WWCO History

[Bill-in-CT]

WWCO has been mentioned under the 1380 and 1590 topics, and I will answer Mike's and Marc's question from those threads here.

WWCO/WIOF was never in a church. WWCO started out in 1946 in the orginal Mattuck Museum, and was on 65 Bank Street from the late 50s until 1971 with offices on the 5th and studios on the 6th floor. The station moved to Straits Turnpike in 1971, to Lakewood Rd across from the park in 1989, then in with WQQW on South Main Street, to the Red Bull Inn when WQQW went off the air, and finally to a place off Watertown Avenue in Oakville. The transmitter has always been on Thomaston Avenue.

Merv Griffin bought WWCO in 1965, put the FM on the air in 1967, and sold the AM in 1973 in order to buy WPOP. He initiated the purchase in 1972 but it took almost a year for the FCC to approve the sale.

Facebook pictures and airchecks at Grew Up With "Super Music C-O/WWCO" Waterbury -
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=40494191818&ref=ts

 

[bub]

WWCO/WIOF was never in a church. WWCO started out in 1946 in the orginal Mattuck Museum, and was on 65 Bank Street from the late 50s until 1971 with offices on the 5th and studios on the 6th floor.

65 Bank Street, otherwise known as Apothecary Corner?

 

[MarcB]

My mom and I used to listen to WWCO on the weekends before they flipped to Buckley. Steve Jay and Rich Cyr were the two jocks I remember. I believe for a while Steve was the DJ at The Bristol Auto Club Car Show held every Saturday Night and broadcast on WBIS 1120 before they were sold and went Spanish in 1993. He drove a car with a license plate having to do with The New York Yankees. Steve was on at 10AM or 11AM. I remember because that's what time WNTY aired its Irish Show and that's why we switched over to WWCO. Rich Cyr I remember played a lot of 70s Oldies on his show. Rich was on Sunday afternoons and I remember one year on Thanksgiving he filled in doing his music show instead of whatever boring talk show was supposed to be on. (I call it boring talk show because it had to be 1995 or 1996 and I was only 13 or 14 and no self-respecting 13 or 14 year old listens to talk radio).

 

[Bill-in-CT]

65 Bank Street, otherwise known as Apothecary Corner?

Yes.

 

[bub]

65 Bank Street, otherwise known as Apothecary Corner?

Yes.

That's what I thought. Now, can anybody out there verify a story on Apothecary Corner and the station's former owner, Merv Griffin? I've never been inside the building but I'm told that there was/is an elevator in the building. Legend has it that when Griffin was owner of the station and would stop by 65 Bank Street, he would wear a lampshade on his head and greet people as an elevator man for staffers and other folks who would use the elevator. Uh, is this true?