1973 In 1973, black music with a astrong heavy beat and a gospel-derived tone had almost totally cased out anything from the former decade among gay men. Songs had become longer than the old format, and stations like WBLS mixed these in without interruption for several songs in a row. As a result, many gay men began to make long tapes of mixed dance music on their cassette recordes at home, and started trading these tapes. Kai Fikentscher
'You Better Work'
ISBN 0-8195-6404-4
         
1974 - Nov. Radiostation WPIX started the world's first disco radio program 'Disco 102'. Saturdays from 8 p.m. to midnight DJ Steve Andrews tried to allegorize New York club atmosphere while using no jingles and less talk.  Unlike the club DJ's he also used no beatmix. Peter Shapiro
'Turn The Beat Around'
ISBN 0-571-21922-5
         
07.12.1974 'WPIX: First Disco Show'

A weekly four-hour disco dance program is being aired by WPIX-FM here, the first such show on the Eastern seaboard.
The show 'Disco 102' airs every Saturday from 8-12 p.m, and is devoted entirely to spotlighting current and oldie disco hits, as well as product showing early signs of 'breaking' at the club level. 		Billboard, 07.12.1974
Jim Melanson
         
1975 WBOS-FM was first to offer 93 minutes of commercial free disco music. Boston also boasts of having put the first disco deejay on air. That was John Luongo. Boston's disco DJ's have been used on the air an regular basis since 1975. That was a show on WVBF-FM with host Ron Robin - today the PD of WBOS-FM. Billboard, 12.5.1979
(part of article further
down)
         
  1975 Interview with Francis Grasso:
So when did slip-cueing come in with felt pads? 'Not till around the disco convention started (1975)….' 		   Brewster & Brougthon
'The Record Players'
ISBN-10: 0956189636
         
  1975 WBLS began a feature of commercial-less taped music mixed and taped by the DJ of some popular disco. The kickoff night was 'brought to you from the Crisco Disco', known as one of the wildest, low-life discos in the city.   Kai Fikentscher
'You Better Work'
ISBN 0-8195-6404-4
         
  24.07.1978 July 24th, 1978 - WKTU changed format from mellow rock to 'all-disco' with incredible succes. Within a few month they went to the top of the arbitron rates. An unbelievable track record: WKTU's great success in the Oct./Nov. arbitron rates gave reason to an intensive discussion of that maneuver and the effects on the market. The experts arrived at the conclusion that Disco went more and more popular and so somewhere along the way radio had to respond.
WKTU brought the 'all disco format' at the right point of timeand - as KTU's program director Matthew Clenott at the end of the year explained - without a revoloutionary new concept. He became program director just one month before the change over and didn't now anything about disco.
In the first two or three weeks they just played the Billboard charts. He also opened the doors for anyone who wanted to tell him about disco. In cooperation with consultant Kent Burkhard, Wanda Ramos (was hired from WBLS) and Melanie Shorin (Club scene reports) they built up an up-to-the minute information system from most discos of the area.
They were in touch with discjockeys, record stores (Downstairs, Disc-O-Mat, Disco Disc and Record Shack) and the record pools. This street level research wasin Clenott's opinion the key to success. He also kept a blackboard in his office on which he maintained a 'watching list' of 25 to 30 records. These were potential hits and the DJs and record shops were questioned on them.
Also the requests of the request line were tabulated. The station's playlist was 'a shade over 40' with usually three to four records added a week. Thirty-three gotmeaningful rotation. Heavy rotation for WKTU is four and a half hours. Clenott and general manager Dave Rapaport took great pride in station's morning drive show, which had introduced some programming innovations. A major difference from most morning programs was that there is no news and information block. News ad information were packed in 90 second units delivered seven times an hour. Paul Robinson was the morning drive DJ, and got help from Shorin's disco reports, newscaster Janet Rose and sports reporter Bob Meyer. In the morning drive hours were four newscasts, three sport reports, four traffic reports and 11 weather reports (in 90 second packages!).
A comparism of the arbitron rates in 1978's second half year demonstrate how succesfull WKTU was:

Jul.-Aug. 1978          Oct.-Nov. 1978
WABC 7,6                WABC 7,5
WKTU 1,0                 WKTU 7,8		   Billboard, 24.07.1978
Doug Hall
         
 
  13.01.1979 'Paco is his name - Disco is his game'  'Paco' - Manuel Paquito Navarro

With these words he appreciated his listeners every night. He was the untouched radiojock number one in New York and the only real radiopersonality for WKTU (as important for WKTU as Frankie Crocker for WBLS). His arbitron rates for Oct.-Nov. 1978 still are a real legend: 15.8 (!!). The Puerto Rican-born came to WKTU from KTU's sister station WJIT where he played salsa. He always said that it was also his idea to switch the fomat from mellow rock to disco. When he met with SJR Communications (company that owned WKTU & WJIT) executive vice president Eddie Cossman he suggested that WKTU had to switch to salsa disco. Salso lasted two days...
He originated his succes in three things: Disco, his sexy accent and his storys to the records he played.		   Billboard, 13.01.1979
         
  20.01.1979 'Crocker Returns to WBLS'

WKTU top - WBLS in trouble: WBLS arbitron ratings has fallen from 7.2 to 3.1 since WKTU went disco. Frankie Crocker came back as musical director for WBLS owner Inner City Broadcasting after he left the station almost two years ago in the midst of a payola scandal. He should fight the audience-decline to disco compeditor WKTU and fills a major hole since his former assistant Wanda Ramos switched to WKTU.		   Billboard, 20.01.1979
Doug Hall
         
  20.01.1979 'Starr Producing Syndicated Disco'

Toby Arnold & Associates, Dallas, is syndicating a new four hour disco radio show entitled: 'Studio 97 Disco'. Already used on pilot outlet KPAM Portland, Ore. Music is programmed in blended sweeps and weekly researched through weekly contact with disco DJ's and programmers. Show includes voice tracks, jingles and production for each subscriber. A 'disco ambience' sound is used to create the illusion of a live broadcast. Included in the package are graphic art logos, promotions, sales aids and a marketing service. 		  Billboard, 20.01.1979
         
  20.01.1979 'Wolfman Howling To Taped Disco's Tempo'

Introduction of a new prerecorded show called 'Wolfman´Jack's Disco Party'. The three hour show is designed for late Saturday night broadcasts. Three sweeps of about 17 to 18 minutes of uninterrupted disco music per hour.  Each set is specially designed as a club mix including remixes and should never release the intensity. The producers feel confident that most of the stations couldn't do such a program on their own. The show has already has been signed for KRTH '101' L.A., WROR Boston and WQXQ Daytona Beach FLa.. 		  Billboard, 20.01.79
Ray Herbeck, Jr.
         
  27.01.1979 The disco bandwagon rolls on and brings black music to a rapidly widening audience as old stars like for example Gene Chandler enjoy a rennaissance through the clubs. Traditional ballad-type r&b has an increasingly difficult time. The Big Apple has gone disco crazy and as a result sales on non-disco r&b records have dropped 50%. WKTU-FM's rapid rise to the top of the N.Y. radio heap appears to be changing the face of black radio here. WBLS-FM has brought back exiled program director Frankie Crocker and the station plays more disco records than ever before. WWRL-AM (currently third in the row) only plays ca. 25% disco music because of their feetback from their listeners. In the following discussion the interviewed persons admit that they're not afraid of this developement. R&b will always have its audience, although WBLS' new slogan seems to be 'disco and more disco'.   Billboard, 27.01.1979
Robert Ford Jr. & Irv
Lichtman
         
  10.02.1979 'Disco Radio Challenges Clubs As Hitmaker'

The emergence of disco-oriented radiostations could be displace the clubs as hitmakers (incl. the connected record-pools). In the meantime Disco-radio plays a significant role in stimulating sales of disco music product. For example: It's testifyed that a single play of a record by a disco radiostation canbe 100 times more effective than similar exposure in a club although club
dj's could see what effect a record has to the dancefloor.		   Billboard 10.02.1979
Joe Radcliffe
         
  10.02.1979 'WXKS-AM-FM Boston switches to all disco'   Billboard, 10.02.1979
         
  21.04.1979 'ABC 'Steals' WKTU-FM's Program Chief'

An ingredient of WKTU-FM's disco magic PD Matthew Clenott now works for WDAI-FM Chicago which recently switched to all-disco. He announces that he won't be making WDAI a carbon copy of WKTU.		   Billboard, 21.04.1979
Doug Hall
         
  12.05.1979 Disco Stations Leveling Off'

Disco radio programmers have a feeling of uneasiness concerning the decline of their format in latest Media-trend reports. Since December WKTU-FM has slipped from 10.9 to a 7.4 in April. Also WABC has lost. This flagging trend would be confirmed out of many other Cities.		   Billboard, 12.05.1979
Doug Hall
         
  12.05.1979 'Boston's WBOS-FM Beams Live'

WBOS-FM has become one of the first major disco radiostations to broadcast
many of its programs live from discotheques, departmentstores or recordshops. Since 1971 when Boston's first discotheque opened, disco is present in town and many people are convinced that Boston is challenging New York for the title of key disco city.
WBOS-FM was first to offer 93 minutes of commercial free disco music. Boston also boasts of having put the first disco deejay on air. That was John Luongo. Boston's disco DJ's have been used on the air an regular basis since 1975. That was a show on WVBF-FM with host Ron Robin - today the PD of WBOS-FM.		   Billboard, 12.05.1979
         
  June 1979 'Alant Enterprises produces Fridays 'Studio 92' Mix-show'

Alant Enterprises of Los Angeles undertook production of the 'Studio 92' sets on Fridays (11 p.m. to 2 a.m.). The shows format presented the top disco DJ's in the New York area.		   Billboard, June 1979
         
  02.06.1979 'Disco Giving Black Radio A Rough Time'

Disco has changed black radio. Many stations are losing their identity. Two record companies executives of Spring Records point out that 'Black radio is blown away. If you don't have a disco record it's hard to get it played. We have no other choice as to join the movement to disco. Although we are losing our roots.
Airplay of ballads or blues don't get the right airplay.' As a result fomer black
stations are mixed together with formerly white stations on the disco clasification. WKTU-FM is a white disco station but it also has a large number of black listeners. WBLS-FM comes from a black heritage. The station's call letters one stood for 'Black Experience In Sound' but currently stand for 'Worlds Best Looking Station'. Even before WBLS strongly aligned itself with disco it made attemps to put distance between itself and its black identity.This was done to attract white ad buys instead of just ethnic advertising. For years the station emphasized its 40% white listenership. Disco fever is across the dial and many black stations take on a new disco identity. Two new examples are WDAS-FM Philadelphia and KUTE-FM Los Angeles.		   Billboard, 02.06.1979
         
  09.06.1979 'More Stations Link With Disco Spinners'

As disco grows increasingly popular on radio, managers of these stations are looking for ways to more closely align their stations with discos which play much of the same music.
So it is only natural that many of these stations are using spinners from the clubs. However, their use is selective and limited. Typical are two disco stations in New York, WKTU-FM and WBLS-FM. Each uses spinners to mix special weekend night shows. WKTU runs such a special show from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
This show began with Ted Currier from Doubles, the disco in Manhattan's Sherry Netherlands Hotel, but the station now uses 'a different guy each  week', station Manager Dave Rapaport explains. This show, known as Studio 92' is now produced by Tony Martino and Alan Harris of local disco 12 West. They formed a production company known as Alant Enterprises.
Over at WBLS disco spinners hold forth on Saturday night from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.. Guest spinners include Richie from Studio 54 and Tony Smith from Xenon.
 WXKS-AM-FM Boston and KRLY-FM Houston and also stations with either a Friday or Saturday night dance party with disco spinners. Both of these stations, along with WKTU are consulted by Kent Burckhart. KRLY is owned by the same station as WKTU, SJR Communications.
The station Burckhart consults in Miami, WMJX-FM, is installing variablespeed turntables to accomodate the disco spinners, who will soon be added to the format.
At the Boston Burckhart station, WXKS, 'Sunny' Joe White reports the station uses two mixers and two on-air personalities. 'Our idea is to mix the music the way it's heard in the discos' says White. 'It helps put the station out where the listeners are'.
The other Boston disco station, WBOS-FM has three announcers and fourmixers who work the nightshift on the local disco scene. In fact, the program director, Robin White, is both an air personality and mobile DJ. He says 'the mix is deperately important in disco radio. It's got to be the best.'  Disco personalities at WBOS include mixer Wendy Hunt of Illusions and mixer-announcer Fred Bement of Jason's, who also mixes the music for 'Stage Door', a Boston-produced television show.
Washington's newest disco statio, WDON-AM uses spinners sitting in as DJs from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Among those who have hosted shows have been Cheryl Baker from Tramps, Kevin Mills from Tiffanies, Alex Marshall from elan, Venus Nelson from Foxtrappe and Fred Townes from Reflections in Baltimore.		   Billboard, 09.06.1979
         
  13.07.1979 'Radio Syndicators Wary of Disco'

Discussion of radio syndicators wether a taped or live radioprogram is the better alternative and what to do with disco in the future (switch to all-disco or add disco to the program). Although everybody sees WKTU's success with a absolutely pure disco format in N.Y. other markets have a problem with this. KIIS-FM L.A. for example has already a 10-15% difference to New York. Other cities had an all-disco station but it closed. Most of the syndicators will only add disco to their present format throughout the day. No question that the Saturday evenings belong to disco.		   Billborad, 13.07.1979
Ray Herbert Jr.
         
  22.09.1979 Both New York radio stations, WKTU-FM and WBLS-FM, have been featuring disco deejays for their Saturday night non-stop party programs, as well as for their lunch-time specials. Richard Bezner, deejay at the Blue Parrot in New York, has been featured on these two stations.   Billboard, 22.09.1979
Disco Mix by Barry
Lederer
         
  13.10.1979 'Quick Natl. Reaction To Sugarhillers'

Rap with Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight' conquers the airwaves. The record was first given to WESL-AM St. Louis and Frankie Crocker. Mr. Crocker didn't play the record because it was too black for his station! This surely couldn't detain the success of this record. When a radiostation started to play it they received call after call (WKTU for example about 100-150 per day). 'Rapper's Delight' went to the top in best time and you surely could hear it on WBLS.......		   Billboard, 13.10.1979
Jean Williams
         
  22.12.1979 'WKTU Retreating from Disco - New Sounds & New DJ's'

Station responded on disco's reduction of demand and had modified its format. The on-air line up changed and the word 'Disco' was banned from the airwaves. The only survivor from the 'Disco 92' days was Paco. He moved to 2 to 6 p.m. 50% of the music were changed but the station still had a strong disco sound. They added Teddy Pendergrass, the Commodores and Earth, Wind & Fire to the program and moved to 7inch versions. The long 12inch disco cuts they prefered were banned. A research of disco club play and retail sales (50 discos & 50 retail outlets weekly) were still checked.		   Billboard, 22.12.1979
Doug Hall
         
  05.01.1980 'N.Y. WBLS, WKTU Pacing N.Y. Arbitron

New Arbitron rates showed how fast the radio market changed: Billboard titled 'Disco radio by another name is still king in New York'. But then WBLS was for the second straight Aritron rating period still number one. Followed by it's archrival WKTU in second place. Disco was still present but the stations experimented with a much wider range of music. WKTU had expanded it's playlist to include rock, soul and ballads. WBLS added for example Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller.		   Billboard, 05.01.1980
Doug Hall
         
  19.04.1980 'WGCI-FM Climbing After Killing Disco Format'

Interview with PD Barry Mayo who talks about his experiences over the last 1 1/2 years he has been with WGCI. WGCI was one of the first stations in this market to adopt a pure disco format. However, disco has been pushed largely into the background in favor of a smart blend of r&b, contemporary jazz, oldies and r&b influenced pop.
Music is going back towards variety and so they've got a steady expansion of listeners over three recent rating periods. Nevertheless Mayo feels that disco is an important musical style and his rapport with the local club deejay community is strong. On May 3, he will be the master of ceremonies at the second annual 'Battle Of The Disco Deejays' presentation held at the Aragon Ballroom.
The program directors blew disco radio. A lot of stations went high energy disco and forgot the fact that nobody wants to hear 120 beats per minute at 4 a.m. . We turned people off to disco as a radio format. Had it been done in moderation, disco as a format would probably be around today'.		   Billboard, 19.04.1980
Alan Penchansky
         
  26.04.1980

'KSFX Polling S.F. Spinners'

Station has begun polling local club spinners to add to it's research into sales at area record stores. Interesting are the following information:

KSFX was an all-disco station in 1975 (dubbing itself 'Disco '75'), but then eased away from the format until going all-disco again in mid-1978. Faced with declining ratings in mid 1979 it again broadened its musical base and now includes Eagles & Dr.Hook as well as dance floor favorites.

   Billboard 26. April 1980
         
  1982, January

'First Hip Hop Mixshow' by Bobbito Garcia

First Hip-Hop mixshow was Afrika Islam's 'Zulu Beats' on WHBI New Jersey in January 1982. They also housed the 'World Famous Supreme Team Show'. In 1983 the longest running hip hop show (16 years) startet on WHBI with 'The Awesome Two'.

   'The Vibe - History Of
Hip Hop'
Alan Light
ISBN 0-609-80503-7
         
  20.02.1982 'Remixes Get Play in N.Y.'

Gotham's urban contemporary stations have a new programming tool - the special remix. 'It's a novel way of hearing a familiar song in a new light' says Michael Ellis, music director of WKTU-FM. 'Our listeners like to hear songs they enjoy performed in a way that differs from the commercial version. It's the same principle behind teh success of rap-taking a familiar rhythm and adding a new twist'.
Ellis and program director Carlos DeJesus work with a crew of 10 DJs and introduce about seven new tracks each month. Their chief compeditors, WRKS-FM and WBLS-FM, also customize remixes for their listeners. But it's the approach each station takes to the art form that give it's mixers their own distinctive flavor and identity.
Why remix a record in the first place? 'Sometimes a tune is weak or boring in spots,' DeJesus suggests. 'Remixing enables you to soup it up and make it stronger. Maybe we'll add more chorus. Or hook. Or intrumentation. It's all relative to the song in question. When it's done right, your station really does stand out.'
It's no gimmick, says Sergio Munzibai, who program the WBLS 'Mid-Morning Mix' for two-and-a-half hours each day. 'My goal is to enhance or heighten certain parts of a song without actually changing them. Or if there's a hot moment like screaming in the middle of the D Train record, 'You're The One For Me' we'll rework it for that special effect'.
He adds that remixes are a good way to keep songs fresh when they're in heavy rotation. 'You don't want to lose your listener', notes the former junior high school teacher. 'We always keep the original in rotation. But we'll alternate it with one and sometimes two different remixes each time to keep things interesting'.
In contrast, Shep Pettibone of WRKS says that he never programs a remix for his 'Master Mix Dance Party', heard each day from noon to 1 p.m. as well as on weekends. 'I'd rather hear the remixes in rotation and leave the originals to the party', says Pettibone, who joined the station from WBLS last spring at the urging of assistant program director Barry Mayo.
Pettibone, who is 22, had been working parttime at 'BLS, where he won recognition for his remix of MFSB's 'Love Is The Message' in 1980. 'I was getting tired of their formula', he says. 'Find a backbeat, double it, then add echo. It was predictable. Then Barry heard my mix of 'Pull Up To The Bumper' by Grace Jones and offered me the chance to bring my own vision to the station. My perspective differs from others in that I have a strong pop orientation. I like to get right to the point. I want the mix to be as familiar as the song itself'.
Pettibone, who takes pride in his recent mixes of Carol Williams's 'No One Can Do It' (Vanguard) and Skyy's 'Let's Celebrate' (Salsoul), decides what to mix on a whim. 'Basically, it's up to my mood and my feeling. Nobody calls me and tells me what to do, which shows you how strong a connection I have with Barry in that we both think alike when it comes to a strong candidate for a remix. I've gone two weeks at a time without a take, and then I'll turn around and produce four in one week. The key is to make each one different'.
Munzibai, born in Cuba of Moroccan parents, says it's a challenge to work opposite Pettibone. 'But it's more of an artistic pleasure', he feels. 'It's less cut-throat on our end'. The mixer takes issue with those that insist he interferes with the creativity of the performer. 'My job is to make the tune more palatable for radio. There's a difference between enhancing something and changing it. It would be easier to see the argument if I was in the studio with the artist'.
On the 'Mid-Morning Mix' show, Munzibai, 31, likes to experiment with mixes that aren't in the regular WBLS rotation. 'Sometimes they never get past the program. That's where the phones come in. It can be an extremely valuable testing ground'.
WKTU's mixes are unique to the New York market because of their disco-orientation, DeJesus points out. 'We like to program our mixes in continuous 20-minute segments several times each day', he says. 'It's certainly not traditional radio programming. Depending on the jock the mix can sound like it comes from a gay disco, or an r&b or Latin-salsa club. Generally, our crew will take you from a starting point to an exhilarating finish, from a ballad to a mid-tempo cut to a high energy conclusion'.		   Billboard, 20.2.1982
Leo Sacks
         
  27.03.1982

'WBMX-FM Sticks To Game Plan'

 

Because of mistakes in game plans WBMX -FM has lost ground over the last years to competitor WGCI-FM. Now they're back because they've learnt. WBMX came to the fore in 1975 as Chicago's first full-time black FM radio station. Only competitor WVON-AM, 'The voice of the negro', synonymous with Chicago black radio for over a decade. Until 1979 WBMX reigned the black radio market. With the departure of PD E. James in mid 1979 and an ensuing series of new PD's the decline began.

Today's Program Director Lee Michaels analyses that 'WBMX had gotten very commercial - it was the sound of a 'successful' radiostation. But the dj's weren't giving the people what they want. They talked too much.' 'The market outgrew the station' he observes. 'WBMX did not change with the times'. At the same time WGCI had begun a maj-or promotional push. WBMX only was sitting there doing a lot of things wrong. WGCI was playing 50 minutes music every hour. They also had a 100.000,-- contest and WBMX gave away 50,-- bills. In August August 1980 WBMX attempted an urban contemporary format. The stati-on continued to slide because they were drifting away from the black listeners and not enough white audience had started to listen. Lee Michaels came in September 1981. He was faced with a broken-up station. It took him about 5 month to finish the clearance. This is WBMX now: About 85% black contemporary music. 15% blues & jazz and a small amount of white crossover. 'WBMX is a black music radio station that is community-oriented' says Michaels.

   Billboard, 27.03.1982
Moira McCormick
         
  08.05.1982

'Club DJ's Make Remix Magic'

New names for the active dance music community outside New York because of their remixes: Tee Scott & Francois Kevorkian. Conclusion of this article: Remixes becoming more and more popular. Today Club-DJ's translate all their knowledge into the studio-remix to enhance the record. But the appeal of remixes is not limited to clubs. Radio loves them, too...

   Billboard, 08.05.1982
Nelson George
         
  05.06.1982 Radio with 'Hot Mixes' & Prelude introduces 'Mastermixes'
Special 'hot mixes' are still popular in New York although disco radio turned in urban contemporary. Radio mixes also have an influence on the latest studio mixes that are getting wilder and wilder. There is also a lively bootleg market for those mixes. In this week Prelude releases a double album 'Mastermixes' with heavily re-edited versions of Shep Pettibone. West End has recruited Tony Humphries to create a 12- inch medley of the labels recent hits...		   Billboard, 05.06.1982
Brian Chin
         
  1982, August
WBLS - Mr. Magic Started Hip Hop Show'

Mr. Magic startet his Hip-Hop mixshow (no continuous mixing in the beginning !). His follower was Marley Marl. It was great fortune for the station because he introduced very talented DJ's to the audience like for example DJ Pete Rock, DJ Clarke Kent & The Juice Crew. Their creativity during the shows was legendary.