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40 years ago in 1979

Discussion pertaining to the Tri-Cities, Flint, Mt. Pleasant, and Bad Axe
matt1
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by matt1 » Wed Jun 02, 2021 9:05 pm

The only ones that I can think of were DJ's Rich or Pat (cannot think of their last name) from W106 FM back in June, July & August of 1979 when they used to play the complete brand new album by an artist or group in its entirely on Monday & Tuesday nights!! On Friday nights, W106 played the "Classic" album of the week!! NOT sure about Wednesday or Thursday nights back then. By the way "Hit after hit after hit, we're HITS 106 WIOG" (back in 1983)!!



RobHazelton
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by RobHazelton » Thu Jun 03, 2021 4:25 pm

FormerNews5Dude wrote:
Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:00 pm
Those reels were still lying around WIOG in a supply closet in the 90s, and they still sounded excellent!
FormerNews5Dude: Agreed! – I ran across some reels years later as well, and they really stood the test of time!

TM had an excellent audio processing, quality control and duplication chain.



matt1
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by matt1 » Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:32 pm

The same man who also had stations in Steuvenville, Ohio & in Johnstown, Pennsylvania because in August of 1981, I went to my aunts house in Greensburg, Pennsylvania for a week & heard the same DJ!! Greensburg, PA had a country radio station that also used reel to reel tape with a different man saying the song by artist or group back then!!! I wonder what company in the United States carried those AM & FM stations???



CJ
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by CJ » Fri Jun 04, 2021 10:35 am

Awesome thread! So cool to read this stuff. I wasn’t born yet for most of this stuff but remember in the late 80’s/early 90’s of WIOG with the Party Lizard bumper stickers all over and getting pulled over to win cash. Man, I remember those stickers being stuck to so many street signs in Mid-Michigan. What a station promotion in a time when radio was so alive!



matt1
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by matt1 » Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:33 am

Back in April or May of 1984, WIOG switched to brand new DJ's instead of the reel to reel tapes I think. That station played "Hot Tracks" including a few album track songs!!!



tvbobn
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by tvbobn » Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:23 pm

matt1 wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:33 am
Back in April or May of 1984, WIOG switched to brand new DJ's instead of the reel to reel tapes I think. That station played "Hot Tracks" including a few album track songs!!!
Do you know why they switched from reel to reel tapes and went with live DJ's?

It was because of WFXZ known as "Foxy 101".

This little station from Pinconning came in to the market and made WIOG sound terrible. In those days, the AM guys would have to change the tapes. I've been told that they didn't really like doing that, so when one of the four tapes ended, they wouldn't go change it until another tape ended. This of course made the music rotation get all messed up, but they were the AM guys and didn't really care.

During the rating peroids back then, WIOG would give away a few Tee shirts and have a few billboards. Nothing reallly special because they were the only Top 40 station in the market, but now they had competation that sounded like a big market Top 40/CHR station with real LIVE DJ's 24/7 and JAM jingles!

WIOG management went to Detroit to the owners and talked them into going live on WIOG. After that, they talked them into flip floping WIOG and WGER, to give WIOG the bigger signal.

Foxy 101 was gaining in ratings and popularity, so WIOG management started giving away $100,000 of dollars every rating period. Right about then, the market was rated spring and fall. They gave so much money that it really screwed up the rating books! They were #1 in all demos because of $$$!

Between the gigantic signal and all the free money, in 1985 WFXZ changed format to country. Wasn't long after that, WIOG stopped the free money and things slowly returned to normal.

Today, WFXZ is owned by the Loons and is a sport station.


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Ben Zonia
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by Ben Zonia » Fri Jun 04, 2021 3:42 pm

When WGER switched from 102.5 to 106.3 and 102.5 went from Easy Listening to Top 40 as WIOG, it also shook up the Flint Market. WWCK-FM 105.5 had gone from Top 40 to completely AOR in late 1975, and although WTAC until 1981, WFDF, and WTRX all had variations of a range from Top 40 to Hot AC, AM was really taking a hit, and there were no strong FM signals playing Top 40/CHR in the market. The Flint AM stations took a gradual ratings hit, then a sudden one in 1984 when WGMZ switched to WCRZ AC. But I will point out that WIOG does not put an FCC predicted F(50,50) 70 dBu signal over any part of the City of Flint proper. A good signal, and perhaps Longley Rice would show parts above 70 dBu. But the population has also shifted South toward Grand Blanc, Fenton, and Tyrone Township, further away from WIOG.

Actually the WWCK-FM AOR format was already declining also, and the station was sold in 1988 and went Top 40/CHR. Circa 1991, WWCK-FM increased power from 3000 watts nondirectional to 25000 watts directional, and had a promotion on the air touting their 833% percent power increase (there was a tape of the extreme touting, anyone have a copy of it?). Although much more solid in much of Genesee County, it was marginal at best in the Tri Cities. Their ratings were solid for several years in Flint and Genesee County.


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matt1
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by matt1 » Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:08 pm

"HITS 106 FREE MONEY"!!! (1985)



Trophyhead
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by Trophyhead » Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:08 pm

A small point in the aggregate, here, but I believe WTAC went Country in the Fall of 1979. I used to listen to 600 AM frequently in my high school days, with the switch taking place, in my recollection, as I got deeper into broadcasting classes at Delta.

I am not sure when the move off of 102.5 took place for WGER, that was my parents' go-to station, with some fall back for WSGW. Anyone can fill in the blanks in my assertions, with my thanks.

Pretty sure Guy Perry was one of the lead talents for WIOG when I considered Saginaw as a career destination in the late 80s and they were well entrenched as market leaders.



matt1
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by matt1 » Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:10 pm

NO, 600 WTAC went from hard rock to "Town & Country" on July 12 or 13 of 1981!! I saw on WNEM 5 when anchor Mel Serow broke the news in the final segment!!!



Trophyhead
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by Trophyhead » Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:19 pm

All good. It was a moment in my life of commutes, perhaps my drive to paint Dow Chemical fire hydrants was impacted by the WTAC format change, not my drive out to Delta.

I know my parents were carrying WGER in their Oldsmobile in '85 as I took a ride with them in Cadillac, when their John Doremus-charged sound moved to 106 instead of 102.5, that was an unpleasant sea change for them.



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Ben Zonia
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by Ben Zonia » Fri Jun 04, 2021 7:03 pm

When WFXZ came on the air, they broadcast from a tower on Whitefeather Rd., 1.2 miles West of I-75. Later, they collocated with WKQZ on a tower 3 1/2 miles South and 2 1/2 miles West. From there, they agreed with short spaced WBRN-FM to go from 3 kW to 6 kW EQUIVALENT, under Section 73.213.

From a variety of sources, WFXZ signed on in mid November, 1983, with the license application approved about November, 1984. With an FM-10 beam from Genesee County, I could listen on my Realistic STA-111, with some interference from WRIF. I already knew it was 1983 because that was the year I bought it, hearing "Billie Jean" on some station as one of the first things I heard on the STA-111. It was #1 in March, 1983 on WHYT 96.3.

As I recall, there were a lot of signal complaints when WGER moved from 102.5 to 106.3. I had a classmate who insisted that "GER" stood for "Geriatric". Since he was a friend of J.J. Duling, I assume that is where he heard that one. To those who don't know, it was named after the original owner, James Gerity, and was originally coowned with WNEM-TV, and was WNEM-FM. When Gerity sold Channel 5 to Meredith, he switched to WGER because of call letter rules in place at the time.


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rugratsonline
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by rugratsonline » Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:51 pm

matt1 wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:10 pm
NO, 600 WTAC went from hard rock to "Town & Country" on July 12 or 13 of 1981!! I saw on WNEM 5 when anchor Mel Serow broke the news in the final segment!!!
When our folks and I moved to Florida in 1979, WTAC was still Top 40 -- until we moved, I thought that Top 40 on FM was still a foreign concept. That, and our car still had only AM radio. I discovered the countrified WTAC when we returned for a visit in the fall of 1981, surprised that WTAC had shedded its long-time pop sound.
Ben Zonia wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 7:03 pm
As I recall, there were a lot of signal complaints when WGER moved from 102.5 to 106.3. I had a classmate who insisted that "GER" stood for "Geriatric". Since he was a friend of J.J. Duling, I assume that is where he heard that one. To those who don't know, it was named after the original owner, James Gerity, and was originally coowned with WNEM-TV, and was WNEM-FM.
Considering that WGER was a station heard at doctor's and dentist's offices with its beautiful music format, it was no surprise that it skewed toward the old. We had a stereo at home, and the FM dial was generally set at 102 for WGER most of the time.



Willie108
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by Willie108 » Sat Jun 05, 2021 7:05 am

The WIOG/WGER switch happened in July 1986. I know...I was in the Saginaw market at that time. Also, WTAC went country after the "Boogie" Brian fiasco in 1981. Peter C. covers it in his book "Local DJ.



matt1
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Re: 40 years ago in 1979

Post by matt1 » Sun Jun 06, 2021 12:02 am

This was one of the songs that WIOG played known as "Hot Tracks" back in 1984 & also in 1985 which you don't hear anymore on radio stations. Canadian rock group Prism "I Don't Want To Want You Anymore" (from 1983 "Beat Street") & their final swan song in the U.S. which did not charted on Billboard's Hot 100 Charts or Billboard's Mainstream Rock Charts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWC6nYy ... rism-Topic



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