What's your "most-missed" station(s)?

[chrish]

I was at 100.7 through the General Cinema transition to First Media (WKKT) and
through the first 3 years of WZLX.
WKKT was suppossed to be a clone of highly successful KUBE Seattle put together
by Michael O'Shea....was going directly for Kiss 108 as a very urban leaning CHR
as Kiss was at the time playing lots of rock.
WKKT was a victim of First Media syndrome, "too many fingers in the pie"
WPGC and KUBE were successful because they had GM's that ruled with the roost
and tolerated zero interference. The cat never stood a chance. We went on the air
January 1, 1983 with reel to reel tapes put together at KUBE while the permanent
urban CHR music library was to be put on Scotchcarts at KFMK now KBXX in Houston which was an AC with heavy MOR leanings run by Dan Mason (now running CBS again)
Dan decided the format was now going to clone KFMK.

Mark Schwartz and crew started with a great product right out of the box that freaked SJW and Rich Balsbaugh.

Well one day we went from playing the hottest rythmatic hits ...Tina Turners whats
love got to do with it... to the next morning new carted music ....Gale Garnett
We'll sing in the sunshine, It was such a disaster with all the infighting and each
person trying to take it in a different direction. A couple of months of this and
it was so badly damaged that it was beyond any possible fix.
By this time the Marriotts had had enough, pulled the plug and called in Gary Guthrie a program consultant that had an idea for a new format called
Classic Hits. WZLX was the prototype and the rest is history suddenly there
was a classic hits or classic rock station in every major market

 

[chrisalcorn]

WBTT 94.5 Dayton, OH. WBLZ 103.5 Cincinnati,OH. WTKT 1580 Lexington, KY. WRPZ 1440 Lexington,KY. WVBA 89.9 Frankfort, KY. WBLO 104.3 Louisville,KY WJYL 101.7 Louisville,KY. WTFX 100.5 Louisville,KY. WVKO 1580 Columbus,OH. WDAO 107.7 Dayton,OH. WKQQ 98.1 Lexington, KY. WMGE 107.1 Danville, KY.

 

[Garrett]

WBTT 94.5 Dayton, OH. WBLZ 103.5 Cincinnati,OH. WTKT 1580 Lexington, KY. WRPZ 1440 Lexington,KY. WVBA 89.9 Frankfort, KY. WBLO 104.3 Louisville,KY WJYL 101.7 Louisville,KY. WTFX 100.5 Louisville,KY. WVKO 1580 Columbus,OH. WDAO 107.7 Dayton,OH. WKQQ 98.1 Lexington, KY. WMGE 107.1 Danville, KY.

I suspect that we are really talking about Boston stations (since it is the Boston radio board).

And along those lines, here I mine:
FM Radio:
WHTT
WZOU
WROR 98.5
Star93.7 (as an analogue)
Jib 97 FM

AM Radio:
WEEI (as a Newsradio station)
WHDH 850
WRKO (Pre-Rush, Dr. Laura, Hannity era)
WBZ (Pre-News-Talk era).

TV Station:
WLVI 56
WNAC 7
WBZ TV (as an NBC Group W station).

 

[rapking]

WBTT 94.5 Dayton, OH. WBLZ 103.5 Cincinnati,OH. WTKT 1580 Lexington, KY. WRPZ 1440 Lexington,KY. WVBA 89.9 Frankfort, KY. WBLO 104.3 Louisville,KY WJYL 101.7 Louisville,KY. WTFX 100.5 Louisville,KY. WVKO 1580 Columbus,OH. WDAO 107.7 Dayton,OH. WKQQ 98.1 Lexington, KY. WMGE 107.1 Danville, KY.

Ok outside of area code 617 ? The real KDAY L.A. , Hot 102 Norfolk VA, Urban 98.7 Kiss FM and Urban WBLS NY ( although I like what they are doing now ) ,Urban A/C WAAA Winstin-Salem NC, and KACE LA

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

WNTN back in the 70's - when it was a progressive alternative oon the AM dial.
FM was just coming into the mainstream, but here was FM-style programming available
on AM radios. How cool is THAT?

 

[WMC2006]

In-market and slightly in/out depending on where you are:

-JB105 (Providence) from, probably, the early 80s?? Was the Bill and Al show (Bill Silver and Al Norman) on JB105? yes, I think it was.

-PRO-FM from the 80s: Jimmy Gray, Tony Bristol, David Simpson, Tony Mascaro (TM in the PM), etc

-the original WORC-AM (Worcester) with Dave O'Gara and Philip James Lagious doing the news("I'm Phillip James Lagious, WORC News. And now lets say..Good Morning Dave O'Gara" )...Dave O'Gara back in the day of 1-man morning shows

-WVBF

-the original WROR with Joe (Martelle) and Andy (Moes) in the morning

-WZEA, Seacoast 102, Portsmouth, NH area

-107.1 WERZ, Portsmouth area again, from the 95-98 timeperiod. WERZ is still there but Im not.


And, finally, wayyy out of the Boston market, stations Ive listened to in my travels (they are still there but Im not):

-92.9 WEZQ, Bangor Maine
-Q98, WQSM, Fayetteville, NC
-102.7 WGNI, Wilmington, NC

 

[freddyb590]

I really liked WEGQ (93.7).

And, in Providence, I thought WWRX (103.7) had a better classic rock mix than 'ZLX.

 

[ReggieBeas]

Kiss in the late 80s (before Sunny was let go)

WBCN in the mid 90s (taught a Black man about Alternative music)

Star 93.7 (fun station: LOVED the disco tunes)

96.9 Smooth Jam (don't remember the call letters, but should have made a ton of money)

Hot 97.7 at the beginning (2000-2001 with the original airstaff (Cherry Martinez, Chuck Dogg and The LBD) and with an aggressive approach to playing Hip-Hop)

 

[ReggieBeas]

I meant Smooth Jazz

 

[magnadan]

I miss:

Early 80's WBOS "The Rock Boss"

"94-and-a-half. WCOZ, Kick Ass Rock & Roll" (Really miss the light-saber commercial they had)

100.7 WCOP

101.7 WLYN "Y-102" New-Wave

103.3 WEEI, The "SoftRock" years and then the slow transition to CHR

Kiss 108, The Sunny Joe White years when you were just as likely to hear a Patsy Cline or CCR as you were Madonna.

Out of Market:

JB-105, WPJB/Providence

WERZ "We R Z-107" in the 80s

"Rock 101" WGIR when they actually played three songs in a row for the block party weekend w/o IDs and sweepers between each song. Anyone remember dead segues?

 

[cjf68]

I miss Boston radio ( as it was. ) up until Sept. 1981. When `RKO went to tallk.

That`s when the decline started

 

[rapking]

Kiss in the late 80s (before Sunny was let go)

WBCN in the mid 90s (taught a Black man about Alternative music)

Star 93.7 (fun station: LOVED the disco tunes)

96.9 Smooth Jam (don't remember the call letters, but should have made a ton of money)

Hot 97.7 at the beginning (2000-2001 with the original airstaff (Cherry Martinez, Chuck Dogg and The LBD) and with an aggressive approach to playing Hip-Hop)

ReggieBeas How do you like Ohio ( PD in Ohio , Former WBOT DJ ) ? Hot 97.7 was HOT in the Begining ( B 4 Radio One F it up ) .

 

[Retro]

In-market and slightly in/out depending on where you are:

-JB105 (Providence) from, probably, the early 80s?? Was the Bill and Al show (Bill Silver and Al Norman) on JB105? yes, I think it was.

-PRO-FM from the 80s: Jimmy Gray, Tony Bristol, David Simpson, Tony Mascaro (TM in the PM), etc

-the original WORC-AM (Worcester) with Dave O'Gara and Philip James Lagious doing the news("I'm Phillip James Lagious, WORC News. And now lets say..Good Morning Dave O'Gara" )...Dave O'Gara back in the day of 1-man morning shows

-WVBF

-the original WROR with Joe (Martelle) and Andy (Moes) in the morning

-WZEA, Seacoast 102, Portsmouth, NH area

-107.1 WERZ, Portsmouth area again, from the 95-98 timeperiod. WERZ is still there but Im not.

I miss most of those stations and/or formats as well, but especially Pro-FM during the early 90's. They had all of the above mentioned plus TJ Napp. They also had Rocky Allen in the morning too. Now both Rocky Allen and Tony Mascaro are at WPLJ In New York City.

 

[Boston_Bill]

I used to love the old WCOZ with Ken Shelton. That was just a great music station without the nonsense of today

 

[webcastboy]

What stations do I "miss"?

WHSR Winchester
WSRB Walpole
WPAA Andover
WDBY Duxbury
WQLI Newbury
WTBR Pittsfield

Actually, I can't really miss them since I didn't even notice when they disappeared.

Seriously, though...I miss Allston-Brighton Free Radio (Pre-Provizer-Departure). Wasted far too many hours in that pit, but it was fun while it lasted.

 

[Time Traveler]

AM:
680-WRKO (Top 40 era)
740-WCAS
1030-WBZ (Top 40 era)
1260-WEZE (Top 40/Oldies Z-1260)
1510-WMEX
1550-WNTN (Progressive Rock era)

FM:
94.5-WHDH-FM (1967-1969 Progressive Rock era)
94.5-WCOZ
98.5-WRKO-FM
100.7-WCOP (Oldies)
100.7-WTTK
103.3-WEEI-FM (The Young Sound)
105.7-WKOX-FM/WVBF
106.7-WBZ-FM

 

[CTListener]

Anybody else remember WGTR (1060) Natick in the mid-'70s? This was John H. Garabedian's station, and he and Don Kelley -- now a big wheel at Greater Media's Boston cluster -- were the primary air personalities, with Mark Parenteau working there for a while as well. The music mix was pretty adventurous for a suburban AM -- an odd blend of AC and rock, with album cuts thrown in for spice. Songs that linger with me to this day as "GTR songs" are "Power Cut" by Paul McCartney & Wings and "Avenging Annie" by Andy Pratt. I remember Garabedian even working a Strawbs track into his show late one afternoon ... and he always signed off with "Stairway to Heaven," long before "Stairway" became a classic-rock radio cliche.

Another oddity about GTR was the primitive voicetracking the station used, especially on weekends. I have a feeling separate reel-to-reel tapes were being used, because sometimes the DJ patter would pop up in the middle of songs or would be back-announcing songs that had yet to be played. I remember these kinds of screw-ups also happening on WTTK (100.7), the "progressive country" station that succeeded WCOP-FM. Now THERE was a strange music mix: Crystal Gayle and .38 Special back to back!

 

[Eli Polonsky]

What stations do I "miss"?

WHSR Winchester

Actually, I can't really miss them since I didn't even notice when they disappeared.

I certainly noticed when WHSR (Winchester High School Radio) disappeared, after something like twenty years of public service to the northwest suburbs. It had something to do with a certain college-based public radio music station coming on the air on the frequency and somehow getting them knocked off even though they were not within their protected primary coverage contour (after "helping" them arrange to move to a different frequency which was obviously not going to work due to second adjacents to other already existing, much stronger stations), but every time I mention what I had heard years ago from longtime WHSR staffers/management, I get replies that the GM of (the public radio station) "says it's not true...", and is apparently beyond reproach in all situations.

 

[pqgeorge]

What stations do I "miss"?

WHSR Winchester

Actually, I can't really miss them since I didn't even notice when they disappeared.

I certainly noticed when WHSR (Winchester High School Radio) disappeared, after something like twenty years of public service to the northwest suburbs. It had something to do with a certain college-based public radio music station coming on the air on the frequency and somehow getting them knocked off even though they were not within their protected primary coverage contour (after "helping" them arrange to move to a different frequency which was obviously not going to work due to second adjacents to other already existing, much stronger stations), but every time I mention what I had heard years ago from longtime WHSR staffers/management, I get replies that "the GM of (the public radio station) says it's not true..." Who am I to refute someone who is apparently beyond reproach?

That is absolutely true that 'HSR was bumped by another station. WHSR/91.9 was on the air for over 30 years and was quite a good local high school station. I actually was able to pick it up in Randolph from time to time. The GM of the station which took over WHSR's frequency did say that they were in the process of "helping Winchester High School find a new frequency or maybe getting them fed on cable". Neither which were ever done, AFAIK. Word has it that that WHSR was actually put on the air by a Mr. Arnold W. Ginsburg, a local radio engineer who happened to be known as "Arnie" (you know.... "Woo-Woo"), back in 1956.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

That is absolutely true that 'HSR was bumped by another station. WHSR/91.9 was on the air for over 30 years and was quite a good local high school station. I actually was able to pick it up in Randolph from time to time. The GM of the station which took over WHSR's frequency did say that they were in the process of "helping Winchester High School find a new frequency or maybe getting them fed on cable". Neither which were ever done, AFAIK. Word has it that that WHSR was actually put on the air by a Mr. Arnold W. Ginsburg, a local radio engineer who happened to be known as "Arnie" (you know.... "Woo-Woo"), back in 1956.

I could hear WHSR where I grew up in Newton. It was a lot more than just "high school students playing radio". It also provided community service programming to the surrounding towns as well as Winchester. It actually did briefly appear on the "new" frequency in the mid-80's shortly after it was bumped from it's original, but other powerful pre-existing second-adjacent stations complained and it was bumped off the air for good. The new frequency was one that has never been considered usable in the greater Boston area, and I can't believe that wasn't known by the radio-savvy GM of the public radio station who suggested they move there. It was just a way of getting them off their desired frequency, regardless of the outcome.

Speaking of some of "Woo-Woo's" radio consulting work in the 50's, he told me (and I confirmed from other sources) that the MIT administration had consulted him to put a 50 kW commercial station on the air around 1955. It turned out that even at that time over fifty years ago, there was no room on the dial for another 50 kW license in the immediate Boston/Cambridge area, so MIT gave up on the idea. They wanted 50 kW (with a Cambridge COL), or nothing!! Six years later, MIT students put 10 watt WTBS (now 720 watt WMBR) on the air, as a student project independent of the MIT administration.