WMGK
Encyclopedia
WMGK, known as "Classic Rock 102.9 MGK" or "Philadelphia's Classic Rock: 102.9 MGK", is a Classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...

 formatted radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 which is broadcast in the Philadelphia area. The station features popular Philadelphia radio personality John DeBella
John Debella
John DeBella is an American DJ in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 102.9 WMGK-FM. He was born in Queens, New York.-Career:Before arriving in Philadelphia, DeBella did a stint at WLIR-FM Garden City. In the early '80s he hosted The DeBella Travesty and helped to introduce the Dare to be Different new...

 and former Howard Stern Show censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...

 Andre Gardner. WMGK is owned by Greater Media
Greater Media
Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, is an American media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and the state of New Jersey...

. Its transmitter is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

.

History

WMGK was known as WPEN-FM prior to 1975. First assigned a license in September 1945 on the newly-moved FM band at 95.9 and later 99.5, WPEN-FM was one of the first two FM stations to be licensed for SCA
Subsidiary Communications Authority
Subsidiary Communications Authorization in the United States, and Subsidiary Communications Multiplex Operation in Canada, is a subcarrier on a radio station, allowing the station to broadcast additional services as part of its signal.-Background:"Subsidiary Communications Authorization" is the...

 (subcarrier) service in 1955. Their co-owned AM station has been WPEN
WPEN (AM)
WPEN is an AM radio station broadcast on 950 kHz. The station is licensed to Philadelphia and serves that market. WPEN is owned and operated by Greater Media and offers a Sports Talk format. The station is known as "950 ESPN"-The Early Years:...

 since 1929.

At various times in the 1960s WPEN-FM either broadcast instrumental background music
Beautiful music
Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...

, was simulcast with WPEN, or played music similar to WPEN's middle-of-the-road format. By about 1972, WPEN-FM was simulcasting WPEN 50% of the time (the maximum allowed by FCC regulations in those years) and playing adult contemporary music without disc jockeys during non-simulcast hours. When Greater Media acquired the stations in 1975, the FM simulcast the AM's newly- launched oldies format for almost six months while plans were made for stand-alone programming on FM.

On September 2, 1975, WPEN-FM changed its call letters to WMGK and adopted a soft adult contemporary format called "Magic Music". The first song aired under the new call sign was "Could It Be Magic
Could It Be Magic
"Could It Be Magic" is a song by Adrienne Anderson and Barry Manilow. It was included on Manilow's 1973 debut album, Barry Manilow.Due to its popularity, it was released as a single in 1975, two years after it had originally been recorded, where it reached #6 in the United States.Manilow's...

" by Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...

. The music was a blend of current adult contemporary songs with album cuts from singer-songwriters of the '60s and early '70s, presented in four-song blocks with minimal talk. The format was successful for a time, then lost listeners to WUSL
WUSL
WUSL, known as "Power 99 FM", is a mainstream urban radio station, owned by Clear Channel Communications and licensed to Philadelphia...

 ("US1"), which had implemented a somewhat similar format with a shorter playlist of more familiar songs. Eventually WMGK replied with an even tighter playlist and rebounded past WUSL in the ratings. The station was programed by the late Dave Klahr and signed on by its first morning host Peter Booker who later programmed Greater Media sister station WMJC, Detroit and is now CEO of Delmarva broadcasting Company.

By the early 1980s WMGK had an adult contemporary format with a "Soft Rock" positioning. They were known as "Magic 103". They played artists like Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...

, Eagles, Four Tops
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, hard rock, and showtunes...

, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....

, etc. They also played softer songs by artists known for harder rock (example "Waiting for a Girl Like You
Waiting for a Girl Like You
"Waiting for a Girl like You" is a song by British-American rock band Foreigner. The distinctive synthesizer theme was performed by the then-unknown Thomas Dolby.-Chart performance:...

"/Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...

 from January 1982). As the 1980s approached artists like Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...

, Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...

, Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...

, George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...

, Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...

, and others were added. "Magic 103" was one of the pioneering stations in the adult contemporary format, and the concept was subsequently applied to stations in other markets (i.e. Greater Media-owned sisters WMJC 94.7 "Magic 95" in Detroit (now WCSX
WCSX
WCSX is a Detroit-based FM radio station broadcasting a classic rock format. WCSX's transmitter is located in suburban Oakland County in Royal Oak Township near the intersection of 8 Mile Rd. and Wyoming Avenue. WCSX transmits its signal from an antenna 951 feet in height with an effective radiated...

) and WMGQ
WMGQ
WMGQ, known on-air as Magic 98.3, is a radio station broadcasting from Somerset, New Jersey and licensed in New Brunswick . It is located at 98.3 FM. The station can be heard in Monmouth, Middlesex, Somerset, Mercer, Union, and Hunterdon counties...

 in New Brunswick, NJ).

In the 1980s, Magic 103 WMGK leaned soft, but played several uptempo songs an hour. They also continued to play plenty of current product. They were a Straight but slightly downtempo AC station. In the spring of 1986, WMGK started a Contemporary Jazz show called Sunday Morning Jazz, later renamed Sunday Evening Jazz in early 1987. The show was hosted by Bob Craig and ended in October 1988 when Craig left the radio station, though Craig returned to the station in the spring of 1990, and again hosted a Contemporary Jazz show, this one running on both Saturday and Sunday nights from 7 pm to midnight. Along with the Jazz, some soft rock songs were mixed in as well. The show lasted one year and ended in the early summer of 1991, as Craig again left the station. This may have been the precursor to the introduction of the city's first full-time Smooth Jazz station, WJJZ 106.1
WISX
WISX is a Hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are owned by Clear Channel Communications.-Beautiful Music Era: WQAL/WWSH:...

, which made its debut in 1993, almost two years after WMGK's Contemporary Jazz show had ended.

They continued this approach in the 1990s. Over the years their competition was WSNI Sunny 104. Easy 101 became Soft AC in 1989 and by 1993 they were more of an AC format. WEAZ 101.1 (soon WBEB) dominated in the ratings. In the summer of 1994, with the feeling that Philadelphia could no longer support 3 AC stations, Greater Media opted to drop AC for an All 1970s format.

On July 10, 1994, WMGK officially dropped the long time AC format and changed it to an all-70s format with all types of 1970s music ranging from classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...

 to disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 to easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...

 to Pop/Rock to R&B. By 1995, the station added a few big 1960s and 1980s hits that were mostly of the Classic Rock leaning Pop type. They also moved away from disco and Easy Listening. By the Fall of 1995 WMGK was more of a Classic Hits
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...

 station. They had dropped the Magic name as well. They played mostly Classic Rock with some rock friendly Pop hits thrown in but not much of the harder stuff.

In 1997, Greater Media would acquire WMMR and 95.7 FM. At that point WMGK continued to position themselves as a Classic Hits station. A couple years ago they began to call themselves Classic Rock and eliminated the non rock pop hits. Still, with rocker WMMR in the cluster, WMGK leans softer than most classic rock stations.

On Friday, November 17, 2006, at 6 p.m. EST, the former WTHK
WTHK
WTHK, known on-air as "The Hawk" was a radio station located at 97.5 FM which had a classic rock format. Although the station was originally licensed to Trenton, New Jersey, changing to Burlington, New Jersey in early 2006, The Hawk targeted the Philadelphia broadcasting area in addition to its own...

 (97.5 FM) became "The New Smooth Jazz 97.5 WJJZ", an allusion to the fact that WJJZ
WJJZ
WPEN-FM is a radio station owned by Greater Media. Licensed to Burlington, New Jersey, it currently broadcasts a sports format to the Philadelphia metropolitan area....

 was once a popular smooth jazz station broadcasting on 106.1. This made WMGK the Philadelphia region's only classic rock station. The 106.1 frequency is now occupied by the Rhythmic AC-formatted WISX
WISX
WISX is a Hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are owned by Clear Channel Communications.-Beautiful Music Era: WQAL/WWSH:...

 ("My 106.1"). The 97.5 frequency, which has since been flipped to Mainstream AC, then to Hot AC (as "Now 97.5"), and finally sports, and occupied by WPEN-FM (as "97.5 The Fanatic"), is now owned by Greater Media, thus making it a sister station to WMGK.

Competition

WMGK had three major competitors. In Philadelphia, there was WYSP, which changed from active rock back to classic rock on August 25, 2008, with a harder sound than that of WMGK. However, WYSP switched to SportsRadio WIP on September 2, 2011. From surrounding markets, there is also competition from WCHR-FM, and WODE. WCHR-FM
WCHR-FM
WCHR-FM is a Manahawkin, New Jersey radio station broadcasting at 105.7 FM with a classic rock format...

 105.7 The Hawk competes with it from the Lower Bucks County area to the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...

. WODE
WODE-FM
WODE-FM is a radio station located in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania, in the United States. The station broadcasts on 99.9 FM, and is popularly known as 99-9 The Hawk....

 99.9 The Hawk, based in Easton, PA, competes in the Lehigh Valley area and the northern Philadelphia suburbs. The station also received competition from WFKB of Reading, PA (licensed to Boyertown, PA), known as "107.5 Frank FM". WFKB, which is now known as WBYN-FM with a Christian Radio
Christian radio
Christian radio is a category of radio formats that focus on transmitting programming with a Christian message. In the United States, where it is more established, many such broadcasters play popular music of Christian influence, though many programs have talk or news programming covering...

 format, competed with WMGK anywhere from Reading to the northern Philadelphia suburbs and the Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...

 region until March 30, 2009, when the call sign and format were changed.

Signal

WMGK can be heard with a reliable signal as far as central Monroe County, Pennsylvania
Monroe County, Pennsylvania
-National protected areas:* Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area * Middle Delaware National Scenic River -Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there are 176,567 people, 49,454 households, and 36,447 families residing in the county. The population density was 228 people per square mile...

 to the North, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 120,327 people and 32,771 families residing in the county. The population density was 332 people per square mile . There were 49,320 housing units at an average density of 136 per square mile...

, to the West, New Jersey Shore to the East, and well into Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

 and Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 to the South.

Philly 500

Every Memorial Day Weekend, Classic Rock 102.9 MGK hosts the annual Philly 500, which is the top 500 classic rock songs of all time, as voted by the MGK At Work Network. Every year, the countdown begins on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend at 3:00 PM with DJ Andre Gardner playing song number 500. The countdown continues throughout the weekend, and the number one song is played every year by DJ Bubba John usually around 2:30 PM on Memorial Day. Below are previous number one songs.
Year Artist #1 Song Runner Up Artist/Song
2008 Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 
Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album . The song, running eight minutes and two seconds, is composed of several sections, which...

 
Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

/Sweet Emotion
Sweet Emotion
"Sweet Emotion" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith, released by Columbia Records in April 1975 on the album Toys in the Attic and was released as a single a month later on May 19th . The song began a string of pop hits and large-scale mainstream success for the band that would continue for...

2009 Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

 
Comfortably Numb
Comfortably Numb
"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, which first appears on the 1979 double album, The Wall. It was also released as a single in the same year with "Hey You" as the B-side. It is one of only three songs on the album for which writing credits are shared between Roger...

 
Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...

/Carry On Wayward Son
Carry On Wayward Son
"Carry on Wayward Son" is a progressive rock single recorded by Kansas and written by Kerry Livgren for their 1976 album Leftoverture. In 1977, the song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard pop singles chart, becoming their first Top 40 hit....

2010 Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 
Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album . The song, running eight minutes and two seconds, is composed of several sections, which...

 
Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...

/Carry On Wayward Son
Carry On Wayward Son
"Carry on Wayward Son" is a progressive rock single recorded by Kansas and written by Kerry Livgren for their 1976 album Leftoverture. In 1977, the song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard pop singles chart, becoming their first Top 40 hit....

2011 Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 
Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album . The song, running eight minutes and two seconds, is composed of several sections, which...

 
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

/A Day in the Life
A Day in the Life
"A Day in the Life" is a song by The Beatles, the final track on the group's 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, the song comprises distinct segments written independently by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with orchestral additions...



The following songs are consistentley in the top ten:
Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album . The song, running eight minutes and two seconds, is composed of several sections, which...

 by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

Carry on Wayward Son
Carry On Wayward Son
"Carry on Wayward Son" is a progressive rock single recorded by Kansas and written by Kerry Livgren for their 1976 album Leftoverture. In 1977, the song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard pop singles chart, becoming their first Top 40 hit....

 by Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...

Sweet Emotion
Sweet Emotion
"Sweet Emotion" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith, released by Columbia Records in April 1975 on the album Toys in the Attic and was released as a single a month later on May 19th . The song began a string of pop hits and large-scale mainstream success for the band that would continue for...

 by Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...

Hotel California
Hotel California
Hotel California is the fifth studio album released by the American rock band the Eagles, in late 1976. It is the first Eagles album without founding member Bernie Leadon and the first album with Joe Walsh. It is also the last album featuring original bass player and singer Randy Meisner...

 by Eagles
Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...

 by Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

You Shook Me All Night Long
You Shook Me All Night Long
"You Shook Me All Night Long" is one of AC/DC's signature songs from their most successful album, Back in Black. The song also reappeared on their later album Who Made Who. It is one of the band's top 40 singles, reaching number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in 1980...

 by AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...


External links

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