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Cincinnati-January 15, 1966

C

channelsurf

Guest
Cincinnati's original Top 40 rock and roll station, 1230-WCPO left the air, after being sold....It was a great station, during the mid-'60s, to be sure. Airchecks of WCPO are unfortunately, very difficult to find.
 
> Cincinnati's original Top 40 rock and roll station,
> 1230-WCPO left the air, after being sold....It was a great
> station, during the mid-'60s, to be sure. Airchecks of WCPO
> are unfortunately, very difficult to find.

Only to return about a year or so later as...1-2-3 W-U-B-E. Bill Drake's only Top 40 flop. Bad bad signal up against heritage WSAI 1360.

But WUBE did have Bwana Johnny...
 
Actually WCPO morphed into WUBE at midnight, January 15, 1966...minus the WCPO
DJs....still Top 40, for the next three years. WUBE flipped to country, in 1969.


> Cincinnati's original Top 40 rock and roll station,
> > 1230-WCPO left the air, after being sold....It was a great
>
> > station, during the mid-'60s, to be sure. Airchecks of
> WCPO
> > are unfortunately, very difficult to find.
>
> Only to return about a year or so later as...1-2-3 W-U-B-E.
> Bill Drake's only Top 40 flop. Bad bad signal up against
> heritage WSAI 1360.
>
> But WUBE did have Bwana Johnny...
>
 
>
> Only to return about a year or so later as...1-2-3 W-U-B-E.
> Bill Drake's only Top 40 flop. Bad bad signal up against
> heritage WSAI 1360.

Did Drake actually consult this station? I thought he had some sort of exclusivity deal with RKO-General in the mid-late 60s. I can't imagine him risking his reputation on a graveyard channel AM. Drake copycat stations abounded back then....are you sure it wasn't a "fake Drake"?
 
> >
> > Only to return about a year or so later as...1-2-3
> W-U-B-E.
> > Bill Drake's only Top 40 flop. Bad bad signal up against
> > heritage WSAI 1360.
>
> Did Drake actually consult this station? I thought he had
> some sort of exclusivity deal with RKO-General in the
> mid-late 60s. I can't imagine him risking his reputation on
> a graveyard channel AM. Drake copycat stations abounded
> back then....are you sure it wasn't a "fake Drake"?

Nope. Drake had a contract with RKO-General, but he was never an exclusive to RKO nor an RKO employee. Drake and Gene Chenault had the consultancy business before RKO even got them. That was the whole situation that caused the spilt in 1973--RKO wanted Drake to be exclusive, and he and Gene Chenault said "no".

At the time he had the RKO contract (KHJ, KFRC, CKLW, WHBQ, WRKO, WOR-FM), he had existing consulting contracts with KGB (Brown Broadcasting--how RKO got wind of Drake), KAKC, KYNO, KSTN, and KMEN. Stations like WUBE, KFIV, KOL, as well as some other West Coast stations came after Boss hit it big in LA and SFO.

For a hint of some of those Drake-consulted stations, try the West Coast Boss Composite at ReelRadio.
 
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