trb (05/12/82)
77 WABC radio in NYC changed its format earlier this week from top 40 to all talk. Anyone who lived in NYC between 1960 and 1968 probably listened to WABC. I know I was weaned on it. The other NYC top 40 station from the '60's, WMCA (with the "good guys" sweatshirts, the original "smiley face") went all talk back around 1970. Back in the '60's, top 40 was an "across the board" category, none of this middle of the road album oriented rock pablum. You'd hear the Beatles and the Stones, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Peter, Paul and Mary. They played what sold, no holds barred, no attempt to reach a particular segment of the market. Today's FM rock stations are forced to play mediocre garbage like Foreigner, Kiss, AC/DC, Van Halen, and REO Speedwagon. Hard rock for drunken white boys. Feh. I guess WABC has gone down the tubes ever since the advent of FM rock back around 1968. I don't think anyone has listened to it for the last ten years, but I have fond memories. Andy Tannenbaum Bell Labs Whippany, NJ (201) 386-6491