Lee Paris, on Rock of the 80s i92, WIFI Philadelphia | June 1983

Back during the early 1980s, mainstream Rock acts dominated Album Oriented Rock (AOR) radio, leaving very little room for the emerging New Wave & Punk Rock artists, like Depeche Mode, Culture Club, . Rick Caroll, Program Director at KROQ Los Angeles, introduced a new Rock format called “ROQ of the Eighties.” Carroll’s approach was to play music from  new wave, punk and related Rock genres, while retaining a Top 40 presentation style and Top 40 rotations. This approach eventually developed into the modern rock format.

Rick Carroll spread this “Rock of the 80s” format to a number of radio across the country, including,  91X San Diego, KYYX Seattle, WAAF Boston, KQAK San Francisco, WRQC Cleveland, OH, WYDD Pittsburgh, & i92 WIFI Philadelphia. This aircheck features Philly’s i92. In 1982, WIFI dropped it’s Top 40 format, to adopt the Rock of the 80s format. As popular as the format was in Southern California, it bombed in Philly. It lasted for less than a year. By summer, the station had changed to Rhythmic CHR as 92X, WXTU. The jock featured on this aircheck is Lee Paris. He was a DJ, promoter, publicist, manager and record honcho, and was a huge influence on the new wave music scene in Philly. Sadley, Lee committed suicide in January 1986. -Ellis

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