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Hot Rockin Flame Throwin Hit Kickin' Z-96!

A

atl roger

Guest
Thought this tag would jar a few great memories. We all pretty much agree radio now is not what it was and if you weren't born yet- hate it you missed the best of Columbia Radio. What are some of your BEST and worst memories from around Columbia and for that matter South Carolina when it comes to things.I found some old bumber stickers in a scrapbook and began remembering a few things. Woody & Leo broadcasting from the New Diamond, The Cat Daddy on the roof in 5 Points, Baker & Finlay , Breakfast With Benji, Beach Billy, The Z giving away a Vette, The Fox giving away the "Rockin' Rolls Royce (silver shadow), The Fox 102 Bomb Island Blast,-it really was! Postion 14 WCOS -AM. Friendly Ben from WCAY-620 RADIO in the Tree House in Parkland Shopping Center, All Elvis to birth Kicks 96, WSCQ lake parties at Johnson's Marina, Tucson The Mighty Capricorn on the Big DM. -Radio when it was fun!
 
"The Completely Wild and Crazy Catch Us in Position 14 , Columbia, Beach Weekend!" Listeners had to say that to win Coppertone suntan lotion and one of those soon to be banned by the surgeon general aluminum foil sun mats! (June 1977)
 
What happened to Jay "What A Guy" Michaels? He was doing mornings when WNOK was "Stereo 105" and the drake automation all day! "That was Elton John ..... proceeded by Olivia Newton John on Stereo 105" (The first voice tracker!)
 
I am the only one old enough to remember Dan Vallie on middays when he programmed WCOS AM!
 
Welcome to the boards, JR. CCU gave you a raw deal... but that's how it is these days, ain't it?

My belief is that radio will again be fun... as soon as the folks that own the stations now can't afford to do it any longer.

Programming leads to audience that leads to sales.
 
I remember Herb Carson when he was WNOK FM in the late 70's as welll. He was ive in the mornings and then they went automated the rest of the day too. I wonder whatever happened to him too.
I also remember Guerry Tanner at WXLD and then he later went to WCEZ and that was some time in the early 80's when I was a student at USC. I can remember hearing him on the radio if I was in the Russell House bookstore because that is what they played in there.
 
WOW!!! Glad to have ya posting here JR!!! As for Z96 that was a very interesting station... Since I lived in NE Kershaw CO ZLD was not as easy to pick up as NOK was, but when I could listen I did... One of the funniest moments happen one weekend on ZLD beofore they went dark and before Yes was born. They were raising money for a local group and was talking to listeners about what their favorite station was... They came up to this one teen who was so excited to be on the air. They ask her what her favorite station was and before she caught herself she said WNOK!!! All of the jocks were like UMMMMMMMM ok, but her response was well you guys are 104.7 right??????? I thought that was just classic. Back then radio was special, and fun to listen to... I have said it before and I will say it again "Radio today could learn a lot from the good ole' boys"! There is not much magic left in radio anymore, but for my youth Columbia was a hot rockin' flame Throwin' kinda town... CC1
 
....and don't forget Woody Windham's annual radiothon on WCOS for the Heart Association at the "Big T, Taylor Street Pharmacy" which was probably the only business open 24 hrs a day. Anybody remember his record? Seems like it was something like three days and three nights...
 
I do not remember the record, but that sounds about right and then when he was B-106, he did it from the Bojangles on Elmwood Ave. That was just good radio then.
 
Some more memories:

"C-103, The thunder of the Carolinas, the lightning of Columbia".

"Your fresh music energy...Yes 97".

"Strong songs for the Midlands....The Big DM101-FM".

"The sound of the city...sizzling hot 1320 AM, WOIC".

"The Great 98 and you...WCOS".

"Great songs, great memories...WSCQ".

"Power 103, your station for 40 minutes of back-to-back favorites"

Back to the main subject, anyone remember the TV spot that WZLD did in late summer or fall of 1985? I've don't remember the first part, but the ending used one of their jingles (from TM's "Airpower", their best jingle package, IMHO), along with the then-current logo (the all-black background with white lettering) growing on screen as "Z-96" was chanted. Then a thunder sfx/lightning visual effect was used, ending with the last part (the acapella) of the song "Some Like It Hot" by Power Station.

Also, on the subject of TV spots, WCOS's string of TV spots during the mid-1980s (the "everyday people" lipsyncing to different Country songs) gets my vote on best TV ad campaign that was ever used in Columbia.

Robyn
 
Let's not forget WCOS's tv spots that said that your radio was off center. I remember those from when I was in college int he early 1980's and then there was WZLD, The Number 1 Hit Kicker.
 
Gatekeeper007 said:
That's when WCOS was 97.9 ie: The Great 98 before the frequency move to 97.5
Click to expand...

Yep, and when WCOS-FM changed frequencies in early 1991, they had another TV campaign with the then-current version of "Mason and Dixon", proclaiming that while they were moving to 97.5, they would "always be The Great 98".

I wonder how long that lasted after the move? I know it was brought back briefly in the late 90s-early 2000s when a new jingle package was ordered from Reelworld (the WSIX package). It really wouldn't make sense since they were no longer near 98 mhz, but hey, KSTP/Minneapolis calls themselves "KS-95" for years, even though they are at 94.5 FM.

Robyn
 
RobynWattsV2.0 said:
Gatekeeper007 said:
That's when WCOS was 97.9 ie: The Great 98 before the frequency move to 97.5
Click to expand...

Yep, and when WCOS-FM changed frequencies in early 1991, they had another TV campaign with the then-current version of "Mason and Dixon", proclaiming that while they were moving to 97.5, they would "always be The Great 98".

I wonder how long that lasted after the move? I know it was brought back briefly in the late 90s-early 2000s when a new jingle package was ordered from Reelworld (the WSIX package). It really wouldn't make sense since they were no longer near 98 mhz, but hey, KSTP/Minneapolis calls themselves "KS-95" for years, even though they are at 94.5 FM.

Robyn
Click to expand...


didnt the fcc pass something a few years back preventing stations from doing that? if you are 94.9 you cant call yourself 95. was it done because the way ratings were done?
 
I thought that the FCC had done that too. I do remember that WCOS had called themselves the Great 98 a few years ago but have not heard them do that in quite some time.
 
You can call yourself whatever you want, so long as you properly identify the station once an hour with your "legal" ID.

Most folks went to specific frequency identification when digitally tuned radios became common. A lot of diary-keepers write down the frequency rather than the station slogan, so the thought was the specific frequency is important with recal.
 
WCOS brought back The Great 98 in 1998 to refer to having a great 98 but of course droped it after that year again. I don't see why the FCC would have a problem with rounding off or a slogan like say our station saying The Great 105 We Go Beyond 100% For You. So long as you give your top of the hour like ours is 105.5 FM by the way that is just an example we don't use Great 105.
 
I remember one station at 94.5 calling themselves "I-95". It was in Eden, NC, in 1985.

The number isn't always rounded. WSOC at 103.7 was FM 103. EZ-104 was at 104.7. both in Charlotte.

Speaking of EZ-104, what possessed WNOK to stay at that terrible frequency? WCOS knew enough to move and let WPEG boost its signal.
 
vchimpanzee said:
Speaking of EZ-104, what possessed WNOK to stay at that terrible frequency? WCOS knew enough to move and let WPEG boost its signal.
Click to expand...

Actually, you can blame WIST-FM (the original occupant of the 104.7 frequency) for that! They've signed off the air by the late 50's, but came back on the air sometime in the early 60s, AFTER WNOK-FM signed on (WNOK-FM signed on in 1958).

As for WCOS-FM, before they could move and upgrade, another station had to change frequencies (forgot which one, anyone remember?). When WCOS-FM completed its move to 97.5, it allowed both WPEG/Concord and WBPR/Georgetown (now WWXM/Garden City) to upgrade.

Robyn
 
Also, on the subject of WCOS-FM using "The Great 98" moniker, I do want to bring up the fact that they did use "Great Country, 97.5 WCOS" as their positioner for much of the 90s (apparently to tie into their heritage).

I won't rehash again about what was said in the past under Clear Channel's ownership, but it's sad.

Robyn
 
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