REEL TOP 40 RADIO REPOSITORY
[By John Porcaro] The Rock & Roll history of WWDJ, Hacksensack, New Jersey, began on Wednesday, May 12th, 1971 when WJRZ, a country station, became WWDJ - Top 40, a format which would be its cornerstone for nearly three years. When WWDJ started, it looked like it would fill the AM gap left by the demise of WMCA and in many ways it was (especially to those who only had AM in their cars). Although 97DJ was no 'MCA, they still played more of a variety music format than 77 WABC. One example was Chuck Berry's My Ding-a-Ling, a song that hit number one on the WWDJ survey, but was not played on WABC. Unfortunately, as in the case of WMCA, it was another AM station with signal problems. The first generation of WWDJ was similar to WOR-FM. It had a similar music mix with a little more energy and personality. At first, WWDJ, unlike WABC, seldom referred to its survey. It played plenty of oldies and had a full-time request line. There were many excellent DJs who passed through the 97 DJ doors. They included Bwana Johnny, Al Brady,(who went on to become Program Director at WABC), Mike Phillips (KFRC and KRTH), Ronnie Grant, Howard Clark (who demolished a new Jaguar XKE that was to be a prize on "The Big 610" out in California, on the very first morning of the promotion), George Taylor Morris (who is the voice behind "Reelin In The Years" and the DJ who popularized the association between Dark Side Of The Moon & the Wizard Of Oz), Sean Casey (who was the last Program Director WWDJ had), Joe Conway, Steve Clark (who was for a short time a WMCA Good Guy in 1967, plus on WOR-FM & WCBS-FM), Mark Driscoll (also of WOR-FM and WNBC), Bob Lockwood, Don Cannon (he can be heard on the radio in the original Rocky movie), Bob Savage, Bobby Finck (aka Robert K. Oliver, or Rokko from 99X) and many more. Sean Casey worked at WOR FM and WPLJ before 'DJ, and then went on to work for a while at CBS FM. Steve O'Brien of ABC and WYNY fame worked afternoons for a period of time as did Jim King (99X). As 1973 ended and 1974 began, the station dropped its all night show and signed off the air for the overnight period. There was less energy in the presentation and the playlist seemed almost thrown together. After three years of trying to battle WABC and the growing audience of WXLO and other FMs, WWDJ Top 40 rode off into radio history. WWDJ became a religious station on April 1, 1974. The Repository thanks Mike McCann, John Porcaro, Russ DiBello, Brian Nazario and Evan Dakes for their help in creating this exhibit.
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TOP STREAM 32.1Kbps (20 Khz)
WWDJ Composite, 1973 (38:32)
. . . Pass The J . . . This outstanding composite of WWDJ from 1973, created especially for REELRADIO by Russ DiBello, from tapes contributed by Mike McCann, includes Sean Casey (Program Director), Mark Driscoll, Bob Savage, Johnny Michaels, Jim King, Don Cannon, Bobby Finck, Howard Clark, Steve Clark, Gary Russell, and The Beauty on Duty, Bwana Johnny. And, the outrageous Pass The J promotion was inspiration for the classic NINE.
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TOP STREAM 20.7Kbps (14 Khz)
WWDJ Steve Clark and Last Days, 1974 (40:14)
. . . 97 DJ will change, to become the new voice of inspiration for the metropolitan area . . . This remarkable record of the last few days of WWDJ (as a Top 40 station) was created especially for REELRADIO by Russ DiBello. While the fidelity of the source material was far from excellent, Russ provided an exceptionally clean exhibit and we are fortunate to enjoy his audio expertise. Some of this REEL "off the air" recording demonstrates the WWDJ signal problems, particularly at night. But every second is worth your time - right up until the final sign off. When the carrier leaves the air, we hear one second of Larry King (from where? - or does it matter?) Chief among the highlights of this composite is Steve Clark, who concluded his WWDJ employment with this show. Clark and sidekick Maharishi talk with studio visitors, and Clark includes his radio recommendations for stations in the New York market. Gary Russell, Sean Casey, Bob Savage, and some of the most unusual music segues you have never imagined are all here, too. These guys were losing their jobs. The great 97DJ experiment was over. Were they bitter?
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