WZLX is a prominent
classic rockClassic 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...
radio station in the Boston,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
market. WZLX was one of the first
classic rockClassic 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...
FM stations in America. It is known as "The Mother of Classic Rock" since it is the original classic rock station in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
What is now WZLX was originally
WCOP-FM, notable for being one of the first FM stations to break simulcasting with its AM partner. WCOP-FM's separate programming was initially classical music and was one of the first FM stations in the region to (briefly) broadcast in FM stereo (the station would resume stereo programming in the early 1970s).
In 1965, WCOP (AM) had become Boston's affiliate for the NBC Radio Network, and WCOP-FM would often simulcast the hourly NBC Radio newscasts. By 1969, NBC Radio's weekend series
MonitorNBC Monitor was an American weekend radio program broadcast from June 12, 1955, until January 26, 1975. Airing live and nationwide on the NBC Radio Network, it originally aired beginning Saturday morning at 8am and continuing through the weekend until 12 midnight on Sunday...
had moved from WCOP to WCOP-FM, to allow the former to broadcast more hours of country music on the weekends.
The station went through a number of format changes (and later callsign changes), including
beautiful musicBeautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
in the late 60s until 1973,
oldiesOldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
(as “Total Gold 101, WCOP-FM”, 1973–74),
countryCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
1974-76), AOR (as
WTTK "TK101" 1976-78),
beautiful musicBeautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...
(as
WHUE, 1979–85), and Top 40 (as
WKKT "The Cat", for a few months in 1985). Also, just before the switch to WKKT in Dec 1984, the station as beautiful music station WHUE sought and received the WCOZ call letters formerly on 94.5. Ironically those calls belonged (legally) to the 100.7 frequency for just 2 weeks in December 1984.
100.7
FMFM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
adopted its current format and callsign,
WZLX, in October 1985. The station owners at that time, First Media Corporation, hired Gary Guthrie to design and implement a format aimed at people who experienced
adolescenceAdolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
in either the 1960s and 1970s and enjoyed the music of those eras, but did not care for the then current
heavy metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
or top 40 'hot hits' of the 1980s. These were people whose mindset was getting too old for AOR and top 40
radio formatA radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
s, but were too young for or not interested in the
oldiesOldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
radio formatA radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
. WZLX was one of the first
classic rockClassic 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...
radio formatA radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
stations to made its debut, becoming quite popular throughout the Boston area.
WZLX's first program director was Boston radio veteran Bill Smith, who also did the Morning Show from 1985 to 1990. Bill expanded on Gary's basic idea and in two short years grew the station into what it is today. He hired Harvey Warfield (afternoons), Tony Mathes (middays), Anne Cody (evenings), and musicologist Jeff Allen in a prominent position for weekends.
Bill Smith also worked for
WRKOWRKO is a radio station based in Boston, Massachusetts, currently owned by Entercom. Its transmitter is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, next to the Burlington Mall.-1920-1940:...
,
WBZWBZ is the call sign for an AM radio station in Boston, Massachusetts owned by CBS Radio, itself owned by the CBS Corporation. Originally based in and broadcast from Springfield, Massachusetts, WBZ was the first commercial radio station in the United States...
,
WBOSWBOS is a commercial radio station located in Brookline, Massachusetts, broadcasting to the Greater Boston area on 92.9 FM. The station airs a mainstream rock format branded as "Radio 92.9"...
,
WEEI-FM- External links :****...
, and WEGQ. Currently he is Production Manager for WRKO in Boston.
A series of ownership changes made WZLX a part of Cook-Inlet Radio, then Infinity Broadcasting in late 1992. Currently it is owned and operated by
CBS RadioCBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
.
In 1997, WZLX radio host
George Taylor MorrisGeorge Taylor Morris was a United States disk jockey and radio personality who grew up with and on the radio. Initially working on AM Radio, then switching to the FM Radio format, Morris' career evolved to where he became a "founding father of satellite radio at Sirius XM", according to the station...
created a media frenzy about the "
Dark Side of the RainbowDark Side of the Rainbow – also known as Dark Side of Oz or The Wizard of Floyd – refers to the pairing of the 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon with the visual portion of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. This produces moments where the film and the album appear to...
" phenomenon, in which
Pink FloydPink 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...
's album
The Dark Side of the MoonThe Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
is said to synch up with the movie
The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
.
In the spring of 2007, WZLX became the first station in the country to broadcast programming in full digital 5.1 surround sound. This flagship effort coincides with the recent move of the industry to implement the
HD RadioHD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
format.
From 1991 to 2007 the station had its studios on the 24th floor of the
Prudential TowerThe Prudential Tower, also known as the Prudential Building or, colloquially, The Pru, is a skyscraper in Boston, Massachusetts. The building, a part of the Prudential Center complex, currently stands as the 2nd-tallest building in Boston, behind the John Hancock Tower. The Prudential Tower was...
in downtown Boston, the location of its
transmitterIn electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
. On March 3, 2007, the station moved crosstown to the facility where sister stations
WODS- External links :****...
and WBCN are clustered in the
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
studios in Brighton. The transmitter is still atop the
Prudential TowerThe Prudential Tower, also known as the Prudential Building or, colloquially, The Pru, is a skyscraper in Boston, Massachusetts. The building, a part of the Prudential Center complex, currently stands as the 2nd-tallest building in Boston, behind the John Hancock Tower. The Prudential Tower was...
.
Programming/personalities
The most prominent personality on WZLX is probably
Carter AlanCarter Alan is a disc jockey and radio announcer who has been working professionally in Boston since 1979. His work began at the student radio station at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by 19 years at Boston radio station WBCN. Alan is perhaps most famous for playing U2 before...
, best known as the
disc jockeyA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
who, during his time at WBCN, helped the rise of the band
U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and later wrote one of the definitive biographies on the band; he also hosts
Sunday Morning Blues, some of the week's most popular programming. 19-year veteran Chuck Nowlin handles one of the most successful afternoon drive shows in Boston featuring the
Attitude Adjustment Hour. Kenny Young, the Night Rocker, rounds out the day's schedule from 7:00 p.m. to Midnight.
There have been a few morning shows on the station in recent history. With the coming of
Howard SternHoward Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
to WBCN in the early 90s, the Boston legend
Charles LaquidaraCharles Laquidara is an American radio disc jockey whose show, The Big Mattress, was broadcast in the Boston, Massachusetts area for nearly 30 years on WBCN. He spent four years doing The Charles Laquidara Radio Hour on WZLX...
and his show, The Big Mattress, took up residence at 'ZLX. With Charles's retirement, the short-lived
Mornings with Tai and Steve SweeneySteve Sweeney is an American comedian.-Biography:Sweeney was born in Charlestown, a section of Boston. His Boston accent and idiosyncratic mannerisms are trademarks of his stand-up act, headlining at comedy clubs across the country, including Caroline's Comedy Club in New York City.A graduate of...
eventually gave way to
Steve Sweeney's Neighborhood, (co-hosted by
Lance NorrisLance Norris is an American actor/writer/director/stand-up comic/critic/mentalist.-Life and career: Norris was born in Des Moines, Iowa and attended Whitman College where he was a wrestler and rugby player...
) which ended a 5-year run in 2005. Long time morning team
Karlson and McKenzie took over on August 1, 2005.
Current on-air staff
- Karlson and McKenzie - 5:30—10 am
- Carter Alan - 10 am—2 pm
- Chuck Nowlin - 2—7 pm
- Kenny Young - 7 pm—12 midnight
- Anngelle Wood
- Travis
- Mike Wendt
- Jack Lawrence
- Janet Egan King ("Juanita")
Specialty programs
- Wed. 11 pm—1 am - Rockline
- Sat. 7 pm—12 am - Nights with Alice Cooper
- Sun. 6—7 am - Common Ground
- Sun. 8—9 am - Breakfast with The Beatles (hosted by Cha Chi)
- Sun. 9 am—12 noon - Sunday Morning Blues with Carter Alan
- Sun. 10 pm—12 midnight - Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood
Availability
WZLX can be heard clearly as far west as
WorcesterWorcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, south into
ProvidenceProvidence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, and as far north as
Portsmouth, New HampshirePortsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
on typical radios.
A more sensitive receiver may be needed for reception on Eastern
Cape CodCape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
, in
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, west of City Hall in Worcester, and in central
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. The signal may occasionally be heard on a powerful car stereo in
Western MassachusettsWestern Massachusetts is a loosely defined geographical region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts which contains the Berkshires, the Pioneer Valley, and some or all of the Swift River Valley. The region is always considered to include Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, and the...
and parts of
MaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. The station streams its audio live at its web site.
External links