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

[nate81]

The "Jamn' Fatty" spot...

> > > > >
> > > > 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.
>

They were the FUNNIEST spots ever. I still chuckle over one version that proclaimed at the end, "Jam'n 92.3: Listen Now... or Next Time, He's NAKED!" Yipes !)

A little off-topic, but WZJM PD Big Dave (now in Fort Wayne) visted my high school during their annual "Professional Career Day" back in 1998. It was neat to see him there; most of my classmates were drawn to the Jam'n Humvee in the parking lot. Go figure.

- nate81<P ID="signature">______________
Nathan Obral
University Partnership Representative: LCCC Student Senate, Elyria, Ohio

Soon-to-be-webmaster - http://www.lcccradio.com</P>

 

[nate81]

> > 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

There was one brief burp when they were in PMD - at WMMS during the Nationwide ownership. They bolted to WMVX when Jacor bought WMMS, and have been in AMD ever since.

> > 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
>

Maria first went to 106.5 right after the flip to WMVX in 1997. Eventally took over for Sally Spitz at WQAL, and since bounced about between WMVX and WMJI. She was in middays at WMVX up until this Feburary.

- nate81<P ID="signature">______________
Nathan Obral
University Partnership Representative: LCCC Student Senate, Elyria, Ohio

Soon-to-be-webmaster - http://www.lcccradio.com</P>

 

[nate81]

> Tim Virgin has been with WHFS since leaving Cleveland.

And was at WNEW/102.7 New York during their disastous "Barbie," er... "Blink 102.7" phase. He came back to WHFS went "Blink" went bust.

Techincally, Tim's still at WHFS - but the 99.1-Annapolis signal that was WHFS after 1983 (the orignal WHFS became WMMJ/102.3 Bethesda in 1981) flipped to Hispanic WLZL. The WHFS calls moved to "Live 105.7" WXYV/Baltimore; the old WHFS music format - with Tim - is now on in off hours and evenings when Howard Stern and Don & Mike don't air.

All this needless information thanks to dcrtv.com...

- nate81<P ID="signature">______________
Nathan Obral
University Partnership Representative: LCCC Student Senate, Elyria, Ohio

Soon-to-be-webmaster - http://www.lcccradio.com</P>

 

[bigwoody]

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.
>


Landecker also did fill-in at WMJI. Gorman was smart enough to grab him after the Power flip. He was at WMJI before heading to Chicago.<P ID="signature">______________
Everyone is entitled to my opinion.</P>

 

[XL]

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

And you can still see some of the very old WDMT bumper stickers plastered on the occasional street sign in the Cleveland area. I just saw a week or two ago (but can't remember where).

 

[xiradiodotcom]

>
> And you can still see some of the very old WDMT bumper
> stickers plastered on the occasional street sign in the
> Cleveland area. I just saw a week or two ago (but can't
> remember where).
>

You mean they haven't faded out by now? Wow! I'd like to see a photo of that!<P ID="signature">______________
Chris
202.FM</P>

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

> >
> > And you can still see some of the very old WDMT bumper
> > stickers plastered on the occasional street sign in the
> > Cleveland area. I just saw a week or two ago (but can't
> > remember where).
> >
>
> You mean they haven't faded out by now? Wow! I'd like to see
> a photo of that!
>

Come out to Parma and the Heights (Parma Heights, that is)--and look for the absolutely outrageous number of "M105" stickers on the backs of stop signs (circa 1978). Used to be more on those old yellow traffic signal boxes, but they replaced all those with computerized signals, so the boxes are gone and the "guts" moved underground.

 

[RobertMoore]

Re: 107.9 The End

He was also the same guy who 'danced' for KKBT/Los Angeles' TV spots.

 

[Mkekedy]

Oh Boy do I miss 92Q, Jammin 92, and POWER 108!!!! ALL from my childhood. All my fav stations. Even in junior high when the rumor goin round was that power 108 was dying we Actually had to all gather (entire school) in cafeteria, and write out like some kind of, on note cards, petitions to not have them go away. But they very shortly did nonetheless with their famous goodbye of that 'its the end of the world as we know it' song. 92q was b4 this, and jamming 92 was after this. I still got some mix tapes I made back then of when Power 108 had some wacky very late night show called something with an X in it, and it was hilarious! Y they shut down/change POPULAR stations i dont know. But it SUCKED 4 us back then. MISS MISS MISS!!! But at least we can any song we want nowadays from any time period, unlike back then (ish).

 

[Yabadabado1]

Via Wikipedia here's the 107.9 frequency history. The old studio in Geauga county is supposed to be haunted by a ghost of a former WNOB employee. Never saw it when I was there after it was WNOB. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WENZ

 

[MediaLover]

92.3 went from WLYT to WRQC in spring of 1983. They kept the "92 Rock" name but introduced a logo that had the station identity as "92 Rqck" to match the new call letters.

It wasn't until August of 1983 that WRQC shifted to CHR/Top 40 after the station's rock ratings were not that great considering the competition. They went on-air with the new format as "92 WRQC." It wasn't until the mid-1980's (around 1985) that they became 92Q and later All-Hit 92Q. Even got a ratings bump after WGCL became WNCX in 1986.

The 92Q name was dropped in 1989 along with some of the jocks as they changed their handle to "Hot 92." That lasted until January of 1990, when they started to simulcast WJMO when it was at 1490. Later in '90, the station started to launch a Rhythmic CHR format as "Jammin' 92."

They would keep the "Jammin'" name throughout nearly all of the 1990's, even after shifting to the "Jammin' 92.3" branding in 1994 after changing calls to WZJM. A year earlier in 1993, they launched an evening show called "Channel X" that mixed pop, hip-hop and alternative in one show. It was extremely popular, but new ownership made some changes.

There was a period where Jammin' was a more traditional CHR in the mid-1990's, but that didn't last long and the station went back to being a dance-leaning CHR. Then, of course, came the switch to Jammin' Oldies in 1999.

As for 107.9, they switched from WDMT as an Urban station to CHR as WPHR and Power 108 in April of 1987. The switch was in response not only to WGCL being gone, but also WNCX switching from an AOR/CHR approach to Classic Hits. Some of the WDMT staff stayed for Power, but not for long.

Later in '87, the station got new ownership and also a new GM, so as a result, not to mention having less than stellar ratings, the station went through some tweaking where they were jockless for several weeks at the beginning of 1988.

A new PD and airstaff made their debut in the spring of '88 and even launched a TV campaign. After some more staffing changes in 1989, not to mention WMMS going back to being a traditional AOR, the station started to get better ratings and that continued into 1990 and early 1991, despite constantly changing the jock lineup. It wasn't until late '91 and early 1992 that Power started to lose ground.

Increased competition from Jammin' 92 and even "The New Q104," which was launched after WQAL's disastrous attempt at a Soft AC in '90, Power didn't have enough of an audience to keep going and in May of 1992, Power 108 became 107.9 The End and the calls were changed to WENZ, which is still used to this day, even though the format is different.

The End actually started out as a Rock 40, which is like a Rock-oriented CHR. Played lots of alternative, but also some AC, regular CHR, Classic Rock and 1980's music. It wasn't until later in 1993, and after some staff and music tweaking, that WENZ became a full-blown Alternative station and would stay that way until 1999.

Feel free to fill in the gaps if you guys want.

 

[MediaLover]

I wanted to add that Power 108 ended up becoming more successful than 92Q around late 1988/early 1989. Power was trying an Adult CHR approach during its relaunch earlier in '88, but ended up courting teens again later that year.

Not to mention Power also had some TV commercials that started airing and a big red boom box they took to events. All of those played into Power overtaking Q in the ratings. The relaunch of Hot didn't help 92. I think I heard they tried to have Uncle Vic on 92 to boost ratings, but didn't capture the same magic he had at WGCL.

Soon in January of 1990, Hot went off the air and Power continued to rule for a while.

I heard that Jammin' had an on-air funeral for Power as both stations were using the Party Pig nickname. Power's was named "Keith" I believe.