What follows is the CHR sound of 98.5 WROR, programmed by it’s afternoon drive personality, Sean Casey. We here at airchexx don’t know all there is to know about Mr. Casey, but a few things
are relevant… he was once heard on the old AM 850 WHDH, and in Providence, RI.
When we posted the video version of this aircheck, Larry Justice, who held down the afternoon drive spot in the early 1980s on WROR commented,
“ROR sounded great with Casey at the bat!”
The sound of WROR during this period, was technically a ‘bright’ Adult Contemporary mix, which sounded very similar to CHR. By 1990, the station was done with it’s longtime “Saturday Night Live at the Oldies” hosted by Joe Martelle. Owner Atlantic Radio Systems was trying to distance the station from its former heritage pre-1980 of being an Oldies outlet, primarily to counter 103.3’s flip to Oldies in 1987. In the end, listeners polled indicated they still thought ROR was playing Oldies, which is what precipitated the station’s identity change to WBMX “Mix 98.5” the following year.
Still, this is an amazingly good, uptempo sounding station as heard on this aircheck, and, as you’ll hear, perhaps the only difference you’ll notice between the WROR identity and it’s years known as “Mix 98.5” are the jingles (from JAM’s “Nothing But Class” WNBC package) and the personalities.
View this from our official Airchexx Classic Radio YouTube Channel
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
David Boucher is known for his nights on WMJX “Magic 106.7” Boston. He has made numerous recordings of Boston and the surrounding smaller market stations and has decided to share what he has with us.
