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Looking for info on the old Power 108, 92-Q, Jammin 92, and The End.

R

RobynWatts

Guest
Hi,

I was listening to an old aircheck that I have of Cat Thomas on Power 108 from around 1990. Listening to that tape had sparked my curiosity about this station and since I've never been to Cleveland, I was wondering if some of the folks on this board could give me information on that station as well as info on Jammin' 92 (WJMO), 92-Q (WRQC) and 107.9 The End (WENZ).

First off, here are my questions about Power 108 and The End.

1): When did they sign on? I've heard around 1987 or 88, but I'm not sure.

2): Wasn't Power 108 a Urban station when it first signed on? If so, when did they switch over to CHR?

3): Didn't Power 108 eventually force 92-Q (WRQC) to bail out of Mainstream CHR and flip to Rhythmic CHR as Jammin' 92 (WJMO).

4): Does anyone remember the date when Power 108 flipped to Modern Rock as The End (WENZ). I know that it was sometime in the Spring of 1992. Was there any stunting leading over to the changeover?

5): Since I've brought up The End, whatever happen to:

Brian & Joe: (The End's first morning show, I understand that they went to WMMS when The Buzzard flipped from Album Rock to Alternative. Are they still together as a morning show?

Marina Ferrina (sp?) (She did middays and (I believe) was The End's first PD.)

Rick Michaels (Former afternoon host on both Power 108 and The End)

Hurricane Wayne (The End's first nightjock)

Pat The Producer (I believe he mainly worked with Hurricane Wayne)

BTW: From an outsider's point of view, The End kicked ass. I have a composite somewhere that was taped in 1993 that featured the folks that I mentioned. Too bad The End is no more. It's just as well seeing that Alternative music isn't as good as it once was.

OK, on to 92-Q & Jammin' 92:

1): I understand that 92-Q had first started out as a Modern Rock outlet (I believe they were the first commercial outlet in Cleveland to try it full-time), but they soon flipped over to CHR. When did that take place?

2): When did they become Jammin' 92?

3): When did they flipped to Mainstream CHR (as WJZM)? I believe the reason why they flipped because they entered a LMA with WZAK and they needed to formaticly seperate themselves from each other since Jammin' 92 was cutting into WZAK's numbers. Was that true?

4): Whatever became of the airstaff from around 1993? I believe they were:

JR (I think that was the guy's name) (Mornings)
Action Jackson (Middays)
Johnny D (Afternoons)
Tim Virgin (Nights)

4): Finally, Jammin' 92 was getting some press in the trades around 1993 with Tim Virgin's "Channel X" program. How long did it last?

Whew, I know I've asked a lot of questions. Thanks in advance for any info that you can share.

Robyn



<P ID="signature">______________
"I'm not exactly in the mood for Mozart and all that kinda goings on"...Information Society-"Peace and Love Incorporated"</P>
 
Re: 107.9 The End

If you haven't seen it, there's a very informative "End" tribute site that answers a lot of your questions. The former webmaster for the station put it up some years back, though I don't know how often it's updated. You can take a look at http://www.1079.com

The End's stunting in May of '92 really threw some of my friends for a loop; they dug Power 108 and wanted to know why REM was on the air constantly. :) Somewhere in my vast library, I have some airchecks of The End from roughly the fall of 98 and spring '99.
 
> Brian & Joe: (The End's first morning show, I understand
> that they went to WMMS when The Buzzard flipped from Album
> Rock to Alternative. Are they still together as a morning
> show?
>

They are on mornings on Clear Channel Hot AC Mix 106.5 wmvx.com


> Marina Ferrina (sp?) (She did middays and (I believe) was
> The End's first PD.)

Maria Farina did mornings on Q104 before doing some shifts on Mix 106.5 She's now strictly voice work I believe, you can check out her work on mariafarina.com
 
Re: 107.9 The End

>
> The End's stunting in May of '92 really threw some of my
> friends for a loop; they dug Power 108 and wanted to know
> why REM was on the air constantly. :) Somewhere in my vast
> library, I have some airchecks of The End from roughly the
> fall of 98 and spring '99.
>

Power 108 was a great, edgy CHR IMHO. I remember their 2 Live Crew controversy in 91/92. I was a loyal WKDD listener until they came on the scene. The FCC web site shows the following dates for their calls.

WENZ 05/27/1992
WPHR 04/09/1987
WDMT

I didn't really pay much attention to 92.3 as I was on the fringe of their signal in Wadsworth, but they were pretty popular in the Jammin' days right before the "Jammin Oldies" flop in 1999.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by 202FMDJ on 10/13/05 04:27 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: 107.9 The End

> >
> > The End's stunting in May of '92 really threw some of my
> > friends for a loop; they dug Power 108 and wanted to know
> > why REM was on the air constantly. :) Somewhere in my
> vast
> > library, I have some airchecks of The End from roughly the
>
> > fall of 98 and spring '99.
> >
>
> Power 108 was a great, edgy CHR IMHO. I remember their 2
> Live Crew controversy in 91/92. I was a loyal WKDD listener
> until they came on the scene. The FCC web site shows the
> following dates for their calls.
>
> WENZ 05/27/1992
> WPHR 04/09/1987
> WDMT
>
> I didn't really pay much attention to 92.3 as I was on the
> fringe of their signal in Wadsworth, but they were pretty
> popular in the Jammin' days right before the "Jammin Oldies"
> flop in 1999.
>
I don't know how I remember this but, I recall the "Jammin' 92.3" commercials with the fat guy dancing all around town.
 
Re: 107.9 The End

>
> I don't know how I remember this but, I recall the "Jammin'
> 92.3" commercials with the fat guy dancing all around town.
>

Same here. I saw them on WUAB on cable here in Columbus.<P ID="signature">______________
Chris
202.FM</P>
 
Re: 107.9 The End

> >
> > I don't know how I remember this but, I recall the
> "Jammin'
> > 92.3" commercials with the fat guy dancing all around
> town.
> >
>
> Same here. I saw them on WUAB on cable here in Columbus.
>

I was watching old VHS tapes and came across that spot too! I also have a 1993 WMMS spot on tape. For some reason, they didn't say the frequency in that era of WMMS, just was "Today's Best Music, WMMS". I'll have to post the audio of that TV spot.<P ID="signature">______________
Igor
www.IgorRadio.com</P>
 
Re: 107.9 The End

> >
> I don't know how I remember this but, I recall the "Jammin'
> 92.3" commercials with the fat guy dancing all around town.
>


Oh those are classics! I will always remember those.
 
I'll answer what I know or remember.

> 3): Didn't Power 108 eventually force 92-Q (WRQC) to bail
> out of Mainstream CHR and flip to Rhythmic CHR as Jammin' 92
> (WJMO).

If so, Jammin' 92 came about just before Power 108 went to "The End". It wasn't Jammin' 92 before 1992 (at least that I remember)--if it was, it changed not long before 1992. The station changed calls to WJMO-FM in 1990, but I don't think the "Jammin'" moniker was around then. I might be wrong.

> BTW: From an outsider's point of view, The End kicked ass. I
> have a composite somewhere that was taped in 1993 that
> featured the folks that I mentioned. Too bad The End is no
> more. It's just as well seeing that Alternative music isn't
> as good as it once was.

For my money, I was a Buzzard Radio WMMS alternative fan. But that's just me. I wasn't an alternative music fan until 1994, so I missed alot of what was happening with The End at...uhhh...the beginning.

> OK, on to 92-Q & Jammin' 92:
>
> 1): I understand that 92-Q had first started out as a Modern
> Rock outlet (I believe they were the first commercial outlet
> in Cleveland to try it full-time), but they soon flipped
> over to CHR. When did that take place?

Not sure, but I know Scott Howitt, Dancin' Danny Wright, and Tom Kent (and even J. Michael Wilson) were all WRQC jocks. May still have been there in the 92Q days...I know Howitt (former WRQC PD) was at WMJI by 1991. Howitt was also at WLYT, so he may been a holdover to the WRQC period in the early 80s. Wilson was there in '84 (according to 440: Satisfaction); Kent in '88. Wright was there by '87. The FCC says calls chnaged to WRQC on 9/10/1986.

> 2): When did they become Jammin' 92?

Good question. It was WJMO-FM on 1/22/1990, when United Broadcasting (apparently) bought it back.

8/29/1989--Friendly Broadcasting assigned the license to United Radio Group (United Broadcasting, the historic owners of WJMO AM/FM). It gets really screwy around 1986-89, with the estate of Richard Eaton (United's founder and owner) transferring the license to trusts and banks and whatnot. Friendly may have been one of these companies, in which case, United-Eaton owned it the entire time.

In October 1992, Lynn Tolliver and Bobby Rush (from WZAK) bought WJMO-FM. It eventually wound up as part of the Zapis holdings--with Lee Zapis and Lynn Tolliver as shareholders. Calls were changed to WZJM on 2/25/1994.

My memory pegs "Jammin' 92" at sometime in 1992. It certainly was by 1993.

> 3): When did they flipped to Mainstream CHR (as WJZM)? I
> believe the reason why they flipped because they entered a
> LMA with WZAK and they needed to formaticly seperate
> themselves from each other since Jammin' 92 was cutting into
> WZAK's numbers. Was that true?

Both owned by Zapis Communications, changed calls to WZJM on 2/25/1994. It may have been a protective measure. WZAK was the mothership--still is today with Radio One.

> 4): Whatever became of the airstaff from around 1993? I
> believe they were:
>
> Action Jackson (Middays)

Afternoons at oldies WMJI.
 
> Action Jackson (Middays)

As was previously stated, afternoons at WMJI

> Johnny D (Afternoons)

He went on to Toledo where he spent about a decade doing PM drive on 92.5 KISS-FM, when he made the shift to mornings after longtime morning drive guy, Denny Schafer, moved over to sister WSPD.
Johnny (actually, it's "Johny D") recently got canned by WVKS. They also waived the no compete, and Johny is now at morning helm of Cumulus Top 40, WTWR Tower 98
 
Re: 107.9 The End

> > >
> > I don't know how I remember this but, I recall the
> "Jammin'
> > 92.3" commercials with the fat guy dancing all around
> town.
> >
>
>
> Oh those are classics! I will always remember those.
>

I believe those spots were syndicated (forgot the name of the production company, but it was probably Filmhouse or IQTV). Our Album/Classic Rocker in Columbia, SC (Fox 102/WMFX) used it in 1993.

Slightly OT, but true story (since that TV spot was brought up):

Around the time the "dancing fat guy" TV spot was running, a friend of mine had stopped by a auto parts store where WMFX's then-PD/morning host Benji Norton was doing a live remote. He had pulled into the parking lot listening to WMFX's rival, WARQ (Rock 93.5) at full blast and that station just happened to aired a sweeper that went:

"Rock 95.5...so Benji, when are you going to teach that fat kid how to dance?"

Everyone at that remote heard that and was laughing hysterically, with the exception of Benji, who turned red-faced and became pissed! (I wonder why) :>)

Robyn
<P ID="signature">______________
"I'm not exactly in the mood for Mozart and all that kinda goings on"...Information Society-"Peace and Love Incorporated"</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by RobynWatts on 10/13/05 07:45 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: Jammin' Fatty

> > > >
> > > I don't know how I remember this but, I recall the
> > "Jammin'
> > > 92.3" commercials with the fat guy dancing all around
> > town.
> > >
> >
> >
> > Oh those are classics! I will always remember those.
> >
>
> I believe those spots were syndicated (forgot the name of
> the production company, but it was probably Filmhouse or
> IQTV).


It was a syndicated spot originally. They just added a graphic against the brick wall with the Jammin' 92 logo to make it local. They did end up making a custom 2nd spot with the the fat guy dancing around different parts of Cleveland. I think he had an Indians hat on at one point in the spot.
<P ID="signature">______________
Igor
www.IgorRadio.com</P>
 
> > Action Jackson (Middays)
>
> As was previously stated, afternoons at WMJI
>
> > Johnny D (Afternoons)
>
> He went on to Toledo where he spent about a decade doing PM
> drive on 92.5 KISS-FM, when he made the shift to mornings
> after longtime morning drive guy, Denny Schafer, moved over
> to sister WSPD.
> Johnny (actually, it's "Johny D") recently got canned by
> WVKS. They also waived the no compete, and Johny is now at
> morning helm of Cumulus Top 40, WTWR Tower 98
>

Johnny D did mornings briefly at 92. When he left, in a very unprofessional way, Scott Free took over AM Drive for a few years. Free later would do nights at WMVX and swing at WDRQ. Free is now PD of WINK/Elmira.

Cat Thomas, after leaving Power, went to the legendary WAPE/Jacksonville. Been there since.

Power overnighter and one time WMJI part-timer Jim Shea, went on to program WLLD/Columbus. Jim was recently AM drive at a Next Media Milwaukee station.

Tim Virgin has been with WHFS since leaving Cleveland.


<P ID="signature">______________
Everyone is entitled to my opinion.</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by bigwoody on 10/13/05 09:47 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: 107.9 The End

I loved The End but also was a big fan of Power 108....really liked Open House Party (I was in my early teens) and I distintly remember Tom Candiotti's (former knuckle-baller for the Tribe, in case you've forgotten) liner...Something to the effect of "Hi, this is Indians pitcher Tom Candiotti, and when I need a high, hard one, I listen to _______in the morning on Power 108!"
What a great way to be a little edgy with a localized liner. Brilliant!


> > The End's stunting in May of '92 really threw some of my
> > friends for a loop; they dug Power 108 and wanted to know
> > why REM was on the air constantly. :) Somewhere in my
> vast
> > library, I have some airchecks of The End from roughly the
>
> > fall of 98 and spring '99.
> >
>
> Power 108 was a great, edgy CHR IMHO. I remember their 2
> Live Crew controversy in 91/92. I was a loyal WKDD listener
> until they came on the scene. The FCC web site shows the
> following dates for their calls.
>
> WENZ 05/27/1992
> WPHR 04/09/1987
> WDMT
>
> I didn't really pay much attention to 92.3 as I was on the
> fringe of their signal in Wadsworth, but they were pretty
> popular in the Jammin' days right before the "Jammin Oldies"
> flop in 1999.
>
 
Re: 107.9 The End

I was in Chicago a FEW WEEKS ago and believe it or not, there's a CHR or HAC there running those ads! Can't remember what station. Same dancin' fat guy up against the wall on the street wearing a station t. Great commercial!

> > I don't know how I remember this but, I recall the
> "Jammin'
> > 92.3" commercials with the fat guy dancing all around
> town.
> >
>
>
> Oh those are classics! I will always remember those.
>
 
Re: Jammin' Fatty

> > > > >
> > > > I don't know how I remember this but, I recall the
> It was a syndicated spot originally. They just added a
> graphic against the brick wall with the Jammin' 92 logo to
> make it local. They did end up making a custom 2nd spot
> with the the fat guy dancing around different parts of
> Cleveland. I think he had an Indians hat on at one point in
> the spot.

Yes. They had him dancing in Public Square, along the West Bank of the Flats and I believe dancing across one of the bridges (either Detroit/Superior or Lorain-Carnegie).
 
Re: Jammin' Fatty

> It was a syndicated spot originally. They just added a
> graphic against the brick wall with the Jammin' 92 logo to
> make it local.

Wow. I haven't thought of the "Joey Bag-a-Donuts" promos in a loooong time. If this is the same series I'm thinking of, I recall seeing it on Pittsburgh TV around the same time...the difference being it was for WDVE.
 
John "Records" Landecker at Power 108

> First off, here are my questions about Power 108 and The
> End.

I'm surprised no one brought up John "Records" Landecker, the Chicago radio legend who did mornings at Power 108. That's the one thing I remember about that station.

BTW, John went back to Chicago, ended up at oldies WJMK (now adult hits "Jack FM"), then did a stint doing a weekend talk show on WGN/720.

<a target="_blank" href=http://nudehippo.com/BIO-johnLANDECKER.htm>This page</a> for a Chicago cable TV show says he's retired, and also notes that he did feature reporting while in Cleveland for then-CBS affiliate WJW/8. I don't remember that one...

Oh, I put the name "Records" in quotes, but as just about everyone knows, that really is his legal middle name, and has been since birth.

-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
 
Re: John "Records" Landecker at Power 108

Landecker is reprotedly doing fill on the talk version of WLS.

ANd yes, "Records" is his mother's maiden name, thus the middle name. There's an aircheck on reelradio.com where he has his parents on to explain.
 
> 1): When did they sign on? I've heard around 1987 or 88, but
> I'm not sure.
>
> 2): Wasn't Power 108 a Urban station when it first signed
> on? If so, when did they switch over to CHR?

It was WDMT with an Urban format, I think also called Power 108, before the switch to CHR in spring 1987.
 
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