Heritage AORs

[Hunter]

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. Not back to the thread.

Anyone remember KZAP - Sacramento? Went on with rock in 1968 and changed to KNCI country in the 80's - gave up great calls.

 

[Time Traveler]

[/quote]

Could be, I just don't remember having heard it. I thought they were easy listening until making an abrupt switch to album rock in summer '68 to get a piece of WBCN's pie, but maybe I wasn't paying attention to 94.5 in '67.

Here's an interesting post from John Gorman, formerly of WMMS in Cleveland, who was at WHDH-FM in '68. It sheds a little more light on it's brief and mysterious rock incarnation.
[/quote]

A cool article...It kind of reminds me of the WTTK (TK-101) fiasco. WTTK started off as automated progressive country/rock in late 1976 morphing to mainstream AOR by the summer of 1977. At the time they had hired jocks for some of the day parts and were planning to go live full time. They were also constucting new studios at the time, when Plough
broadcasting abruptly put them up for sale. They then simply ran automated AOR for nearly the next year and a half until the sale was completed and than flipped to automated beautiful music on 1/1/79 as WHUE. For those not around at the time, WHUE eventually became Classic Rock WZLX in 1985...

 

[Eli Polonsky]

For those not around at the time, WHUE eventually became Classic Rock WZLX in 1985...

I liked WTTK in it's country-rock incarnation.

In between being WHUE and becoming WZLX, it was very briefly a mostly automated generic CHR called WKKT "The Cat"...

 

[Time Traveler]

For those not around at the time, WHUE eventually became Classic Rock WZLX in 1985...

I liked WTTK in it's country-rock incarnation.

In between being WHUE and becoming WZLX, it was very briefly a mostly automated generic CHR called WKKT "The Cat"...

Wasn't it also very briefly re-named WCOZ between the WHUE and WKKT incarnation too???

 

[Eli Polonsky]

For those not around at the time, WHUE eventually became Classic Rock WZLX in 1985...

In between being WHUE and becoming WZLX, it was very briefly a mostly automated generic CHR called WKKT "The Cat"...

Wasn't it also very briefly re-named WCOZ between the WHUE and WKKT incarnation too???

I think you're right. That lasted for about a blink of an eye. I had forgotten about it. But, that frequency 100.7 was never previously WCOZ, so it wasn't "re-named". Probably a canceled initiative to revive the (somewhat) heritage call letters that were on 94.5 before.

 

[Time Traveler]

For those not around at the time, WHUE eventually became Classic Rock WZLX in 1985...

In between being WHUE and becoming WZLX, it was very briefly a mostly automated generic CHR called WKKT "The Cat"...

Wasn't it also very briefly re-named WCOZ between the WHUE and WKKT incarnation too???

I think you're right. That lasted for about a blink of an eye. I had forgotten about it. But, that frequency 100.7 was never previously WCOZ, so it wasn't "re-named". Probably a canceled initiative to revive the (somewhat) heritage call letters that were on 94.5 before.

From what I was told at the time, right around 1985, research came back indicating such a negative reaction to the WCOZ call letters, in the market, that the ownership at the time, decided to jetison the call letters. Probably blow back
from the 1980-1983 hard rock format...

 

[Eli Polonsky]

From what I was told at the time, right around 1985, research came back indicating such a negative reaction to the WCOZ call letters, in the market, that the ownership at the time, decided to jetison the call letters. Probably blow back from the 1980-1983 hard rock format...

I don't think the hard rock format, which was called "Kick Ass Rock'n'Roll", lasted even that long. The WCOZ progressive AOR format ran from 1975 to around 1980, when apparently management wanted to do something to improve ratings, as heritage AOR competitor WBCN had gained ground against them again by incorporating some of the more accessible trendy New Wave that was becoming very popular in the late '70s, along with a more focused selection of classic AOR.

WCOZ's focused "stoner" album rock format, which worked well for them in the mid-'70s back when WBCN was still a very eclectic (unfocused) "free-form" progressive station, was sounding dated and anachronistic by 1980 against WBCN's new trendy approach. Not wanting to duplicate WBCN and their New Wave sound, WCOZ brought in radio consultant John Sebastian (not the Lovin' Spoonful musician) to flip them from AOR to a hard rock format called "Kick Ass Rock'n'Roll".

The hard rock format broke ratings records in Boston for just a few books, then it quickly crashed and burned out, while WBCN again flourished with their updated AOR/New Wave approach at the time. By 1983, WCOZ had given up on rock and was into it's last format with those call letters, a bland AC format which couldn't compete with the many other established AC's on the Boston dial at the time. In late 1983, WCOZ flipped to Top 40/CHR as WZOU "The Zoo".

 

[Time Traveler]

From what I was told at the time, right around 1985, research came back indicating such a negative reaction to the WCOZ call letters, in the market, that the ownership at the time, decided to jetison the call letters. Probably blow back from the 1980-1983 hard rock format...

I don't think the hard rock format, which was called "Kick Ass Rock'n'Roll", lasted even that long. The WCOZ progressive AOR format ran from 1975 to around 1980, when apparently management wanted to do something to improve ratings, as heritage AOR competitor WBCN had gained ground against them again by incorporating some of the more accessible trendy New Wave that was becoming very popular in the late '70s, along with a more focused selection of classic AOR.

WCOZ's focused "stoner" album rock format, which worked well for them in the mid-'70s back when WBCN was still a very eclectic (unfocused) "free-form" progressive station, was sounding dated and anachronistic by 1980 against WBCN's new trendy approach. Not wanting to duplicate WBCN and their New Wave sound, WCOZ brought in radio consultant John Sebastian (not the Lovin' Spoonful musician) to flip them from AOR to a hard rock format called "Kick Ass Rock'n'Roll".

The hard rock format broke ratings records in Boston for just a few books, then it quickly crashed and burned out, while WBCN again flourished with their updated AOR/New Wave approach at the time. By 1983, WCOZ had given up on rock and was into it's last format with those call letters, a bland AC format which couldn't compete with the many other established AC's on the Boston dial at the time. In late 1983, WCOZ flipped to Top 40/CHR as WZOU "The Zoo".
[/quote

You are pretty much right on with your WCOZ assessment, but they lasted a little longer as a rock station, than you suggest. In mid 1983, they brought in a new PD by the name of Frank Holler from AOR station WCMF in Rochester, NY I believe. He softened the station up a bit but they remained AOR. However, by September 1983, the rumors were flying of an impending format change. The story was that WCOZ would flip to A/C as WHDH-FM!!!! Obviously that didn't happen, but
they did flip to kind of a hip A/C format at the end of October, 1983, with the AOR jocks remaining intact. The ratings tanked!!! Finally during Labor Day weekend, 1984, the air staff was fired, the calls were changed to WZOU and that was when it actually flipped to Top 40.

 

[Oldbones]

WCOZ made 94.5 into AOR competition to WBCN again beginning in summer 1975 with progressive album rock (the overnight DJ for a couple of years was Larry Miller, who pioneered "FM underground" radio in San Francisco on KMPX in 1967!),

Wasn't WCOZ automated for the first year or so as an AOR? I somehow remember it being just wall-to-wall music without any jocks (and not many commercials). I also seem to associate them with being quite hit-oriented (or at least heavy on familiar artists), not what I'd really call "progressive". No denying it though, they were an instant hit...certainly much more "listenable" than WBCN which was still stuck in the Vietnam war/Woodstock era.

 

[Time Traveler]

WCOZ made 94.5 into AOR competition to WBCN again beginning in summer 1975 with progressive album rock (the overnight DJ for a couple of years was Larry Miller, who pioneered "FM underground" radio in San Francisco on KMPX in 1967!),

Wasn't WCOZ automated for the first year or so as an AOR? I somehow remember it being just wall-to-wall music without any jocks (and not many commercials). I also seem to associate them with being quite hit-oriented (or at least heavy on familiar artists), not what I'd really call "progressive". No denying it though, they were an instant hit...certainly much more "listenable" than WBCN which was still stuck in the Vietnam war/Woodstock era.

WCOZ was completely automated for the first few weeks during August/September 1975. Than afternoons went live with Program Director Clark Schmidt. A couple of weeks later evenings went live with Ken Shelton, and right around the same time George Taylor Morrris went to mornings and Lesley Palmiter to mid-days. By early 1976, Lisa karlin was added for late evenings and Robert Desiderio went to overnights. All shifts were four hours in those days which was typical for AOR stations at that time....