Watchers diet regimen

CREDITS

  • Todd Pettengill … Host
  • Scott Shannon … Host
  • Carla Quinn … Reporter
  • Patty Steele … Reporter
  • Moon Unit Zappa … Guest
  • Chuck Barris
  • Bon Jovi, Jon
  • George W. Bush
  • Mariah Carey
  • Five for Fighting
  • Jackson Five, The
  • Michael Jackson
  • Peter Jennings
  • Matchbox 20
  • No Doubt