WMMS St. Patrick’s Day Parade float, 1986

Here’s our Buzzard float in the 1986 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Cleveland.

Other radio stations protested that there was “nothing Irish” about our Buzzard van, which appeared in previous year’s parades.

The parade organizers responded with a new rule – that all participants in the 1986 parade had to carry the theme of “Irish education.”

So David Helton designed a scholarly Irish Buzzard holding a shamrock in one wing and a diploma in the other for “The Rock & Roll History of Cleveland.”

As we explained to the organizers WMMS listeners were provided a continual educational experience into the history of rock & roll in Cleveland, which included Irish artists like U2 and Van Morrison.

We passed the test.

Click photo to enlarge