popular radio stations in the 1970s

Poor Lee hadnt been paying attention. Talent like Ken Lowe (Steve Roddy), Rick Dees, Pat Patterson, Mike Reineri, Gary Edens, Tommy Walker, Eddie Weiss (Charlie Brown) with Jimmy Capps and Our Best To You in the late night hours and a terrific news team Joe Goodpasture, John Tesh, Doug Limerick, Bill Leslie, Mike Blackman. I think it says something that I remember all those *personalities*. (Any wonder why omissions of such stations have prompted responsesmine includedsaying that the poster forgot such and such Top 40 station?). (they spelled it MUSICRADIO 89) Before there was Drake, there was Storz and McLendon. Top 5 Best Mimo Antennas In 2023 Reviews & Buying Guide; Really? In the mid-70s, Knoxville had a three-way AM Top 40 battle between WKGN, WNOX, and WRJZ going, while WOKI was playing the hits, sort of, on FM. I completely agree. WAAM and WODA started to cooperate and eventually both taken over by Audre Bulova (of watch fame) and Milton Biowand renamed WNEW, which reintroduced DJs to New York. reconsider your sources. And they had some great ones Charlie Tuna, Machine Gun Kelly (at night!). WRKO Boston and JJ Jefrey was the best of the Boss format. Bobby thanks for your kind comments. [Apologies if Im forgetting anybody.] Obviously there were many great stations back in the hay-day of Top 40! In 67 we got an advanced copy of Sgt Pepper at little old WKBK in Keene, NHbefore WABC (I was told)..thats when turning on mike was fun. @Rich Marston WebThe year 1970 in radio saw the debut of a nationally syndicated music and WFAA-AM 570 finally end the time-share arrangement on both frequencies that had lasted since the What you guys have done is incredible, if only Radio today was like it was in its heyday of top 40 with those stations you mentioned. They only beat WLS in the ratings once, but that battle was David vs Goliath in signal and cash. Stan Roberts, Larry Anderson, Frank Benny, Shane, Tom Donahue, John Otto, Golden Joe Galuski, Craig Matthews and many, many others including yourself. We werent allowed to say the word magic, because KMJC Magic 91 was a competitor. It was a time that will live in our hearts forever. Only then did KOIL take notice and knocked off the daytimer with the larger 5kw day/night signal. KBOX gave us Dan Ingram, Bill Ward, and many others. Hence the morning mans name FENWAY. WasntKXOL in Fort Worth Top 40 back in the day? The studios were in a former carriage house with a false front to make it look taller and a mirror at the end of the long single hallway to make it look bigger when you walked in. KY102 was AOR not Top-40. Even Hot AC, or Uptempo MOR stations like KING and KGW were top notch.). Like I said this was a tough assignment. As does WICC Bridgeport, CT belong on not only my list of the greatest Top 40 stations in the New York suburbs, but also one of THE greatest Top 40 stations, PERIOD. Alan Sneed & Gary Adkins had my back Monday morning they got me to Vic Rumore Jim Bob, who was GM at KGN and their consultant, Mr.Green Kent Burkhart I was on the air Monday Nite I stayed there until Big WAYS came a calling which is another story for another time. Best wishes to all alumni of radios golden age. of great Top 40 stations. His wife did the music. This list is bullit. When that station had to be sold or loose its license and it went to beautiful music WHN, the Yankees went to a non-rock stationWCBS. Readers Top 10 Top 40s. The McLendon format memos remain some of the best how-to handbooks for radio. We had some pretty good board ops who could incorporate the Wolfmans customs. Everyone here has had the luxury of living through some of the best radio ever. Wibbage was a true top 40 station from about 1958 until roughly 1977. It exploded in 1967 with the Drake format. THATS! Even as a kid, I remember, by the mid-70s, WLS wasnt quite as exciting as CKLW, but still a wonderful experience. I meant WKYC, not WXYZ. WMGQ Magic 98.3 New Brunswick, NJ (WCTCs sister station) It was more than just the music. They had a very strong signal at night and played all the latest hits!! And if neither WAPE Jacksonville, FL NOR WQXI was the WABC of the South, so many of the larger Southern cities were contenders for that title: including New Orleans (WNOE as well as WTIX), Atlanta again (WPLO, WAKE (with its 1,000-watts daytime/250-watts nighttimeand prior to the early 60s, 250 watts full timesignal! The comments pour in, what a fun read, and Tribute to how good it all was. I hope he and his legacy will never be forgotten. Introduction of NHL hockey to the city in the early 70s brought the talents of the late TED DARLING to the Erie also had the talented Oogie Pringle who went from WJET to WRIE in Erie and then jumped to WNBC in NY. They were late in the AM game. And lets not forget WHK in Cleveland who owned that City from 1959 to 1964 blowing every other station away. Boogie) devised an audacious plan to go head-to-head with market-owning KCBQ. Not mentioned but it should be was WHND and the talents of Richard D haase, Boogie Brian, Jon Ray, Stew Wilkins, et.al. Love your show! KNUZ/Houston. If someone said they heard it on the radio, they meant that they heard it on WLS. Fun. No doubt WQXI held off FM competition for years after the city grew beyond its signal. DAMN!!!!! right, **WPLJ*!! WMEX, Boston for sure. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Thats a fact. 93Q had the better air personalities, including John Lander and the Q Morning Zoo; but, the music battle between the two stations was just exceptional. I cant believe the PNW was left off of everybodys list. Sorry, John Records Landecker, but Chicagos WCFL wins this one. They didnt last long, but they were awesome. The reason is KHJ, Drakes first RKO project, was huge news and sent Top 40 radio on a new trajectory that would eventually affect virtually every station in the format. The glory days of CKLW were only five years long, but the Big 8s influence reverberates today. He said I look outside and if I see lights then we give it a try. Kids all over the Midwest left their radios on 890, turned them on after school, and waited for darkness. It was a magical blend of personality, jingles, contests, and fun mixed with the greatest music that defined the era and continues to live today. I like the mention of Big WAYS and WTIX as I lived in those cities and I used to hear WAPE. Station moved from 88.3 on 12/21/1991. Worth where Paxton Mills started and George Carlin got his start (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i6WheuRi0s). Maybe Im biased, but its my list. With Johnny Randolph as PD, WAKY played one black and one country record every quarter hour. WebWith the FCC's reallocation of frequencies in the early forties, AM dial stability began to appear with WJR (760), WWJ (950), WXYZ (1270) and WJBK (1480). That rarely exists anymore. KFRC was a good station, but anyone whos honest it was strictly second-tier and never (especially during AM Top 40s most dominant era) had anything close to the production magic and genius of Boss Radio, Morgan and Steele were the most influential in the business. It was an awesome signal, but somehow they couldnt get that hum out of the transmitter. WABC was the Yankees of the group. @Phil Dirt Hoot Gibson? It was the Top 40 station in San Francisco during the Summer of Love. WERA Plainfield, NJ (went dark in 1997 due to WWRL New Yorks then-impending wattage boost) He had 60 shares with a 500- watt daytimer. WJLK-FM Asbury Park, NJ (before reformatting to Top 40 and then to Hot AC) Was Out in the Street by the Shangri-Las really the last record you played on Wins and the last record heard thereon? WIOQ, Philadelphia (1987-88) LONG time ago, but good memories. And I definitely remember John Leader. IMNSHO I felt WLS hit their pinnacle right about 1981-2 when they segued to a Rock-40 format. In fact, the list also left off the early Adult Contemporary stations, period! ( Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries) Philadelphias African American DJs were heard on the far right end of the dial, where the citys two major Black stations, WDAS and WHAT, were located. K92 was mentioned and they picked up the number one spot a few years after they went on the air in 1980, dethroning WROV. WebListen to the top 100 songs from 1970, watch music videos, and browse other top chart hits from from 1900 - 2022. [Reportedly, WCAU-FM, the Disco Powerhouse at the time, was calling our P.D., to get reactions to new songs we were breaking.] WPGR, Philadelphia (c. latter 1980s-early 1990s, as recalled) You can thank Rose Trombly for a great deal of CKLWs success. Still love it! WMEX Boston should be on this list and one minor market station that sounded and programmed like a major market WAVZ New Haven, CT. You will get your reward soon- in bankruptcy court! John Box gave Gordon McLendon fits and forced KLIF to be even better. Automation, consolidation and syndication killed the small-and-medium-market farm system that fed those larger-market stations. WHAT ABOUT WSGN BIRMINGHAM, AL!!! As are the respective lists of Top 40 *AND* Adult Contemporary stations that I listed above. They were called the WMEX Good Guys. WXYZ not only was in Detroit, but at last check had long been renamed WXYT. Unfortunately from what I understand, you were not part of the team at the time IIRC. Yes, it was a smaller market but, the 10kw daytime on 940 covered 90 of 99 counties in Iowa and at night with 5kw covered into Denver as well as WHO. But Ive got to know, did anyone measure? In the mid 7Os WLS was the greatest top 40 radio station of all time. Jocks with a bit more rope. WVAQ is a giant in North Central West Virginia. But lets not forget KXOL/Ft. As the song says tear open my shirt to show Rosie on my chest. Both were top rated when AM Radio was King. KOMA interviewed the dealership owner and all he could talk about was that GD gas station was still standing amid all the rubble. Lee and Randy..Congratulations on putting together that list. The story (as I understand it) is that Mac Richmond (one of the WMEX owners) let Garabedian mix in some album cuts and long versions of the hits, and broke some stuff along the way (Maggie Mae by Rod Stewart being one). With the big 50,000-watt signal and the relatively few rock-n-roll radio stations across the plains, KOMA was the main station for the hits. With WEAF/WNBC, WABC/WCBS, WJZ/WABC and WOR all having network shows and WNEW having success with DJs, the baseball teams were stuck with the three remaining stations when they started broadcasting baseball in 1939the Dodgers on WHN/WMGM, the Yankees on WINS and the Giants on WMCA. I worked in Trenton, MO in 78 and thought that WDAF 61 Country was great Top 40 radio and how good country radio could be programmed. Getting it down to 20 was tough, unfair, and subjective. Jim Connors from WJET went to WMEX in Boston in 1971. Other stations have been more outrageous, more groundbreaking, or more entertaining, but KIIS is the most influential Top 40 station. Marc Old timers in Omaha still remember KOWH. Those were some really good years on Twin Cities radio. KFJZ 1270 was Fort Worths Top 40 station, headlined by Marky Baby, later known as Mark Stevens of the Stevens & Pruitt morning show on KFJZ-FM (Z-97) which morphed into The Eagle (KEGL) on the same frequency. It held the number one position from 1960 until 1977. Then the Canadian govt. A list of 20 is too short. In the mid- and late 60s WMCA soundly beat WABC, where the signals werent even close. Dick Fatherly was my first source for the story that WTIX, then on 1450, was the first station to use the phrase Top-40. Amazing talent, awesome production, revolutionary promotions. A program devoted to the type of both early R&B and early rock n roll that today is called Doo Wop was added to WADOs schedule at this time. The Last Contest was all about perception and theater of the mins. C-K-S-L of-a-TownLONNN-DONNN!! Loved by everyone in all the western states! The story of Today and his PD, the great Bill Stewart hoisting a few pops after work and watching the waitresses load the jukebox is priceless and will live on and on! WMCA killed WABC in the ratings from 1963-1965. So many markets not mentioned. KSFO was MOR, not Top 40. Web1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 Pages in category "Radio stations established in 1970" The following 180 pages are in this category, out of 180 total. The editorial staff at Radio Ink came up with a great story and executed it well. WMCA outgunned WABC and WINS both with terrific signals. WGBB Freeport, LI, NY. They were tight, bright, slight reverb and very punchy like WABC. In mid-1963, the remaining Top-40 pop rock programming was dropped in favor of even more Spanish programming and a primarily-Spanish format. What a fun night! Toast. This list may not reflect Ps. Is this the fluff-stuff that fires the imaginations of contemporary radio people? Yeah, Im biased, but KNUS belongs on the list. It pre-dated WRKO (Now 6-8-0) on October 12th, 1966. My brother Lacy Neff loved what he did and was very very proud of his station and co workers. WTIX/New Orleans. During the party, the dj there played the Doobie Bros Listen to the Music. Marc Chase made more noise at WFLZ and WEBN, but this was his best work. Cmon people now, Mac Richmond (one of the owners) was a crazed micro-manager and abrasive as sandpaper, but he knew talent. This is the station all of the Super Q imitators wanted to be. Radio Ink also held a three-week online poll and asked you which you believe are the best Top 40 stations of all time. You wont remember but at the 1969 Billboard convention, you were PD of KSTT and I asked you a bunch of questions. in the Spring of 1978, I was doing a late night fill-in on WKDU during their weekday Progressive Rock programming and I decided to do a show of all classic Progressive Rock tracks from the 60s and very early 70s, the music I had enjoyed from the afore-mentioned stations. Edgier. Or certainly brought FM into the 1970s! Wibbages signal was not to cross the border into Canada. I was in college at the time and walking down the hall of the dorm all you heard was the Big 8 in Bowling Green, Ohio, I went to a birthday party in my city not long ago. What a great list. How about 50,000 watt CKY in Winnipeg ??? Pardon the rambling, but that station was Top 40 during the day and Italian-language programming in the evening, with overnights split between jazz & R&B (the latter three from when it was WOV prior to the ownership change in 1959 that changed it to WADO and shuffled at least either of those dayparts to a different time slot). Unbelievable! At its prime, KISN was the king of Top 40 radio in this market. Including two that are in The National Radio Hall Of Fame. WKBW went Top 40 in 1958 by stealing the PD and airstaff from WBNY, which was number one with only 250 watts. According to Pete Battistini, author of the book, American Top 40 with Casey Kasem (The 1970s), Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, Ron Jacobs and Casey Kasem were the individuals who helped create the AT40 show. I will always be thankful to those great PDs, Bill Holly, Dick Star, Charlie Murdock and Lee Sherwood. Two legendary Top 40s that apparently didnt make the cut for these lists. Todd Storz introduced a tight pop music format on KOWH in 1953. Theyd say Goodbye, Dinuba, goodbye Orange Cove Then my cousins would tune in KONG/1400 from Visalia, or surf the iffy skywaves of KRLA, KFWB, KFRC and or other relative weaklings, since the West Coast at the time lacked a Top 40 flamethrower such as the Midwest, prairie and East enjoyed with the likes of WLS, WABC, KAAY and KOMA. Yes! I agree, Scotty. Randys list is more insightful, but both of them left out WFIL, which some felt at the time was the best Top 40 station in the U.S. (around 1968-1970). I was fortunate to work on 99X iin my 20s! Thanks to those folks I managed to make a living in radio for a good bit of my life and I will always be grateful for their willingness to teach new guys! 17. I do want to mention that Ron Jacobs had more to do with the sound of KHJ than he gets credit for. And then Eddie Haskell took it to the #1 CHR nationally in certain demos.I was fortunate to be there on air then!!! When I grew up, I had a steady diet of WABC, WNBC, KB radio 15, CKLW and WOWO. As the name impliedand impliesTop 40 played, then as now, the most popular songs (read: hit recordings). Finally, a plug for WGH. Back in the heyday of exciting Top 40 AMs, that meant I was sandwiched between two of the greatest 89 WLS to the west, and The Big 8 CKLW, to the east. You mentioned KONG AM Visalia. The idea was to protect some station in Canada. It worked! Write a book Randy. I wouldnt leave out KEWB Oakland, where such notables as The Real Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, and Casey Kasem played DJ before any of them became nationally known. Another memory WMEX had the jocks names locked in like Fenway in the morning, Dan Donovan, Melvin X Melvin and so on. WJET-FM debuted at number one. But, it was my child and teen years listening to CKLW that had the lasting impact on me. Jim Jackson. KOIL Omaha was the first Top Forty station thanks to Todd Storzdont they deserve a mention? No, but I was named for him. iHeart70s Podcasts. I listed WTIX because they were the very first Top 40. Respectfully, though, I would not rank WCFL below WABC, much less rank them last, undeR WIXY?????? Streamline Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. WKTQ (13Q)/Pittsburgh. CKLW definitely was THEE number one station in North America and Canada. Y100 Miami crushed it late 70s Mac Richmond did not wreck WMEX. Disco Mindy was part of our Disco era, as well as Jim Chambers and Vernon Davis. Thinking you were referring to Michaels not Brown. When I started at WGR as a part timer, that became my new name. When WNBC went CHR in the 70s, that ranked up there, too. Home; Stations. Storz didnt own KOIL. Those two local stations, though, played the soundtrack for many folks pre-teen and teen years here in our area. I sent him an audition tape about 20 years ago. All Top 40 radio leaned towards MOR in the early Fifties. Dennis Williams, Toledo,Oh. It's a challenge Reading what so many U.S. Frank Brodie (CKLW) was incredible on the air in ANY format, as were most of the jocks from the true Top 40 era. KJR-AM was the pioneering radio station in the Pacific Northwest, and its history mirrors the rise of the radio industry in general. You folks in the Windy City were lucky SOBs LOL!! The Drake and Drew format there tore my ears off! Jeff Hurvitz Todd Storz took the tight playlist formula from KOWH, doubled the number, and the first Top 40 station was born. The two most influential Top 40 radio stations of all time? Im referring to WPWT, 91.7 FM, in Philadelphia, from mid-1978 to early 1980, of which I was proudly a part. Funny that nobody looked at the list and recalled Jeff Kayes often quoted positioning statement WKBW one of Americas two great radio stations!. KILT Houston? 1972 First cable television subscriber in Connecticut is hooked up, in Danbury. From the early 60s to the mid 70s, WKIX was a powerhouse. KIMN Inter Mountain Network. But here we go. When we went Top 40, we added Carl Lee. When everyone in Top 40 was going to short jingles and less talk, KB hired big talent, played long jingles, and gave the jocks all the time they wanted if what they said was compelling. For both stations I got our friend, Sam Lit (Hys son and a jock on WIFI), to produce great-sounding jingles and name shouts for us. As I recall, the only other time baseball was on a rock station was in 1969 when WABC-FM supplemented WJRZ in broadcasting the Mets, and on the very end of that WJRZ contract when the station transitioned from country to become top-40 WWDJ. And this is only a partial listing. Programmers write about The Glory Days of Top 40 Radio reminds me of watching the movie Argo. Look at the Superstar talent that went thru there Paul Drew, Dr. Don Rose, Tony Taylor, Big Ron, Randy Robbins, Scott Shannon, John Leader, Gary Mckee and so many more. 50000 good watts during the day, but cut back to 10000 at night, pointed at the city and South Jersey. OH!, my GOD, Pat! And lets not forget that WABC was the first flagship of the Metsduring its third and fourth years as Top 40. KISN in Portland? Sorry. And over at the Lou Dickey flagship station WOHO, The late Swingin (Frank) Sweeny, Bobby Rich, Ben Gall, Tom Dean, Jungle Jim Williams, Craig Edwards, Irwin Young, Peter Trip, Gary Calvert, Earl Richards (me again), Gene Wurley, E. Alvin Davis, The Mojoman Sid Grubb, Buddy Carr, Sir Bernard J Quayle, Sam Holman, Don Armstrong, Ken R Deutch. All the Top 40 stations that Lee Abrams and Randy Michaels each included, those that many posters, myself included, called them out for omittingincluding those that you mentioned in your own comment, plus WIFI Philadelphia (WIFI 92 (pronounced Wi-Fi 92 (Whod have thought, right? and other stations that came and went long after the latter two did away with Top 40,) Dallas (the Fort Worth station whose call letters escape me as well as the aforementioned KLIF and KBOX), Memphis (WHBQ and WMPS), Charlotte (WAYS, most notably), Norfolk (WGH and WNOR, especially the former), and so on. There was no mold for WLS. Top 20 based on what? KJR gave the industry Larry Lujack, Kevin Metheny. Over at 89 WLS, during those years, we had John Records Landecker, Larry Lujack, Tom Kent, Steve King, Jerry Kay and so many more. Gordon McLendon considered Dave Morris his toughest competitor. Agree with Bill Wayland at one point 68 WRKO had an almost 60 share Teens. On the other had he sold the station for a then record price. It was a very hip kind of top 40 that meshed well with Boston at that time. Hello Lee Roberts! Hows that for some entertaining teachers?! WDHA Dover, NJ (since reformatted to (Album-Oriented) Rock WQXI was promotionally crazy at times (Rambling Raft Race) and very localized to the market musically. as a Top 40 station. You mentioned Philly Top 40 station WFIL but not that same citys WIBG? I was super stoked to see that B100 San Diego made the readers top 10. Of WLTH fame? The GOAT top Forty stations were in almost every market, major, large, medium and even many small markets. One KLIF engineer told me the new night signal was so tight it went down Commerce Ave without touching either curb! The men who did it both wanted to make lots of money but also great radio. 8. Los Angeles. The rumor (never been able to pin this down) is that Mac was ready to buy WBCN when he died suddenly. At night despite having a terrible signal at night(WMEX could be heard across at the pond but couldnt be heard in parts of Boston). Thank you Randy Michaels for the 102 WVAQ mention! Have you heard it? McClendon may have guessed wrong. Scott Shannon in his prime. Lee and Randy How about adding to your list here? I can still hear Roger Kleins growling delivery. As Radio 8-0 CKLW spent the early 60s as a crappy Top 40 well behind WKNR and WXYZ. Holliday was also great as Baron of the Bay at KYA/SF. Stan was a sales animal, but like McLendon, Kaplan knew that advertisers spent money to reach listeners, not the other way around. Most every market had two or three pretty good Top-40s back then; lucky if you can find one now. All of the other numbers on the radio dial may as well have not been there at all. After moving to 1400, still at low power, no one could touch them, and everyone tried. In college I often drove at night and I could travel from Denver to Chicago tuned to KOMA listening to cmmercials for the Kearney Dragway in Nebraska, the commercial blarring out Be There, Be There, Saturday night.. GM Paul Palmer just let us run with it. My point is whatever station you grew up listening to.. No way that can happen today, with so many other signals on every formerly clear channel. WebGeorgie the Guy with the Goods Woods takes a turn behind the microphone, most likely for WDAS, in 1970. Your right Guy. Early Feb., 1980, the station management purged us all. I think one of the elements that is missing today was competition, radio wars. These were stations worth traveling to hear. KIOA. Blowtorches 770 WABC and 1520 KOMA. While I was there a tornado hit nearby at a car dealership. Especially before I Heart and Cumulus took over. Dave Morris was the owner/morning man. include Z-100! Amen! How about a shout out for KSTN-AM in Stockton, CA. When the Dodgers and Giants fled, the Yankees moved to WMGM. With only 250 watts way up at 1450kHz, WTIX debuted with a 50 share. I heard the audio, listened to stories. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I didnt see WIBG Wibbage 990 in Philadelphia. I arrived after that promotion but of course it was well documented. Im blessed to have been taught by the best. KMPC remained Adult Contemporary (the soft-rock radio formats name by then) until about the turn of the following decade. Scott Shannon and other PDs stole from Y107 every time they came to Film House to cut a TV spot. And looking at the remaining characteristics, Big 10 had it all. Rather than take it like a man you delist the most important Top 40 station in the history of radio. While I was a devoted listener of the Big 89 for years before, thats when the (Top 40?) Arnie Ginsburg, Larry Justice, Dan Donovan (Blaine Harvey.who carried the name to Minneapolis), Charlie Tuna, Larry Lujack, Jack Gale (Fenway), Ed Hider (another Fenway), J.J. Jeffries (Melvin X. Melvin) as well as talk show giants Jerry Williams, Larry Glick and Steve Fredericks all appeared on WMEX. Consider the voices who worked the window on Burnside at NW 10th Tom Murphy, The Real Don Steele, Roger Hart, Sam Holman, Dick Sainte, Mike OBrien, Tom Michaels, Roger W. Morgan, Dave Records Stone, and the all-night Preacher, Pat Pattee. He trashed the beautiful-music automation and took KFMBs little 10,000 watt FM live with no jingles, minimal formatting, an expanded uptempo playlist that was carted up at 46.5 RPM, heavy promotion, heavy Oganowski compression and a staff of crazed, hyper-caffeinated jocks including Rob Landree, Dave Conley, Rocketman (Scott Wright), Willie B Goode, Jimi Fox, Gary Kelley, Kevin Anderson, Phil Flowers and Billy Martin. If that sounds crazy, look at the ratings. Hy Lit was its best, played R and B on a top 40 station. Loved the write up on david h Morris. Then 890, Chicago, 1520 KOMA, were the ones to listen to at night. (Shit, KJR was the KISN of *Washington State* **AS IT WAS**!) These are all good stations, who deserve their place in history, and our hearts. Favorite part is the commercial for the Barracuda (or Baccaruda as the Plymouth man said). We held a three-week online poll asking readers what they think are or were the best Top 40s, and here are the results: Guys, Youre bringing back some great memories with your comments. ), WCAU-FM Philadelphia (not just its Top 40 format, but also the Disco format that immediately preceded it), WOR-FM/WXLO New York, AOR-turned-pop WPLJ New York (as Top 40 and later Hot AC, the latter since defunct (the owners of the syndicated Christian AC network K-Love bought the station almost four months ago and took over WPLJ just nine days ago)), WBUD Trenton, NJ, and WYNG Goldsboro, NC come to mind. It was fun reading about these different stations and what made them excel, and I wish we still had many of them. While at age 20 I had only about 10% of an idea of how to actually be an effective PM drive personality, I had loads of freedom, encouragement from Bobby Rich, inspiration from all my peers and energy to spare. and from the mid-Eighties until it went all-talk in 88); (Nashville: ) WSM (Not only was it MOR during the day and country at night (before going all-country in 79), but in 73 or 74, it changed its MOR daytime format from either standards or standards-slash-soft rock (traditional MOR) to all soft rock hits (contemporary MOR nka Adult Contemporary)), WSM-FM SM95 (I dont know if WSIX switched/modified its MOR format completely to AC/lite rock, but you just read at least two of Nashvilles AC stations of the past. And, plus, HOW can you even contemplate omitting New Yorks WINS (Thats where Murray the K made his mark, dontcha know that? They lost the crown when WBBF went full time Top 40. The station which invented Top Forty. Dick worked weekends at WDAF Kansas City when I was Ops Manager there in 1977. Most were in smaller markets gaining local radio service for the first time. 80 miles away, across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Agree that KFJZ was the station in Ft Worth. The aforementioned call letters are at least said to have originally stood for I Believe in God.. What about my all time favorite? KBOX and the Balaban stations trained Stan Kaplan. A Top-40 jock named Eddie Haskell?!? This is my favorite Top 40. Randy, get over yourself. Even thought WCCO was not a music station, in the 60s and 70s, they would play softer top 40 hits during some of their programming. Still have a bunch of it on my iPad! Glad to see the two stations I grew up with listed here. Louis, WTIX/New Orleans and WQAM/Miami (or at least one of them) cant be taken seriously. The best 1-2 punch: Fenway 6-10 am and Ginsburg 8-10 pm M-S. And Blaine Harvey went on to Minneapolis and later Philadelphia broadcasting as Dan Donovan.

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