This page will attempt to showcase the histories of New Jersey AM Radio stations,
past and present.
Please feel free to e-mail me with any information you would like to contribute to this page and
you will be credited.
Some information provided by:
"The Airwaves Of New York:
Illustrated Histories Of 156 AM Stations In The
Metropolitan Area, 1921-1996"
WFAB - 1300 AM, Carlstadt
This station's origins go back to March 26, 1925 when it signed on as WHAP on 1250 AM.
Owned by The Defenders Of Truth Society, they stated the calls stood for "We Hold America Protestant," however the society and their station were overly prejudiced and anti-Catholic as well as anti-Semitic - and as a result, WHAP was constantly embroiled in religious and social controversy.
The station's first studio was located at 426 W. 31st St. in Manhattan and later moved to 393 7th Ave. in Manhattan.
In April 1926, the station moved again to 9 W. 96th St, the site of the Christian Scientists church and headquarters of The Defenders Of Truth.
After being on various frequencies throughout 1926, the station settled down in 1927 at 1270 AM, sharing time with New York station WMSG.
In November 1927, WHAP moved its transmitter from the Printerian Building at 406 W. 31st St. to a site in Carlstadt.
Studios were again moved to 154 W.57th St., the site of the Carnegie Hall building.
In 1928, WHAP moved to 1010 AM, sharing time with New York station WBNY and Newark station WODA.
And, in 1929, another frequency change occured to 1300 AM, with the station sharing time with New York stations WBBR and WEVD.
On April 29, 1932, WHAP was sold to Paul F. Harron and Fifth Avenue Broadcasting Corp. and calls changed to WFAB.
WFAB had studios at 29 W. 57th St., equipped with two 78-rpm turntables.
The station called itself "The Voice Of The Foreign Language."
On November 7, 1938, the station was sold to the owners of WEVD for $85,000. WIMG - 1300 AM, Ewing
This station dates back to 1923 when it was licensed to Trenton as WOAX, originally on 833 AM.
It was the first licensed radio station in New Jersey.
Over the years, the station moved to 1250 and 1280 AM.
In 1934, calls changed to WTNJ.
For a time, WTNJ was owned by band leader Paul Whiteman.
In March 1941, WTNJ moved to 1310 and in January 1949, moved to its current position of 1300 AM.
On August 1, 1959, the station was sold to Delaware Valley Broadcasting Company, and changed call letters to WAAT and started up a Top 40 format.
Bernie Alan "Canter" was the morning man; Harvey Miller and PD Frank X. Felmer (later Feller) were also on the staff.
In the early 1960's, WAAT's morning man was Harry Newman, who went on to work in Los Angeles and also did Jazz for the Armed Forces Radio Network.
In 1965, WAAT moved from the Stacy Trent Hotel to 1 South Montgomery St.
At the time, it was a 250 watt daytime-only station.
In January 1966, the station moved to a 4 tower array in Washingtons Crossing PA and instituted a 5000 watt daytime signal.
WAAT also switched formats to Country at this time.
On April 1, 1967, WAAT changed back to Top 40 through early September 1968, when the station changed to MOR, which WTTM, WBUD and WHWH were already featuring.
During its first Top 40 period, some personalties included "Humble Harve" Miller and Frank X.
For WAAT's second incarnation of Top 40, the air staff included Bill Todd (later known as "Johnny Williams" on WIBG), Len Murray did mid-days (former MD of WIBG) and Jimmy Parsons "The Cannonball" did afternoons.
In 1971, WAAT had evolved into being a very conservative MOR station, changing call letters back to WTNJ in March 1971.
In July 1972, WTNJ converted to an R&B; format, with some gospel in middays.
Herb and Jeanne Greenberg from Princeton owned the station at this time.
WTNJ personalities around this time included Brother Fletcher Hubbard, Ray Crume, Flip Forrest, Al Ford and Robert "Madd Ladd" Goins.
The station manager's name was Rick Wright; he did some on-air work and called himself, "Rick Wright in the Daylight."
On October 22, 1979, calls were changed to WIMG, which originally stood for "Imagination Radio".
The station attempted to feature "Radio Theatre"-type programming, but it never caught on with the listening public.
WIMG then briefly went back to R&B;, before evolving into its current Black Gospel format.
WIMG pictures are available here.
WIMG airchecks from 1980 to 1982 can be found here.
(Thanks to Kevin Fennessy, Robert "Madd Ladd" Goins, Arn Schwartz & Lew White for providing some of this information) WADB - 1310 AM, Asbury Park
This station dates back to December 1926 when it signed on as WDWM, licensed to Newark on 1070 AM.
Calls stood for founder Donald W. May.
Original studios were located at 20 Central Ave. in Newark.
Then, early in 1927, the station moved to 1270 AM and was forced to share time with WAAT.
In June 1927, May found a way to avoid sharing time.
The FRC (Federal Radio Commission) gave him the option of moving his station out of Newark, so in the summer of 1927, WDWM moved to Asbury Park and contracted the station over to the Asbury Park Chamber Of Commerce.
The station was now located at 1250 AM.
Their first temporary studios were located at Asbury Park's Isolation Hospital.
In December 1927, permanent studios were established in the chamber of commerce building at 525 Bangs Ave.
In June 1928, calls were offically changed to WCAP "City of Asbury Park." and moved to 1280 AM, sharing time with Camden station WCAM and Trenton station WOAX.
In March 1929, studios were moved to the Electric Building in downtown Asbury Park, with the transmitter at the Isolation Hospital site.
In January 1931, the station was officially purchased by the chamber of commerce - with Chamber executive secretary, Thomas F. Burley Jr. as station manager.
Later that year, studios moved to Asbury Park's Convention Hall.
Because of the move to Convention Hall, the chamber of commerce transferred ownership of the station to Burley d/b/a Radio Industries Broadcasting Co.
The station was briefly affilated with the CBS network starting in 1932.
In 1941, WCAP moved to 1310 AM, still sharing time with the aforementioned Camden & Trenton stations.
On April 28, 1943, WCAP's transmitter was damaged in a brush fire, but was back on the air by that November, despite wartime equipment shortages.
In November 1944, the Charms Candy Company and Walter Reade Theatres bought controlling interest in Burley's Radio Industries Broadcast Co. and moved the studios back to the Electric Building.
Then, in 1948, WCAP moved to Charms Candy's own building on Bangs Ave.
The time-sharing arrangement with WCAM and WOAX/WTNJ continued until January 1949, when the Trenton station (WTNJ) was moved to a new frequency (1300) and WCAP and the Camden station (WCAM) agreed to reduce their power in return for full-time status on their current frequency.
In April 1950, WCAP was sold to the Asbury Park Press for $75,000 and on May 1, 1950 the station became WJLK, named after the Press' FM counterpart.
Studios were established at "Press Plaza", 605 Mattison Ave. in downtown Asbury Park.
WJLK's schedule included hourly 5 minute newscasts, plus 15 minute summaries at 1pm, 6pm and 11pm, prepared by the Press.
The 1pm newscast was one of the most listened to programs, since it included the daily obituary column.
Each day began with the "Alarm Clock Club", a program hosted by Dick Lewis and originally established on WJLK-FM, and ended with George Hudson's "Downbeat Club", a holdover from the WCAP days.
The original GM was Thomas Tighe, replaced by Ernest Lass, and later in 1954 PD Everett Rudloff became GM.
Some of WJLK's air personalities in the mid-1950's included Bill Bransome, who went on to major stations in Philadelphia, as well as newsmen Lincoln Harner, who left for New York's WNEW, and John Wheeling and Andy Parish, who graduated on to CBS News.
By this time, 15 minute news reports were featured every hour, with headline summaries on the half-hour, which nearly gave the station an all-news format.
In between the news, an MOR music format was featured.
In 1970, longtime air personality and programmer Dick Lewis was promoted to station manager.
Lewis hosted the morning show, adapting it to a 3½ hour "Newsmorning Radio" format, featuring reports from news director Jack Christie, interviews on Larry Brennan's "Coffee Break," and Phyllis Kessel's "Woman Talk."
For the remainder of the day, WJLK featured the syndicated "Hit Parade", with some of the best contemporary hits.
An aircheck of Dick Lewis' show can be heard here.
WJLK also featured play-by-play of local high school football and basketball games.
In the 1980's, WJLK changed its format to oldies.
Then, on March 9, 1988, WJLK was sold to former WOR manager Rick Devlin and adman Jon Ferrari for $12.5 million.
The format was changed to big band/nostalgia.
In 1991, the format changed again to country.
In 1996, Nassau Broadcasting bought WJLK AM/FM (and other Jersey Shore radio properties) and converted 1310 AM to WADB with an Adult Standards format in January 1997.
A newspaper article about the change can be seen here.
The WADB calls were originally on 95.9 FM in Pt. Pleasant.
On September 26, 2005, WADB switched to country as "Shore Country 1310."
On April 2, 2007, "Shore Country" was dropped in favor of "ESPN Deportes", a satellite-fed Spanish feed of ESPN Radio.
On January 7, 2008, Fox Sports (in English) replaced ESPN.
On September 18, 2008, 1310 changed calls to WBUD (long a mainstay on 1260 in Trenton.)
On June 4, 2009, calls reverted back to WADB.
On September 3, 2010, 1310 began simulcasting the oldies format from WOBM 1160.
(Thanks to Mike Abrams for the Dick Lewis aircheck) WEMG - 1310 AM, Camden
This station dates back to September 1925 when it signed on as WFBI at 1270 AM.
Calls changed to WCAM in 1926 and for the next couple of years, changed frequencies.
On April 26, 1927, the station was located at 890 AM.
June 15, 1927, it changed again to 1340 AM.
And, another change occured on November 11, 1928, when the station moved to 1280 AM and shared time with Trenton station WIMG (see above) and Asbury Park station WJLK (see above).
Finally, on March 29, 1941, WCAM moved to its current position of 1310 AM, where it briefly shared time with Philadelphia station WTEL.
In the 1960's, WCAM called themselves "All Request Radio".
Some popular DJ's who got their start at this time included Gene Hart, Kal Rudmann, Jerry Blavat, Hy Lit, Pat Delsi, Jack LaMaar, Rick Anthony, Bob Mara and Gene Arnold.
In 1970, for a period of about 9 months, Jerry Blavat became PD and featured Top 40 in the daytime, calling themselves "The Little Giant."
On September 4, 1980, calls were changed to WSSJ.
The station was run by Pat Delsi - and included DJ's Bob Pantano and Pat Delsi's son, Dave Michaels.
In the early to mid 1990's, WSSJ was mostly an automated operation featuring a wide variety of music.
In 1998, WSSJ was acquired by Mega Communications and began a Spanish Oldies format as "Classica 1310."
On August 31, 2001, calls were changed to WEMG and 1310 began to simulcast the Spanish CHR programming from WEMG-FM, 104.9 in Egg Harbor City.
When 104.9 switched to Smooth Jazz in 2003, 1310 remained as a stand-alone station as "Mega 1310."
In October 2005, 1310 was sold to Davidson Media for $8.75 million.
(Thanks to Gene Arnold, Kevin Fennessy & Alan Rosenfeld for some of this information)
(Thanks to Kevin Fennessy for the WTEL reference)
WXMC - 1310 AM, Parsippany-Troy Hills Twsp.
1310 signed on as WPRJ on January 13, 1973.
The station was built by William P. Godley and Paul F. Godley Jr. at the end of Percypenny Ln., along I-80, next to the Rockaway River.
Paul's son, W. Craig Godley, also assisted during the construction.
William and Paul were sons of radio pioneer Paul F. Godley Sr., who was the first amateur to receive a shortwave signal across the Atlantic.
William's son, John S. Godley, was later a part-time salesman and morning DJ for WPRJ.
WPRJ's format was pre-recorded easy listening music, later going live for morning drive featuring contemporary rock music.
A popular show on WPRJ was "The Country Cousins Show," featuring Larry Cutrone and "The Trailmaster" Tony Cee.
The show featured comedy skits and classic country music.
Larry, who wrote and directed the show, later went on to become a notable screenwriter and entertainer.
"The Country Cousins Show" ran for 2 years and had a dedicated following.
A promo from the show can be found here.
Some WPRJ pics can be found here.
In 1976, the station was sold and calls changed to WQTK.
A WQTK staff pic can be seen here.
On July 5, 1978, calls were changed again to WBIO and instituted a Top 40 format.
The station was daytime-only, and due to financial problems, the station went dark around 1980.
On September 15, 1982, calls were changed to the current WXMC - "The Crossroads Of Morris County" and went back on the air in October.
The format this time was Big Bands & Standards, however by June 1983, the station failed again and went dark.
In January 1984, the station comes back again with an AC format.
This also fails, and in January 1985, they switch to a Standards format again, this time via "The Music Of Your Life" service, with lots of Easy Listening, Standards and Big Band music, mixed with some Soft AC.
Art Rooney ("Looney Skip" Rooney from the Uncle Floyd Show) did afternoon drive; weekends included Bob Marks and Dan Mayson.
The station does very well throughout the rest of the decade, then gets sold in 1988.
They continue to do well, but by the end of 1990, they hit hard times due to mismanagement and the recession.
WXMC pretty much hit rock bottom throughout 1991, even losing its phone service for a period of time.
However, the Standards format continued until the fall of 1992, when it was once again sold and shift to an AC format with the slogan "Home Town Radio".
The station failed to get ratings or listeners and in the fall of 1993, they begin to sell time to infomercials, though they keep the AC music in some dayparts.
In the Spring of 1995, more infomercials are instituted.
Then, in January 1996, they switched to their current Spanish AC format.
They were initially live & local, but by 1998, it was all satellite, with no local programming.
Some WXMC studio pics can be seen here.
(Thanks to Larry Cutrone, Mark D., John S. Godley & "Dan Mayson" for providing some of this information)
WABU - 1330 AM, Camden
WABU, owned by the Victor Talking Machine Co., broadcasted briefly in 1924 and 1925.
WWAB - 1330 AM, Trenton
WWAB, owned by Hoenig Swern & Co., broadcasted briefly in 1924. WMID - 1340 AM, Atlantic City
WMID signed on May 30, 1947.
A WMID continuity sheet from 1957 can be seen by clicking here.
In the 1960's, WMID was Atlantic City's first full-time Top 40-formatted radio station, where lots of major names graced the airwaves, including Tom Lamaine, Rod Carson, Humble Harvey Miller, Julian "Bob" Breen, Harvey Holiday and Jimmy Parsons, among others.
WMID was engaged in a great Top 40 battle with WOND 1400, with WMID leaning more urban in its playlist and presentation.
In 1967, Merv Griffin Radio purchased WMID, causing WOND to convert to an MOR format, leaving WMID by itself in the format.
WMID took on more of a mass appeal Top 40-styled presentation as "Boss Radio", ultimately becoming higher rated than the next 7 rated stations combined.
Under station manager and PD Bob Badger, "The Boss 1340" hosted lots of up and coming names including Walt Cooper, Gary Lane (formerly "Daddy G" Lane from WMID's R&B-styled; presentation), Bob Rado (from WFUN in Miami), Ron Edwards, Mike Clay, Mitch Herring (who worked the midnight-6am shift on Sunday mornings in the spring of 1970), and Badger himself doing AM drive.
Harvey Holiday worked on the air at WMID doing PM drive from 1966 to 1968.
Mike McCann (recently at WCBS-FM in New York and formerly with WYNY, WPST and several Connecticut stations,) worked at WMID while they were Top 40.
Other notable personalties who worked at WMID during this time included Dick Sargent ("Johnny Donovan") (a long-time WOR-FM and WABC jock; now the production director of WABC/WEVD in New York and the production voice of The Rush Limbaugh show), Christie Springfield (currently at WOGL in Philadelphia), Jay Sorensen (spent many years at WPST and WKXW and also had stints at WCAU, WWDB and WNBC - including hosting the station's "Time Machine" all-night oldies show), Bill Figenshu (now a top programming executive with Infinity Radio/Viacom), Mel Phillips (who has programmed such leading stations as WRKO in Boston and WOR-FM and WNBC New York and now works at WCBS-FM), Julian Breen (a former assistant to legendary WABC programmer Rick Sklar, whose PD credits include WPEN and WMGK in Philadelphia) and Bill Todd (who programmed several leading music stations including ABC's WDAI in Chicago and jocked as "Johnny Williams" at WIBG).
Bob Badger left the station at the end of 1970 and Gary Lane ascended to the PD job, totally changing WMID's presentation to mirror that of WABC, calling WMID "The Jersey Giant."
Aside from increasing migration of the audience to FM, the real blow to WMID's dominance was the arrival of WUSS 1480, who immediately claimed the exclusive core of black radio listeners that WMID enjoyed from the beginning.
WUSS debuted at #1 in the ratings, while WMID descended into the middle of the pack and began a series of adjustments, which failed to capture the station's former luster, including evolving from Top 40 to Disco to "Intellectual Rock" by the early 1980's.
By 1983, WMID, now no longer owned by Griffin, slid to the lower rung of Atlantic City's ratings, until new ownership converted WMID to a Big Band/Nostalgia format, which returned the station to being the top AM radio station in the market.
Jack Moore did morning drive and Paul Richards & Russ Edwards handling afternoons.
In recent years, WMID featured an Adult Standards format - and in July 2001, this format was also simulcast on WMID-FM, 102.3 in Cape May for a time.
In October 2004, WMID began a "Classic Oldies" format, which was simulcast with its sister station WCMC (1230, Wildwood) at its inception.
(Thanks to Kevin Fennessy, Mitch Herring, Mike McCann, Jack Moore, Nathan Rosenthal, Marty Siegel & Mitch Zatto for some of this information)
(Thanks to Bryan Vargo for a new WMID AM/FM logo)
(Thanks to Kris Lane for the "Classic Oldies" WMID logo)
(Thanks to Joseph Schiavo for the vintage "Jersey Giant" WMID logo)
(WMID/WGRF window sticker/logo, courtesy of Mike McCann)
WCDA - 1350 AM, Cliffside
WCDA signed on in April 1927, on 1250 AM, sharing time with New York station WBRS.
The station was owned by the Italian Educational Broadcasting Company, whose mission was to instruct and prepare Italian immigrants on becoming American citizens.
The WCDA calls stood for "Corriere d'America," an Italian language daily newspaper - and had backing from the Italian Historical Society of America and other Italian businesses and community groups.
When the station firat went on the air, they operated briefly from the Corriere d'America offices at 434 Lafayette Ave. in Brooklyn, with the transmitter located atop the Criterion Theatre at 970 Fulton St. in Brooklyn.
In May 1927, studios were moved to the 12th floor of the Italian Savings Bank building at Spring and Lafayette Sts. in the Little Italy section of Manhattan, with the transmitter located on Gorge Rd. in Cliffside Park NJ.
In June 1927, WCDA moved to 1420 AM, however they began to experiance harmonic interference from WOR.
In March 1928, WCDA sued WOR for $100,000.
Soon afterwards, the FRC (Federal Radio Commission) authorized WCDA to move to 1410 AM.
And on November 11, 1928, WCDA established a permanent home at 1350 AM, sharing time with New York stations WKBQ, WMSG and WBNY.
In October 1929, the station once again moved to new studios at 27 Cleveland Pl. in New York City.
In 1932, WCDA was sold to Amory Lawrence Haskell, who also bought the other stations that were sharing time with WCDA.
On November 1, 1933, WCDA was dissolved.
(Thanks to Doug Douglass for some of this information)
WHWH - 1350 AM, Princeton
WHWH signed on September 7, 1963.
The calls stand for founder Herbert Windsor Hobler.
1960's era pictures of WHWH can be found by clicking here.
For many years, Howard David was the morning man and the voice of Princeton University sports.
David went on to bigger and better things when he became the radio voice of Sunday Night and Monday Night Football on Westwood One.
He was also the voice of the New York Nets and then the Boston Celtics.
One of the first personalties who gave WHWH a high profile in its early days in the early 1960's was Dave Moss.
He did everything on the air from an air shift, to news and play-by-play of Princeton University sports.
Others of note on WHWH for many years were Chris Canali, Betty Gates, Stu Ryder and News Directors Bill Schirmann and Phil Painter.
The station had its own promotional staff directed by Hal Stein, who continues at Nassau Broadcasting to this day, some 30+ years later.
WHWH was the number one station in most ratings books for the Trenton market during the 1970's and 1980's.
Owner Herb Hobler hired Johnny Morris as corporate sales manager during this time and the station's revenues took off.
Morris left the company after over 20 years in the late 1990's and is the current owner of WIMG 1300 in Trenton (see above).
During the 1970's, the station won many national radio advertising awards because of their production department led by John Anastasio and Jack Shuster.
These two guys were amazingly talented as writers and performers over the air and because of them, the station made alot of money from their award winning commercials.
This was a unique feature in Trenton radio at the time and they were the only station at the time with its own production and marketing department.
On the news front, NBC television news reporter Judy Muller honed her skills on "The H" in the 70's.
When Howard David left the station, the comedic Bill Bircher took over the mornings.
Bircher had a successful career in Philadelphia on WIP and WPEN.
He featured alot of comedy bits over the air.
During the mornings in the 70's, the station had a popular sports trivia spot hosted by a local non-radio guy caling himself "Big Irving"; he worked for a car dealership.
His real name was known to everybody; it was Charlie Titano.
The feature was extremely popular, giving the station a real local feel.
Titano eventually left, moving to another local station who wanted his services because of his popularity.
In the 1970's and 1980's, WHWH featured an Adult Contemporary format, which later evolved into Adult Standards.
In the late 1980's, "Big Mike" Davidson hosted mornings on WHWH and brought the station to the top of the ratings for a time.
In recent years, WHWH featured a Business talk format.
On Friday, April 7, 2006 at midnight, WHWH went off the air for good, as the result of the FCC's rule of originating stations going off the air after a period of time because of their AM expanded-band allocation (in this case, WTTM 1680).
WHWH was resurrected in March 2007 featuring "Radio T.E.D." (previously featured on 1680 AM.)
On January 1, 2010, WHWH began simulcasting WBCB, 1490 AM, from Levittown PA.
On June 16, 2010, WHWH switched to simulcasting its sister station, WTTM - with "Radio T.E.D." being featured on the weekends.
(Thanks to Jim Brewster, Mike Davidson & Arn Schwartz for some of this information)
(Thanks to Lance Venta for the "blue" WHWH logo)
WTAZ - 1360 AM, Lambertville
WTAZ, owned by Thomas J. McGuire, went on the air in 1924 at 1060 AM.
In 1925, the station moved to 1150 AM and in 1927, moved again to 1360 AM.
In late 1927, WTAZ was relocated to Richmond VA and in 1928, had moved to 1210 AM.
The station went off the air in 1929.
WTOC - 1360 AM, Newton
1360 signed on December 15, 1953, as WNNJ.
In the 1960's, WNNJ had an MOR format, evolving to AC by 1973.
In 1978, they switched to Top 40.
In October 1981, WNNJ went back to AC, then to Standards in November 1981.
They initially leaned toward Sinatra and Bennett-type vocalists with a few Soft AC cuts and Big Bands mixed in.
In early 1982, they began to lean in a more AC direction, but by October of 1982, they were strictly Big Bands & Standards.
By June 1983, WNNJ had evolved, once again, into a Soft AC station.
In August 1983, they abruptly move to an easy listening format.
In February 1984, they become AC and by July of that year, evolve to Hot AC.
By September, they were nearly a CHR station, but by early 1985, they shifted to an AC/Oldies format, eventually evolving into strictly Oldies by 1991.
The station remained live & local until Janaury 1994, when they became a full-time satellite oldies format.
In 1997, Nassau Broadcasting bought the station and switched the format to a blend of Standards, Oldies, AC and Big Bands via Stardust Satellite Programming.
In June 1998, the station added Chris DeBello for mornings, who hosted a political and issues-driven talk show, while mixing in traditional Big Band and soft vocal music.
In March 2000, WNNJ switched to Westwood One's Standards format and by May 2002, the format had evolved into Soft AC.
On November 27, 2002, WNNJ dropped the Soft AC/Standards format for country as "Bear Country 1360."
Morning man Chris DeBello was dropped in favor of a syndicated morning show.
For now, WNNJ is completely automated, with the "After Midnight" service on overnights.
In September 2004, WNNJ switched to oldies as "Oldies 1360."
On August 27, 2007, WNNJ switched to Adult Standards.
On June 27, 2008, 1360 changed calls to WTOC, and once again, features an oldies format as "True Oldies 1360."
On August 16, 2011, WTOC went silent, but is anticipated to become a simulcast station for Radio Vision Cristiana, based from WWRV, 1330, New York.
On December 1, 2011, WTOC became a Spanish Religious station via WWRV in New York.
(Thanks to Mark D for providing some of this information)
(Thanks to Bryan Vargo for digging up an old WNNJ logo) WNJC - 1360 AM, Washington Twsp.
This station went on the air July 29, 1946 as WWBZ, licensed to Vineland.
Early formats included MOR and later, Top 40, in the late 1960's/early 1970's.
Lee Bardsley was the long-time morning guy at WWBZ, and Jim Rodio (who would later operate WRDR in Egg Harbor) was a jock for a time as well.
Roy "R.J." Laurence was also a prominent personality at the time (who later went on to program WCAU-FM in Philadelphia).
WWBZ operated from studios on Delsea Dr. (near Sherman Ave.) in Vineland, until it was sold in the early 1970's to businessman Don Martin, who then moved the studios to Brotmanville (site of the transmitter).
Gus Cawley then purchased it from Martin and moved the station to Washington Twsp.
In the late 1980's, the station featured an Adult Contemporary format.
In 1989, the station went dark but a year later, came back on the air.
On September 1, 1990, calls changed to WVSJ ("The Voice Of South Jersey") and featured a talk format.
On October 30, 1992, the talk format was dropped in favor of country and calls were changed to WNJC ("New Jersey Country").
In 1994, WNJC switched to Spanish programming, before instituting its current brokered-time format.
(Thanks to Mark Fletcher & Jack Moore for some of this information)
WEAM - 1370 AM, North Plainfield
North Plainfield Mayor William L. Smalley put WEAM on the air June 8, 1922 on 833 AM (the main frequency for early AM radio.)
The station was licensed to the municipal government of North Plainfield, but was located at engineer William J. Buttfield's home, which still stands at the corner of Rock View and West End Avenues.
Harold Blackford was the announcer and official operator.
In addition to local news and entertainment, WEAM also served as North Plainfield's official police radio.
The Plainfield Chamber Of Commerce and the Courier-News were actively involved with the station and many local residents performed on the air.
Shortly after hitting the air, WEAM moved to 1190 AM, 1050 AM and later, 1150 AM.
In 1927, the station moved again to 1250 and later that year, was located at 1140 AM.
In 1928, the chamber of commerce took over WEAM and briefly moved it to 1370 AM, but discontinued its operation soon afterwards on December 21.
(Thanks to Bruce R. Gilson for some of this information)
WAWZ - 1380 AM, Zarephath
The origins of this station go back to September 25, 1925 when it signed on as New York station WBNY on 1430 AM.
The station was originally owned by Shirley Katz - then in 1927, ownership shifted to Sydney Norton Baruch, a noted scientist and engineer, under the name Baruchrome Corp.
Programming mainly consisted of evening dance music.
In 1926, the station moved to 930 AM and by June 1927, had settled on 1370 AM, sharing time with WKBO and New York stations WKBQ and WFRL.
In 1928, WBNY moved to 1350 AM, sharing time with Cliffside station WCDA and New York stations WKBQ and WMSG.
On March 15, 1931, WBNY was sold to Alma White and the Pillar Of Fire church for $5000, and calls changed to WAWZ.
In its inaugural broadcast, Alma White told listeners, "The station belongs to all regardless of your affiliation."
WAWZ would eventually carry every manner of religious broadcast.
The station broadcasted about 4 hours a day on most weekdays, usually during the more popular breakfast and dinner hours.
Sundays featured an intermittent 8 hour broadcast day that included pickups of revival meetings from the Zarephath religious community.
Alma White served as president of the station, her husband was vice-president and their son, Ray, served as program director.
Alma White died in 1946.
As a result, the Pillar of Fire memberhship began to decline, Alma White College closed and communal living at Zarephath waned.
However, WAWZ continued on the air and its schedule included readings from the works of Alma White and music by Ray White's "Home Orchestra."
In 1954, the Pillar Of Fire obtained an FM frequency on 99.1 FM.
In 1973, Rev. S. Rea Crawford became program director of both stations.
On September 1, 1984, WAWZ sold it's part-time AM operation over to New York station WBNX (now christened WKDM.)
On WAWZ's final day, they produced a special program recalling the station's 53 years of religious broadcasting, and by electrical transcription, once again featured the voice of Alma White.
An aircheck of WAWZ/WBNX can be heard here.
(Thanks to Bruce R. Gilson for some of this information)
