WABC Radio last day of music (WCBS-TV report)

WABC New York was America's biggest top-40 music station for most of the 1960s and '70s. It had millions of fans, and influenced a generation of people in the radio business. At noon on May 10, 1982 the "Musicradio" format ended and WABC became a news-talk station. This is how WCBS-TV covered the event on their local newscast that evening.
The jingles used by WABC from 1963 until the present were produced by PAMS Productions (www.pams.com), and then JAM Creative Productions (www.jingles.com), both located in Dallas, Texas. This is our tribute to a legendary station. -jmw

[@joelcab2]

The lengendary Ron Lundy passed away this past week. He was 75 years old. May he rest in peace. My condolenses to his family and friends. Seeing that story brought back alot of memories when I grew up listening to him, Dan Ingrim and the gang back in the 1970s. There will never be another one like him. He was the ONE and ONLY!!! ALWAYS!!!

[@prausch65]

I still own the small transistor radio I received as a gift in 1972, my first one, and will never forget listening to WABC and Dan Ingram.

[@luislaplume8261]

I had one in the 1960s but I didn't consider it with keeping for more than 10 years. But I remember bringing it with me for my parents and Little brother to hear the N.Y. Yankees baseball game.

[@nomadcowatbk]

is it Japanese?

[@paulwalker1443]

I miss the nights in the midwest where you could tune in and hear AM's from all over the region. From Grand Rapids you could hear WLS Chicago, even WABC New York sometimes, and other smaller markets from Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and even Tennessee. Sure they would fade in and out, but that made it even more fun. If there was a thunderstorm somewhere you would here it crackle through the signal. A different era for sure, but I miss it.

[@barryandreev8333]

Living on the East Coast, conditions had to be just right and I would do that too. Some nights I'd pick up Louisville, KY that played decent music; and pick up WLS out of Chicago. In the car I would listen to hockey games from Buffalo broadcast on AM back in the 70s.

[@Jeff50-q5d]

Remember those days, used turn the dial to see what I could bring in. From Peoria I picked up wabc at 3 am and kaay in Little Rock. And wls from chicago.

[@leonardodalongisland]

I loved catching baseball games from around the country.

[@RichaRat]

From just north of New Orleans, I would usually listen to the mighty 1090, KAAY Little Rock, but could pick up WLS. WWL 870 in New Orleans, 50,000 watt clear channel, played Charlie Douglas and the road gang from about 10PM to 5AM, broadcasting to truckers nationwide from 1971 to 1984.

[@leonardodalongisland]

AM signals travel best at night-I would just scan the dial to see what I could find-from across the country.

[@BRuane-pw6xq]

Ron, Dan , Harry and Brucie all moved to CBS FM and had great runs. CBS FM became the successor to WABC . NY had the best collection of DJ s in the Nation. Those of us who grew up in that era in the NY area had no idea at the time How good our radio friends were. That Station was ubiquitous in the 60 s and 70 s a major cultural phenomenon.

[@RogerBates7]

That's very true. In the same way that CBS-FM brought back the WABC guys with the music that made them legends... So now they have done with the former voices of WPLJ (Scott Shannon, Patty Steele, Race Taylor) and the listeners that grew up with those voices.

[@dog453679]

You better believe it did!

[@dougmilesmedia]

Dan Ingraham, Ron Lundy, Harry Harrison, George Michaels were classic DJ's and radio personalities. Grew up listening to them on Long Island. Lundy was right in the news report, no station has ever come close to being as big as WABC was. Thanks for posting.

[@glennso47]

WLS and WABC. Had the same format in the 60s. “One of America’s two great radio stations.” Was the jingle for WLS for a while. The other great station was WABC.

[@MrAccordionPimp]

I loved how music sounded on AM and still love when I find AM radio stations braodcasting music.

[@chtyan]

AM radio was so good in the 70's. I couldn't wait until it got dark so I could listen to WABC in Kentucky. And their was so many other good stations like WOWO, WLS, WCFL and many more that made AM radio king. Like most things You don't miss it until it's gone. I still like to AM dx but it's sure not the same, hardly no music at all. Take me back!

[@porkfied]

I was listening late at night and early morning on the AM band for a while too to see what I could pick up DX like you say.Amazing how you could pick up WABC in Kentucky ,you must have been up high in elevation.I have a shortwave radio and I have to try that again.

[@basspig]

I remember tuning in wowo in 1976 on a Raleigh six transistor radio.

[@beyondobscure]

CFZM in Canada has a great playlist, check 'em out. They only play music at night, it's like it's specially designed for the best experience DXing

[@mrsmagloo]

I feel gifted that I was able to live at the time when WABC was first playing the Beatles and Beach Boys, etc. Cousin Brucie! Dan Ingram! all the other great disc jockies! It was one of a kind. Incredible.

[@NYVoice]

RIP Dan Ingram. NOW the era can be laid to rest.

[@sillygoose635]

it never will be.

[@MAA8772]

Remember this day well, it was a "sad" day for music, and yes I agree it was "The day the music died" and look at the shit they call music today!! :(

[@manofmanyinterests]

I agree. Music is dead. Long live the memories.

[@vcoaster]

Sad to see this. I grew up outside of NYC and listened to 77WABC continuously from 1964 until 1976 when I moved from NY. Thousands of hours listening to thousands of songs. Wonderful memories.

[@AudiophileTubes]

I'm 55, and I can tell you WABC was LEGENDARY in breadth and scope! What a great station for music back in the day! They even gave away Kawasaki 75 minibikes I remember!

[@HarmonicVector]

Wow. I'm only 15 but this makes me cry so much.

[@mikestevenson576]

We can all relate to the end of something.

[@1960sRICH]

AM Radio is a lost cause due to internet music downloads now.

[@mindsway7036]

I’m 15 now lol

[@mindsway7036]

Radio is pretty awesome 🤩

[@jayrogers8255]

@@1960sRICH FM isn’t doing too hot either.

[@1761Charlie]

WABC . . . at their peak . . . had a 20 share which means that one in every five radios that were on were tuned in to them . . . and that's out of something like 50+ stations available at the time. They were a monster and 50,000 watts 24/7 and a one-stick non-directional signal both day and night did not hurt.

[@LetticiaRosado]

RIP Ron Lundy, and RIP Dan Ingram.

[@tyrese3745]

They both ended up at CBS-FM until their retirement, I believe.

[@bradlafferty6076]

Both dead?

[@ramblingsadrift6477]

@@bradlafferty6076 YES

[@RogerBates7]

@@tyrese3745 as did Harry Harrison and the Cuz. Though, the latter didn't finish his career there, obviously, as we are still blessed to have him on the air weekly.

[@Ron90069]

"It's just a whole world of electronic media out there, whether it's wired or over-the-air...". If everyone's now a producer, who are the listeners? It was a sad day for radio, but only the start... Nice post, Jon!

[@slimpickins1469]

hellooooo love 😂

[@66kprdwd]

Screw talk radio!! Bring back the music!!!

[@VBaskin2010]

LOL! It would take a miracle to have a AM based CHR radio station to do that!

[@edgarsaenz1565]

+John Greene With This New HD Radio your wish may come true

[@patriciagullickson9591]

John Greene agree...but the music now sucks! that's the problem.

[@edgarsaenz1565]

yes it does

[@tyrese3745]

Can't, buddy. You can't live in the past.

[@howardtheman]

The problem is today there are no deejays and nobody plays the REAL oldies anymore like the 50's they just want to be forgotten, they now play 80's.

[@chuggachuggawoowoo]

Listen to WMTR 1250AM. They have good DJs all day on weekdays, and they play 50s, 60s, and 70s music.

[@stevieg7672]

chuggachuggawoowoo WMTR is my favorite station here in NJ. Though, WCBS FM and LITE FM are among my favorites. The 1950s-90s is my favorite time period.

[@barryandreev8333]

That's because of changing demographics, those that grew up to 50s are slowly dying off so the shift to 60-80s.

[@Fersomling]

I listen every night 1969-1974 in Norfolk Va.

[@JimKinkade]

This paved the way for Rush Limbaugh.

[@luislaplume8261]

True! He took over the time slot from Curtis and Lisa Sliwa on WABC RADIO 770 AM band. In 1988.

[@chasbodaniels1744]

…. and for decades he pumped misogyny and anti-left bs into millions of illiterate noggins. He was responsible for spawning dozens of imitators who divided this nation and dumbed down the political conversation to this day.

[@barryandreev8333]

Actually it was Ronnie 'raygun' when he repealed the FCCs Fairness Doctrine which allowed opinion to be substituted for news.

[@gto66solstice08]

I grew up with these guys ... WABC & WMCA. Thanks guys... Herb Oscar Anderson, Ron Lundy, Scott Muni, Dan Ingram and all of you! Life goes on, but you folks intro'd me to being a teen boy in 1963.Go With God!

[@blind_t2]

gto66solstice08 and... HOA passed not too long ago.

[@ra777wow]

Who remembers the intro ? Music radio , 77 WABCEEEEEEE I loved listening , it was a part of every day living for me. I was very sad when it all changed, It was like a piece of me died .

[@anthonycameron2067]

And they had on the end Ron Lundeeeeee!😊

[@patriciagullickson9591]

AM radio , actually radio itself has never been the same!!! and while FM radio was stereo it never, Never had the same impact on teens

[@11UncleBooker22]

At 2:53 seconds we see and hear the PROPER way to announce the call letters, something that made Kevin Metheny very happy.

[@Madbandit77]

You mean Pig Virus.

[@spongevee1]

I believe that wss Pig Vomit?

[@jrzgirl56]

77WABC was the best station for it's time, and the best time for this station. There was the rival station WMCA the Good Guys, which was also good. But nothing compared to WABC with the best of them all Cousin Brucie.

[@christopherphillips8027]

I remember this day very well..A day that will live in infamy. What memories..Thank you for the memories WABC 77. .

[@luislaplume8261]

The last music they should have played if I were the producer would be Tara's Theme, from the classic movie Gone With the Wind, 1939 vintage from MGM studios!

[@johnnyballenatl]

And the latest NYC radio giant to fall? 95.5 WPLJ (now part of K-LOVE).

[@christopherhulse8385]

WABC reached England at night time back in the 70s, i remember hearing it on my father's worldwide radio, such was the power of the Lodi transmitter.

[@basspig]

Back in the beginning of the '60s you could hear it out in Hawaii as well. That was when it was a Clear Channel station and there was nothing else on the same frequency. And prior to that I remember it as wjz.

[@rockvilleraven]

@@basspig WJZ calls moved to Baltimore on CBS owned Channel 13.

[@michaelquinones-lx6ks]

@@rockvilleraven It relocated it's call letters to that channel in 1957 before that it was called WAAM-TV

[@lesaber251]

I was 26 years old when they stopped the music. I was shocked and saddened. I was mad too. I grew up with that station. A happy part of my growing up was gone forever. I haven't listened to that station even once since then.

[@kensims4086]

A.M. is a joke now. Its either sports talk, or like listening to a chat line

[@russphilly]

it is garbage now...what a shame,,,and this was 35 years ago!..hard to believe

[@jpolar394]

AM And FM are a joke. It's all commercials that sell garbage. Everything is dot com this and dot com that.

[@mjfan0012]

Am is a joke, you cannot even hear it now. All it it is is static.

[@robbiereilly]

Woke up, got outta bed, dragged a comb across my head...here in Tokyo, Japan as I get ready for the morning commute. It's a Tuesday, June 23rd, first couple of days of official summer and for some reason my mind went back to those early summer days long ago, when 77 WABC musicradio came out of the speakers of my transistor radio, and all I heard all day long, whether on my bicycle riding with friends or hanging out at the mall, or trying to find a public pool or country club we could sneak into, Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy, Harry Harrison and all the other greats were the familiar voices between the music and sometimes over it much to our laughter. It was an era that can't be replaced no matter how many choices of media we have. It was a communal feeling, everyone was listening out there, from cabbies in NYC to couples walking along Jenkinson's boardwalk in Point Pleasant to us kids building tree forts in the woods of Chatham, New Jersey. I can only thank the heavens above that I grew up in that era to enjoy such wonder years. Cheers from Tokyo, Japan.

[@2574mcu]

WABC was a big part of my childhood .

[@BRuane-pw6xq]

A classic Station all from The NY Metro area who lived in that era will remember it.

[@hamburg1306]

Howard Stern nemesis at WNBC Kevin Metheney weighs in at the 3:00 mark.

[@bradlafferty6076]

I thought that was pig vomit, couldn't satisfy his wife

[@ArtificialBanana]

Is that the guy he called Pig Vomit?

[@MrRetroCommercials]

R.I.P. Dan Ingram

[@paulweaver7074]

Hard to accept he's gone. I didn't know he had died until I googled his name today

[@terr777]

Oh, no! Grew up with these guys. I can remember all their intro jingles...and I moved away in 1968.

[@jpolar394]

Almost all of the AM & FM stations are worthless today. All you hear is the phrase DOT COM and BUY, BUY, BUY every few moments ....it's really sickening.

[@rockvilleraven]

All AM radio is now is brokered ethnic, some news and conservative talk. Owned by a few McRadio conglomerates whose objective is to make as much money as possible with as few people that they can employ.

[@blind_t2]

rockvilleraven oh so true, very true! there are those few that take music on AM seriously. at least, one of the McRadio giants did something right just recently, Cox just flipped KONO 860 San Antonio, TX from sports back to oldies, using its branding from back in its top40 era, with the jingles to match.

[@NickG123]

@@blind_t2 77 WABC has recently been purchased by a private owner, with that came many great things! It is its own station again and stands out from the rest! The new owner even got Cousin Brucie back on, with vintage jingles and music (sats, 6-10pm)! He also has a lot of new shows such as Tony Orlando's music show, Joe Piscopo's "Sundays with Sinatra" and many non-political talk shows; such as a fashion show called "threads"! So far, so good!

[@blind_t2]

@@NickG123 oh I know! I know! What a beautiful day that was in the world of radio

[@fscap811]

Anyone remember that during the Beatles coming to America back in '64 the WABC AM DJs when announcing the call letters for the station used to yell "WA-BEATLE-C!!"

[@terr777]

Absolutely. On my transistor!

[@standingelton6375]

@@terr777 same here, good old days! I think when I was born, I was born with a transistor glue to my ear! I always had a transistor with me wherever we went except Church! Good Times!

[@jamesniezgoda5454]

It was 36 years ago today when it was goodbye to music radio 77 WABC. Miss you guys

[@MikeMike-qb3ei]

I am a broadcaster and actor of 38 years........IT USED TO BE.....from 1956-1981 the MUSIC and the ON AIR JOCKS were fantastic........since 1981......98% of all music and on air jocks ......are awful.(all an inside job by the ILLUMANATI to get ...most of us.....mentally sick.....and they HAVE accomplished it).......we are in DEEP SERIOUS TROUBLE .(your comments are welcomed).

[@belvinsweatt1274]

I listened to WABC at night here in South Carolina while I was in high school. I am now 74. It’s still the greatest radio station ever. The super hit sounds of 77 WABC. It’s now #1 from 77 WABC. I still remember.

[@mikebaginy8731]

I listened to WABC as a kid, while living in Dunellen, NJ in the 60s. What a wonderful time!

[@Bill463]

Gosh! I remember these folks on Channel 2! I loved growing up with WABC. Anybody remember the spotting buttons that we all wore that were given away at McDonalds? When WABC went to all talk I switched to 99X Fm, which was also fantatic at the time.

[@johnnyballenatl]

And now...WCBS Newsradio 880 is the latest NYC radio giant to fall; the call letters and format will be gone after 57 years and ESPN Radio will be taking its place. But it's also the end of an era after *100 years* in general, starting as WAHG 920 in 1924, then WABC 860 (Atlantic Broadcasting Company, no relation to _that_ ABC!) and later 880 before it finally became WCBS in 1946; they were CBS' flagship radio station for decades.

[@PIXPromosMore]

"today there are more stations and more choices.... but no giants.............." Until Z100 came along One Year Later...

[@patriciagullickson9591]

PIX Promos & More no music.,.the music sucks

[@patriciagullickson9591]

Vaughn Baskin hot 97 is a piece of crap

[@VBaskin2010]

And then came Hitradio/Power 95 WPLJ and WQHT A.K.A. Hot 103/97 join the fun!

[@sillygoose635]

Shut up patricia, hot 97 isnt crap.

[@Bentom86]

I worked at Z100 in the 80s. While it quickly emerged as number 1 in the city, Z couldn't duplicate the power, personality, dominance, and legend of WABC. And that doesn't even count the music! But the battle between Z & WPLJ at that time was a heated one...reminiscent of WABC's All-Americans & WMCA's Good Guys.

[@michaelmigliaccio1939]

Newscaster explaining to an audience in 1982 what FM is. That's perhaps the most remarkable part of this piece. Thanks so much for posting.

[@billsager5634]

Excellent point, considering that FM Radio has been around since the 1960's, and by 1982, NYC had FM GIANTS like WNEW-FM (AOR), WPLJ (AOR), WXLO (aka 99X - a Top 40 station), WCBS-FM, WAPP - all of which were rock. You also had Jazz, Classical, & Country FM stations in NYC. Quite honestly, it is insane to think anyone in the NYC area, in 1982, did not know what FM radio was, other than possibly that reporter!

[@choppergirl]

Don't feel bad AM, the internet and KZbin videos killed MTV, which killed FM. Video killed the radio star.

[@bradlafferty6076]

MTV killed itself, I was there, opening weekend, I remember videos not pregnant teens

[@choppergirl]

@@bradlafferty6076 Shout out @ reply to comment I made 8 years ago. :)

[@johnnyballenatl]

WABC's future came into question after WKTU "Disco 92" -- no relation to the current WKTU -- overtook them in the ratings, which was probably in 1978-79 (WNBC remained at a solid #2). Currently, two classic hits stations are atop the NYC radio ratings, though Z100 is the #1 Top 40 station. And in the last few years, a growing number of AM stations have been simulcasting on FM; WSB-AM 750/FM 95.5 (as WSBB; WSB-FM (B98.5) still plays music to this day) here in Atlanta is among them. And just like WABC, WSB also switched from music to news/talk in the '80s.

[@erikshen1107]

Who remembers PACO GETTING BUSTED FOR DRUG POSSESSION IN FORT LEE NJ???? AND THE JOLLY JOINT COMMERCIAL

[@danielmorse4213]

End of an era. I still love am music radio.

[@kdfelton]

Yes indeed it was! I listened as a kid with my small battery operated radio growing up in central NJ.

[@barryandreev8333]

I had my little transistor radio too growing up in Central NJ during the 60s.

[@JAM-PAMS]

I understand the irony, but it was many years later before Limbaugh and Hannity arrived. In the beginning, WABC's talk shows were fairly mellow and not totally political. Many of them originated on the west coast and were part of the ABC Talkradio network. In fact, Ross and Wilson continued to do the morning show for a while and even played some music!

[@scottburton9701]

WNBC bit the dust in 1988.

[@JAM-PAMS]

Art Athens. His first guests were Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy, who had just completed the 3 hour (9-Noon) retrospective seen in this video. Many of the other shows in the early days of WABC Talkradio originated on the west coast at KABC Los Angeles and KGO San Francisco, and were distributed to affiliates via the ABC Talkradio Network.

[@kascnef]

Today there are a few AM music stations like WMTR in morristown that play oldies.

[@gsentinel4821]

One of the Biggest mistakes that ABC ever made - Radio has NEVER been the same. Change for the sake of change is NOT always the best option. ABC pretty much told 6 million loyal listeners to take a hike. Jeanne Downey was spot on when she said " today there are more stations, more choices but no Giants" - That was 1982 and that is still the case today in my opinion. I mean couldn't you just slowly convert WABC to an eventual FM format?

[@kevinfodor3154]

They probably could have moved WABC to FM.

[@americangiant1003]

@@kevinfodor3154 Actually Z100 took over that Top 40 void for the NYC market. And almost 40 years later here in 2022, still on the air.

[@kevinfodor3154]

And, yes...Cousin returns to WABC for a Saturday Night Oldies Show 6 to 9 pm. WABC will play music...if only for a few hours a week...again.

[@NickG123]

Ive enjoyed his show on my transistor radio collection for the last to weeks, they haven't played Brucie through their circuits in years. The jingles sound great on radio again!

[@stephenvanwoert2447]

This video gives me goose bumps, as I reminisce about the 60's when I was a teenager faithfully listening to WABC from Upstate NY (Cooperstown area). They were really big on The Beatles and so was I. So much good music in the 60's. Music is always evolving. Each generation of teenagers has its era of favorite music while they are growing up.

[@christopherhulse8385]

42 years ago already. We have more radio stations today, but somehow, we don't have the quality.

[@altfactor]

Anyone who (as of 2009) is in their mid-to-late-30's or older who lived anywhere on the East Coast between 19690 and 1982 listened to WABC Musicradio 77 at least once. And now, talk is starting to migrate to the FM dial as well. Proposed legislation that would force radio stations to pay royalities to performers for music played could accelerate this trend. Ironically, WABC-AM today consists of 24/7 syndicated talk shows , although several of them are produced at WABC's studios.

[@timmack2415]

I grew up in the NYC area. I heard the debut of what will become a huge Beetle classic. My clock radio woke me up to Harry Harrison to get ready for school.

[@WLNG92]

The WABC sound continues on WLNG 92.1 FM and streaming on the web, check it out.

[@RICHIECOQUI]

Ron lundy,Rick sklar,Dan ingram are gone now RIP!!!

[@edgarsaenz1565]

Music don't die it's just moved to FM and now to Satellite Radio so you can take it anywhere

[@VBaskin2010]

& Internet Radio as well!

[@kevindavis4709]

+Vaughn Baskin yeah as long as you have WiFi unless you have allot of data lol

[@valerieannrumpf4151]

Wow, I remember listening to both 66 wnbc and 77 wabc back when I was a kid.

[@dickyfisher7134]

Cousin Brucie! 77WABC...Just a favorite childhood memory now. Damn miss the '60s.

[@johnhormel4964]

yes RIP WABC horrible loss I grew up with this station loved the DJ's

[@thekraemer1757]

Now its 24 hour babble and blah blah blah. Awesome.

[@altfactor]

From the early 1960's until the very late 1970's, WABC was the most popular radio station in New York, often by huge margins.

[@TheEdsel1958]

c:étais le bon temps en 60.70. ce poste de radio de new york entrais bien a montreal le soir apres 22heure et toute la nuit

[@alexpaulradio7345]

Ah bon c'est bien ça!

[@mck1972]

2:50: WNBC was the only top 40 AM Radio station left at this point in 1982-BUT-This was just before Howard Stern came on board!

[@thunderstruck665]

In my opinion, this really cements why there was so much outrage when WCBS-FM was yanked from the air all of a sudden five years ago. It was really the only remnant left of the giant that was WABC. To take it away was utterly foolish. Even though it's not the same in its current form anymore, hopefully it will never leave the airwaves again.

[@azeleapark]

*"🎵The music's on Us!"🎵*

[@radioman66]

You know for a brief blip in time last year 2007 I got the chance to somewhat re-create the MusicRadio sound at a station I worked at. The owner was a big WLS fan as a kid and so we took their jingle package and did it up with heavy reverb major compession and a PHATT oldies library.I brought my WABC/WNBC Time Machine & WFIL growing up style to the table and it worked great for about 5 months,the owner buckled under pressure & switched format to Classic Rock.Have no video,but cool audio!

[@barryandreev8333]

Growing up in Central NJ in the 60s, I could pick up both NYC & Philly stations; and I gotta say WFIL was a little better than WABC in my book.

[@ramblingsadrift6477]

both Lundy and Igram worked out of St Louis before the duo made it to the top

[@jeffwojdyla8505]

Rip kemosabe Dan Ingram radio god

[@waremblem3405]

00:35 compare him to the children (ages 35-55) doing the local news today, especially on ABC-TV.

[@joerouse7908]

3:28 Art Athens kicked off the talk radio era at WABC and his first guests were Ron Lundy and Dan Ingram, who had just ended the music radio era on WABC. Interestingly, all 3 of them would go on to work for CBS Radio, Athens at WCBS-AM (where he had worked prior to going to WABC) and Ingram and Lundy wound up at WCBS-FM.

[@VBaskin2010]

Well Ron Lundy come in 1983 a new radio station will unleash a new breed of Musicradio, and that station's name is................................ The TM Male Jingle Singers: WHTZ1OO, New York!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@wescreek3493]

listen Ron since i could remember

[@ApartmentKing66]

@godgundam10 WNBC didn't switch to another format because music was still working, and with WABC now out of the race, they had no competition from them as they always had. One could also ask why WLS didn't switch formats when WCFL did. The less competition you have, the better. Plus, NBC decided to get out of radio, they didn't have to sell off their flagship AM.

[@user-uv4ry2bm7x]

These guys were rock stars.. We all traced are rock n roll roots to these guys and so many great memories of a New York long gone...God bless these guys as they were the best.

[@supportthejerseymob]

it was a mistake to stop the music not everyone dislikes the mono sound

[@brianplant6756]

I loved that echo on WABC. It was so cool

[@wmbrown6]

Given all the comments, I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I remember another piece about WABC's last day as a music station by WCBS-TV on one of their other newscasts (probably the 6 P.M. co-anchored by Jim Jensen) on which they had a sound bite from Cousin Brucie about what killed WABC as a music station: "G-R-E-E-E-D." Yep, that's how Mr. Morrow spelt it.

[@maryrafuse3851]

I loved listening to WABC in Antigonish, Nova Scotia Canada during the 1960's & 1970's. The night time Sky Wave brought this station to my Sony portable radio with a great clear signal. FM Radio is as dull as dirty dish water. The AM Powerhouses had great DJ's! Closer to my home 92 CJCH & 96 CHNS were great stations out of Halifax NS.

[@maryrafuse2297]

Talk radio is one reason why America is such an angry country. Bring back the music and be happy people.

[@bishlap]

the truth is that it was time to go... I was a faithful listener of AM music stations as a kid, but once FM-Stereo became more and more available esp. in cars, AM was dead for music. Cousin Brucie et al., were old-timers playing old-timers music.

[@edwardmiessner6502]

I remember listening as a teen in the late 70s to 77 WABC NY in Scituate, Mass. at night after the sun went down and hearing DJs Dan Ingram and Bob Cruise, and WABC's distinctive big echo sound!

[@slimpickins1469]

when radio was great

[@myatypicalworld]

@3:09 Pig Virus

[@AarHan3]

And WNBC would also succumb, in 1988. There may as well not BE AM radio at all, what with FM having eased it out of its place in radio popularity. :-P

[@arjanwilbie2511]

WABC stood as a example for Europeans too.Radio Veronica, a 1960 to 1974 offshore broadcaster sent DJ's to New York to see how radio was made there.

[@greg11311]

New York had WABC, in Chicago, we had MusicRadio 89 WLS

[@johnoconnor6356]

I remember in the late summer/early fall in 1977, A Philadelphia AM radio station, known as WIBG, aka Wibbage,(990 AM) changed their call letters to WZZD, calling themselves Wizzard 100, with Kevin Metenny as the new Program Director. They gave that station quite an overhaul, with a Top 40 format, sounding a lot like an FM station. To me, they would be the perfect station, but with pop music transitioning to FM, they never quite caught on. Kevin Metenny was gone in less than a year, and whoever took his place obviously changed it to an all disco station by 1979. That did not seem to catch on either, and by spring of 1980, the station was sold to a religious organization, who changed it to a Gospel station. Disco was the fad in the mid to late 1970's, but by the time the station went all disco, the fad was on it's way out, and the Disco format never caught on either.

[@dog453679]

It was sad that they change it to a talk radio format. FM kicked AM’s ass when it comes to music. But now, not only do you find these kind of songs on an oldies station on FM, but also in streaming format on the web through WIFI, and cellular data, smartphones, computers, Amazon Firestick, etc. The only station I know that mimics WABC 770AM, and that’s 70’s on 7 on SiriusXM. That particular satellite radio station reminds of that cool AM station in New York. And I thank SiriusXM for that. 😎👍

[@normacastro3538]

that was the worst thing done

[@jeffbengert2863]

Never should have changed. The WABC jingle promotions were AWESOME. Sad. Great memories. Soo many stupid people in the world who think too much about money and think "change" will solve all the problems.....don't mess with tradition.

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

At 3:00, the reporter mentioned WNBC going to AM Stereo. Had more AM stations done that, I would guess in the mid-70s, music may have survived on the AM band. Somebody posted a few years back on youtube that you could take the people who listen to terrestrial radio (AM and FM) and fit them in the backseat of a VW Beetle. A bit of a stretch, that, but there are so many more ways to get music nowadays. I have a circa-1998 analog radio, and the only thing I listen to on it is sports. Posting 11-7-23.

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

I'll never understand why WP:LJ (WABC's sister station) didn't immediately pick up the Top 40 format. They did, but it was much later.

[@marchoffman6878]

wabc 770 am

[@hymlog]

...And that's the way it is folks ...The Good Old Days Just Die. ..Enjoy today ...We are Next.