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WHO REMEMBERS WPTR (1540 AM ALBANY NY) BOOMING IN HERE AT NIGHT?

E

Early Byrd

To anyone who grew up in the Boston area in the heyday of AM Top-40 radio, there were several choices at night to hear out of the area stations and what tunes they were playing...especailly after 10 PM when Jerry Williams talk replaced the music on WMEX. One of the most prominent one was WPTR, the 50,000 watt signal on 1540 in not too far away Albany, NY.

I just read where WPTR DJ "Boom Boom" Brannigan, who was a legend in that market, and who some in this area might recall from listening at night, has passed away at age 82.
 
I do ! I do ! Great Top 40 Rock / Pop stuff ! Also, WTRY (Troy, NY) when we were coming back from ski trips up north ! Damn, it was exciting once, wasn't it ?
 
WPTR at 1540, WKBW at 1520, WCFL at 1000, CKLW at 800 and WABC at 770 -- those were the nighttime alternatives to WMEX/WRKO I remember.
 
Albany was a good market to be in if you wanted to come to Boston eventually, too. Several Boston personalities worked in that market prior to driving east about 150 miles. Two that come to mind right away are John Garabedian and Bruce Bradley, albeit on different stations there and at different times.
 
CTListener said:
WPTR at 1540, WKBW at 1520, WCFL at 1000, CKLW at 800 and WABC at 770 -- those were the nighttime alternatives to WMEX/WRKO I remember.
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Yes, to all of those stations! Also on my DX list for Top-40 back then was WLS (890) Chicago, WAVZ, (1300), New Haven, CT and WPOP (1410), Hartford, CT. Sometimes WDRC (1360) Hartford, CT, when their signal would make it. WPOP's there was more reliable.

....and WENE (1430) Endicott, NY, once then-WHIL, Medford, signed-off.
 
These days there's still a 1540 there but I think it's religious. Here in the day on the North Shore
we get WXEX out of Exeter NH
 
Let's not forget 1010 WINS New York with Murray the K, babies :) And, if you lived a little bit north of Boston, 1050 CHUM would win out over WHN/WMGM
 
Raccoon.

1540 is still in Albany; they are religious, with the call WDCD. They're now owned by DJRA Brtoadcasting,still running 50 kW DA-1.
 
DG02816 said:
Raccoon.

1540 is still in Albany; they are religious, with the call WDCD. They're now owned by DJRA Brtoadcasting,still running 50 kW DA-1.
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Is DJRA a subsidiary of Crawford? Or has the station actually changed hands?
 
I don't remember their rock days but the format just before they went religious reminded me of JIB-fm. It was good. They do have a strong "upstate" signal as a couple of New England sun-downers share the freq. Not quite as good as Schen'WGY/810.
 
DG02816 said:
Dan,

DJRA is a Crawford subsidiary, as the address the FCC has is Attn: Donald Crawford Jr.
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Not a subsidiary - Crawford Jr. bought WDCD and several other stations from Crawford Sr. within the last few years, and they're run at least somewhat separately now.
 
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