It was 20 years ago this week...

[OldNumber7]

that 1380 WAMS was reborn as an oldies station after spending most of the 80s in denial of its pop roots and spinning country instead. In May of '87, the owner of a local printing business bought the station from Heritage Cable (which had acquired it 6 months earlier in the takeover of the Rollins broadcasting division). The new owner, Joe Farley, had once been a salesman at the old WAMS and was by then a politically connected millionaire. The flip to oldies certainly made sense; the only other oldies stations with signals into the market were Philly AMs and the country format was pulling a stunning 1.5. What happened over the next several weeks and months is a classic illustration of what could go wrong in the old days of mom and pop radio; not the least of which was the flip in November '87 of not 1, but 2, Philly FMs with good signals to oldies. But that first summer, the station made a noble effort and the folks who were there won't likely forget the fun of coming to work with such a talented group out in the country on the hill in Mt. Cuba -- now a subdivision of McMansions with three car garages.
Where they were and where they are now (compiled from the Web, please advise if corrections or changes are needed):
Kevin Fennessy, then PD and AM drive -- now Production Director WMCA, New York
Todd Halliday, then middays and production director -- now The Associated Press, Baltimore
Bob Charger, then PM drive -- now nights WOGL
Jim Walsh, then nights -- now talk radio in the midwest
Carl Kanefsky, then overnights and morning traffic -- now WDEL news
Gerri Smith, then News Director -- now executive with child care referral agency, fill-in news at WJBR-FM
Scott Graham, then news and Sallies football PBP -- now sports broadcaster, NFL Films voice-over,

 

[MikefromDelaware]

I had the privilege of getting to work with those folks at WAMS. I was there on Saturday evenings doing a one hour show, then board op'd an syndicated oldies show for the rest of my shift. I'd do news headlines and weather as part of the half hour spot break. It's a shame that wasn't an FM signal. It was a great oldies station with a lot of great talent. Todd Halliday and Bob Charger were the folks who trained me. Bob took me under his wing and I learned a great deal about the background of the groups who made that wonderful music (he's got an encyclopedia mind of info about Oldies, the groups, etc, and was willing to share some of his knowledge with me, which helped me to do a better show). I knew back then that all those folks would go beyond WAMS and sure enough they did. Thanks for the update on where they are today.

 

[Al Johnson]

Is this the same "politically connection millionaire" who used his "connections" to unload the station on the state to use for a continuous loop of scheduled roadwork reports, and become even right through this sweetheart deal?

Everywhere else, highway departments use carrier current or low-powered transmitters in the expanded band. They actually provide current traffic information some places (the one on the NJ Turnpike is actually ahead of the radio traffic services). And they don't destroy a real radio station with a good signal and history in the process.

 

[warmland]

Correction! Joe Farley was not a millionaire. He had a money partner in the WAMS deal that was taken down by the FBI for some "alleged" tracking business scam.

 

[WTUX]

It was "trucking" not tracking. The company was the North American Training Academy, that trained truck drivers. The allegation was made that they were collecting tuition fees from the government for students who did not exist. Quickly, Farley had the ownership changed so that the guy's wife was the stock holder, not the guy in question.

If Farley ever was a millionaire, it would have happened after the Mt. Cuba land was sold, not before.

 

[kfsr]

Also part of our group was Wayne Cabot who came down and was interim News Director for WAMS; he's the PM Drive anchor for WCBS Newsradio 880 here in New York.

 

[jimwalsh2001]

I remember it well: about a minute into the format change, lightning hit the tower, we went off for a couple of minutes and had to start from scratch. Should've take it as an omen... ;D

I will say in all seriousness, that until things went sour a few months into it, the WAMS oldies experiement was some of the most fun radio I've ever done.