Mere weeks away from an actual semi legitimate anniversary.

[Ssummers]

Not to disagee with Ssummers, but his/her post, regarding the WROQ call letters, is based on what was told...or remembered. I salute the original WROQ Charlotte, but here's what I was told: I changed the WCKN calls live on the air that morning to WROQ. The following week, an FCC rep paid us a visit at our offices/studios in the Park Central building. It was around 10:45, and he spent about an hour in Charlie's office. Later, over lunch, Charlie told Mike & I that the meeting regarded the new calls, and a tower light modification on our Anderson tower. Secondly, we had acquired the new calls via proper paperwork, and the station in Charlotte did not have approval to park the FM calls on the AM for keeps. That meaning that they were pulled. This was what I was told, and I was there. That's the truth, as I was told!

No worries...disagreeing is an instrumental part of discussion boards. I suspect we are, in large part, just parsing terminology. That being said, a couple of points...to whit: #1- You originally posted the following...

Actually, the FCC took the WROQ calls away, and then placed them in limbo. We were the first to file paperwork, and ask for them.

Again, the calls were not "pulled" by the FCC in any way, shape or form. They were voluntarily given up by Adams Communications. Frank Tonorri did, however, attempt to reacquire the calls after the fact, but, as I noted, your owners had already properly acquired the WROQ calls. This might be where the discrepency is regarding "pulled" vs. "given away", that is, they tried to reacquire and the FCC said no.

And #2-you seem to take issue with the validity of my version of events because of what I "remembered" and/or what I "was told" and then you proceed to relate your version of events based on what you "remembered" or were "told". I find that just a tad bit disingenuous. I have no doubt that you believe what you remember and what you were told just as much as I believe what I remember and what I was told, but you can rest assured that my sources in this matter are at least as good as yours.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I may be wrong, but the "WROQ" calls went bye bye in Jan of 1990 when WROQ went full fledged Top 40 under the Gorilla Radio slogan. During that time WBT FM what was once WBCY changed to AC leaving Kiss 102 and WROQ as the defacto Top 40 in town. When the change of BT took place WROQ along with Kiss 102 started filling parts of what WBCY was playing, but no true straight up TOP 40 was being done till WROQ changed formats and went straight up Top 40. Ofcourse that was short lived as by the time Dec 1990 rolled around Gorilla Radio once again changed formats to Kool 95.1 to compete against Magic 96 which went bust in no time and by the time Oct of 91 Hit Kool 95.1 was spinning the format wheel once again to become 95QQ. Since the WROQ calls were already in GSP WAQQ was born till once again in Jan of 94 95.1 The Edge was born. At 7:10 in the morning that is what I remember, but Kahuna's website thatwasradio.com has all the info about WROQ and it's history... CC1

I believe everything you are saying is correct. In October 1991, "spinning the format wheel" referred to trying out different formats. I remember Stardust and Real Country from ABC Radio Networks or whtever it was called then. Country radio had never sounded so good! They also did hot AC and Z-Rock, a simulcast of a talk radio station, and a couple of others. Then a voice like Walter Cronkite, or maybe Ted Koppel, announced we had spoken and chosen "none of the above". 95 Double Q wasn't exactly top 40, and it wasn't exactly alternative. The edge was more alternative than that.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I just remembered that Stan and Sis did let the WAYS letters go, when they flipped 610 AM to news/talk so perhaps they let the ROQ letters go as well.

Actually they let the WAYS call letters go after the News/Talk format failed. When WROQ decided to changed to Top 40 in September of 1984, they made the decision to change the AM to Top 40 as well, dropping the WAYS call letters altogether. It was reported that Stan wanted to use the WAYS call letters for both stations when the decision to go Top 40 was made, but Randy Kabrich talked him out of it.

And Carroll was right. After WROQ was sold in late 1989 or early 1990 to Adams Communications, the airtime for 95.1 was leased to Tenore (sp/) Broadcasting. Needing a clean break from the past, WROQ was dropped for WZZG and Z95.1 was born. Late in 1990, Tenore declared bankruptcy, reverting control of the station to Adams, which dumped the CHR format for SMN's "Kool Gold" format as WGKL.

A book (or a really good article) needs to be written about 95.1's history.

Robyn

And don't forget, the debut of Gorilla Radio was accompanied by hours of "Shock the Monkey" by Peter Gabriel. Someone called the cops thinking the station had been taken over by criminals.

 

[Scooter Lesley]

Well, since Ssummers & the North Carolina Radio Mafia have tanked up on the "Hate-r-ade", and completely diagreed with my story, I'll toss this'un out to the posters keepin' score, and playin' the home version: I was told that the WROQ calls were taken away by the FCC, while the tarheel army insists that the calls were "let go". Both stories are shrouded in the shadows of heresay, with,...to any onlooker, not enough truth. Printed, tangable, documentation from the FCC would indeed clear the air. I wouldn't mined knowing, but my original idea for this Topic was to salute a South Carolina station, that I helped start...ROCK 101 WROQ!

 

[Ssummers]

Lol. Haterade? Hardly. You're hearing footsteps where there are none, Scooter. It wasn't a personal attack, my friend, but if you want to take it that way, that's your thing, not mine. I just know what I know, because I'm pretty familiar with the history of WAYS and WROQ. I'll attempt to get some of my best friends, Randall C. Bliss, John Kilgo and Ray Mariner, who happened to be working at WROQ Charlotte during the time in question, to stop by this site and add any additional info(tho Kilgo is loathe to visit websites like this) I'd try to get Dwayne Ward, also an employee there at that time, but, sadly, he passed away last year. They'd all know the real deal, especially Bliss, because he was the OM there.

And I honored your original idea for the thread, for Pete's sake... remember this?

Still, Happy Anniversary to WROQ-FM, the "station formerly known as WCKN-FM, the station formerly known as WAIM-FM, the station formerly known as WCAC-FM".

 

[virgiltab1]

I found the explainations and comments by Robyn, Carroll and SSummers very interesting, since I was curious about the WROQ calls. the one smart thing WCKN did was grab these letters for I believe they brought a bit of instant credibility to the station IMHO.

 

[thatwasradio]

Holy Canoli, what a conversation! Congrats to the SC station on their anniversary, but it is known that the WROQ calls were not "pulled" from anyone, they were dead and no longer in use by the time they were re-used in SC, and, no, Stan and Sis did not let the calls go, I think they had more sense than that.
Unlike today's "parking" of website domains, every broadcaster knew back then that a call sign could not be dropped and saved for future use, once they are dropped, the FCC retains control over who could possibly be reassigned to use them, excluding three-letter calls such as WLS, WBT or WSB, which are only reassigned in EXTREMELY rare cases (WLS-FM is the only one I know of) as the FCC has been slowly trying to do away with three-letter calls as they get dropped over the past thirty years.

 

[Ssummers]

Holy Canoli, what a conversation! Congrats to the SC station on their anniversary, but it is known that the WROQ calls were not "pulled" from anyone, they were dead and no longer in use by the time they were re-used in SC, and, no, Stan and Sis did not let the calls go, I think they had more sense than that.
Unlike today's "parking" of website domains, every broadcaster knew back then that a call sign could not be dropped and saved for future use, once they are dropped, the FCC retains control over who could possibly be reassigned to use them, excluding three-letter calls such as WLS, WBT or WSB, which are only reassigned in EXTREMELY rare cases (WLS-FM is the only one I know of) as the FCC has been slowly trying to do away with three-letter calls as they get dropped over the past thirty years.

I knew you'd know, Ric. I thought I was on firm ground (the Virginia earthquake, notwithstanding) with this one.

 

[quadraphonic]

I thought I was on firm ground (the Virginia earthquake, notwithstanding) with this one.

You're undoubtedly on firmer ground than most folks starting threads around here. ;D
It's kinda like the FWG in that manner.