Does anybody else remember WDRC-FM's AOR format of 1977-1978. They were in a the three way AOR battle against WCCC and WHCN. During their brief run...they had a much wider playlist than their two competitors. The format was sharply tightened up in late 1978 and was completely replaced by Top 40 in 1980....
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
WDRC-FM as an AOR station....
- Thread starter Time Traveler
- Start date
Can't say I remember much about WDRC-FM as an AOR with a bigger playlist than WHCN and WCCC. WPLR was also a factor then - they still are. WHCN/WCCC/WPLR were still pretty free-form with lots of deep tracks - it's hard to imagine anyone else having a bigger playlist. In the early and mid 1970s, I always thought of WDRC-FM as more of a heavily dayparted and hipper Top 40 than its AM counterpart with a few album cuts thrown in. ELO's "Roll Over Beethoven" got a lot of evening airplay. If you wanted familiar rock without the bubblegum and none of the Top 40 stuff your parents liked, then WDRC-FM was the place. 1978 definitely brought a tighter list to WDRC-FM, more like NYC's WPLJ than WNEW-FM.Time Traveler said:
Back in the years of Grant's Tomb in the seventies, AM/FM would simulcast overnights. The music mix even changed in the course of that simulcast as they got closer to morning drive and AM would split away again. Otis in the Nighttime used to always play Led Zep's "Stairway to Heaven" on FM up to midnight before joining the simulcast. What BTO instrumental did they pad with if the AM wasn't ready? It was something called "Free Wheelin'"... now there's trivia for ya!
Time Traveler,
Travelling back in time to the time when I lived in Bristol & can still hear legendary PD Charlie Parker voice the ID: "D-103/Connecticut's Best Rock", featuring legendary jocks such as Barry Grant, Rabbett (who used to work @'HCN - now in Hawai'i) & Tom Morgan, who used to work @Magic104. Also, I went to college & worked w/Mike Grady, who worked part-time on the FM when they went Top 40 & ran Casey Kasem's AT40 on Sunday nights - "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone was the big hit at the time - any other jocks you can remember?
Travelling back in time to the time when I lived in Bristol & can still hear legendary PD Charlie Parker voice the ID: "D-103/Connecticut's Best Rock", featuring legendary jocks such as Barry Grant, Rabbett (who used to work @'HCN - now in Hawai'i) & Tom Morgan, who used to work @Magic104. Also, I went to college & worked w/Mike Grady, who worked part-time on the FM when they went Top 40 & ran Casey Kasem's AT40 on Sunday nights - "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone was the big hit at the time - any other jocks you can remember?
I also remember (Country) Paul Peyton being there as well as some jock named Russ Dana from WAAF. There was also some guy that went under the name of "Otis in the night time" as I recall...
amfmradio1 said:
It's spelled Thom Morgan. He did 3 tours of duty at AM 990 in Southington. - Once in the 70s and then he was the morning man from January 2004-May 2004, which is when 990 went Spanish for the second time. (The first under owner DMG) and then again from January 2007 until May 2007 which is when they went Spanish for the 3rd time. During my time at 990 I met him. He's a really nice guy. Great sense a humor and a great story teller too. - That's why I used to listen to "Morgan in the Morning" on AM 990. He always told great stories on the air - about his family, about his friends, about the lady he was dating, and more.
[A quick personal story about me and Thom and his sense of humor- I needed a ride from the radio station to the Southington library. (It's about a little more than a mile). He offered to give me a ride in his newer model Acura. I get in the passenger seat and even after adjusting the seat I couldn't get the seat belt on. (I'm a big guy). Thom told me to hang on and if he has to crash the car he'll aim my side of the car towards the telephone pole.
].WOW glenn...I just had this conversation a few weeks ago with my son about the drc over nite deal..told him bout Otis and how grants tomb was simulcast on AM and FM...how stairway was played everynite to sync things up ( I listen to the end of stairway now and I still expect to hear that BTO instrumental that lined things up). I was at uconn during that time in DRC's history (remember stat sweeps every hour)..you could walk down dorm halls every nite about 11:50 and hear those opening chords of zeppelin. At that time, DRC was a bit heavier than top 40, especially at nite, with both Otis and Barry Grant playing something deeper than generic Kasey Kasem stuff. While DRC was heard at nite, during the day, you would hear HCN,PLR or WAQY, depending on what dorm you were in and what signal was strong there.
Talking about Barry Grant, I can recall reading somewhere,and I dont recall where, that he had an FCC class 2 license so he was able to able to take transmitter readings overnite, making him expremely valuable to the station. Not sure how true that story is.
Talking about Barry Grant, I can recall reading somewhere,and I dont recall where, that he had an FCC class 2 license so he was able to able to take transmitter readings overnite, making him expremely valuable to the station. Not sure how true that story is.
Hey Time Traveler,
Thanks for bringing back to mind Country Paul Payton & Russ Dana (great voice - didn't know he worked @'AAF).
If I remember correctly (correct me if I'm wrong) Otis in the Night Time worked there when they were both Top40 & CT's Best Rock?
Thanks for bringing back to mind Country Paul Payton & Russ Dana (great voice - didn't know he worked @'AAF).
If I remember correctly (correct me if I'm wrong) Otis in the Night Time worked there when they were both Top40 & CT's Best Rock?
amfmradio1 said:
Otis stayed on for a while during the transition to AOR. First evenings...than overnights...and than he disappeared. Barry Grant was the PD during the AOR format, and as I recall he came there from WPLR at the time. Thom Morgan also arrived in Connecticut after a stint at WAAF. WAAF had been sold in 1976, and the loose AOR format that they had in place was discarded for the Abrams flash card radio format. When the sale occurred, a number of the jocks bolted including Thom Morgan and Russ Dana...
B
beegee814
Guest
A few clarifications about WDRC.
I had complete creative freedom to do the Midnight-6AM shift.No one ever told me what to say or play.I did mostly rock,with blues & jazz mixed in.It was my decision to move to a kind of "hip" top 40 between 5-6AM to help build the morning drive audience.
Otis only played Stairway To Heaven as he signed off so he could leave early-he was out the door when that song started.It had nothing to do with syncing AM&FM.
When WDRC brought me back after my stay at WPLR As Program Director,we did OK with a new format.Dick Coursen,the horrible General Manager decided he didn't like it & killed the formatHe's the guy who shot his wife in the head shortly after taking off in his private plane-she died & he died soon after too.He was universally disliked.When I went there as Program DIrector,he told me Charlie Parker was crazy & To discuss important things wit him,not Charlie.Charlie was not only not crazy,but one of the most brilliant people ever in Radio.
I did have an FCC 1st Class License & was chief engineer at several stations.
I worked at WAAF 7-12PPM-OTIS was the Program Director.
I had complete creative freedom to do the Midnight-6AM shift.No one ever told me what to say or play.I did mostly rock,with blues & jazz mixed in.It was my decision to move to a kind of "hip" top 40 between 5-6AM to help build the morning drive audience.
Otis only played Stairway To Heaven as he signed off so he could leave early-he was out the door when that song started.It had nothing to do with syncing AM&FM.
When WDRC brought me back after my stay at WPLR As Program Director,we did OK with a new format.Dick Coursen,the horrible General Manager decided he didn't like it & killed the formatHe's the guy who shot his wife in the head shortly after taking off in his private plane-she died & he died soon after too.He was universally disliked.When I went there as Program DIrector,he told me Charlie Parker was crazy & To discuss important things wit him,not Charlie.Charlie was not only not crazy,but one of the most brilliant people ever in Radio.
I did have an FCC 1st Class License & was chief engineer at several stations.
I worked at WAAF 7-12PPM-OTIS was the Program Director.
I remember tuning in the AT40's with Casey Kasem sunday nights.
Radio is a small world, but I can't imagine going back to work for a General Manager knowing they're that horrible. Perhaps it says more about a love for radio and respect for Program Director Charlie Parker.
"Stairway To Heaven" was always played by Otis in the Nighttime before midnight. "Free Bird" or anything else wouldn't have been the same. During my six years on the evening shift there, the song wasn't in the format, but I did get to play it once up to midnight in remembrance of Otis during the 40th anniversary of Big D.
"Stairway To Heaven" was always played by Otis in the Nighttime before midnight. "Free Bird" or anything else wouldn't have been the same. During my six years on the evening shift there, the song wasn't in the format, but I did get to play it once up to midnight in remembrance of Otis during the 40th anniversary of Big D.
- Status