Gosh. My first station; what an odd, yet wonderfully unique format. It was a Gospel station with at least three
dayparted formats. That meant we played a different style of music or programming depending on the time of day you were listening. Southern Gospel in the morning then time brokered religious programs mid-day, followed by traditional and urban contemporary Black Gospel. I loved it all. By 1986 I began my afternoon drive show with 30 minutes of Southern Gospel; the the rest of my broadcast was Contemporary Christian till 9pm. The listeners were confused, but what an education I gleaned from Gospel 90
WEAS AM (later
WWJD) in Savannah, Georgia. I got from it a deeper appreciation for all forms of music as well as a priceless lexicon of Gospel trivia.
The station was originally licensed to Savannah on 900kc in 1950 despite legal objections from the local broadcast community. See
http://www.lawskills.com/case/ga/id/18820/Then it was known as
WJIV. They played what was termed at the time "race records". Modeled after the highly successful
WDIA in Memphis, Tennessee,
WJIV served the African American community exclusively for about a dozen years. Forward to about 1963;
WJIV station owner, E.D. "Dee" Rivers, Jr, moved the call letters "
WEAS" from his Atlanta station on 1010 AM, today known as
WGUN, to the Savannah station. In my research I discovered that Rivers also made an unsuccessful bid for a TV station called
WJIV-TV. Coinciding with the call sign change was a shift to a "Hillbilly" format, what we know now as Country. What a contrast! But it seems these listeners were under served and Rivers once again filled a demographic need. I imagine the sounds of Patsy Cline and Hank Williams were interspersed with preachers and the occasional Gospel tune. A few years later in '68 the 100,000 watt
WEAS-FM was born. It began as an automated "Beautiful Music" or "Easy Listening" format. The FM later programmed "Progressive Rock" till the mid 70's. That's when I believe the "E-93" brand became reality. They were now serving the black community full time, the format that's a ratings winner for them until this day. I understand that the AM and FM were simulcasting in the morning in those days. The AM split away from the FM mid-day with preachers and Southern Gospel music 'til sun down.
By the time I joined WEAS-AM in May of 1983 it was mostly Southern Gospel. During the next 3 years the format evolved into the hybrid I described. Each disk jockey picked his own music. I could usually tune in at home and know which DJ was on by the music he or she played! It sounds as though it would be chaotic, but it worked, mostly.
Late 1983 enter a new manager from Arkansas one Charles Lewallen. He was a minister and believed in strict format. He objected to diluting our music selections with other variations of the Gospel form. One time he told me not to play a certain New Gaither Vocal Band selection because it sounded too "rock". That seems so ridiculous now. Gaither? Rock? I was 17 in October of 1983 when Charles changed our call letters to WWJD. The new call sign didn't easily roll off my tongue and was ten plus years before the unrelated WWJD bracelets. The acronym did NOT represent "What Would Jesus Do". Our name stood for, "Walking With Jesus Daily". A possible motive for the switch was a disassociation with our sister, WEAS-FM. Being a green teenager I complied with whatever management said. I had very little to do with the business end of radio until much later in my career.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in their January 30, 1985 issue that Mr. Lewallen had wrongfully fired a female black announcer, Lucy Frazier, in summer '83. The report said she was suing the station for damages in US District court in Atlanta. I don't know how the case was settled but it explains a lot! Charles abruptly disappeared early 1984 or slightly before. The paper quoted him as saying, it was, "inappropriate for a black woman to play white gospel records ."
At the time we had a staff meeting admonishing us to remain quiet on the situation. Obviously, this manager had an eye on brand issues and image of the station, hopefully not skin color or gender. I'm not qualified to psychoanalyze his motive as racial. His side is not very well represented in the article. I think this incident prompted the addition of black Gospel music to our line up. Borrowed from our FM, Lester "Leck" White was eventually added mid-days to provide some soul.
During this whole time the glue that held our little 5,ooo watt station together was my dear friend and mentor Gloria. She had interviewed and hired me in the spring of 1983 and served as manager for my entire 3 1/2 year tenure. She had been pushed to the side briefly when Lewallen took over. I overheard a conversation between she and another DJ. She had felt slighted by the apparent demotion and threatened to quit. Long story short, she outlasted the new "manager" many years.
I would describe Gloria's management style as easy going, much like her on-air persona. Our DJ's pretty much had free reign. Not that we were allowed to play Led Zeppelin records or anything, I just mean we played almost any Gospel we wanted. We all felt trusted. She had a few exceptions though. A lot of upbeat Contemporary Christian numbers were forbidden, such as the Imperials' "Water Grave", from the "Sail On" album. A great many of the "Do not play" list were deliberately scratched through on the record album and rendered unplayable; a primitive, but effective insurance of compliance.
This changed in September of 1986. We were going to switch to Contemporary Christian! As a 20 year old Christian youth who loved mainstream top 40 this was super news. The station had now been granted approval for 24 hour operation. For the 36 years prior to this occasion we were a "Daytimer", signing on at sunrise and signing off at sunset. As a concession to more powerful clear channel AM stations, our transmitter power was greatly reduced at night. We probably deferred to the powerhouse 890 AM WLS Chicago. I was made music director and coined J-900 as a brand for our new sound.
The novelty wore off. I found out that the "format" would only apply to certain dayparts. CCM would be heard only after 3:30 pm. I saw this as a weak commitment to the music. The local conservative preaching shows must have dictated our sound. Bummer! Our aim was to reach the youth demographic with the hotter sound. It was reasoned that most kids listened after class. A few outspoken callers to the station during that time of day were Christian private school students who reported that parents did not allow them to listen to any secular music. In them we had a small captive audience to supplement our regulars probably confused by our diverse sound. (Click on the Mp3 below for a sample.)
We ventured past midnight to the likes of Michael W. Smith's "Rocket Town" and maintained the show until I left the station for the Atlanta market in late November of '86. I had declined an opportunity to work for the 50,000 watt sister station WGUN in Atlanta, interviewed at Love 86 WAEC-AM, and by February of 1987 found my self at a new home, the 1Kw daytimer, WSPZ-AM in suburbia.
Stay Tuned.
