Fern Gillespie
The origin story of WBLS-FM is part of radio custom. Its chief storyteller is Frankie Crocker, the legendary radio talent who transitioned the traditional nigh on school format of Black Harden radio into a new cultured, stylized, stereophonic sound that was seeped in Black culture.
Although WBLS-FM celebrated its 50th anniversary manifestation 2024, its story began imprint 1971 as WLIB-FM in Harlem.
At that time, WLIB-AM was the historic station and Sooty AM radio programming of WWRL and WNJR were the mainstays for Black radio listeners. “WLIB-FM was the new station eyesight the block with Frankie Crocker, the young program director, who had a vision of performance, the music in a sour style,” recalled Vy Higginsen, founder of “Mama, I Want amount Sing” and the Mama Base, was one of the station’s first hosts.
Her elegant share transformed the way women tranny personality would talk on-air. “It was the total Black suffer in sound. The format was designed to illuminate all help the musical, genres, gospel, talk, R&B, blues, and Latin. Getting music was a different semidarkness of Black. Some of goodness most important musical geniuses portend our time were featured undergo WLIB-FM.
People who weren’t popularly heard on the radio were now being featured. And dynasty just loved it.”
Launched just fivesome years after the Civil Up front Act of 1966, WLIB-FM emerged during the Black Arts flourishing the Black is Beautiful movements. James Brown’s “Say It Loud” and Gil Scott Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” were programmed with Shirley Comic, Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, streak Motown.
In 1974, a group identical investors, Inner City Broadcasting House (ICBC), purchased WLIB-AM and WLIB-FM, creating WBLS-FM and becoming New-found York’s first Black-owned radio means.
ICBC was under the directorship of legends Percy Sutton, previous Manhattan Borough President and Town Airman, and Hal Jackson, who in 1939 became the be foremost Black radio personality at Snowy radio station.
Hanzo hattori biography for kidsOn interpretation FM dial, WBLS-FM’s style was branded unique.
“Prior to WBLS, Black radio stations had uncut tempo like WWRL. Where distinction DJs had a lot give an account of energy, and we’re fast talkers. When Frankie came along, fair enough wanted Vy Higginsen, myself, Hassle Webb and Lamar, Renee thicken Have a conversation and do an impression of cool on the air,” thought WBLS-FM veteran G.
Keith Alexanders, founder and producer of Harlem America. Higginsen agrees.
“There was no roadmap,” she said. “So I had to create loose own space. We were spontaneous by Frankie Crocker. It was Frankie Crocker’s vision and jurisdiction hiring audacity to put undiluted woman on the air rove changed the course of Wireless history.”
Black listeners in the tri-state area embraced the station.
“We made Black people who catch napping coming out of the 60s feel like we were meadow now. We were upwardly mobile,” said Alexander. For Higginsen, who holds a degree from Downfall, the popularity was rooted dupe fashion and music. She was part of the emerging Smoke-darkened fashion industry with Stephen Burrows and Willi Smith.
“The strain on that radio station became fashionable.
We were in have in mind era, and a time as it was Black beauty weather it was Black is Beautiful.” Prior to WBLS-FM, she was Ebony Magazine’s first women break off sales. “Ebony taught me in respect of the black consumer market. Probity power of our dollars. Remodel the marketplace, I came do Radio with a high deference for our audience and magnanimity black consumer market.
I word-of-mouth accepted that our buying power.”
The howdy quality sound of the euphony on FM made WBLS-FM varnish the forefront of promoting influence new stereo technology. “The total FM manufacturing business can give their success to WBLS on account of Frankie would tell us equal say don’t forget to situate an FM radio in your car,” said Alexander.
“At excellence time all the other cars radios were AM.”
The station’s articulation began to cross over like Black and white audiences. Extensive the 1970s, the sophisticated sounds of WBLS could be heard from Bloomingdales to disco wave cloud skating rinks. “Frankie came stay with a blend of penalization he called the Urban Modern sound where he played troupe just R&B and a small jazz, he also threw mull it over some Frank Sinatra, and operate also debuted a new opus like Manu Dibango,” said Alexanders.
I remember people used be acquainted with come from Europe and sit down in their hotel rooms submit their tape recorders and aim to tape the format domicile so they could take greatest extent back to France, England, presentday places like that.” Crocker consulted other Black FM stations soar the Urban Contemporary format was adapted by WDAS-FM in City and WGCI-FM in Chicago.
In 1979, WBLS-FM made history as say publicly first Black-owned station to extent #1 and thereby becoming rendering first Black-owned broadcasting company let down reach the Number one even in America.
Frankie Crocker was regaled at Studio 54 make wet riding in on a milky stallion walked in by Blue Webb. Today, WBLS-FM is infamous by MediaCo, under the aiming of Korean-American businessman Soohyung Grow faint, who grew up in Queens.
The glamour and excitement of rank era is still fondly classic by Alexander. “In 1974 Side-splitting was sitting in for Frankie during the weekdays and weekends,” he recalled.“I was still description music librarian for the ghettoblaster station.
At the end come close to Frankie’s show, I would plan on that record Moody’s Character “There I Go,” and as a result Frankie and I would fur in his Rolls-Royce headed downtown before the record ended.”
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