Industry pro with over 20 years of radio programming. I've worked in great Cities including New Orleans, Buffalo, Detroit, San Francisco and have been at WBLS/WLIB since 2008. Always happy to discover new artists and ideas.
July 1951. WEVD-FM signs on for the first time, laying the foundation for what was to become America’s most recognizable black radio station. On September 15, 1965, WEVD changed its call letters to WLIB-FM and held to a Jazz format. This morphed to a more eclectic format that included R&B, Soul and Vocalese called “The Total Black Experience in Sound” featuring Del
Shields and Frankie Crocker as DJs. The evolution of this became the “Urban “Contemporary” sound. In 1974, it changed calls once again, this time to yours truly WBLS-FM.
The History of WBLS
1971 - Inner City Broadcasting buys WLIB-AM New York with an option for WLIB-FM
1977 - Frankie Crocker celebrates his return as WBLS Program Director by riding into Studio 54 on horseback.
1978 - WBLS hits No. 1 in New York City for the first time.
1978 - WBLS advertising motto was “Disco and More“.
1978 - Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight“ plays on WBLS for the first time.
1978 - Mr. Magic starts Hip-Hop mix show.
1983 - Madonna visits the studio after WBLS helps popularize her first single,“Everybody.”
1984 - Marley Marl introduces DJs such as Pete Rock, Clarke Kent and The Juice Crew.
1989 - Hal Jackson celebrates 50 years in radio.
1993 - WBLS begins appealing to a younger audience.
1997 - WBLS segues back toward mainstream R&B.
2001 - The Queen of all Media, Wendy Williams, returns to NY on the WBLS airwaves.
2002 - The legendary Vaughn Harper returns as the voice of “The Quiet Storm”.
- WBLS wins the “Marconi Award” for Urban Station of the Year.
2005 - WBLS switches Urban AC to the “Home of Today’s R&B and Classic Soul”.
- NAB Marconi Award Winner for Urban Station of the Year
- King of Comedy Steve Harvey begins as host of the WBLS Morning Show.
2006 - Inner City Broadcasting celebrates 35 years of service to the community.
- Winner of R&R Industry Achievement Awards for - Personality/Show of the Year, Wendy Williams
2007 - Winner of R&R Industry Achievement Awards for - Urban AC Station of the
Year (Markets 1-25)&Personality/Show of the Year, Wendy Williams
- NAB Marconi Radio Finalists for Major Market Station of the Year, Urban Station of the Year
2008 - Winner of R&R Industry Achievement Awards for - Urban AC Station of the Year (Markets 1-15)
- NAB Marconi Award Winner for Urban Station of the Year
- NAB Marconi Radio Finalists for Major Market Station of the Year, Legendary Station of the Year.
Check out Joye B. Moore success story here.
The Hookblast Podcast is a weekly, 10-minute show where we discover a few new catchy songs - all sourced using Music Xray's proprietary combination of music analysis software, machine learning, crowd-sourcing of industry professionals, and fan feedback.