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HERE IT IS... 93 JAMZ

Mike_Serio

Mike_Serio

Y'all know the story... it's radio legend!

Thursday 9/21/89... WFLZ was demanding $1,000,000 from WRBQ by 5pm, or the station would change formats to top 40. "Mason" called in and told a sad story about not having the money, so the ante was raised to $2,000,000. Over the course of the day on Friday, the figure was raised to $4,000,000 and at 5pm, after giving them one last chance... Mark Larsen flipped the switch and All Good Time Oldies Z-93 became 93 JAMZ!

----

There are two hour-long airchecks on my website... www.radiospots.us under the AIRCHECKS tab.

One from Thursday with all the stunting.... the other from Friday with the flip and about a half hour of 93 JAMZ! Each file runs about an hour and is unedited.

I was producing the afternoon show across the hall, and recorded this on the skimmer deck in the FLA control room. (We were still downtown... FLZ moved to Gandy that very weekend - after a big party that trashed the downtown building!) As you can imagine, we went thru a LOT of aircheck cassettes at WFLA back in those days, and this was the LAST tape in that box... so while I was lucky to find a tape, unfortunately... I don't have the flip BACK to Z-93 !!!

Enjoy...

Mike
 
Mike..I am so glad that you are a pack rat...I remember that day now..WOW that really brings it back..and on that aircheck a tesimonial with me hawking a weight loss product..how prophetic..nearly 20 years later and I am still advertising Nutri System!

Miller Lite was in the Pepsi machine..didn't you push Sunkist Orange to get one of those? I don't remember..I don't remember much about those days..but it WAS fun, and totally outrageous..what a place huh?
 
No problem Jeff !!! We used those really cheapo C-120 Cassettes and that tape was mighty thin... I stopped several times to swab the heads, and I don't thnk I'd get another play from that tape.

Obviously, the interest is focused on 93 Jamz, but there's another story here... Z-93.

In listening back, "All Good Time Oldies Z93" was a terrific sounding station. Presentation was upbeat and very Jacor-esque.

Unless you were here and watched (or participated) in the battle 'tween Power 93 and Q105, you really can't fully appreciate the "magic" of two radio stations fighting it out. Two fully staffed titans... cranking out the hits... workin' the streets...with a full promotions closet... even engineering departments fighting to get the newest toys. And best of all... a log full of spots. Yeah, there were casualties... but it was in the battlefield... and not at the hand of a stupid bean counter.

That's the way radio is supposed to be !!!

And yes Jeff... at the downtown studios there was beer in the soda machine...I don't think it was more than two quarters for a frosty, ice cold beer. (There was that one morning in the summer of '88 when the AC in the building was DEAD... and those studios were hotter than hell. All the soda was gone from the machine... so why not... I produced Gardner and Company with a cold beer in hand!)

Yeah.... THAT'S the way radio is supposed to be !!!
 
Thank you Mike!

These airchecks certainly do bring back the memories. One station that was very happy about this switch was the "other" oldies station, 1040 WHBO. They even bought a full page ad in the St. Pete Times weekend section which ran the following Friday 9/29 that comforted the disenfranchised listeners of Z-93. In the ad they proudly proclaimed they they were now Tampa Bay's only oldies station and they will never abandon the oldies listeners. Well the only problem was that one day earlier (Thursday 9/28) WXCR 92.5 switched from classical to oldies (first stunting as "Oldies 92.5" then later "U-92") so they were now not the only oldies station in Tampa Bay (a title which they only hold for 4 days.) WHBO finally did "abandon" the oldies format about a year later.
 
Thanks, Mike!

I brought up the original thread. Listening to the aircheck, 93 Jamz might have been more Urban in playlist than The Power Pig, but the on air staff sounded more Top 40 than I remembered...

If anybody has the rest of the aircheck, I'd love to hear...
 
I was 9 years old at the time & remember enjoying both "Z93" & "Power 93" all the way from Southwest Florida. I love the over-the-top upbeat presentation that most people in radio don't really do anymore. I know it's cheesy, but it was always exciting to tune in.

Thank you so much for this aircheck!
 
Mike..

Many thanks for posting that. I happened to be listening that day and they fooled me.
It was great to hear it again. There has never been a battle between stations since.
Was really great radio and thanks for bringing great memories back!
 
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