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The "Q" Format

R

Radknowski

<font face="times new roman" size="3" color="660033">
All this talk about the WMJQ call letters brings back memories of the classic "Q" jocks. Those guys who belched, screamed, howled and grunted "Qewwwwwwwww!"

The "Q" format made it's mark in top-40 radio, right up there with McLendon and Todd Storz' contributions to the art form. "Q" wasn't a personality format, to say the least, but you had to admire the jocks who worked the format, talking "through" the music, never "over" it, did the liners in 12 seconds (or less) and NEVER stepped on a vocal... all the while keeping the energy level up.

13-Q, KCBQ, 10-Q, WKRQ, WSLQ, WGRQ... just about every market had one or a varitaion thereof, such as "B" (KFMB San Diego) "X" (99X, NYC) and "Z."

Who doesn't recall guys like Jason Bojohn, Doctor Sarzinski, Bill Tanner, even Jack Armstrong working the "Q" format to perfection.

Oh, and what radio guy (non-gender specific) with any sense of history and humor doesn't remember the famous "Q" parody, the quintessential "Nine" format!

"Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!"</font>
 
You bring back lots of memories, Mike. When WGRQ premiered on January 1, 1973, it marked the first Top 40 station on FM in Buffalo. After listening to KB and WYSL, you now got to hear your favorite songs on FM. And you know what, they sounded better! What a concept. To this day, I remember J.J. Jordan coming out of Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with this: "That's Elton John, 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me.' But if you have a daughter, I won't mind a bit." Pretty risque for the mid-70s!
 
>To this day, I remember J.J. Jordan coming out of Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with this: "That's Elton John, 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me.' But if you have a daughter, I won't mind a bit."


"Double you-G-R-Q- Buffalo... This is J.J. Jordan, and it's 5 O'Clock at the Q!!"

J.J. nailed that format. And hard to believe that Roger "The Magic" Christian worked at the Super Q back 33 years ago. So did Randy Michaels for that matter.
 
Now this is a trip down memory lane. Jackson Armstrong, Dave Mason, Mark Driscoll, Cary Pall, Bat Johnson and many others were radio gods to me at 13Q Pittsburgh.

Thanks for the post and the memories guys!
 
WYSL-FM came before WGRQ

> You bring back lots of memories, Mike. When WGRQ premiered
> on January 1, 1973, it marked the first Top 40 station on FM
> in Buffalo.

NO NO NO Respectfully NO..............................


WYSL-FM....(Whistle FM)...at 103.3 FM was playing Top 4O on the FM band as

early as the summer of 1966. It was not just simucasting the AM side

either. The "Teen Disc Jockeys" were on the air from 7am-7pm and then at

7pm the switch was pulled and Dick "The Wild Child" Kemp was on both the am

and fm. I should know. I was one of the PD's of WYSL-FM.

I am not claiming that WYSL-FM was a major force in the market but it DID come

first.
 
Re: WYSL-FM came before WRGQ

> I should know. I was one of the PD's of WYSL-FM.

Hey, you'd better change your name to MediaMAN. If you were there, you ain't a boy no more... :)
 
> J.J. nailed that format.

He sure did...and that's what made it exciting...for about 5 minutes. After the same song had been repeated 6 times in one day, however, the excitement factor kind of wore off...which is only a personal preference you understand, since, if I remember correctly, the Q format did something WYSL was never able to do: knocked KB off the track!

And you have to give credit where credit is due: JJ Jordan and his "kind" were masters of guerilla marketing. They aimed for the jugular with a sure hand. This became Randy Michaels' first experience with this kind of radio, which set him up nicely when it came time to tweak it into a Power Pig format, which as we all know was even more successful.

They used to call Buffalo a springboard to the majors. Here is the perfect example of why that phrase was accurate.
>
 
Re: WYSL-FM came before WRGQ

> I am not claiming that WYSL-FM was a major force in the
> market but it DID come first.
>

This thread has tapped into an interesting chapter of Buffalo radio history with the Super Q and now, WYSL-FM. Being one of those not-so-regularly scheduled "teen dj's" at Whistle-FM, I recall three "PD's." Ken Kiedrowski, Bob Allen (RIP) and Paul Palo (Chris K. Clark on WYSL-AM.)

Among the better known "teen dj's," Tom Donahue, Steve Mitchell, Steve Stevens, and Kevin O'Connell. There are probably dozens of guys who got their first taste of the business (for better or worse) at WYSL-FM working in Buffalo, Western New York and around the country. What a rare opportunity.

I sometimes wondered if the NYS Department of Labor ever knew McLendon was staffing its Buffalo FM with kids who weren't getting paid a dime but having the time of their lives doing what they always wanted. Not that any of us who got the call ever cared.

BTW, the first jock I ever saw "working" in a radio station was Dickie "Wild Child" Kemp who did nights at WYSL-AM in the mid-60's. Working behind the scenes in the production booth that evening, a young Tim Kelly, recording "WYSL Instant Requests." Good God, I'm getting old!

Back to work.
 
New Thread Idea

>
> BTW, the first jock I ever saw "working" in a radio station
> was Dickie "Wild Child" Kemp who did nights at WYSL-AM in
> the mid-60's. Working behind the scenes in the production
> booth that evening, a young Tim Kelly, recording "WYSL
> Instant Requests." Good God, I'm getting old!


Well, now, here is an interesting idea for a thread...
First person I ever saw on air was Sandy Beach at WDRC in Hartford (1965-before I even had an idea I wanted to get in the biz). I was standing in the lobby staring through the studio window and the traffic manager asked me to leave because I didn't have "an appointment". Two years later I was working there...
 
Re: WYSL-FM came before WRGQ

Thanks for setting the record straight. As much as I think I know of Buffalo radio history, I didn't know this little tidbit about WYSL-FM. My first memories of WYSL-FM were as a progressive station in the late '60s. In 1966, all I had was a small AM transister radio.
 
Re: WYSL-FM came before WGRQ

> Thanks for setting the record straight. As much as I think
> I know of Buffalo radio history, I didn't know this little
> tidbit about WYSL-FM. My first memories of WYSL-FM were as
> a progressive station in the late '60s. In 1966, all I had
> was a small AM transister radio.

The WYSL-FM story is an interesting little tid-bit in the history of Broadcasting in the Buffalo area.

The 103.3 frequency is certainly better known as a progressive station or as it was referred to in 1969 "underground music".

AS Jim Pastrick, a graduate, of "Whistle-FM", said in an earlier post,"There are probably dozens of guys who got their first taste of the business (for better or worse) at WYSL-FM working in Buffalo, Western New York and around the country. What a rare opportunity."

It was such a strange situation for a man of the stature of Gordon McLendon to
hand over the 50K fm signal to two teenage program directors who in turn had the opportunity to put together a huge staff of young djs who were all anxious to show there stuff on the air.

I remember fondly having "philosophical" (haha) dicussions with Dick "the wild child" Kemp when he would warn me of the dangers of getting involved in broadcasting. He told me once that if it wasn't the booze it was the drugs and if it wasn't women trouble it would be something else that would get you in the radio business.

I thank Jim for having such a good memory and extra points for being able to spell my last name correctly.
 
> Now this is a trip down memory lane. Jackson Armstrong,
> Dave Mason, Mark Driscoll, Cary Pall, Bat Johnson and many
> others were radio gods to me at 13Q Pittsburgh.
>
> Thanks for the post and the memories guys!
>

I am shocked and thrilled to be included in this list! As Wayne and Garth used to say, "I'm not worthy!"

BTW, J.J. Jordan is still doing great work on air at a country station in his hometown of Tyler, Texas...when he's not fishing! (He is a world-class fisherman, no kidding.)
 
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