WAQY-AM: Difference between revisions
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Among the buyers of the former [[WEZB-AM]] were Chevrolet dealer [[Tom Gloor]] and popular announcers [[Tommy Charles]] and [[Doug Layton]] who had pioneered the two-man morning radio team. After John Lennon claimed in [[1965]] that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus", Charles and Layton led a group of grandstanding stations that refused to play Beatles songs over the air in Birmingham (though they probably weren't in heavy rotation to begin with). Charles urged listeners to bring their records and paraphernalia to the studio to be destroyed in a tree shredder. WAQY's "Ban the Beatles" crusade was the first to gain nationwide attention and is referenced in numerous Beatles documentaries. | Among the buyers of the former [[WEZB-AM]] were Chevrolet dealer [[Tom Gloor]] and popular announcers [[Tommy Charles]] and [[Doug Layton]] who had pioneered the two-man morning radio team. After John Lennon claimed in [[1965]] that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus", Charles and Layton led a group of grandstanding stations that refused to play Beatles songs over the air in Birmingham (though they probably weren't in heavy rotation to begin with). Charles urged listeners to bring their records and paraphernalia to the studio to be destroyed in a tree shredder. WAQY's "Ban the Beatles" crusade was the first to gain nationwide attention and is referenced in numerous Beatles documentaries. | ||
WAQY broadcast Sunday services from [[Hunter Street Baptist Church]]. | |||
Always broadcasting at low-power and only during daytime, the station never commanded much in the way of advertising revenue. WAQY increased its news and talk segments for a while, then returned to Top-40 before Charles sold it in [[1970]]. Other announcers on the station included [[Jim Allen]], [[Tony West]], [[James Enright]] and [[Woody Windham]]. | Always broadcasting at low-power and only during daytime, the station never commanded much in the way of advertising revenue. WAQY increased its news and talk segments for a while, then returned to Top-40 before Charles sold it in [[1970]]. Other announcers on the station included [[Jim Allen]], [[Tony West]], [[James Enright]] and [[Woody Windham]]. | ||
Revision as of 00:09, 9 November 2009
WAQY-AM (AM 1220) was a 1000-watt radio station founded in 1964 as a competitor to WSGN and WVOK, aimed at attracting a wider pop-music audience turned off by the "screaming" and "psychedelic way-out sounds" heard on teen-oriented stations. The station's studios were on 3rd Avenue West near Fair Park.
Among the buyers of the former WEZB-AM were Chevrolet dealer Tom Gloor and popular announcers Tommy Charles and Doug Layton who had pioneered the two-man morning radio team. After John Lennon claimed in 1965 that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus", Charles and Layton led a group of grandstanding stations that refused to play Beatles songs over the air in Birmingham (though they probably weren't in heavy rotation to begin with). Charles urged listeners to bring their records and paraphernalia to the studio to be destroyed in a tree shredder. WAQY's "Ban the Beatles" crusade was the first to gain nationwide attention and is referenced in numerous Beatles documentaries.
WAQY broadcast Sunday services from Hunter Street Baptist Church.
Always broadcasting at low-power and only during daytime, the station never commanded much in the way of advertising revenue. WAQY increased its news and talk segments for a while, then returned to Top-40 before Charles sold it in 1970. Other announcers on the station included Jim Allen, Tony West, James Enright and Woody Windham.
| Preceded by: WEZB-AM |
AM 1220 1964–1970 |
Succeeded by: WBUL-AM |
References
- Wells, Russell (November 30, 2008) "Radio & TV (part 2)". Birmingham Rewound