Buffalo Favorite Buffalo Radio Stations of the 80’s

[BuffaloRadioFan]

A continuation of the thread I posted a couple of weeks ago, but now focusing on favorite Buffalo radio stations of the 80’s. FM was really starting to chew into the audiences of the heritage AM stations. The rise of talk radio, the decline of traditional top 40 formats and the rise of rap/hip hop. Here are my top 5 in no particular order.

1. WGRQ 97 Rock - in the early 80’s, they were at their peak. If you wanted your album rock hard, this was the place. Lots of Zepplin, The Who, Rush, etc. plus they played current rock tracks at the time - Journey, 38 Special, Pink Floyd, AC-DC. Larry Norton doing his Guinness Book Radio DJ marathon.. Great station.

2. WBUF FM 93 - At one point, they rose to number 1 in the ratings and it was easy to see why. Solid DJ’s - Stan Robert’s, Fled Klestine, Jim Majors, Dan Kelly, Chris Wittingham to name a few. Plus, a great playlist to capture the 25-54 crowd with the ‘favorites of the 60’s, 70’s and today…. If you listen to WECK today, it was sort of like WBUF except WECK stops around ‘75 where WBUF played another decade of music plus current adult hits,

3. WBEN 930 - Still chugged along in the 89’s. Heritage morning show with Jeff Kaye and then Bill Lacy. Freeform Sports with Stan Barron at night which would later become One on One Sports with John Murphy later in the decade. Music was slowly being phased out in favor of news/talk. The big change happened in 1988 with the debut of Rush Limbaugh, plus they had the right to Bills football throughout the decade.. The Fred Smerlas/Jim Haslett football show on Mondays was must listen radio - very funny,

4. WBEN-FM Rock 102 - Ran an automated top 40 format with recurrent songs from the past 10-15 years and basically blew up KB. For folks that wanted better fidelity, less talk and commercials they became very popular. Huge Canadian audience too since Canada didn’t allow top 40 on FM until later in the decade.

5. WNYS 104FM - The FM equivalent of what KB was in the early 70’s. Engaging, personality driven DJ’s and Top 40 radio. The most famous was Shotgun Johnny Rock ‘n Roll Ringo. A little like Jackson Armstrong in his delivery and always exciting to listen to.

6. WPHD 103PHD - The closest competition to 97 Rock with less hard rock, more yacht rock type stuff. Great DJ’s - Taylor and Moore, Brian J Walker, JP, etc. They were famous for their Superset weekends, 3 songs from artists in their playlist. Unfortunately, many times it was the same 3 songs all the time.

Lots and lots of D cell batteries consumed in the boombox in those days! What were your favorites?

 

[Rice Lake]

A continuation of the thread I posted a couple of weeks ago, but now focusing on favorite Buffalo radio stations of the 80’s. FM was really starting to chew into the audiences of the heritage AM stations. The rise of talk radio, the decline of traditional top 40 formats and the rise of rap/hip hop. Here are my top 5 in no particular order.

1. WGRQ 97 Rock - in the early 80’s, they were at their peak. If you wanted your album rock hard, this was the place. Lots of Zepplin, The Who, Rush, etc. plus they played current rock tracks at the time - Journey, 38 Special, Pink Floyd, AC-DC. Larry Norton doing his Guinness Book Radio DJ marathon.. Great station.

2. WBUF FM 93 - At one point, they rose to number 1 in the ratings and it was easy to see why. Solid DJ’s - Stan Robert’s, Fled Klestine, Jim Majors, Dan Kelly, Chris Wittingham to name a few. Plus, a great playlist to capture the 25-54 crowd with the ‘favorites of the 60’s, 70’s and today…. If you listen to WECK today, it was sort of like WBUF except WECK stops around ‘75 where WBUF played another decade of music plus current adult hits,

3. WBEN 930 - Still chugged along in the 89’s. Heritage morning show with Jeff Kaye and then Bill Lacy. Freeform Sports with Stan Barron at night which would later become One on One Sports with John Murphy later in the decade. Music was slowly being phased out in favor of news/talk. The big change happened in 1988 with the debut of Rush Limbaugh, plus they had the right to Bills football throughout the decade.. The Fred Smerlas/Jim Haslett football show on Mondays was must listen radio - very funny,

4. WBEN-FM Rock 102 - Ran an automated top 40 format with recurrent songs from the past 10-15 years and basically blew up KB. For folks that wanted better fidelity, less talk and commercials they became very popular. Huge Canadian audience too since Canada didn’t allow top 40 on FM until later in the decade.

5. WNYS 104FM - The FM equivalent of what KB was in the early 70’s. Engaging, personality driven DJ’s and Top 40 radio. The most famous was Shotgun Johnny Rock ‘n Roll Ringo. A little like Jackson Armstrong in his delivery and always exciting to listen to.

6. WPHD 103PHD - The closest competition to 97 Rock with less hard rock, more yacht rock type stuff. Great DJ’s - Taylor and Moore, Brian J Walker, JP, etc. They were famous for their Superset weekends, 3 songs from artists in their playlist. Unfortunately, many times it was the same 3 songs all the time.

Lots and lots of D cell batteries consumed in the boombox in those days! What were your favorites?

WUWU 107.7

 

[BuffaloRadioFan]

WUWU 107.7

I forgot about WUWU! Great choice. You also got me thinking that I forgot 106.5 WYRK which was down at that end of the dial. They switched to country from the ‘really old people’ format that was on WADV. Ken Johnson did a great job at transforming that station into the ratings leader it continues to be today - always in the top 3.

 

[Moss Steiger]

You also got me thinking that I forgot 106.5 WYRK which was down at that end of the dial. They switched to country from the ‘really old people’ format that was on WADV. Ken Johnson did a great job at transforming that station into the ratings leader it continues to be today - always in the top 3.

Ken Johnson never seems to get the credit he's due for the success of WYRK. YRK became a powerhouse under his leadership. He cared and it showed. I gave country a try in about 1984 and quickly became a country music fan. But Rock 102 was still my go to back then. I enjoyed WBYR 107.7 for a while too, until the fall of 1986 when the original Classic Hits 104.1 WHTT came on the air. Even back then I liked their large playlist and lack of repetition of songs.

 

[MJFrost]

It was short lived, but I loved The Bear. My friend & I looked forward to the "Album Six Packs" they played on weekends.
I also enjoyed 97 Rock and WPHD. Taylor & Moore even DJ'd one my my high school dances.

 

[BfloRadio]

I remember when my mom got a call in the 1980s, "What's your favorite radio station?" And she would have won $ if she hadn't said, "WRLT." Ugh.

 

[BfloRadio]

I enjoyed the Kiss 10 at 10 and Majic 102's "TNT Countdown" (Top nine tonight). Radio used to be fun and unique in the old days-- today it's automated, voice tracked, vanilla, bland, and stuck in a rut. There's no there there anymore. Heck, I even miss "Danny moves your fanny in the morning!"

 

[ckg279]

I enjoyed the Kiss 10 at 10 and Majic 102's "TNT Countdown" (Top nine tonight). Radio used to be fun and unique in the old days-- today it's automated, voice tracked, vanilla, bland, and stuck in a rut. There's no there there anymore. Heck, I even miss "Danny moves your fanny in the morning!"

Majic and Kiss used to go at it hammer and tong for top 40 dominance back in the 1980s. And a lot of good people created magic(so to speak)at 695 Delaware: Smokin' Willie B, Donny Walker, DJ Anthony, Mike McMahon, Doc Reno are some of the names that come to mind.

 

[Jody-Thornton]

I loved Rock 102 until WBEN ditched Stereo Rock automation in late August 1984. Between 1982 and 1986, I really enjoyed WNYS, which included more R&B hits on a CHR format, such as Midnight Starr's "Operator", or Donna Summer's "Finger on the Trigger. Somehow, it still worked with Duran Duran and Cyndi Lauper also on the hit list. Great radio on WNYS, which I was tuned to most in the fall of 1984.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Ken Johnson never seems to get the credit he's due for the success of WYRK. YRK became a powerhouse under his leadership. He cared and it showed. I gave country a try in about 1984 and quickly became a country music fan. But Rock 102 was still my go to back then. I enjoyed WBYR 107.7 for a while too, until the fall of 1986 when the original Classic Hits 104.1 WHTT came on the air. Even back then I liked their large playlist and lack of repetition of songs.

Ken Johnson should be in the Hall of Fame. I was on air at WYRK from 1986-1996 when the station propelled from a 4 share in 86 to the top when I left.

Ken had everything to do with this. Not only did he care about the station, and treated it like his own, he would never tell someone to do something without the willingness to do it himself.

This man was 24/7 as the leader of WYRK. I remember getting the 3am hotline calls from Ken. The memos on how to improve. He made that station a brand in Buffalo.

I cannot think of a more enjoyable time I had in radio than YRK when this incredible music and artists were coming out. Inside and outside the station, Ken embraced it all. He did not accept mediocrity. He did not get into the drama. He was all business about YRK.

Even now Ken still resonates. He is the PD that hired Clay.

I talk to Ken every so often. He and his wife are doing great, and they are both special friends to me. He changed the attitude in Buffalo from Country-Western, to Country.

He should absolutely be recognized for what he did with WYRK. He is the reason it is what it continues to be today.

 

[spt87]

Loved Rock 102 - was my go to station until it wasn't.
Also WPHD Taylor and Moore in the morning but had it on a lot other times of the day (my 1st period Art teacher let us listen on the radio in the classroom).
Oldies 104 - Good times, great oldies!
WECK during its Music of your Life era. Admittedly didn't listen a lot but heard it at work and my grandmother would have it on. Got good ratings as I recall.
14X rebel radio!!!!
WGR, WBEN and WWKB. Listened to John Otto following him from GR to KB and back and also Tom Baurle. Back when talk was more general interest and not all about politics (some is still like that). After KB fired their entire staff for satellite oldies it dawned on me these institutions in Buffalo could disappear so I started listening to WGR and WBEN a lot.

Especially WBEN - as they morphed from music to new/talk/sports over a few years. Bill Lacy and Stan Roberts had a cool contest they did - I think it was a trivia challenge where an office calling into the morning show played against another calling into the afternoon show. Their Buffalo Bills football production work was fantastic. I met Brandy Scrufari at a Radio Shack I worked at for a while. I recognized the voice since I listened to him on WBEN weekends spinning tunes (he also worked at sister WBEN-FM/WMJQ). Couldn't place the voice then he handed me his credit card and boom, we had a bit of a conversation about radio and how he worked in primarily in engineering.

While not "Buffalo" stations - WOWO and WHAS boomed in at night playing great music both in AM Stereo so late nights my radio went to those stations. They both hung on with their long time formats later than most AM's doing full service with music into the mid 1990's. WOWO was oldies then switched to A/C for the last few years while WHAS was A/C with a classic hits/rock slant but Joe Donovan did a pretty unique show with a deep dive into oldies. Joe Donovan and Chris Underwood took me late into the night almost every night.

 

[Jody-Thornton]

Also WPHD Taylor and Moore in the morning but had it on a lot other times of the day (my 1st period Art teacher let us listen on the radio in the classroom).

Haaaaa! I'm on the other side of the river. Likewise, our art teacher, Mrs Godden, also let us play Q107 or cassettes from Whitesnake, Aerosmith and Jimi Hendrix during class.