> I don't think Mason was at WFLY until '79 or maybe even
> early '80. Before that, he hung his hat at hometown station
> WCKL in Catskill.
Overall...fairly accurate, but WFLY was never owned by Muzak. The type of music, that they played, during the early '70s, was often referred to, as that.
From 1948-1971, it was owned by the Troy Record Newspaper, which ran Cassical for years, and finally Top 40/Oldies, on it. Functional Broadcasting picked it up, in late '71, and flipped it to elevator music. Rust Communications bought it, in 1975, and switched it to automated AOR, and eventually began their long running CHR format. In 1983, it was sold to Five States Tower Corp, and than it was finally sold to Albany Broadcasting, in 1986. 99.5-WGFM was known as Rock 99
from 1973, through 1980. In 1981, it went A/C, as 99-The Lite, and than it segued to CHR, in late 1982 as Hitradio 99, and 99GFM. In late 1988, the call letters changed to WGY-FM, and the station became known as Electric 99.
>
> WFLY's original attempt at Top 40 was a Drake knock-off
> format that sounded more like the old WOR-FM than anything
> local at the time. (The station was not consulted by Bill
> Drake, AFAIK) But as most FM's of the day were... it was a
> hard sell, and they didn't have a money maker AM to fall
> back on. The playlists had wayyy too much gold mixed in, and
> the big jocks were still comfy on AM. The station was sold
> to Muzak and programmed as such for the next few years
> before Albany Broadcasting picked it up. Word has it that
> A.B. scrapped the AOR idea when the desicion was finalized
> to put WPTR's top 40 format out of it's misery. With 'TRY
> and what became known as 99GFM in the late 70's being the
> only Albany Top 40's, there was plenty of room for A.B. to
> get in on that action. WFLY headed more in a Top 40
> direction, WPTR followed the late 70's trend and drifted
> more towards an AC sounding format, similar to what WABC &
> WNBC were doing, until ~1980 when 1540 flipped to country.
> WTRY stuck with CHR until 83, when they started easing
> toward AC, then all-out oldies in '86. 99GFM went to the
> 'Hot Hits / Hitradio' format in late '82 or early '83, with
> those killer PAMS/JAM jingles and great personality. The
> G.E. stations were at the top of their game during this time
> period. GFM eventually morphed into CHR "Electric 99" in
> about late '88 and the format more or less self-destructed.
> WFLY stayed the course as the understated big-signaled
> hometown CHR that simply played the hits, and eventually
> out-lived all the others. The 80's brought on a CHR battle
> between FLY and 99GFM, polarizing the listeners. WFLY played
> more male-oriented rock based hits, while GFM stuck with the
> 80's-ish electro-pop sound. GFM may have had the hip dj's
> and awesome jingles, but it was their female-targeted
> playlists and high repetition that killed 'em in the end.
>
>
>
> Other regional stations that tried some variant of Top 40 /
> CHR format:
> WCKL 560 Catskill (80's - 56 'CKL)
> WHUC 1230 Hudson (70's - 1230 'HUC)
> WMVQ 97.7 Amsterdam (80's - 97MVQ)
> WSRD 104.9 Johnstown (early 80's - The Wizard 105 FM)
> WKAJ 900 Saratoga Springs (70's & 80's - '900-KAJ')
> WQQY 102.3 Saratoga Springs (80's - 102 Double Q, great
> while it lasted)
> WYLR 95.9 Glens Falls (80's - Y96 - heavily dayparted, top
> 40 days, AOR at night)
> WWSC 1450 Glens Falls (60's & 70's)
> WNIQ/WAYI 107.1 Hudson Falls (late 70's and 80's - 107Q,
> Northway 107, I107)
> WHGC 94.3 Bennington (80's)
> WUPE-FM 95.9 Pittsfield (70's - Whoopee 96)
> WBEC-FM 105.5 Pittsfield (80's to current - Rock 105, Live
> 105)
> WOKO 1460 Albany (ill-fated disco format late 70's)
> WROW 590 Albany (early 60's)
> WABY 1400 Albany (early 60's)
> WSNY/WWWD 1240 Schenectady (70's & 80's - "3WD")
>
But the Five States Tower Corp... first time I've heard that. Back to the history books for me. You never get too old to learn something new...