WZLX
Encyclopedia
WZLX is a prominent 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...

 radio station in the Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The 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 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...

 FM stations in America. It is known as "The Mother of Classic Rock" since it is the original classic rock station in the United States
United States
The 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 Monitor
Monitor (NBC Radio)
NBC 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 music
Beautiful music
Beautiful 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, oldies
Oldies
Oldies 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), country
Country music
Country 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 music
Beautiful music
Beautiful 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 FM
FM broadcasting
FM 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 adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence 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 metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy 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 format
Radio format
A 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 oldies
Oldies
Oldies 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 format
Radio format
A 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 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...

 radio format
Radio format
A 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 WRKO
WRKO
WRKO 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:...

, WBZ
WBZ (AM)
WBZ 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...

, WBOS
WBOS
WBOS 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
WODS
- 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 Radio
CBS Radio
CBS 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 Morris
George Taylor Morris
George 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 Rainbow
Dark Side of the Rainbow
Dark 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 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...

's album The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The 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 Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The 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 Radio
HD Radio
HD 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 Tower
Prudential Tower
The 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 transmitter
Transmitter
In 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
WODS
- External links :****...

 and WBCN are clustered in the CBS
CBS
CBS 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 Tower
Prudential Tower
The 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 Alan
Carter Alan
Carter 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 jockey
Disc jockey
A 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 U2
U2
U2 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 States
United States
The 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 Stern
Howard Stern
Howard 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 Laquidara
Charles Laquidara
Charles 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 Sweeney
Steve Sweeney
Steve 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 Norris
Lance Norris
Lance 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 Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester 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 Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence 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 Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth 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 Cod
Cape Cod
Cape 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 Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut 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 Hampshire
New Hampshire
New 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 Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts
Western 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 Maine
Maine
Maine 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

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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