Does anyone remember what radio music stations there were playing in NYC in the 1970s? Especially prior to say 1976?

WABC. In the '60s the morning DJ was Cousin Brucie (AKA Bruce Morrow). Used to listen to him while getting ready for school. In the late '70s, I was listening to FM and it was WPLJ. I also listened to WDPH out of Poughkeepsie.



Cat

My sister used to be a programmer.  I think she was at WPIX.

What kind of music would be typically playing on the radio if you were to go into a diner circa 1973, 1974, 1975, say if you went into a diner in NYC which had a radio?

What kind of music would be typically playing on the radio if you were to go into a diner circa 1973, 1974, 1975, say if you went into a diner in NYC which had a radio?


maybe something classic rock.

maybe something classic rock.


Depends where you were; in Harlem, you'd probably hear lots of funk and some soul, along with some lingering "Rat Pack" pop in some more sedate establishments such as the Copacabana (Not just Frank Sinatra, but Dean Martin, Perry Como, Sammy Davis Jr.) WCBS-FM started in 1972 and played pre-psychedelic oldies (some were less than a decade old at the time!) Check out some airchecks online to get a more authentic feel of not just NY radio, but elsewhere.

Depends where you were; in Harlem, you'd probably hear lots of funk and some soul, along with some lingering "Rat Pack" pop in some more sedate establishments such as the Copacabana (Not just Frank Sinatra, but Dean Martin, Perry Como, Sammy Davis Jr.) WCBS-FM started in 1972 and played pre-psychedelic oldies (some were less than a decade old at the time!) Check out some airchecks online to get a more authentic feel of not just NY radio, but elsewhere.


I'm thinking disco would be played during the later years between 1974-1979. Bee Gees, Silver Convention, Yvonne Eliman, Andrea True Connection and a few others.

On the AM dial, WNBC (660 AM), and WABC (770 AM) were the popular stations.
On FM, WPLJ (95.5) was the only classic rock station, WMGQ (Magic 98.3) was the popular soft rock station, and WCBS (101.1) was the popular "only oldies" station.
Of minor interest, there were also separate classical and jazz stations on the right side of the FM dial.  They were not too popular.  If you went into a restaurant at the time, and the radio was on, it would almost definitely be soft rock, 98.3 FM.

WCBS-FM in New York would be playing a whole lot of classic rock, soft rock and Classic R&B just to name a few.

About WCBS-FM:  Throughout the 1960's and '70's, the CBS music format in Manhattan was only oldies.  In the early 1980's, they upgraded to something like soft rock.  Since then, they changed their format a few times, including classic rock, 60's mainstream, and even disco music.  Here's a link:

http://streema.com/radios/WCBS_FM_101.1

About WCBS-FM:  Throughout the 1960's and '70's, the CBS music format in Manhattan was only oldies.  In the early 1980's, they upgraded to something like soft rock.  Since then, they changed their format a few times, including classic rock, 60's mainstream, and even disco music.  Here's a link:

http://streema.com/radios/WCBS_FM_101.1


I don't like what they did with WCBS-FM, they've been playing a lot of late 80's music and shunned away from what they used to play a long time ago.

In the 1970's , there was always a place for music.  There was the oldies station (101.1 FM), a classical music station (1??.? FM), a soft rock station (98.3 FM), a hard rock station (95.5 FM), and even two AM stations who competed against each other for market share (660 AM & 770 AM).  There was a station for everything, and we never thought anything would ever change.  It was perfect.  When 92.3 FM first appeared in 1978, it started with playing great AM songs.  Then, one saturday at noon, it's format changed to all disco.  Things started falling apart after that.  The all black station changed to hard rock in 1982, and in early '83 Howard Stern was hired as a shock DJ.  The oldies station (101.1) disappeared, quality music stopped on PLJ (rock had matured and turned the corner), and the two AM stations signed off (they changed their formats and stopped playing music).  From that point forward, all we had to listen to were two rock stations, one hard rock (92.3) with the shock DJ (it was kind of half white/half black to us), and the retro rock station (95.5) that overplayed boring rock and roll from groups like Journey.  Rock and roll had matured and was heading downhill, and unfortunately, the radio stations followed the trend.  What happened to these stations afterward is not important.  The best years to listen to the radio in NYC was ~1968 to 1978.     

There was the oldies station (101.1 FM

They had a format where they played a whole lot of doo-wop and Rock And Roll during that time period but now the format has changed completely, now they play a lot of 80's music.

I don't know if NYC was anything like Chicago  ???, but...

In the early-mid 70's, AM Top 40 was still king.  Even as some folks tended to prefer 'specialty' stations, it was almost always OK to go with Top 40.  Top 40 at that time usually consisted of an eclectic mix of different styles - but at that time in history, the songs 'played nice' with one another.  For instance, in mid 1973 you might hear a sequence that goes something like Carpenters - Barry White - Jim Croce - Allman Brothers Band - Curtis Mayfield - Paul Simon - Cher - Al Green - Three Dog Night - Edgar Winter Group - Bread.  As divergent as anything, yet this is how Top 40 sounded then, and it was good.  As the decade wore on, the 'play nice' concept became less and less true...

As the decade wore on, the 'play nice' concept became less and less true...

They played less Top 40 and focused more on playing 80's.

Even though I wasn't born during the 70s; I think it was mostly jazz, disco, rock n' roll and 1010 Wins for news.

Even though I wasn't born during the 70s; I think it was mostly jazz, disco, rock n' roll and 1010 Wins for news.


I was born in 1974 but I didn't experience radio till the 80's came along and mostly it was pop, rock and disco-funk.

early 70s fm rock radio stations were WPLJ 95.5 and WNEW 102.7, later around 77/78 when WPLJ changed format to pop.....WAPP 102.3 came on the air......broadcasting from "Lake Success".

around 1975/76 99X, 99.9 on the dial, came around and was the hot station for a while

later 92.2 WKTU was very popular playing disco and dance music.

WBLS a very old and venerated station playing soul/R&B was a staple and steady player holding their own through the 1970s and into the 80s.

some very well known rock DJs were Pat St.John, Carol Miller and Scott Munie........Paco was the hot DJ over at WKTU.

early 70s fm rock radio stations were WPLJ 95.5 and WNEW 102.7, later around 77/78 when WPLJ changed format to pop.....WAPP 102.3 came on the air......broadcasting from "Lake Success".

around 1975/76 99X, 99.9 on the dial, came around and was the hot station for a while

later 92.2 WKTU was very popular playing disco and dance music.

WBLS a very old and venerated station playing soul/R&B was a staple and steady player holding their own through the 1970s and into the 80s.

some very well known rock DJs were Pat St.John, Carol Miller and Scott Munie........Paco was the hot DJ over at WKTU.


I think you meant 92.3 WKTU

About CBS-FM... demographics, demographics, demographics. Older listeners aren't as impulsive in buying and aren't as easily impressed by the arguments of a commercial. That's why they are unattractive to advertisers. Hence why CBS- FM has moved into the 80s.

About CBS-FM... demographics, demographics, demographics. Older listeners aren't as impulsive in buying and aren't as easily impressed by the arguments of a commercial. That's why they are unattractive to advertisers. Hence why CBS- FM has moved into the 80s.


That's why I don't listen to CBS-FM as much as I used to.

Howard, what did you think of WABC/WLS type top 40 vs Drake-Chenault (KHJ, KFRC) type top 40?

Howard, what did you think of WABC/WLS type top 40 vs Drake-Chenault (KHJ, KFRC) type top 40?


I don't listen to that.