Don Brooks, 102.9 WDRC-FM Hartford | September, 1981

Listening links for this aircheck are at the bottom of the description.

Don Brooks (WPTR/WFSB-TV) came to DRC-FM from WPTR Albany, where he was known as Dr. Don for many years. Contributor Paul DiMarco said that Brooks, whom he worked with, was hired for DRC-FM’s CHR format in 1980 and stayed through much of 1982. According to WDRCOBG.com

“Don came from Parsippany, NJ and graduated from Parsippany Hills High School. He played the hits on Big D FM his first time around; among his duties was presenting “Near The Top 30 Countdown” Saturday mornings at ten o’clock. After a stint at Channel 3, he returned in 1991 to do Sunday mornings and fill-in, which he did through the summer of 1999. Don later worked full time in the WDRC sales department.”

DRC-FM was somewhat dayparted for much of its time as a CHR station. Mornings were an AM-FM simulcast with 1360 WDRC (AM) which at that time, also was Top 40, albeit a bit more adult in its music approach during the day. Brad Davis was the morning personality and the station was very sleepy from 5:30-10am. From 10am on through the rest of the day, DRC-FM stepped it up and was a personality-oriented Top 40 station, in your founder’s opinion, hotter than it’s competition. It’s main competition was 96.5 WTIC-FM (96-TIC-FM) and WKCI (KC-101 FM). The 3 way Top 40 war was good for the overall sound of all three stations.

Also noteworthy, WAQY Springfield, MA had a substantial listener base in the northern part of DRC-FM’s footprint. “Wacky 102” ceased to be a factor at the end of September 1981 when it changed formats to Album Oriented Rock. (Today’s “Rock 102“)

AIRCHECK COURTESY OF CONTRIBUTOR PAUL DIMARCO

LISTENING OPTIONS

Click Below for an Audio-Only listening experience