Remembering the old Allentown, PA AM Stations!

[Toonsie]

What station had the “Fearless Friday Football Forecast”. Was it Gene Werley on WAEB.? I remembering listening to it every Friday on my drive to work…then laughing the entire morning with coworkers. Was disappointed when football season was over.
Anyone else remember it…this was the 1970-80’s?

 

[Seltzer]

Possibly when Gene was at WAEB. Sounds like something he would have done.

 

[Gregg.]

Allentown was a great city for radio, in the shadow of two big markets, NYC and Philadelphia. It had two competitive AM Top 40 stations: 790 WAEB and 1320 WKAP. They had professional DJs, station vans, lots of promotions. 1230 WEEX Easton was also Top 40 for a time. The AM dial even had a progressive rock station, 1470 WSAN. I'm not sure how this format wound up in AM mono.

On FM, the market had four beautiful music stations at one point, each focused on its city of license: 99.9 in Easton, 100.7 and 104.1 in Allentown and 95.1 in Bethlehem. And 96.1 WLEV had an interesting automated AC format called "Hit Parade." It always played two songs back-to-back and its automation announcer would tell us the name and artist of the two songs when they concluded. The jingle singers would sing "Hit Parade!" Then either commercials would air or WLEV would play another two songs.

Eventually the Easton stations flipped. 1230 became easy listening and 99.9 became Top 40, using the live DJs who had formerly been on AM.

 

[Weiserguy]

Allentown was a great city for radio, in the shadow of two big markets, NYC and Philadelphia. It had two competitive AM Top 40 stations: 790 WAEB and 1320 WKAP. They had professional DJs, station vans, lots of promotions. 1230 WEEX Easton was also Top 40 for a time. The AM dial even had a progressive rock station, 1470 WSAN. I'm not sure how this format wound up in AM mono.

On FM, the market had four beautiful music stations at one point, each focused on its city of license: 99.9 in Easton, 100.7 and 104.1 in Allentown and 95.1 in Bethlehem. And 96.1 WLEV had an interesting automated AC format called "Hit Parade." It always played two songs back-to-back and its automation announcer would tell us the name and artist of the two songs when they concluded. The jingle singers would sing "Hit Parade!" Then either commercials would air or WLEV would play another two songs.

Eventually the Easton stations flipped. 1230 became easy listening and 99.9 became Top 40, using the live DJs who had formerly been on AM.

Hit Parade was probably Bill Drake's automated offering for medium-ish market FM stations, circa the late '60s and '70s. Stations big enough to have a syndicated format but too small for a full-fledged Drake-Chenault consulting relationship. In a sense it was color-by-numbers programming.

 

[ixnay]

I attended Kutztown State/Kutztown U from 1979-84, after growing up in the Chester/Marcus Hook area. Being just down the road from the LV made me aware of these stations' existence (although I myself was into 610 WIP, KYW, and WCBS-AM).

I remember WAEB's 1979 slogan "79 WAEB - Station of the Year". And IIRC 95.1 was WZZO Z-95 by that era.

A long gone bookstore on Kutztown's Main Street always had WLEV on. Who else remembers 'LEV's frequent references to "America's Little Apple - the Lehigh Valley"?

And of the other beautiful music stations, which frequency was WQQQ?

 

[kevtronics]

And of the other beautiful music stations, which frequency was WQQQ?

QQQ = 999 = 99.9 FM

This might be a 1970s recording of Beautiful Music on WQQQ, as it mentions "99.9 FM" and the tape was found in NJ:

 

[Gregg.]

Hit Parade was probably Bill Drake's automated offering for medium-ish market FM stations, circa the late '60s and '70s. Stations big enough to have a syndicated format but too small for a full-fledged Drake-Chenault consulting relationship. In a sense it was color-by-numbers programming.

Hit Parade was quite popular. It was also on WJLK-AM-FM Asbury Park NJ, WORK (FM) Barre VT, WWSR (FM) St. Albans VT, WABK-AM-FM Gardiner ME and WSME-FM Sanford ME.

In those days, there were several automated beautiful music/easy listening formats. But this was one where the songs were all current hits or hits of the last few years, minus anything too rocking or R&B. To save money, your station did NOT get its own jingle. The announcer would say your call letters and slogan or city, then the jingle singers would sing "Hit Parade!" So for a time, four of the five full-power FMs in the Allentown market were beautiful/easy. And 96.1 WLEV was Hit Parade.

 

[Seltzer]

Hit Parade was quite popular. It was also on WJLK-AM-FM Asbury Park NJ, WORK (FM) Barre VT, WWSR (FM) St. Albans VT, WABK-AM-FM Gardiner ME and WSME-FM Sanford ME.

In those days, there were several automated beautiful music/easy listening formats. But this was one where the songs were all current hits or hits of the last few years, minus anything too rocking or R&B. To save money, your station did NOT get its own jingle. The announcer would say your call letters and slogan or city, then the jingle singers would sing "Hit Parade!" So for a time, four of the five full-power FMs in the Allentown market were beautiful/easy. And 96.1 WLEV was Hit Parade.

Hit Parade was quite popular. It was also on WJLK-AM-FM Asbury Park NJ, WORK (FM) Barre VT, WWSR (FM) St. Albans VT, WABK-AM-FM Gardiner ME and WSME-FM Sanford ME.

In those days, there were several automated beautiful music/easy listening formats. But this was one where the songs were all current hits or hits of the last few years, minus anything too rocking or R&B. To save money, your station did NOT get its own jingle. The announcer would say your call letters and slogan or city, then the jingle singers would sing "Hit Parade!" So for a time, four of the five full-power FMs in the Allentown market were beautiful/easy. And 96.1 WLEV was Hit Parade.

Hit Parade...later Contempo 300 also aired om WGBI FM in Scranton, WMRV in BInghamton, and WGRF in Atlantic City. It was a pretty good format.

 

[Seltzer]

Allentown was a great city for radio, in the shadow of two big markets, NYC and Philadelphia. It had two competitive AM Top 40 stations: 790 WAEB and 1320 WKAP. They had professional DJs, station vans, lots of promotions. 1230 WEEX Easton was also Top 40 for a time. The AM dial even had a progressive rock station, 1470 WSAN. I'm not sure how this format wound up in AM mono.

On FM, the market had four beautiful music stations at one point, each focused on its city of license: 99.9 in Easton, 100.7 and 104.1 in Allentown and 95.1 in Bethlehem. And 96.1 WLEV had an interesting automated AC format called "Hit Parade." It always played two songs back-to-back and its automation announcer would tell us the name and artist of the two songs when they concluded. The jingle singers would sing "Hit Parade!" Then either commercials would air or WLEV would play another two songs.

Eventually the Easton stations flipped. 1230 became easy listening and 99.9 became Top 40, using the live DJs who had formerly been on AM.

In 1970, WSAN was also a Top 40 station. WAEB and WEEX were Top 40 stations. WKAP was still MOR. There was no FM willing to do album rock at the time . So to their credit...and I'm guessing WMMR in Philly pulling some Lehigh Valley ratings...they decided to try this on AM. It was a favorite among the guys at my high school. Once WSAN flipped...around 1972...WKAP got into the Top 40 game. They sounded really good as did WEEX. But WAEB ruled the roost despite not having as tight a presentation as WEEX and WKAP. And when WZZO arrived album rock on AM was doomed.

 

[Seltzer]

Love remembering Lehigh Valley Radio. And at one point a 5th Lehigh Valley station dabbled in beautiful music. Around 1970, WEST-FM would play three hours of beautiful music at night called "Candlelight and Silver". At this point 99.9 was still WEEX-FM and Top 40. I always wondered if this experimentation pushed the WEEX folks to go full fledged beautiful music...thinking WEST-FM was considering doing BM full time. After the move the folks at 436 Northampton Avenue countered with Hit Parade in 73. A contemporary music format on FM even if it wasn't top 40. In 1979, Mickey Haggerty and the folks at WEEX tried to talk ownership to flip QQQ to Top 40. They didn't budge.

 

[Ed Nielson]

These were heard from Woodbridge, NJ, in the early 70s.

 

[ixnay]

Another element of WZZO I remember from my Kutztown days: the "95-second [news] Update".

 

[Jim from Alburtis]

What station had the “Fearless Friday Football Forecast”. Was it Gene Werley on WAEB.? I remembering listening to it every Friday on my drive to work…then laughing the entire morning with coworkers. Was disappointed when football season was over.
Anyone else remember it…this was the 1970-80’s?

I am one of the few people that would remember this. The year was 1974 on WKAP 1320. I was 14 and a new football freak. My mom always had WKAP On in the kitchen. I would have missed my bus if I could have listened longer.

 

[Jim Reid]

What station had the “Fearless Friday Football Forecast”. Was it Gene Werley on WAEB.? I remembering listening to it every Friday on my drive to work…then laughing the entire morning with coworkers. Was disappointed when football season was over.
Anyone else remember it…this was the 1970-80’s?

Both Gene Werley and Joe McClaine did the football forecast at WAEB.. One of the characters was Banana Nose Banara.

 

[John1]

Hit Parade...later Contempo 300 also aired om WGBI FM in Scranton, WMRV in BInghamton, and WGRF in Atlantic City. It was a pretty good format.

HIt Parade 70 and 71 ran on WIFI 92,5 in Philadelphia until they switched to their popular live & local top 40 format WI-FI 92.

 

[John1]

Hit Parade was quite popular. It was also on WJLK-AM-FM Asbury Park NJ, WORK (FM) Barre VT, WWSR (FM) St. Albans VT, WABK-AM-FM Gardiner ME and WSME-FM Sanford ME.

In those days, there were several automated beautiful music/easy listening formats. But this was one where the songs were all current hits or hits of the last few years, minus anything too rocking or R&B. To save money, your station did NOT get its own jingle. The announcer would say your call letters and slogan or city, then the jingle singers would sing "Hit Parade!" So for a time, four of the five full-power FMs in the Allentown market were beautiful/easy. And 96.1 WLEV was Hit Parade.

WXKW 104.1 ran Drake Chenault’s all automated “Great American Country” starting in 1977. It was voiced 24/7 by Bob Kingsley, the Los Angeles country personality who also hosted the syndicated American Country Countdown for many years. Those shows in rerun now have their own channel on the I Heart app. The GAC format was pretty dry: KIngsley “That’s Willie Nelson…jingle…Here’s Ricky Scaggs and Uncle Pen…” But compared to WHOL it sounded like real radio. Eventually WKAP would switch to full service live country.

 

[alok]

I grew up 15 miles west of New York City, in Northern NJ.

WAEB 790 came in very good on a simple 5 tube kitchen radio, I remember it well in the 50's / 60's, if I recall correctly WKAP 1320 came in, as well as WSAN 1470.

 

[wibgradio99]

No

HIt Parade 70 and 71 ran on WIFI 92,5 in Philadelphia until they switched to their popular live & local top 40 format WI-FI 92.

but if I recall correctly it was the solid gold version of hit parade which lasted until wcau fm switched to oldies and with their mighty signal blew them away…

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

@ alok

.... and some others I see here who were into exploring the dials, perhaps like me, back in Queens and weary of the big local stations and still very much 'lost in the 60s' at times : Some old memories, some more recent ones, and one current-age reference.
.... WAEB 790 almost as loud as WABC near sunset, still bright outside enough for stickball, playing 'She's a Fool'. Shack-a-doola's and all; first time I heard it. WAEB was solid for a half an hour near JFK Airport......
.... WSAN 1470 had that thunderous Pepper-Tanner 'Sound of Feeling Good' jingle package for a while (from what I gather a re-working of the 'Soul Radio' package -- which I never heard)! Out on Long Island, super-directional WGLI 1290 ran those, along with WNVY Pensacola and, doubtless, a few others. WGLI ran a LOT of spots for the cryptic HLH Products, and I wondered in my more early DJ days if those were some barter deal with Pepper-Tanner ......
....104.1 on two occasions: one when they were Country during the dawn of the more modern Country, and one when on a pensive Sunday morning drive through there when they disturbed the peace playing the 250 MPH 'Can't Stop Dancing' by the Captain and Tennille -- a Ray Stevens song. Yike. Can't stop speeding .....
.... The overnight reception of WEST 1400 back in '63, when their only ID on the otherwise monotone show was 'Radio 14' ...... Seeing those splendid AM-motif tower light arrays one night up 145 north and wondering which was WKAP or WSAN ......... Taking WEEX 1230 (then Country) well back into the NYC metro one day on a drive along I-78. And learning that for a time they had been a rarity -- a directional graveyarder ......
More next post. Fttb, pour me an egg cream.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

...... Re 790: In Queens where we were, you could say they were a 'regular'. On that one occasion of Leslie Gore they were gangbusters. But of you drove five miles EAST of JFK Airport you start to get 'SEVVVENTEE NIIIIIINE W-T-A-R' from Norfolk louder and louder. I had a car button set to 790. Best of both worlds. And who needed 770 and hearing the same two songs all day? .........
..... Have been living just as far west of Allentown as I'd been living east. A good memory was from a weak WGPA, noonish. The guy DJing ofte referred to 'the big tick-tock on the wall' for time checks, and played this Buddy Holly/John Lennonesque gem 'Stop - Get a Ticket' by the Flood from Lavendar Hill. I'm sure WABC never even heard OF it. WMCA might have.
..... The most recent was word from a grand gal we made good pals with via a radio forum. She was a DXer of sorts. A few of us drove to her place to build her a loop antenna and save her 90 bucks (and to, you know, check her out too). On a 95° day we also drank her out of house and home. Looked like a gentle, resigned but maidenly Janis Joplin. Sweet voice she had too; we used hers on our LPFM back here.
Hers was the most recent Allentown radio memory I mentioned. She started listening to most of her Oldies music off a station she'd found that came in well 'at night' into her pad near Quakertown. WSAN 1470.
Bittersweet recall here. RIP Carol Laing, who passed at age 60 of a heart attack two years ago.

Much obliged, forum folks, for the memories and the catharsis.