Hi, I’m Rob, and I am a fan of 80’s music. That would be an understatement.
I am approaching my 30th year at Cromwell Media. So, I have seen a lot of musical genres come down the pike over the last three decades. From Classic Country, which is still offered on WBIO and WKCM just like they always have, and Rock, which has been a standard at 97X since 1997. I saw then-WTCJ-FM come to life as 105.7 The Party, to nothing, to its revival as WCJZ-FM, playing Classic Rock. 102.7 The Game was even once an Oldies station (at 102.9), then 102.7 The Buzz, playing country, and even a Contemporary Hit radio outlet for a time. With all these switches and changes, one always stood out.
In 2001, I was standing on the front walk at Cromwell, talking to some co-workers, when one of them informed me that manager Corky Norcia said that Cromwell had acquired 1420 WVJS. I had to ask them to repeat it, as I was amazed.
Some background. I technically started my career in 1986 at WKWC, Kentucky Wesleyan’s non-commercial station. But it was not until 1989 that I started getting paid to do radio. That’s when I got a call from Joe Lowe, who said he needed a part-time weekend announcer. Joe just happened to be the longtime program director of the station I grew up listening to, WVJS. I jumped at the opportunity. In the years that followed before Cromwell, I had a LOT more energy, and on some weeks worked for THREE companies. I retained my shift at WKWC, had found work in nearby Hardinsburg (at the station Joe once worked), and weekends at WVJS. So when I started at WVJS, we had a format that resembled an oldies-heavy adult contemporary vibe, with a few new or recent hits mixed in. But if you worked “Solid Gold Weekends,” you got to play music from 1955 through 1975. I got an excellent music education working there. I could rattle off titles, artists, and years. In the days before Wikipedia, you had to learn it. We all had a great time working at Owensboro On The Air, the parent company of WVJS. By the time I started, the Steele family had already sold it to Century Communications. But it still was a close-kit group of professionals, so much that to this day, many of them are still in contact.
WVJS had gone from the News format it switched to in 1994 to an adult standards outlet, with show tunes and a heavy dose of Sinatra. I don’t remember what exactly was playing at midnight the day Cromwell took ownership, but I do remember listening to Corky switch a couple of wires at the U.S. 60 West transmitter site, taking the station silent for a moment, and then the sounds of Elton John’s “Honky Cat” filled the channel. We were off and running.
It was several years later that I got a midday show on WVJS. I began it as a Saturday night party show, and our then-general manager got a sponsor for it. I suddenly found myself on from 11am to 2pm. All the while, I was still on WBIO as well, doing the morning show from 6 to 9. Eventually, the midday show ended, and I concentrated solely on the Classic Country format. Then came health problems, and even a kidney transplant. A short-lived Saturday night show returned, and I called it “Retro Radio.” It ended quickly as well.
So, here we are now. Retro Radio is back, and during the lunchtime hours yet again. I hope you can join us. Sometimes full-circle takes a while. Sometimes you have to make a bunch of those circles. We are taking it back to its 80’s roots.
