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R.I.P WCBS-FM New York City 101.1


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Without warning, Infinity Broadcasting pulled the plug on a New York radio institution today. For 33 years WCBS-FM has been know as the "Oldies" station in New York City. They started playing hits from 50's and 60's. as time went by they moved into the 70's and most recently the 80's. It had been a general rule of thumb that a song had to be 25 years old to get played.

WCBS became the home for displaced jocks from the AM era. Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow was still on the air. It was the new home for The Mickey Dolenz Show. As a matter of fact, as I drove to work this morning, Mickey was celebrating his 100th show on WCBS-FM with a live broadcast from B.B. Kings place in New York. Cousin Brucie wished him the best for his next 100. I get in the car after work and the station is gone....they let Mickey celebrate on the day Infinity was going to lower the boom.

The station has been replaced by Jack-FM "Playing What We Want" is the slogan. They play stuff from the 70's, 80's and 90's. They claim to have an unlimited playlist...like your IPod...meanwhile...WCBS is destroyed.

WCBS was about the 3rd or 4th station I listened to as I flipped around the dial...but they have some very loyal listeners who are crushed. They grew up with this station and these jocks.

This just isn't right. :thumbsdown:

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Is the new thing now?....the oldies station i use to listen to changed their format also, and it is now called "fickle"..you would hear a song from the kinks, and then next hear something from backstreet boys....i dont like this at all.....i listened to oldies once in awhile, but mostly i listen to classic rock...but i liked the oldies also, i dont get it...lots of loyal listeners were also upset over this change

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As a matter of fact, as I drove to work this morning, Mickey was celebrating his 100th show on WCBS-FM with a live broadcast from B.B. Kings place in New York.

I too listened to some of Mickey Dolenz's show this past Friday morning when I was out and about. On my mornings home from work I would listen to him as well. I even mentioned on another SF posting concerning the Monkees that Mickey Dolenz was now doing morning work on WCBS-FM.

This is totally outrageous what was done to WCBS-FM. I believe it was the oldest oldies radio station in the country. Infinity Broadcasting pulled this off without any warnings to their listeners. I was a loyal listener for many years. A few years ago when they got rid of Don K Reed's Doo-Wop shop on Sunday nights I was upset as it was the best doo-wop show in the area.

What made WCBS-FM unique were the DJ's. They were not new Syracuse U. graduates. They were the men who first brought this music to the air with the likes of Don K Reed, Harry Harrison (who recently came back), Bob Shannon and even Mickey Dolenz who played some of these oldies. That uniqueness and the factoids they shared about the music and eras was an education in music itself when you listened to CBS-FM.

The suits up at Infinity who believe they can do better, including playing music currently without DJ's until the current ones can be replaced really did an injustice to music and it's history. For all of you in the NYC area who listened to CBS-FM, I say we boycott this new format and write letters to Infinity with our gripes.

For those of you who really enjoyed listening to the Sunday night Doo-Wop shop and live in the NYC area, you can find a very similiar show on Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. on WFAS-FM in Westchester. This show includes many guests who recorded this genre of music. It is 103.9 FM on the dial.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I can't believe they did this. I am still in shock. I keep thinking that when I turn my radio on to WCBS FM 101.1 Cousin Bruce will still be there and Mickey Dolenz will be there in the morning to wake me up. This is UNTHINKABLE. Isn't there something we can do????

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  • 2 weeks later...

Jack-FM just took over 96.3 here in the Nashville area.The best classic rock station around is 105.9 with Johnboy and Billy in the morning and Proud Mary in the afternoon.96.3 has always been the "oldies" station here.I liked it at first and then I came to hate it.I hated it because they played the same songs everyday over and over.A lot of great oldies never got played.I was bombarded with the Aretha Franklin song "RESPECT" at least 3 or more times each day.I began to hate the DJ Coyote McCloud as well.Now he's on 97.1 and I sure as hell ain't going there.So I figure maybe JACK is a good thing :shades:

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 year later...

...and with The Beach Boys "Do It Again", WCBS-FM returned to it's old slot on the airwaves on 7/12/07. Jack-FM dragged the station from #8 to #18 in the market. they lost money and the fans never gave up hope of getting it back. The station stayed around on the internet and HD radio, but now the loyal fans get rewarded and New York has it's oldies station back at 101.1 FM.

There was a slight format change...the station pioneered the oldies format that included heavy doses of hits from the 50's, 60's and 70's, however the new format is 60's, 70's and 80's. Still, fans will enjoy listening to classic rock and classic jocks.

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YAY! I don't listen to this station, but it's good to know that people will support radio and disc jockeys. It seems like everyone is dismissing it as unnecessary and ancient, but it still is a big part of my life and I hope it will be a big part of my daughter's.

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Blame satelite radio for the no-DJ format. People buy the satellite radio thing so there are no DJ's and no commercials. Commercial radio can't live without advertising, but DJ's (according to the exec's) aren't needed. So long as loyal listeners stay united and fight to keep DJ's on the air, it will eventually get through (I hope!) :crazy:

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We had the same thing happen here almost a year ago. The new station lasted a week or so. Too many people sent nasty notes, etc. to the exec's at the station. The DJ's and original format were quickly put back on the air.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I like what they are doing at WCBS-FM. We missed the old station but the revived version has an updated sound. An oldies station doesn't have to sound old. I also like that they throw in the occasional 1950s song. This afternoon I heard Frankie Ford's "Sea Cruise", a great old rock-n-roll song.

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