1580 WPGC
The WPGC Files – Part 2. Dan Mason, December 23, 1978
Station: 95.5 WPGC Morningside Md (Washington DC) //1580 WPGC Washington (Wikipedia) (WPGC Tribute Site) Format: Top 40 Branded: “Music Radio” Featured Air Personality: Dan Mason Contributor: Big Apple Airchecks Total Time: 5:27 Aircheck #1,590 WPGC FM and AM Morningside. Hello! Just after 12 noon with Dan Mason and a Blues Brothers album on the way, hang on. (Bee Gees music) This has, actually, posted elsewhere, but as part of our WPGC series, it’s important that we hit ALL the highlights of this radio station which employed so many talented individuals. Dan Mason, of course, would become Program Director of WPGC shortly after his 1978 arrival, and moved right up the executive ladder from there. His entire career is on public display at many places on the web, including the N...
Composite: WPGC FM & AM Morningside MD (Washington) | May, 1979
Here’s one sure to give you goosebumps! If ever there was a Top 40 station recording that epitomized the best of the AM top 40 era, it is THIS! Here’s a composite featuring all the elements that made radio great. It starts with Lee Logan on WPGC “Stereo 95” with tickets for listeners to see Pablo Cruise at Kings Dominion (amusement park). Lee is not only the night jock here, but just full of personality, sports scores and more. Of note, Logan plays a new album cut from Carly Simon, as the station apparently tests new music at night (who does THAT anymore?). There’s plenty of Disco music and lots of commercials from the music labels peddling new Albums. Included in the first segment is a great editorial piece called “Soundoff”, where listener letter...
QuickChexx – Don Geronimo (First Show), WPGC AM & FM Morningside | Fall, 1979
Date of Recording (Approximately): Fall, 1979 Contributor(s):Lee Chambers (WPGC Tribute Site); Matt Seinberg (Big Apple Airchecks) Station(s): WPGC (AM) 1580 / WPGC-FM 95.5 Morningside, Maryland Format: Top 40 Featured Jock:Don Geronimo Aircheck Entry: #1,837 Comments: The file name reads “Don Geronimo’s First Show” – Well, we can only assume so, as this recording (which was mastered to a CD) came in short but at least made it intact and in high quality. Honestly, I’ve never heard an aircheck from Don Geronimo that I didn’t like. Funny, sometimes over-the-top and definitely a smart-ass, the Don Geronimo show, according to the write up on Lee Chambers’ WPGC Tribute Site (http://amandfmmorningside.com), turned sagging ratings at WPGC around, and star...
QuickChexx: Waylon Richards, 95.5 WPGC-FM Morningside | February, 1979
Date of Recording (Approximately): February, 1979 Station: WPGC-FM 95.5 Morningside, Maryland Format: Top 40 Featured Jock: Waylon Richards Aircheck Entry: #1,836 Comments: Here is a very short recording of WPGC as heard during the night show when the AM was off the air. We’ve never heard of Waylon Richards before, but he sure does fit the format very well! This “QuickChexx” is part of a larger composite donated to airchexx by Big Apple Airchecks. Owner Matt Seinberg LOVES to trade tapes, and if you have something unique, by all means go to bigappleairchecks.com and see if there’s something you two could trade out.
Steve Michaels; Dan Mason, WPGC FM/AM Morningside MD | November 1978 and December 23, 1978
Date(s) of Recording: November, 1978 & December 23, 1978 Station(s): 1580 WPGC & 95.5 WPGC-FM City of License: Morningside MD, serving Metro Washington DC Format: Top 40 Featured Jock(s): Steve Michaels, Dan Mason Contributor(s): Big Apple Airchecks Lee Chambers Aircheck Entry: 1,383 WPGC FM and AM Morningside! Hello, just after Twelve Noon with Dan Mason and a Blues Brothers album on the way… Comments: Dan Mason – Isn’t he the former CEO, President, etc., of CBS Radio? Well, yes, we sure think so! (Someone out there knows for sure). And here you see how well he fit in to the overall exciting sound of WPGC FM and AM! This is an important aircheck for a number of reasons. Even though this was the Washington DC market, the year was STILL 1978! One could argue that...
Don Geronimo on WPGC Washington DC | 1980
WPGC today is an Urban station, but back in 1980 it was a very hot top 40 station… and on FM no less! Here, Don Geronimo sounds great, after a stint in New York on 99X. He would later end up at WAVA, along with the likes of Tom Kent and Chris Taylor, among others. Click the playlink above if you prefer to listen in Real Audio format, or Click the Arrow to listen using our embedded player. Mobile devices use this link.
Washington DC CHR Wars: WAVA, WRQX & WPGC | May 1990
Back to the incredibly fabulous and huge Robyn Watts collection for this OUTSTANDING 30 minute composite comparing morning shows in the DC area! This starts out with Don & Mike’s morning show on WAVA and moves on to Q-107 and WPGC-FM, then cycles through those same stations in order again later in the broadcast day. It sounds great, the audio is crisp, and it’s just wonderful! So listen, dang it!
Jim Elliot & Don O’Day on WPGC AM & FM Morningside | September 23, 1977
This is Musicradio WPGC! From sometime in the 70s, a really GREAT morning show featuring lots of elements to make you smile. A Gong Show type contest at just before the hour… Dan O’Day and “Choose Your News” (some may remember this feature at WLS Chicago), and more! Overall, this apparently right out-of-the-skimmer tape is fantastic! WPGC would eventually morph into an Urban station in the 80s, but untl then, what an amazing Top 40 station this was!
John Dowling, WPGC AM/FM Morningside (Washington DC) | Sunday, May 27, 1984
Here’s a very different sounding 95 WPGC than the others you’ve heard on this site. By 1984, WPGC, an AM/FM simulcast operation, had completed the transition from Top 40 to Adult Contemporary, and the usual elements you’d find on AC radio are all here. In this 13 minute scope you’ll hear John Dowling (who sounds suspiciously like someone from the old WXLO 99X New York), the *soft* hits of the day like Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias’ “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before” (at this point I step in and say… thank GOD this is SCOPED!), recurrent songs from Dan Fogelberg and others, and a real GOLD library – you’ll be amazed to hear Elvis’ live version of “My Way” on WPGC! Lest we not forget the jingles. Never h...
Bob Raleigh Jr., 1580 WPGC Morningside MD | Undated
Here’s two minutes of Bob Raleigh Jr. on WPGC. There are just two quick breaks here, and we really don’t get a feel for the real tempo of the station since this is an ‘oldies’ segment done at 11AM daily. I can’t give you a date on this although I suspect it’s from sometime in the early 70s. Now I’m really stumped. Bob Raleigh Jr.? So, father and son worked at WPGC. There are listeners in the Capitol region who know far more than I do, so here’s your chance to post your memories of the old WPGC and Bob Raleigh – Sr. or Jr.! Post your opinions in the comment section below.
“Tiger” Bob Raleigh, 1580 WPGC Morningside (MD) | August 30, 1966
Courtesy of Contributor Frank Davis, here’s a rare recording of Tiger Bob Raleigh during the ‘Good Guys Radio’ era at WPGC. This station was an AM / FM simulcast even in the ’60s, and there’s even a promo about two thirds of the way through this scoped aircheck prompting listeners to purchase an FM radio and if they have one to tune to 95.5 FM. Considering this is 1966, it’s quite amazing to hear this. WPGC is using reverb, although it’s applied lightly – certainly not the bone-crushing reverb that WABC New York used through the 60s and 70s, but it’s there. Listen for some features that WPGC used through the 1970s – right up till the station flipped to Urban in the early 80s – “Sound off”, which was one where lis...
1580 WPGC Morningside MD | 1960s Undated
Here’s something interesting that came in on a tape labelled simply “DC Radio, ETC..” This is a very high quality recording of the old 1580 WPGC / 95.5 Simulcast from sometime in the mid-1960s. This is really too short to extract much out of. You won’t hear the jock name, but you will get a generous dose of old jingles and some vintage Washington-area commercials. Anyone remember Glen Echo Amusement Park? Also, this is so old that we hear a very short 10 second or so ad for Newport Menthol Cigarettes! Perhaps someone can nail the exact date for us… at least the correct year, which we guess is 1964. Someone in our audience always knows. Listen. And discuss.
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