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The "Big D" Returns
- Thread starter Whale
- Start date
It's for one day only, as an anniversary special, according to drcfm.com:
Monday August 18 marks the 48th anniversary of 102.9 DRC-FM becoming the station you grew up with - The Big D!
And this coming Monday
The Big D Is Back
With fun memories and the music you love. Listen from midnight-midnight for our own Anniversary Party on the Radio!
Of course, it wasn't 102.9 that became Big D in 1960, but I think you get the point. I'll bet they'll be playing their HD-2 music library on the FM for 24 hours. Oh boy! We can look forward to Dickey Lee's "Patches" to go along with Clarence Carter's!
The bigger DRC-FM news in the Courant is that PD Dave Nagel is out, replaced temporarily by Grahame Winters. I'd imagine that any big programming changes will come after the new PD is hired.
Monday August 18 marks the 48th anniversary of 102.9 DRC-FM becoming the station you grew up with - The Big D!
And this coming Monday
The Big D Is Back
With fun memories and the music you love. Listen from midnight-midnight for our own Anniversary Party on the Radio!
Of course, it wasn't 102.9 that became Big D in 1960, but I think you get the point. I'll bet they'll be playing their HD-2 music library on the FM for 24 hours. Oh boy! We can look forward to Dickey Lee's "Patches" to go along with Clarence Carter's!
The bigger DRC-FM news in the Courant is that PD Dave Nagel is out, replaced temporarily by Grahame Winters. I'd imagine that any big programming changes will come after the new PD is hired.
I must respectfully correct you, CTListerner.
WDRC-FM's general manager had this quote in the story: "We are changing the letterhead, the billboards and the tagline. Beginning Monday, we are officially once again The Big D." The story explains that it will be returning "to its pre-2004 days as an "oldies" staion." It will be adding pre-1964 music, and not for one day only.
I'm really surprised nobody else has picked up on this here. I guess not many of you read the Hartford Courant! Anyway, just listen on Monday if you're interested.
WDRC-FM's general manager had this quote in the story: "We are changing the letterhead, the billboards and the tagline. Beginning Monday, we are officially once again The Big D." The story explains that it will be returning "to its pre-2004 days as an "oldies" staion." It will be adding pre-1964 music, and not for one day only.
I'm really surprised nobody else has picked up on this here. I guess not many of you read the Hartford Courant! Anyway, just listen on Monday if you're interested.
I don't need to listen on Monday. It's clear that DRC-FM will be Big D on Monday. Tuesday will tell the tale.
The quote from the GM is quite clear. But then, so is the notice at drcfm.com. Why wouldn't DRC-FM be touting this significant change of direction on its own Web site? Unless, of course, "Big D" is just a temporary format until the new PD comes in and undertakes a REALLY significant change of direction.
The quote from the GM is quite clear. But then, so is the notice at drcfm.com. Why wouldn't DRC-FM be touting this significant change of direction on its own Web site? Unless, of course, "Big D" is just a temporary format until the new PD comes in and undertakes a REALLY significant change of direction.
C
CHJ1950
Guest
This is all great news, but for all of us on the fringe listening area, a LIVE WEB STREAM of the station would be better!!!
I wonder if maybe they'll just add the "The Big D" name to part of their slogan, and say that instead of "good time rock & roll?" Like maybe they'll say "The Big D, 102.9 DRC-FM." I haven't seen the article myself, since it doesn't seem to be on the Courant's website, but from what's been posted so far, nothing actually mentions "Big D 103."
T
Top40ClassicsDJ
Guest
I hope that this is permanent change back to Big D 103! Maybe someday they will stream online! God Bless Dr Johnny P LoveTrain-DJ from Tampa,Fla(Formerly of Naugatuck CT) 8)
I agree....."BIG D 103" is a great slogan all by itself. Just about any and all slogans, such as "good times, great oldies", "good time r&r", etc, etc, have been pile driven into passion-deficit descriptions rather than real slogans or meaningful identity markers. To me, DRC FM transcends the need for description, perhaps other than to remind everyone they were Ct's FIRST FM. On my first AM/FM radio, they were the only spot where you could escape classical or Montovani and they did what they did in glorious fashion. Bigger question: what happened to Dave Nagel? I've known Dave for a longer than long time even though we don't get in touch all that often.
bernzee said:
Good question. I was wondering the same thing when I saw the story referred to Grahame Winters as Interim Program Director.
Meanwhile Josh Brown is now doing Midnight-5AM (VT'd) in Dave's old slots. Josh Brown used to be on just 2 nights a week while Dave was on the other 5 nights.
MarcB said:
Nagel was voicetracked as well, right? Occasionally, though, he'd tell the listeners that such-and-such a song was going out to Manchester or Enfield or North Haven or wherever, as if he were taking and playing requests. I wonder how many people would hear that shtick and call 242-0103 and wait forever for someone to answer!
This whole "Big D" thing still has me confused. The new GM, Fahnoe, is quoted at length in the Courant article, and the quotes seem to leave no doubt that major changes are planned. They're way too specific and detailed to have been "misheard," I would think. Also, the wording of the promotional message at drcfm.com was somewhat ambiguous -- it said that "Monday, August 18 is our 48th anniversary," etc., then went on to say something like "Tune in this coming Monday as Big D returns." Could this past Monday have been a tease, with the big switch being pulled next Monday? It just seems strange -- there might have been a half-dozen pre-Beatles songs, if that, played during the Monday "celebration," mostly during hours in which requests are taken (12-1, 5-6, 8-10). The Courant article certainly led me (and most of us) to believe we'd be hearing a lot more.
I'm waiting till Monday, Aug. 25, to officially close the book on this "Big D" comeback report. I can't believe that the station's intention was only to use the phrase "Big D" on-air, in conjunction with "Good Time Rock & Roll," and leave the music mix basically unchanged. Why would Fahnoe even bother to talk to the Courant about such a minor change, the radio equivalent of a newspaper going to a new headline font?
So what's the sum effect of Mondays format change? Does the station sound considerably different than it did on Sunday? How about an update for those of us too far away to hear the station?
I think the changes might just be happening gradually. They had already been inching towards this direction by mixing in a few pre-64 records, adding jingles, and so forth. Bringing back the "Big D" name and reverb was just the next step, and they'll probably continue to phase in more oldies.
The Courant on Tuesday, under Setting the Record Straight, said the "Switch to Pre-1964 Oldies" headline was incorrect.
has DRC mixed in more oldies yet from what I have heard from you guys is they are still playing the same music that they were.
I am unfortunately stuck in Greenwich... I can't get B103 either because of a continuous dead air signal on 103.1 from stamford. I wish I could find where this signal is coming from and try to get the rights to w276BV.. in my dreams but it could be possible.
I am unfortunately stuck in Greenwich... I can't get B103 either because of a continuous dead air signal on 103.1 from stamford. I wish I could find where this signal is coming from and try to get the rights to w276BV.. in my dreams but it could be possible.
Looks like they're playing maybe one pre-1964 song an hour -- more during request hours -- and using "Big D" in the top of the hour ID ("Jerry Kristafer and the Big D morning show, weekdays on DRC-FM," then the same jingle they've been using for the past few months). Larry Wells said both "good time rock and roll" and "the Big D" while segueing from "Hot Fun in the Summertime" into "Turn the Beat Around" a few minutes ago, but the short jingle between "Turn the Beat Around" and "What Is Life" was "Good Time Rock and Roll, DRC-FM!"
Oh, and there's no mention of "Big D" on the website; it still has the same DRC-FM logo, with "Good Time Rock and Roll" and the rotating pictures of oldies/classic hits artists. Didn't the Courant story quote GM Fahnoe as saying the website as well as the music would be changing? I'm wondering now if the reporter actually talked to the guy, or if she did, whether he might have been pulling her leg.
Oh, and there's no mention of "Big D" on the website; it still has the same DRC-FM logo, with "Good Time Rock and Roll" and the rotating pictures of oldies/classic hits artists. Didn't the Courant story quote GM Fahnoe as saying the website as well as the music would be changing? I'm wondering now if the reporter actually talked to the guy, or if she did, whether he might have been pulling her leg.
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