John Kiesewetter

jkiesewetter@enquirer.com

Baby, have you ever wondered, wondered what the new "WKRP in Cincinnati" DVD box set would sound like?

How much of that great, old rock 'n' roll music would be heard on Shout! Factory's 13-disc "WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series," available Oct. 28?

Would it rock Johnny Fever's socks off, like the original CBS broadcasts 1978-82?

Or would we hear a lot of that awful faux rock from Fox Home Entertainment's embarrassing first-season "WKRP" DVDs released in 2007? That was worse than the elevator music played by 'KRP before Program Director Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) arrived in the first episode.

I've wondered, too. So I spent last week spot-checking 18 of the 90 episodes (20 percent), comparing my old copies of the original shows to the new "WKRP" DVD soundtrack.

And I can say without question: "WKRP" rocks again! Roll over Beethoven, and tell Les Nessman the news!

More than 100 rock stars are on the Shout! Factory "WKRP" soundtrack, from AC/DC to Neil Young, as they originally aired on CBS.

• Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) plays air guitar to Eric Clapton's "Layla" after returning from Los Angeles in "Johnny Comes Back."

• Nerdy newsman Nessman (Richard Sanders) pulls on a curly wig to Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" while getting dressed up for "A Date with Jennifer" (Loni Anderson) to accept the coveted Silver Sow Award.

• DJ Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid) mellows out to Chuck Mangione's "Feels So Good" while contemplating turning himself in as a Vietnam War Army deserter on "Who Is Gordon Sims?"

• "Nowhere to Run" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas spins on the turntable when boss Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson (Gordon Jump) confronts Fever, who had urged Cincinnatians to dump their garbage on City Hall steps during a sanitation strike in "Mike Fright."

But you won't hear all the greatest hits.

• Shout! Factory didn't obtain rights to "(Let me hear some of that) Rock and Roll Music," which Fever played as "the doctor's patterned prescription" in the garbage strike show.

• There's no trace of the Jackson 5 playing softly in the background when the "WKRP" gang celebrates their ratings success – from No. 16 to No. 14! – on "Baby, If You've Ever Wondered." Both were replaced with bland generic rock.

• And who left the "Dogs" out? The weird Pink Floyd tune with barking dogs, which Fever plays in the famous Thanksgiving "Turkey's Away" episode, was exchanged for dogs barking to a cheaper, weird guitar track.

They also removed five seconds of dialogue: Carlson asking, "What's the name of that orchestra?" and Fever replying, "Pink Floyd."

From what I can tell, the changes were minor and well masked. (Shout! Factory says it "has done its best to include every scene uncut and with as much original music as possible.")

An impressive collection of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, who provided a hip supporting role on the beloved office comedy, are back living on the air in Cincinnati: Bruce Springsteen; the Rolling Stones; Paul McCartney; the Who; Tom Petty; Stevie Wonder; Randy Newman; Blondie; Grateful Dead; Elton John; Ray Charles; the Doors; Bob Dylan; Bob Marley; Elvis Presley; Elvis Costello; Sam & Dave; B.B. King; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Earth, Wind & Fire; Janis Joplin; Marvin Gaye; Van Morrison; the O'Jays; the Police; the Pretenders; Otis Redding; Bob Seger; Steely Dan; and Clapton.

It's a real blast from the past to see the little Queen City gems in the Los Angeles soundstage halls and walls which made 'KRP look authentic: Reds hats, a Cincinnati map, the Riverfront Stadium seating chart, an Eden Park poster, a huge button for the Cincinnati Stingers hockey team, University of Cincinnati T-shirts, coach Ed Badger's picture on a UC basketball schedule and a blue "Xavier U." pennant. Yes, it said Xavier U.

My favorite part is the opening credits, when a camera on Fountain Square zooms in on a top-floor window at the old Enquirer building, at 617 Vine St. The fictional station was located there, in what they called the Osgood R. Flimm building.

Extras include the Paley Center's "WKRP" reunion in June with Hesseman, Anderson, Reid, Sandy, Jan Smithers (Bailey Quarters), creator Hugh Wilson and director Asaad Kelada. The suggested retail price is $119.

I'm confident Les Nessman would nominate "WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series" for a Buckeye Newshawk Award, or possibly the coveted Silver Sow.

It's not the complete series, but definitely something to Shout! about. And it's a million times better than the 2007 "WKRP" DVD release. As God is my witness, that turkey didn't rock.