Re: WHIL and country

["Kevin Vahey" <kvahey@mediaone.net>]

When did WCOP AM go country?
The dropped Top 40 in 1962, and as the AM dial history states
------
By the early 1970s, WCOP had become one of New England's first country
stations. That lasted until the late 70s and a brief attempt at a hit radio
format as WACQ, followed on January 1, 1979 by a change in calls to WHUE and
a change in format to beautiful music. WHUE would later become an all-news
station, before an attempt in 1984 at standards under the WSNY callsign,
``Sunny 1150''
------

However I know it was country in 1967, as their 7 to Midnight person was a
former Dan Donovan at WMEX....... I just for the life of me can't recall
what they were doing in the mid 60's except that they were the radio home of
the World Series and ran NBC's Monitor on weekends. I doubt they were
standards or MOR after their Top 40 days because they would have been killed
by WHDH and WEZE back then.

However I think WHRB and Hillbilly at Harvard was the first place country
and western was heard on a regular basis in the Boston market, as their
website says in part
Hillbilly at Harvard
Hillbilly at Harvard has been hailed by critics and a devoted audience as
the best country and western show in New England.

Nearly five decades ago WHRB began presenting then-developing country and
bluegrass, from the Carter family to Bill Monroe. The program caught on, and
top touring bands began appearing on WHRB. Hillbilly had found a home at
Harvard.




----- Original Message -----
From: "Donna Halper" <dlh@donnahalper.com>
To: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 9:48 PM
Subject: WHIL and country


> I was thumbing through an old (September 26, 1964) issue of Billboard and
> it had a story about WHIL-FM going country at night.  I was trying to
> remember which station in Boston was the first to do a country format-- I
> know that the old WBZ had country singer Bradley Kincaid doing mornings in
> the 40s and also had a female singer named "Georgia May" (or something
like
> that), but was WHIL-FM's little venture into country a first for Boston?
>