New 1970s-1980s Radio Topic

[954]

This one should keep us busy for a while....

What 1970s-1980s radio station, in the Miami or WPB markets, did you like (or maybe just have something to say about) that hasn't been mentioned here yet in 2006? Especially trivia!

Here are a few....

WSBR 740 in Boca was a beautiful music station. In the 80s, there was a guy on evenings who read poetry between songs. Anyone remember this? Now owned by Beasley.

WBUS, predecessor of Love94, was a REAL jazz station until '75. WLRN's Ed Bell and WLVE's Stu Grant worked there, as did Stu's father, Alan Grant. I think WLRN's Len Pace was there, too. And Alfie and Micki Dahne.

WDBF 1420 in Delray was a big band station, owned by retired bandleader Vic Knight. Now owned by James Crystal.

WVCG 1080 (now WTPS) was briefly an oldies station in the early 80s. I fortuitously discovered them just minutes after they went on the air on a day I had to get up erly for a promotion! Now owned by RadioOne.

On 1600 used to be WPOM, which IDed as "Voice of the W POM Beaches." Cute. Now owned by Disney.

The station on 1430 in Homestead was very compact, typographically. It was WIII. Only heard it once.

You used to be able to hear WLCY in Tampa on 1380 before Lake Worth got a station.

 

[The-Major]

This one should keep us busy for a while....

... And not a creature was stirring - not even a mouse ! It's been quiet around here since August arrived. I'm guessing that everyone suddenly went on vacation. That's OK. 954 & I will hold the fort down while the fastest-growing board on Radio-Info takes a breather during this (hopefully short) Summer hiatus !

What 1970s-1980s radio station, in the Miami or WPB markets, did you like (or maybe just have something to say about) that hasn't been mentioned here yet in 2006? Especially trivia!

Oh sure take the fun out of it why don't you ! [Just kidding.]

I'd love to join in on this discussion but I only got to experience South Florida radio for the last 25 months of the 1970s & 1980s (basically 1988 & 1989). Since I already wrote about Y-100 & HOT-105 in here recently I guess I'm done !

Here are a few....
The station on 1430 in Homestead was very compact, typographically. It was WIII. Only heard it once.

Nowadays AM 1430 es 'Radio Amanecer' ('Daybreak Radio') - 5,000 watts al dia y 500 watts anoche. Their sticks are just a few miles due west a mi casa bonita en Homestead.

EL MAJOR

 

[top4odj]

This one should keep us busy for a while....

What 1970s-1980s radio station, in the Miami or WPB markets, did you like (or maybe just have something to say about) that hasn't been mentioned here yet in 2006? Especially trivia!

98 GOLD ...Blue Suede Radio. WBSS 980 AM. They used to be a lil radio station off the turnpike on the east side between Coconut Creek Parkway and Atlantic in Pompano. They played oldies, but didn't last a real long time before they became WWNN...Motivational Radio.

1500 WSRF...The AM Sista station to WSHE, out of the trailer park off Davie Road and Nova Drive in beautiful Davie Florida.


Disney Radio-990 AM...Nuff said (I feel goofy bringing it up, but hey, it hasn't been mentioned).

96>....no no...I-9....nope, not that either.....Y-...naaaa did that too.....

Ummm....errrr......uhhhhh...that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure i'll be back later-

 

[John FL]

... And not a creature was stirring - not even a mouse ! It's been quiet around here since August arrived. I'm guessing that everyone suddenly went on vacation. That's OK. 954 & I will hold the fort down while the fastest-growing board on Radio-Info takes a breather during this (hopefully short) Summer hiatus !

I'm actually enjoying this board a lot. At least there's living and breathing people responding most of the time. I don't seem to have any luck getting the Jax natives excited about anything but that's a story for another board...

Anyway, here's my take but a little personal history has to go along with it. I vacationed quite a lot in S Fla before moving there in 1980. When I rented a car, they always had just AM, (I guess I went the cheapest route...lol) and so whatever memories I have for the late 70s and the very early 80s involve AM more than FM.

At the time I didn't know that WQAM was once the big rocker in Miami and that they were in decline when I got to hear them but the one song that just sticks in my mind so much was "Makin' It" by David Naughton. It seemed like every time I got in my car and tuned them in, they were playing that song. The other thing I remember was that it seemed a lot of tunes were already big hits in Miami and when I returned home to NJ, I'd hear many of the songs Miami was playing in heavy rotation a week or two later on WABC as a brand new song and it would be weeks or even a month later that they would catch up to Miami. Why that was, I'm not sure.

I hope none of you loose any respect for me here but money was tight when I did finally get sand in my shoes and moved to S Fla, I needed wheels and I got a Chevy Chevette with a DE-LUX AM Radio..Yee-haw. Everyone it seems was listening to Y-100 and it was quite embarassing for me to pick up a friend or go out on a date with just AM. What I needed to get used to was AM night time bad signals. Now I know the why of all that but at the time, I didn't know why AM didn't sound like what WABC sounded like all the time. It was tough listening to anything it seemed.

But I do remember a station that was way over at 1400 I think that came out of Pompano and was an R&B station but still they played a lot of songs the Y was playing so I would have them on with friends and it was better than nothing. I can't recall the calls. I do remember WGBS and for whatever reason I remember Mark Denver who later went on to WAXY 106 and then Majic 102.7 as a part time DJ.

There was also a station called Surf 16 or something that played some rock and roll. I also remember later on another AM station out of Pompano did oldies. It was called something like 98 Gold I think. The guy who replaced Neil Rogers when he left WINZ for then Zeta4 was the PD I think and I think his name was Jay Michaels. Memory ain't as good as it used to be. And I remember Miss Mindy Lang was on in the afternoon before she really made a home for herself at Majic. In fact I think she was pregnant at the time. So her child would be 25+ by now. Eeegads.

Well, those are some memories. Thanks for the opportunity to try to remember them...LOL...(Any and all corrections to this post with specifics would be appreciated!)

 

[John FL]

Stuart - what timing!!! We were writing a lot of the same thing at the same time. Thanks for some of the specifics with the stations...later...

 

[The-Major]

Disney Radio-990 AM...Nuff said (I feel goofy bringing it up, but hey, it hasn't been mentioned).

OK stop right there. Are you tryin' to tell me that Mickey and his friends have been on AM 990 all of this time ? They may just be the closest thing to TOP 40 radio (aside from Y-100) that Miami has nowadays. They sound pretty good at times. (It's a guilty pleasure of mine.) I like their current call letters - WMYM - 'Mickey Miami'. Their stick is located west of Hialeah, and their 5,000 watts (day and night) actually comes in clearer at night here in Homestead (which is the reverse from a normal local AM station).

MAJOR MOUSE

 

[The-Major]

At the time I didn't know that WQAM was once the big rocker in Miami and that they were in decline when I got to hear them but the one song that just sticks in my mind so much was "Makin' It" by David Naughton. It seemed like every time I got in my car and tuned them in, they were playing that song.

OK stop right there. "Makin' It" was a HUGE DISCO SMASH in 1979 that spent nearly six months on the U.S. pop charts. I remember it well. It was also the theme song to the short-lived TV series of the same name starring the singer David Naughton who played ... a struggling disco dancer ! YES - it was a TV ripoff of "Saturday Night Fever".

I honestly can't believe that someone else actually remembers that track !

The other thing I remember was that it seemed a lot of tunes were already big hits in Miami and when I returned home to NJ, I'd hear many of the songs Miami was playing in heavy rotation a week or two later on WABC as a brand new song and it would be weeks or even a month later that they would catch up to Miami. Why that was, I'm not sure.

Nowadays it's the other way around. Y-100 is real slow to add most new tracks. It wasn't that way as recently as the late-1990s, but that's a discussion for another topic on here. I recently saw a survey that stated that most people (45 to 60 percent) get their new music from good old-fashioned terrestrial radio. The same survey suggested that a mere one percent get their new music from satellite radio. Well I guess I'm part of that fringe one percent then.

I hope none of you loose any respect for me here but money was tight when I did finally get sand in my shoes and moved to S Fla, I needed wheels and I got a Chevy Chevette with a DE-LUX AM Radio..Yee-haw. Everyone it seems was listening to Y-100 and it was quite embarassing for me to pick up a friend or go out on a date with just AM.

I know the feeling. My very first car - a 1980 Chevy Citation - with AM only radio !

THE MAJOR

 

[KE4KLS_Radio]

I lived in the Miami area 1977 to 1979. Here's what I remember:

AM

WQAM 560 was doing Top 40 then, and around 1980 or so went country.
WIOD 610 was a talk station, and was part of Mutual Broadcasting, used to listen to Larry King and Jim Bohannan late night.
WGBS 710 was middle of the road, playing lighter pop music (Carpenters, Little River Band, etc).
WVCG 1080 played Adult Standards, Perry Como and Sinatra.
WINZ 940 was CBS News, and local talk, there used to be a guy named Alan Burke who had a talk show.
WFAB 990 was spanish but I think they were dark for a while.
WKAT 1340 was talk, I don't remember any of the hosts, but used the instrumental music from "Lost Encounters of the Third Kind" for bumper on one of its shows.
WNWS 740 was all news all day, I have one of their old rate sheets.
WRHC 1550 was spanish.

FM

WVCG 90.5 did UM stuff but a lot of album rock, sometimes debuting albums on air before Zeta 4.
WTMI 93.1 was classical all day, but in the evening did jazz.
Love 94 (93.9) - Light rock love songs.
Zeta 4 (94.7)- great album rock.
WLYF 100 - beautiful music
WAXY 106 - oldies, 60's rock and roll.
WIRK 107 - country

 

[John FL]

OK stop right there. "Makin' It" was a HUGE DISCO SMASH in 1979 that spent nearly six months on the U.S. pop charts. I remember it well. It was also the theme song to the short-lived TV series of the same name starring the singer David Naughton who played ... a struggling disco dancer ! YES - it was a TV ripoff of "Saturday Night Fever".

I honestly can't believe that someone else actually remembers that track !

Actually I have to admit, Makin' It was no doubt my favorite song of 1979. After posting, I can't seem to get that song out of my head but at least it's a real up tempo happy kind of thing.

But I think this still proves that radio is at it's best when it reflects the local market. Even some of the tiny AMers we mentioned in this string, worked hard to be unique and reflect their market. As I frequently travelled between the Northeast and South Florida during the very early 80s, there were huge differences in how radio sounded between the areas. Nowadays, a person could get in their car and regardless of what format you like drive from one market to the others and not hear much difference.

Back on track with this string topic, I also remember for a short time some AM station carried the Y100 Tanner in the Morning program. I'm not sure what that was all about.

And now back to digression. When we read in other strings just how hard Stuart Elliott, for example, prepared for his show, you have to admit - it showed. I often wonder what kind of motivation today's talent gets when the majority of everything is decided by computer programming. I'm sure it's terminal and from a listener perspective it ain't too exciting either.

"I'm solid gold, I've got the goods, it's there when I walk through the neighborhood, I'm makin' it, I got the chance I'm takin it, no more, no more fakin' it, this time in life I'm makin' it..." sorry..just had to do that! Hope you enjoyed that, Major!

 

[John FL]

I can't seem to get the quote function down right...sorry folks.

 

[The-Major]

Actually I have to admit, Makin' It was no doubt my favorite song of 1979. After posting, I can't seem to get that song out of my head but at least it's a real up tempo happy kind of thing.

1979 was a great year in pop music. DISCO was peaking, and I remember much of the great music that was released during that final year of the 1970s. Do you think that 27 years from now in 2033 when I'm 66 I'll be able to say the same thing about 2006 hit music ? I can answer that faster than you can "Snap Yo Fingers".

But I think this still proves that radio is at it's best when it reflects the local market. Even some of the tiny AMers we mentioned in this string, worked hard to be unique and reflect their market. As I frequently travelled between the Northeast and South Florida during the very early 80s, there were huge differences in how radio sounded between the areas. Nowadays, a person could get in their car and regardless of what format you like drive from one market to the others and not hear much difference.

I so agree with you; however, I would also like to add that I think that the lack of difference in the music, style, imaging, etc. no matter where you go in the U.S. (also known as the cloning of sister stations) has some positive aspects to it as well. I must leave that curious reasoning though for another thread to be discussed at a later date.

(Josh C. is probably reading this thinking, 'Is The Major thinking clearly here ?') ???

THE MAJOR

 

[The-Major]

Back on track with this string topic, I also remember for a short time some AM station carried the Y100 Tanner in the Morning program. I'm not sure what that was all about.

Back in the day FM stations used to simulcast their music and shows on AM stations to increase their audiences since AM was obviously the powerhouse from the beginning of radio time all the way through the mid-to-late-1970s. It's the other way around now. AM stations are trying to get their product on FM now, and of course some of your biggest FM shows and stars have moved on even further to XM (and Sirius).

"I'm solid gold, I've got the goods, it's there when I walk through the neighborhood, I'm makin' it, I got the chance I'm takin it, no more, no more fakin' it, this time in life I'm makin' it..." sorry..just had to do that! Hope you enjoyed that, Major!

Listen everyone here. This comin' year's gonna be my year. I'm as bad as they come. # 2 to no one. I've got looks. I've got brains. And I'm breakin' these chains. Make some room now. Dig what you see. Success is mine. 'Cause I've got the key. I'm "Makin' It" !

THE MAJOR'S MAKIN' IT !

 

[radiolover78]

... And not a creature was stirring - not even a mouse ! It's been quiet around here since August arrived. I'm guessing that everyone suddenly went on vacation. That's OK. 954 & I will hold the fort down while the fastest-growing board on Radio-Info takes a breather during this (hopefully short) Summer hiatus !

I'll be gone for a while. Some things have come up that I have to deal with. I'll be back as soon as possible though.

Have fun with the discussions!

 

[jcolletta275]

I would also like to add that I think that the lack of difference in the music, style, imaging, etc. no matter where you go in the U.S. (also known as the cloning of sister stations) has some positive aspects to it as well. I must leave that curious reasoning though for another thread to be discussed at a later date.

(Josh C. is probably reading this thinking, 'Is The Major thinking clearly here ?') ???

THE MAJOR

Oddly enough, I completely understand where you're coming from, and to some extent I agree! I think common brands across the country, along with similar imaging and playlists, helps maintain audiences... especially considering how much we tend to move here.

The best analogy I can think of is soda. If you knew Coca-Cola as a cola in Miami, moved to Michigan and found out it was branded as Sprite (when you're familiar with Sprite as a clear citrus soft drink, not a dark cola) and vice-versa, it would confuse the heck outta ya!

Of course, heritage names and a variety of owner companies make synching things across the country to the fullest possible extent mostly impossible, but it would make perfect sense to do so.

 

[John FL]

The regional differences in music of which I speak are very subtle differences but it existed in radio of yesterday and I think it retrospect it made radio listening "interesting" for lack of a better word.

Let me speak to a couple of formats and differences in stations to try to illustrate my point.

For a long time I enjoyed the oldies format and my work and visits home to see family in NJ when I lived in S. Fla gave me the opportunity to sample the fare and there were subtle differences that gave a uniqueness to the sound and it just leant itself well to the area. WCBS- FM in NYC and WMXJ Miami were both oldies stations in the traditional sense but CBS FM took a lot more liberties in certain areas early on where they featured do-wop in regular rotation and even mixed in some 80s. Majic never did that. Yeah, they did Ken Held's Do-Wop Show but that was seperate programming. I'm not saying one was better than the other but stations were just more responsive to what worked for them and their audience.

When I got to Jacksonville, the oldies station here often played "Navy Blue" by Diane Renay. Why? Jax is a big Navy town and that song was a huge huge hit in Jax and so the station was responsing to a regional favorite. Most stations maintained a playlist that practically everyone else with a similiar format did but with just a few changes. As I traveled around the country, oldies in Philly had a more soufull sound, oldies in Charlotte NC would feature Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. And on and on.

If we look at the then CHR of Y-100, anyone travelling through town would know they were Top 40. A song here or a song there would be different but it worked. I think in some respects, people expected that. One of my favorite songs Y-100 played in the early 80s was "Night to Remember" by Shalamar. It must have been an album cut because it isn't listed in the Billboard Top 40. But it was a huge hit in S. Fla and why I recall this I don't know but it was #1 on Y-100 for weeks. That just wouldn't happen today. When I visited friends and family back up North, no one was familiar with the song.

Regional hits are pretty cool in my book. Sometimes songs have to have relevance to an area. A little known fact but the Beach Boys never had a #1 song on WABC in NYC. But I'm sure they had a few in Miami. I think stations hurt themselves nowadays playing songs that don't really reprsent the taste of their audience.

Like it was yesterday, I remember when Y-100, 96X and and I-95 were battling it out. They were all considered CHR. Were they exactly the same? No. Should they have been? No. I liked elements of all the stations and when I tuned in, I knew what I was getting.

Just wanted to explain my position. Peace! ;D

 

[The-Major]

For a long time I enjoyed the oldies format and my work and visits home to see family in NJ when I lived in S. Fla gave me the opportunity to sample the fare and there were subtle differences that gave a uniqueness to the sound and it just leant itself well to the area.

I can relate. Back in the late-1980s and early-1990s when I was living here in Homestead I drove 1,111 miles up I-95 to Northern Virginia (in the D.C. area) where my parents and brother lived at the time. It seemed as if every TOP 40 station that I listened to along the way was a bit different than each other, but Y-100 was completely different. Y-100 was very 'Miami' sounding back then, and some of the tracks that they played were not played anywhere else. Y-100 was the most dance-leaning of all of them. Once I got to the D.C. area and tuned-in to 105.1-WAVA they were basically the complete opposite of Y-100 - very rock-leaning. The last time I made that trip to and from D.C. was over a decade ago. If I made that same trip today I would notice far less differences among all of the various CHR-POP stations along the way.

If we look at the then CHR of Y-100, anyone travelling through town would know they were Top 40. A song here or a song there would be different but it worked. I think in some respects, people expected that. One of my favorite songs Y-100 played in the early 80s was "Night to Remember" by Shalamar. It must have been an album cut because it isn't listed in the Billboard Top 40. But it was a huge hit in S. Fla and why I recall this I don't know but it was #1 on Y-100 for weeks. That just wouldn't happen today. When I visited friends and family back up North, no one was familiar with the song.

That was a good song, but it was indeed a radio and retail single on vinyl. It peaked at # 44 nationally, but it was a # 1 smash regionally in South Florida.

Like it was yesterday, I remember when Y-100, 96X and and I-95 were battling it out. They were all considered CHR. Were they exactly the same? No. Should they have been? No. I liked elements of all the stations and when I tuned in, I knew what I was getting.

I wish it were that way today. Y-100 needs competition. I love it up in Jacksonville where you have both 'THE-BIG-APE' and 'KISS-FM' battling it out, and both stations are thriving. A few years ago I could count on 'APE' to rock-out and 'KISS' to crank-up the crunk. Now they sound much more alike, but at least if one station goes to commercials I can push the button to the other station. My parents live up there now, so I make the shorter I-95 drive once or twice a year.

As far as I'm concerned Y-100's competition for me is '20 On 20' on XM Satellite Radio. '20 On 20' is their continuous TOP 40 countdown station, and I'd say that about half of their hits are hits that Y-100 stays away from. Despite their name they actually have a much wider and looser playlist than Y-100. They play far more new music than Y-100 does. In fact I hear most of my new music from '20'.

THE MAJOR

 

[954]

Mickey and Minnie

Disney Radio-990 AM...Nuff said (I feel goofy bringing it up, but hey, it hasn't been mentioned).

OK stop right there. Are you tryin' to tell me that Mickey and his friends have been on AM 990 all of this time ? They may just be the closest thing to TOP 40 radio (aside from Y-100) that Miami has nowadays. They sound pretty good at times. (It's a guilty pleasure of mine.) I like their current call letters - WMYM - 'Mickey Miami'. Their stick is located west of Hialeah, and their 5,000 watts (day and night) actually comes in clearer at night here in Homestead (which is the reverse from a normal local AM station).
MAJOR MOUSE

Did you know that the station in the Palm Beaches (the former W-POM,
as I mentioned recently) is WMNE (Minnie) on 1600?

It's in August Radio News, as is the other Mickey (Miller).

http://RadioPages.net/radio/2006august.html

73s

 

[The-Major]

Re: Mickey and Minnie

Did you know that the station in the Palm Beaches (the former W-POM,
as I mentioned recently) is WMNE (Minnie) on 1600?

Here are some other notable 'Radio Disney' call letters:

WWMI - Tampa
WDYZ - Orlando
KDIS - Los Angeles

I love call letters that you can easily figure out what they mean or stand for.

THE MAJOR

 

[954]

Did you know that the station in the Palm Beaches (the former W-POM,
as I mentioned recently) is WMNE (Minnie) on 1600?

Here are some other notable 'Radio Disney' call letters:

WWMI - Tampa
WDYZ - Orlando
KDIS - Los Angeles

I love call letters that you can easily figure out what they mean or stand for.

THE MAJOR

Really? Me too. Did you see this?

Call Letters ... http://www.cafepress.com/oldstations

It has call letters explanations (only of interest to us radio geeks) of 14 historic stations.

I'm wearing the shirt today!

73s

 

[Mike Sheridan]

WRMF started off as a very good A/C station in 1979 even though on the inside it was a stess box for me!