Re: WBOS Formats

[Steve Sawyer <steve5@tiac.net>]

Paul R Hopfgarten wrote:
>
> WBOS could never decide on a format....
> 
> Vinny Peruzzi (sp?) had WBOS dancing to disco in the fall of '78,
> but they dumped the format just as KISS (WXKS-FM) went on the air.
> 
> WBOS went to an AOR format in Jan 1982 as "92.9FM" not mentioning the calls
> except for legal ID's
> Then they morphed to a "soft-rock" format, and then actually went "Modern
> Rock" up against the then new 'FNX in spring of 1983.
> 
> Then on 7/14/83 (don't ask me why, but I remember) the swiched to country
> without ANY warning, where they would stay until April 1989
> (Remeber they played "Take this job and shove it" by Johnny Paycheck over
> and over the last day (to purge listeners, I guess))went they went to
> soft-rock.
> 
> My guess if it wasn't for the "BOS" calls, each switch would have been done
> with a Call switch as well (I'd assume the "WBOS" calls will be on 92.9 no
> matter what format they play)

..No, actually (I remember the day..) WBOS swiched from disco to A/C as "Stereo 93", 
which they kept until New Years Day 1983.  They went to AOR as the "Rock Boss" with 
almost no advance warning.  The last day of AOR, on 7/13/83, all the jox were talking 
about how it was their last show and the station was being destroyed (I think all jox do 
that when a format ends.... and takes their jobs with them.)  Next morning, 7/14/83, 
WBOS came back as "Country 93" and, I must say, their first year, they were a pure 
country station... perhaps if they had stuck to the roots of country until the big boom 
of 91/2 they could have made it.  The country format was watered down a bit in 85, as 
the went to more of a pop "Country Favorites 93" and played a ton of crossovers.  I'm 
not sure when they went to AAA (Garrett, help me out here), but I believe it was in 87 
or 88.  For a time, there was no country in greater Boston, except for WCAV 97.7 (wimpy 
signal) and WOKQ 97.5 in Portsmouth, NH.  It wasn't until sometime in 1989 I believe 
that 98.1 WMYS in New Bedford made the switch to country as WCTK and the move (what was 
that about, folks, when WMYS moved to Providence and changed calls?) to Providence.\

And thats my $.02.

Steve Sawyer, KA1SWR

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