Contributor: Big Apple Airchecks
Station: 105.1 WPJB Providence RI
Featured Air Talent: Mike Waite (WPJB, WROR)
Aircheck Entry: 1,396
Comments:
A very short clip of Mike Waite from 1978. WPJB “JB-105” was a station way before its time. Engineered, audio speaking, to sound louder and more crisp than anything else around it, and featuring a heavy dose of WABC type reverb in its audio chain, this station was the best thing going in an era when FM was just emerging as the best place for music… it would take a few years for audiences to figure that out as in ’78 most of the listeners were still glued to AM, but by the time FM became king, 105.1 had turned into a sleepy, boring AC station. But, that sure made it easy for the owners to sell living room sets…
Enjoy this Quickchexx of the old WPJB “JB-105” Providence!
WPJB stood for the licensee, the Providence Journal-Bulletin newspaper. they also owned WEAN 790. JB105 went head-to-head with 92.3 WPRO-FM owned by ABC-Capital Cities. additionally in the mid-’70s, WPRO-AM 630 and WGNG 550 were also playing the hits, so for a while it was a 4-way pop music battle in Providence. while PRO-FM is still CHR today, 630 is Talk, 550 is religious, and 105 has been A/C WWLI Lite 105 and top-rated for many years now.
At 0:46, Mike Waite played Exile’s “Kiss you all Over”, which, at the time, was at or near number 1 on Billboard’s chart. Exile later became a hugely successful country group. Also, there were both a radio and TV station in my hometown whose calls were WJPB. The radio station ditched the calls sometime in the 50s and the TV station became (and remains) WDTV.
loved to listen to this station, Mike rocked, just didnt stay long enough. I like the personality driven stations