WDRC is, in fact, Connecticut’s first radio station, launched before even 50kw giant WTIC. Big D really made its mark in the 60s, where for almost 30 years, 1360 was THE place for Top 40 Rock music. 1983 marked the end of the top 40 years, however, as WDRC would go in an Oldies direction for a while (along with it’s FM sister, “Big-D 103″ which remains Hartford’s Oldies station) before moving into the complicated world of Talk Radio. Thanks to Ken Gilbert, heard here on one cold Winter day in early 1983, we capture pretty much the end of an era... then-current hits mixed in with some great Oldies. It sounds more AC than Top 40, but no AC station talks in between the songs like this. Its good, and a reminder of what we lost in the 80s.
Ken Gilbert on WDRC-AM. Big D 1360 as an Oldies station?! Yes, and for a number of years, Buckly Broadcasting held on to a great sounding Oldies format, after being Connecticut’s premier Top 40 outlet through the 60s and 70s. By 1983, its mostly Oldies, but the music wasn’t over yet on AM… listen to how GOOD this sounds! From July, 1983.
QuickCheck: KQID Q93 Alexandria LA. From an unlabelled tape and a recording that gives very little in the way of identificating market mentions, this is about as generic as it gets. Know something about Q93? Go listen, then leave us all a comment. From 1997.
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Featured Airchexx - San Diego
Jimi Fox, KFMB-FM B-100 FM San Diego | August, 1975
San Diego must have been ahead of most markets with the evolution of FM. By 1975, KFMB-FM was hot top 40, with a shotgun approach to personality hit radio that makes us pine for the good old days. Jimi Fox sounds great here and runs a TIGHT show! Read More →
Eddie Martinez on XHTZ “Jammin’ Z-90″ San Diego | December 1990
Returning to the Robyn Watts collection, here’s a refreshing look at the San Diego market from one of those border blaster stations, er, well one of those FM stations that didn’t have to worry about the non commercial restrictions imposed on US stations broadcasting from 88.1 to 91.9 MHZ.... [View This Entry]
Bobby Ocean on 1170 KCBQ San Diego | May 26, 1971
A bit of light processing returns this performance of the Bobby Ocean show on KCBQ to life! This is fairly early in Bobby Ocean’s career, before he went on to stardom at KFRC San Francisco, and all the talent is there. So is the voice that imaged numerous stations in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Runs... [View This Entry]
Chuck Browning on KFMB-FM ‘B-100′ San Diego | April 1976 (3:51) – RELOADED
Originally posted in 2005, here’s a fresh master copy courtesy of our friends at California Aircheck! “B100 FM with the Original Chucker…” And you’re asking where we dug this up?! Too bad this is only about three minutes long. Chuck Browning was heard all over America... [View This Entry]
Recent Additions
Ken Gilbert, 1360 WDRC Hartford | January 1983
I asked Mr. Gilbert what WDRC-AM sounded like before the flip to Oldies, and so here’s a 9 minute high-quality scope from 1983. While Ken didn’t say so, it sure seems like Buckley did more of a slow format turn towards oldies from Top 40 during ‘83. Listen to this, then the aircheck from later in 1983 to get a feel for where the station was going. Read More →
Gary Evong, CFDR “780 Kixx Country” Halifax, NS | August 4, 1998
Our first listen to radio in the Canadian Maritimes brings us to CFDR Halifax. Known as 780 Kixx Country, this is a fully staffed, full service station with all the programming elements that make up good radio. No jingles, but plenty of classic Country liners. A full news and sports report. As your webmaster recalls from listening to Canadian AM Country stations, the AC-ish approach was and maybe still is typical. I know... [View This Entry]
Ken Gilbert, WDRC-AM 1360 | July 1983
Our friend Ken Gilbert sent in another goodie! WDRC (Big D, as it was affectionately known) was, by 1983, primarilly an Oldies station. This wasn’t some cheap imitation of an FM, however… as tape restorian Paul DiMarco (who provided the original copy to Ken Gilbert) wrote: I know times have changed but this is (absurd) !!! I’d listen to this type of radio before anything else on today’s dial….and... [View This Entry]
QuickCheck: A sample of KQID Q93, Alexandria LA | Sometime 1997
Sometimes there’s very little that can be said to describe a particular aircheck. So it is with this brief look at Q93, a CHR station that apparently is still in operation as a hit music station today. This came to us on an unmarked cassette recorded on Maxell UR tape. Even listening all the way through, the jock doesn’t mention his name, the stopset is all national/brand spots with no identifying material... [View This Entry]
Musicradio 77 WABC Rewound!
Tommy C, “Arizona Country” 102.5 KNIX Phoenix | December 20, 1996
Showcasing what, in your webmaster’s opinion, was the best year for Country radio in terms of both the music and how the format sounded, here’s Tommy C on Phoenix’s KNIX. I especially like how the jingles sounded that year. In a format where the jingles seem to always have a similar sound no matter what station you listen to, something about this period in time… stations really did try to be unique... [View This Entry]
Rob Banks, 98.5 KLUC Las Vegas | December 21, 1996
There are some airchecks here that we just don’t know much about, or are so typical of a particular format that we just can’t think of something original to write about. Knowing next to nothing about the Vegas market is a handicap, to be sure, but what stands out is the similarity to a typical CHR format today. Note that this is late 1996, Telcom ‘96 was passed this particular year, and even though the... [View This Entry]
Philadelphia Composite, July 1991
Hold on to your hats for 30 minutes of scopes from WEGX, WIOQ and WYSP. From the monster-sized Robyn Watts collection comes this one side of a cassette called Philly CHR from Hecht Enterprises out of Kansas City, KS… an aircheck service which is apparently long gone since we can’t find any information about on the internet or elsewhere. In case you’re familiar with Hecht… this one is numbered #61. We’ve... [View This Entry]
Steve West, Last Show on WMC-FM Memphis | October 30, 2005
FM 100 was the culmination of a career to me. True, I was only full time there for one Summer, but the station’s reputation, the life, the energy… the whole aura that surrounded this station put me in a trance from the first day I entered the building. I can’t say why I hold such an emotional attachment to WMC-FM. I will say that this particular evening was the last time I was on major market radio, the... [View This Entry]
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