IF YOU COULD BRING BACK AN ATLANTA RADIO STATION....

[Mike_Rafone]

Okay, I'll admit WGST Newsradio 920 was terrific. They never should have gone to 640. And all the comments about it being a great news operation are correct. AM750 was eating dust all the time. Margo Holder (daughter of H. Randolph of Athens), Wade Medlock, Steve Holman, the Bob and Ray bits, ABC Radio News. They were great. Miss it enormously.

But I am shocked no one mentioned WRNG Riing Radio. Boortz's original home, Ludlow Porch's long run, Mikki and Teddi, CBS Radiop News, the afternoon drive guy (name escapes me). Talk radio at its best, local and live and lively. And not political commentary re-tread every day. Conversational topics, not rants and tantrums. And callers! Not monologues for 3 freaking hours Glen Beck and Rush and Hannity, take note!). Never moved my dial.

 

[JR1967]

Speaking of WRNG (Ring Radio), one name to add was none other than KGO's Ronn Owens, who was on the station for a short time in the early-mid 1970's before moving on and making it big in the Bay Area with KGO.

 

[MRFLASHPORT]

Been listening some to Dennis O'Hayer also-still has a great voice for radio and the news. It's no wonder why WABE is a top 10 station locally.

Agree totally. Also some love for Steve Goss, another familiar and friendly voice on WABE.

Man...NewsRadio 92, WGST. Would love to hear a top-of-the-hour from that. Great station, and I loved "60 at 6."

Believe it or not, I miss Steve Goss on the old "Peach FM 95...all music...all the time"
This was a staple station you would hear in any business if you grew up in the 70's-early 90's. The station went to crap when it became "Light 94.9" trying to compete (and failed to do so) with B98.
This was a great station, a good place on the dial to chill out. The station "Mom and Dad" listened to.
This station out of Cathedral City, CA KWXY-AM, streams a HQ stereo format of the old Peach...

http://player.streamtheworld.com/liveplayer.php?CALLSIGN=KWXYAM

Peach was a true standards station, and did quite well in it's day. It was professionally programmed from morning to night. I remember the personalities who knew the music they played, were always pleasant, and nice people...Bob Myers, Don Stewart, Jim Clark, Paul Casey and Vance Dillard (who IIRC programmed the station in the late 80's). I've been down to the studios at 550 Pharr Road back in 1988 and met Bob Myers. What an experience that was, kind of blew his mind that a 13 year old kid listened to the station. These were good people and a good station.

But I doubt it would even be a ripple in a toilet bowl today.

 

[vigodsky]

Given the present state of homogenized FM radio with all the numb-nut clueless micromanaging, the old "Peach" sound just might sound very appealing if it was doing its thing today. But then again I'm biased since I used to work there back when. They used to criticize it as being elevator music but from the look of the rating books, if it could generate those impressive numbers in an elevator, it could make it anywhere...and it did. In fact the local Muzak man admitted once that Peach nearly put him out of business because all the Asian and many other restaurant venues were piping in Peach for free instead of paying him for Muzak. Sometimes(most times) managers/owners don't know when they've already got a good thing.

 

[qbot101]

I do miss Peach 94.9 as well... WGST FM was nice before they ruined it with the Planet Radio nonsense...

 

[jabba17]

In fact the local Muzak man admitted once that Peach nearly put him out of business because all the Asian and many other restaurant venues were piping in Peach for free instead of paying him for Muzak.

That was obviously before the wave of ASCAP public performance music licensing shakedowns...you can't play radio in your commercial establishment as a free substitute for Muzak anymore without buying a performance license.

 

[vigodsky]

In fact the local Muzak man admitted once that Peach nearly put him out of business because all the Asian and many other restaurant venues were piping in Peach for free instead of paying him for Muzak.

That was obviously before the wave of ASCAP public performance music licensing shakedowns...you can't play radio in your commercial establishment as a free substitute for Muzak anymore without buying a performance license.

That's correct and obviously many establishments skirted the niceties of ASCAP and BMI compliance at the time. The comment was only intended to show the widespread appeal and popularity of the programming.

 

[jabba17]

In fact the local Muzak man admitted once that Peach nearly put him out of business because all the Asian and many other restaurant venues were piping in Peach for free instead of paying him for Muzak.

That was obviously before the wave of ASCAP public performance music licensing shakedowns...you can't play radio in your commercial establishment as a free substitute for Muzak anymore without buying a performance license.

That's correct and obviously many establishments skirted the niceties of ASCAP and BMI compliance at the time. The comment was only intended to show the widespread appeal and popularity of the programming.

...plus the versatility of environmental formats. I wonder if that has any bearing on why smooth jazz (the spiritual successor to Beautiful Music) tanked under PPM--you couldn't use it as free Muzak anymore--plus the spotload of a contemporary environmental or AC station is a lot higher than BM's back in the day. Suddenly, a paid, commercial-free service which includes royalties (Muzak, XM, Sirius, etc.) looks more attractive.