Gainesville's Amazing disappearing, reappearing, disappearing radio station

[Kmagrill]

A quick check of the AM dial shows that WAJD is once again absent from the airwaves. Perhaps its a new money-saving strategy: They only turn it on during fall and spring books.

 

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

Well, it didn't show up in the fall book-- so that failed.

 

[MN Maniac]

When I first came to the area nearly 20 years ago, 1390 was simulcasting WYKS 100% of the time. Then, it abruptly disappeared for a few months. Then, it was back on, broadcasting one of the strangest formats I've ever heard. I called it "All CD Changer, All the Time!"

They were broadcasting continuous music from what I presume to be a Pioneer 6-disc magazine changer. Before .mp3's, these were considered to be the ultimate form of music reproduction. You'd load 6 discs into a rectangular-shaped "magazine" and the machine would either play them in sequence, randomly (a primitive form of today's iPod "shuffle play"), or in the sequence you had programmed. While the latter was great for at home listening, it suffered a serious drawback when used in radio broadcasting: there was a LONG PAUSE between songs since the machine had to mechanically change the discs after each selection. Nevertheless, 1390 used this as it's one and only music source during this time.

If you turned your radio up all the way during the dead air between songs, you could actually HEAR the mechanical noise as the CD player changed discs! I remember sitting in the parking lot at SFCC, playing this to people and explaining what was happening. We all had a good laugh over that one!

 

[Kmagrill]

When I first came to the area nearly 20 years ago, 1390 was simulcasting WYKS 100% of the time. Then, it abruptly disappeared for a few months. Then, it was back on, broadcasting one of the strangest formats I've ever heard. I called it "All CD Changer, All the Time!"

They were broadcasting continuous music from what I presume to be a Pioneer 6-disc magazine changer. Before .mp3's, these were considered to be the ultimate form of music reproduction. You'd load 6 discs into a rectangular-shaped "magazine" and the machine would either play them in sequence, randomly (a primitive form of today's iPod "shuffle play"), or in the sequence you had programmed. While the latter was great for at home listening, it suffered a serious drawback when used in radio broadcasting: there was a LONG PAUSE between songs since the machine had to mechanically change the discs after each selection. Nevertheless, 1390 used this as it's one and only music source during this time.

If you turned your radio up all the way during the dead air between songs, you could actually HEAR the mechanical noise as the CD player changed discs! I remember sitting in the parking lot at SFCC, playing this to people and explaining what was happening. We all had a good laugh over that one!

Actually, the truth is even stranger. They used Hi-Fi VCRs with the music reorded onto video tape as the source. I never saw it, but they used that for well over a year.

 

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

HAHAHAHAHAHAAH. That's funny!!

If Gillen won't give up the license or sell... why not just simulcast KISS again??

 

[MN Maniac]

Actually, the truth is even stranger. They used Hi-Fi VCRs with the music reorded onto video tape as the source. I never saw it, but they used that for well over a year.

Didn't they also use the magazine players for awhile? I swear, that noise between songs sounded exactly like a Pioneer 6-slot on shuffle!

 

[Kmagrill]

Actually, the truth is even stranger. They used Hi-Fi VCRs with the music reorded onto video tape as the source. I never saw it, but they used that for well over a year.

Didn't they also use the magazine players for awhile? I swear, that noise between songs sounded exactly like a Pioneer 6-slot on shuffle!

It's possible. I never saw any of it and the whole thing sounded half-baked to me.
It could also be that CD changers were the source for the HI-FI VCR tapes.

 

[jmtillery]

Actually, the truth is even stranger. They used Hi-Fi VCRs with the music reorded onto video tape as the source.

This is the same method WTKS 104.1 once used for late night (Midnight to 6 AM) programming in the early 90s. They would record The Ed Tyll Show from noon to 3 PM and The Phillips Phile from 3 PM to 6 PM and play both programs back later: Ed Tyll Midnight to 3 AM and Phillips 3 AM to 6 AM. This way the times would match as they left out the "AM" and "PM" in the time checks. This was all done using standard video tape for the audio.

 

[MN Maniac]

This is the same method WTKS 104.1 once used for late night (Midnight to 6 AM) programming in the early 90s. They would record The Ed Tyll Show from noon to 3 PM and The Phillips Phile from 3 PM to 6 PM and play both programs back later: Ed Tyll Midnight to 3 AM and Phillips 3 AM to 6 AM. This way the times would match as they left out the "AM" and "PM" in the time checks. This was all done using standard video tape for the audio.

We used the same method when we aired Peter Rocchio from 10AM-Noon on WOTS-AM 1220 in Kissimmee. Except that we never played the tapes back. There was a VCR patched into the board with 5 tapes, all labeled in black Sharpie pen: ROCCHIO MONDAY, ROCCHIO TUESDAY, etc. Each week, a new show was recorded over the previous one from 7 days earlier. Not sure what the purpose was. I guess it was a 'CYA' in case Peter called in sick or didn't show up!

 

[vadar]

Bring back 14K!!!! I'm available for afternoons and remotes.
;D

 

[jmtillery]

The former WAKA - 14K was, indeed, an "amazing" radio station. It would be interesting to hear the original 14K program director Shawn Smith back on middays playing "... one of [his] personal favorites from the 14K music library". Afterall it has been said that "James" is "Taylor" made.

 

[Jeff2]

They're back again! (still with the Motown thing)

 

[Groove1670]

Can someone post a sample playlist hour.

 

[ok walters]

Mark,

Weren't you involved in the recent sale of this station? Or was it another one in the area?

 

[cflamfm]

Doesn't this station have something to do with Radio Disney?

 

[Kmagrill]

Mark,

Weren't you involved in the recent sale of this station? Or was it another one in the area?

WAJD still belongs to Doug Gillen.

Doesn't this station have something to do with Radio Disney?

It aired Radio Disney for a number of years, but that appears to be over.

 

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

Doug pulled the plug on Radio Disney. Not a huge deal since RD would've bailed anyway like they did in Jacksonville at WBWL last year.

 

[jmtillery]

Mark,

Weren't you involved in the recent sale of this station? Or was it another one in the area?

The station I had co-brokered as a buyer's broker in this area is WOCA-AM 1370 Ocala. WAJD-AM 1390 is still owned by Gillen Broadcasting and is co-owned with WYKS-FM 105.3.

 

[BIG APE]

All the decent stations in gainesville disappeared in the early 70's

 

[radiosanchez]

When I first came to the area nearly 20 years ago, 1390 was simulcasting WYKS 100% of the time. Then, it abruptly disappeared for a few months. Then, it was back on, broadcasting one of the strangest formats I've ever heard. I called it "All CD Changer, All the Time!"

There was actually a brief period "in between"....1994-95. CE Wayne Irwin ran a volunteer "college radio" Alternative format called "Real Rock 1390". It was the closest thing in the 90s Gainesville had ever had to freeform indie radio. The CD changer was a way to keep the station on in the overnights. When Irwin left for WKTK, the station ran in abandon with the CD Changer 24/7. There were days that the CD "skipped/repeated" for days on end with nobody attending to it.

I think the VHS station was not WAJD, which AFAIK actually did use a CD Changer. The VHS station was WNFQ/100.5, which radio vet Willie Martin ran with an Urban format and horrible processing.