WABC Radio Airchecks MP3 Collection 1960s-1980s DVD, MP3 Download, USB

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Actual Broadcasts By Big Dan Ingram, "Cousin Brucie" Bruce Morrow, Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Scott Muni, Chuck Leonard, Howard Cosell, Bob Cruz, Bob Dayton, Roby Yonge, Charlie Greer, Johnny Donovan, Bob Hardt, Rick Sklar, Les Marshak, Howard Hoffman, Jay Reynolds And More! Includes The Infamous "Paul McCartney Is Dead" Broadcast By Roby Yonge! 98 Hours Packed Into 247 MP3s Presented As An Archival Quality MP3 DVD, MP3 Audio Download Or USB Flash Drive! #WABC #WABCAM #AMTop40 #TheMostMusic #MusicRadio #MusicRadioWABC #AM77WABC #SeventySevenWABC #WABCAM #WABCRadio #AllAmericans #WABCAllAmericans #AMRadio #Radio #OldTimeRadio #OTR #Deejays #DJs #DiscJockeys #RadioShows #GreatDJs #GreatDiscJockeys #DanIngram #BigDanIngram #BigDan #DanIngramElectricRadioTheater #CousinBrucie #BruceMorrow #HarryHarrison #RonLundy #ScottMuni #ChuckLeonard #BobCruz #BobDayton #RobyYonge #JohnnyDonovan #BobHardt #RickSklar #LesMarshak #HowardHoffman #JayReynolds #Airchecks #RadioShows #RadioBroadcasts #MP3 #DVD #AudioDownload #USBFlashDrive


Contents:

Bob Cruz WABC 771126 (1st Show after ''Musicradio Massacres'')

Bob Dayton WABC makes ''Hiroshima'' reference he got fired for

Bob Hardt WABC interviewed about Dan Ingram

Bob Lewis WABC 64

Bob Lewis WABC 640207

Bob Lewis WABC 6506

Bob Lewis WABC 680101

Bob Lewis WABC 680519 FM - Beatles Press Conference

Bob Lewis WABC 700110 FM #1

Bob Lewis WABC 700110 FM #2

Brother John WABC 680615 FM - ''Love Format'' Demo 01

Brother John WABC 680615 FM - ''Love Format'' Demo 02

Bruce Morrow WABC 6809

Charlie Greer WABC 1967 Overnight (Great Chicken Song ending)

Charlie Greer WABC 1969 (Has perfect Palisades Park Ad)

Charlie Greer WABC 650126 (Churchill to be buried)

Charlie Greer WABC 651014 (Uses Nordic PAMS Jingle, Peter Jennings, Mayor Lindsay Ads, more!)

Charlie Greer WABC 6712 After Christmas Top 100 of the Year

Charlie Greer WABC 690805

Chuck Leonard WABC-FM 1968 (Has ''Love is Blue'' with lyrics at the end)

Chuck Leonard WABC - Top 100 Hits of 1967 671231 (Ends with New Years!)

Chuck Leonard WABC 1969 (Night PAMS 36 1st Aired, taped from WABC-FM simulcast)

Chuck Leonard WABC 6712 After Christmas Top 100 of the Year (Cartridge cues fail)

Chuck Leonard WABC 671226 Top 100 of the Year

Chuck Leonard WABC 680404 (MLK death overshadows)

Chuck Leonard WABC 69

Chuck Leonard WABC 7303

Chuck Leonard WABC 751102

Cousin Bruce Morrow Promo for Beatles Book

Cousin Bruce Morrow Promo for Beatles Shea Stadium Ticket Giveaway

Cousin Bruce Morrow Theme by the Four Seasons (clean)

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC - First ''Saturday Night Party''631207

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC - Promo for Beatles Paramount Theatre Ticket Giveaway

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC 6310

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC 6506 - either 10th of 11th

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC 671129 (Unedited, for distribution in Vietnam)

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC 6712 Top 100 of the Year

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC 680404 (Has MLK death report at end)

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC 681105 Election Night

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC 7303

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC 740713 1800-1900 ET

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC 740713 1900-2000 ET

Cousin Bruce Morrow WABC Coca-Cola Hour, Ted Koppel 650907

Cousin Bruce Morrow631029

Cousin Brucie WABC 650907 (Heavy British Invasion Material)

Cousin Brucie WABC 680228

Dan Ingram's Closing Theme Aircheck (Billy May's ''Tri-Fi Drums'')

Dan Ingram's Closing Theme Reconstruction (Billy May's ''Tri-Fi Drums'')

Dan Ingram's Jazz Show on FM WABC

Dan Ingram's WABC Outtakes

Dan Ingram - Girl who stopped Suicide attempt after listening to him

Dan Ingram & Bob Hardt WABC ''Elvis Impersonators''

Dan Ingram & Bob Hardt WABC ''Head Lions''

Dan Ingram & Bob Hardt WABC - Makes Bob Laugh

Dan Ingram & Bob Hardt & Ron Lundy WABC - Dan's 37th Birthday 710907

Dan Ingram & Charlie Greer WABC 1961-62 Promos

Dan Ingram & Charlie Greer WABC 1965 Weekly Promo (Includes British, Game of Love)

Dan Ingram & Jack Spector Reminisce CNBC 930710

Dan Ingram & Ron Lundy WIL St. Louis

Dan Ingram 020629 - AdamEve.com Ads run on Live365.com (Ironically before broadcasts of 60s UK Pirate Radio Airchecks)

Dan Ingram 1969 (Summer - ''What should first man on the moon say'' contest)

Dan Ingram 5XXX (Mid) to 6XXX (Early) - Demo Tape (Won his WABC job)

Dan Ingram Interviewed by Garry Armstrong WVHC 6508

Dan Ingram interviewed by Mike Cuscuna WABC-FM 6911

Dan Ingram KBOX Dallas 610227 (1960 date given at website obiously wrong - JFK mentioned)

Dan Ingram on Allan Handelman's ''East Coast Live'' WQDR Raleigh North Carolina - Pt. 1

Dan Ingram on Allan Handelman's ''East Coast Live'' WQDR Raleigh North Carolina - Pt. 2

Dan Ingram Superadio Demo 1982 #2 (City station call letters fictitious)

Dan Ingram Superadio Demo 1982

Dan Ingram WABC-FM 670715 (Blues & Jazz - Cool!)

Dan Ingram WABC - ''Radio Man'' bit

Dan Ingram WABC - ''Shithouse Franks''

Dan Ingram WABC - Actual (but not official) 1st day at WABC 610701

Dan Ingram WABC - Beatles Spectacular Promo

Dan Ingram WABC - Cosell outtakes #1

Dan Ingram WABC - Cosell outtakes #2

Dan Ingram WABC - Intro to Action Central News

Dan Ingram WABC 1963 ''Kemosabe Kard'' Promo #1

Dan Ingram WABC 1963 ''Kemosabe Kard'' Promo #2

Dan Ingram WABC 1964 ''Plan Your Weekend with Music & Us''

Dan Ingram WABC 1964 ''The Gasser'' Promo (Ran 14 years - another copy is on 1961-62 promos)

Dan Ingram WABC 1964 (''All Americans'' Period of WABC)

Dan Ingram WABC 1965 (Has Goldfinger Intro & Outro

Dan Ingram WABC 1965 Weekly Promo (Stones, Sunny & Cher, Help, Same Old Song)

Dan Ingram WABC 1966-67 (Brilliant!!!)

Dan Ingram WABC 1966 ''Fenwick Mouse'' Promo

Dan Ingram WABC 1966 (with Ron Lundy Tax Tip)

Dan Ingram WABC 1968 ''What Does Roby Yonge Look Like'' Contest Promo

Dan Ingram WABC 1968 - Primaries Spoof using Top Hits of the Week format

Dan Ingram WABC 1968 (''Music Power'' developed, Mets ad at end)

Dan Ingram WABC 1968 (''Music Power'' theme starting to be used)

Dan Ingram WABC 1969 (Direct from control board)

Dan Ingram WABC 1969 Standby tape (Used if studio went out)

Dan Ingram WABC 196909 (Roger Grimsby does news, has Robert Hall ad)

Dan Ingram WABC 196912

Dan Ingram WABC 1970-71 Promos

Dan Ingram WABC 1972 - Plays PAMS jingles he never used to PAMS President Wolfert

Dan Ingram WABC 610713

Dan Ingram WABC 620807 (Has PAMS ''You're Hearing Things'' Series 18)

Dan Ingram WABC 621120

Dan Ingram WABC 630723

Dan Ingram WABC 630731

Dan Ingram WABC 631003

Dan Ingram WABC 631226

Dan Ingram WABC 640401 Bob Dayton's April Fool Prank On Dan

Dan Ingram WABC 640612

Dan Ingram WABC 641007

Dan Ingram WABC 6503 Dan's Late Charlie Greer Covers ABC President & Daughter Waits

Dan Ingram WABC 6503 Week of 23rd

Dan Ingram WABC 650625

Dan Ingram WABC 650813 - George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Bruce Morrow

Dan Ingram WABC 651016

Dan Ingram WABC 651109 - Dan describes Great blackout

Dan Ingram WABC 651109 - The Great Blackout happens

Dan Ingram WABC 651110 - Day after Great Blackout

Dan Ingram WABC 660625

Dan Ingram WABC 660702

Dan Ingram WABC 660824

Dan Ingram WABC 670311

Dan Ingram WABC 670701

Dan Ingram WABC 670805 (fills in for HOA)

Dan Ingram WABC 671226 - Does Top 100 of the year (V. 2 - Higher Fi, some tape dropout)

Dan Ingram WABC 671226 - Does Top 100 of the year

Dan Ingram WABC 680102

Dan Ingram WABC 680413

Dan Ingram WABC 681102 (Many Nixon & Other Political Ads)

Dan Ingram WABC 690101 Top 100 of 1968

Dan Ingram WABC 690101

Dan Ingram WABC 690123 (Makes Anti-Vietnam war references, starts sounding 'hip')

Dan Ingram WABC 690904 (Sarcasm notable)

Dan Ingram WABC 691226 - Does Top 100 of the year 1400-1500

Dan Ingram WABC 691226 - Does Top 100 of the year 1500-1600

Dan Ingram WABC 691226 - Does Top 100 of the year 1600-1700

Dan Ingram WABC 691226 - Does Top 100 of the year 1700-1800

Dan Ingram WABC 701211 (''The Most Music'')

Dan Ingram WABC 710319 1400 ET

Dan ingram WABC 710401 (David Frye Appears as David Frye Plugging 'Radio Free Nixon')

Dan Ingram WABC 710506 (I'm most famiiar with these sounds)

Dan Ingram WABC 711106

Dan Ingram WABC 711120 (Has a ''Killer Cars'' Ad)

Dan Ingram WABC 711221

Dan Ingram WABC 711229 (Taped in Suffolk Virginia!)

Dan Ingram WABC 72

Dan Ingram WABC 720301 (played on AFVN)

Dan Ingram WABC 720407 (played on AFVN)

Dan Ingram WABC 7303

Dan Ingram WABC 740108

Dan Ingram WABC 740810

Dan Ingram WABC 750106 (Has Songs I listened to on 99X - Includes ''Kung Fu Fighting'')

Dan Ingram WABC 750802

Dan Ingram WABC 760121 (Has JAM jingles)

Dan Ingram WABC 760915

Dan Ingram WABC 771126 (1st Morning Drive Show, 1st Show after ''Musicradio Massacres'')

Dan Ingram WABC 77xx (One of his best!)

Dan Ingram WABC 78

Dan Ingram WABC 810309 (Mentions Dan Rather's 1st Anchorman Broadcast)

Dan Ingram WABC Early 61 (shortly after joining station)

Dan Ingram WABC handles ''Black Slacks'' cartridge problem

Dan Ingram WABC Late 1968 (Has Wetsons Ad)

Dan Ingram WABC Love to Love You joke

Dan Ingram with Tom Leykis KRTH Los Angeles 980625

Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy & Scott Muni, WABC-TV, 710825

Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy End WABC's Music Radio Format 820510 1200

DJ Reunion WCBS-FM, N.Y., 1989 Part 1

DJ Reunion WCBS-FM, N.Y., 1989 Part 2

DJ Reunion WCBS-FM, N.Y., 1989 Part 3

DJ Reunion WCBS-FM, N.Y., 1989 Part 4

Farrell Smith WABC 610114

Frank Kingston Smith WABC 7303

George Michael WABC 741219

Harry Harrison WABC 720531

Harry Harrison WABC 721211 w John Maher & Howard Cosell

Harry Harrison WABC 7303

Harry Harrison WABC 761231 #1

Harry Harrison WABC 761231 #2

Harry Harrison WABC 790806

Howard Hoffman WABC 771126 (1st Show On WABC)

Howard Hoffman WABC 791220

Howard Hoffman WABC 800109

Jay Reynolds WABC 701008

Jay Reynolds WABC 7303

John Maher & Bruce Hart WABC 7303

Johnny Donovan WABC 7303

Johnny Donovan WABC 7407

Johnny Donovan WABC 771126 (1st Show after ''Musicradio Massacres'')

Johnny Donovan WABC 811121

Marc Sommers WABC 771127 (1st Show after ''Musicradio Massacres'', fills in for Bob Cruz)

Mike McKay WABC 771127 (1st Show after ''Musicradio Massacres'', fills in for Dan whose ''on vacation'')

Roby Yonge WABC 691021 - Last show, speculates on McCartney Death, gets replaced by Les Marshak

Roby Yonge with Rodger Skinner (John Paul Roberts) WQAM Miami 950613

Roby Young- WABC 6809

Roby Younge 680203 Fills In For Dan Ingram

Ron Lundy's 1st WABC Broadcast650901

Ron Lundy & Dan Ingram WABC 701014

Ron Lundy WABC - Can't Swim!

Ron Lundy WABC 700627

Ron Lundy WABC 7303

Ron Lundy WABC 750910 #1

Ron Lundy WABC 750910 #2

Ron Lundy WABC 751225 - Top 100 of 1975

Ron Lundy WABC 771126 (1st Show after ''Musicradio Massacres'')

Ron Lundy WABC 811121

Ross & Wilson WABC 811121

Scott Muni WABC - Calls Winner of Beatles Paramount Theatre Ticket Giveaway

Scott Muni WABC 1961 Promo

Scott Muni WABC 63XX - Short outtakes

Scott Muni, Cousin Brucie (Dan Ingram at End) WABC 1965 Beatles Backdrop Contest Promo

Sturgis Griffin WABC 771127 (1st Show after ''Musicradio Massacres'')

The Beatles on WABC 640828

WABC - ''First'' News Sounder

WABC - ''The Last Aircheck'' 820510

WABC - ACR Reports Paul Is Alive 691021

WABC - American Contemporary News Sounder

WABC - Beatle Related Airchecks Early 1964

WABC - Beatles Receive ''Order of the All Americans'' Warwick Hotel 650813 - Version#2

WABC - Beatles Receive ''Order of the All Americans'' Warwick Hotel 650813

WABC - Last Regular Programming Broadcast 820507

WABC - WABC Action Central News

WABC Broadcasts During AFTRA Strike 670329-0410

WABC 1961 ''Operation Feedback'' (GM Hal Neal solicits suggestions)

WABC 1961 ''The Devil at 4 O'Clock'' Promo

WABC 1961 ''Who's Calling His Dog'' Contest (Has Esquivel Intro!)

WABC 1962 ''Expanded News'' Promo (During December NY newspaper strike)

WABC 1962 ''Principal of the Year'' Promo

WABC 1962 ''Tie Exchange'' Promo

WABC 1962 Christmas Promo

WABC 1965 'Fourth Annual 'Principal of the Year'' Promo

WABC 1965 Promo (run while broadcasting Jets Games, etc)

WABC 1966 ''Mink of the Month'' Contest Promo

WABC 1966 ''The Beat Goes On'' Promo

WABC 1968 ''Armored Car'' Contest Promo (intended to keep listeners during newscasts)

WABC 1968 ''Top 100 of 1968'' List Promo

WABC 1979 (January) Composite

WABC 640828 - Beatles Coverage w Dan Ingram, Scott Muni, Cousin Brucie - Ringo Star gets medal back, Paul talks

WABC Airchecks (Scott Muni, Bobby Dayton, Dan Ingram) on The Beatles 1964

WABC Emergency Broadcast System Test 1977

WABC Jingle Special - Rick Sklar Behind The Scenes

WABC Live with Beatles Delmonico Hotel 640828

WABC Musicradio Music Remembrance Medley (Broadcast during last hour of WABC Musicradio)

WABC Palisades Amusement Park Ad (clean)

WABC Promo run during 1967 Strike

WABC Promos & PSAs 1970 produced by Julian Breen

WABC Rick Sklar's ''The Julian Breen Story''

WABC Staff Announcers Reunion Tape 1964

WABC Tribute by WNEW 8205 Pt. 1

WABC Tribute by WNEW 8205 Pt. 2

WABC Tribute by WNEW 8205 Pt. 3


WABC (AM): The Musicradio 77 Era (1960-1982): When Harold L. Neal, Jr. was named General Manager of WABC, he was charged with making WABC successful in terms of both audience and profits. Neal had been at WXYZ in Detroit. By 1960, WABC was committed to a nearly full-time schedule of top-40 songs played by upbeat personalities. Still, WABC played popular non-rock and roll songs as well, provided they scored well on the Top 40 charts. WABC's early days as a Top 40 station were humble ones. WINS was the No. 1 hit music station and WMCA, which did a similar rock leaning top 40 format, was also a formidable competitor, while WABC barely ranked in the Top Ten. Fortunately for WABC, the other Top 40 outlets could not be heard as well in more distant New York and New Jersey suburbs, since WINS, WMGM, and WMCA were all directional stations. WABC, with its 50,000-watt non-directional signal, had the advantage of being heard in places west, south, and northwest of New York City, a huge chunk of the growing suburban population and this is where the station began to draw ratings. Early in 1962, WMGM, owned by Loew's, which then owned MGM, was sold to Storer Broadcasting. Upon its sale, WMGM reverted to its original WHN call letters and switched to a middle of the road music format playing mostly non-rock artists such as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Andy Williams. Sam Holman was the first WABC program director of this era. Under Holman, WABC achieved No. 1 ratings during much of 1962, after WMGM reverted to WHN. By the summer of 1963, WMCA led the pack among contemporary stations, with WABC at No. 2 and WINS slipping to third place. It has been said, but is difficult to verify, that WMCA dominated in the city proper, while WABC owned the suburbs. This would be consistent with WMCA's 5,000-watt directional signal. Hal Neal hired Rick Sklar as WABC's program director. He would go on to become a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame and be credited as one of the pioneering architects of the Top 40 format. Under Sklar, the station went to the shortest playlist of any contemporary music station in history. The number one song was heard about every hour during the day and every 75 minutes or so at night. The other top 5 songs were heard nearly as often. Other current songs averaged once to twice per airshift. The station played about 9 current hits per hour and several non-current songs. The non-currents were no more than 5 years old and the station played about 70 of them in total. In his book Rockin' America, Sklar said he was sensitive to payola concerns and advanced airplay. Through the years, WABC was known by various slogans, "Channel 77 WABC" and later "Musicradio 77 WABC". Due to the high number of commercials each hour, WABC played no more than two songs in a row and there was frequent DJ talk and personality between every song. The station averaged 6 commercial breaks per hour but they were no more than 3 ads in a row. Often the air personalities delivered live commercials in their own humorous style, so that listeners would consider the spot part of the entertainment. Early 1960s disc jockeys included Dan Ingram, Herb Oscar Anderson, Charlie Greer, Scott Muni, Chuck Dunaway, Jack Carney and Bob "Bobaloo" Lewis. But some of the best known WABC DJs are the ones that followed them in the mid-1960s and 1970s: Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, Chuck Leonard (one of the earliest African-American DJs to be on the staff of a major mainstream radio station), Johnny Donovan, Bob Cruz (a Dan Ingram sound alike), Frank Kingston Smith, Roby Yonge, George Michael, Jim Nettleton, Jim Perry and Steve O'Brien. Meanwhile, "Radio Hall of Fame" member Dan Ingram, perhaps WABC's best known DJ, was held over from the early staff, being heard in the afternoon for much of WABC's Top 40 history. Noted sportscaster Howard Cosell did a brief weekday evening sportscast on WABC, as well as hosting a late Sunday night interview show called "Speaking of Everything." Especially in the afternoons and evenings, WABC was the station that teenagers could be heard listening to on transistor radios all over the New York metropolitan area. Due to its strong signal, the station could be heard easily over 100 miles away, including the Catskill and Pocono Mountains, and through much of Connecticut and Rhode Island. After sunset, when AM radio waves travel farther, WABC's signal could be picked up around much of the Eastern U.S. and Canada. Bruce Morrow often spoke about how he felt an almost psychic bond to his young listeners. An aircheck of WABC from August 1964, features some of the DJs speaking from a window of The Beatles' hotel room at the Hotel Delmonico during their second visit to New York City, while Dan Ingram, back in the studio, played WABC jingles to thousands of teenagers in the streets below, who enthusiastically sang along with them. Ingram later noted that this was actually illegal under FCC rules, but said that they didn't know it at the time. In the wake of the success of "W-A-Beatle-C" (as it was briefly called around the time of the Beatles' U.S. visit), competitor WINS finally dropped out of the Top 40 battle in 1965, adopting an all-news format. The ABC television network also called itself "A-Beatles-C" whenever it promoted airings of Beatles-related films. Just before the famous Northeast blackout of 1965, Dan Ingram noted that the studio's electric power was fluctuating and he began having fun with the slowed-down music. After playing "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" by Jonathan King, he quipped it was played "in the key of R". Ingram then proceeded to run some recorded commercials and a portion of Si Zentner's "Up a Lazy River", backtimed to the news, while commenting on how everything seemed to be running slower than normal. During the 6 pm newscast, WABC left the air as the outage settled in for real. Ingram later drove out to the transmitter site in Lodi, New Jersey, with a box of records, and continued his show from the backup studio housed there. In the 1970s, WABC was either No. 1 or No. 2 consistently, often trading places with WOR. Once in a while, a station attracting an older audience (like WOR or WPAT) would move into the top spot. These stations were not truly WABC's direct competitors because they targeted a much older audience. Chief competitor WMCA began running evening talk by 1968 and stopped playing top 40 music altogether in the fall of 1970. Then in 1971, Country Music station WJRZ abruptly flipped to a Top 40 format and became known as WWDJ. That lasted until April 1974. WOR-FM evolved from progressive rock to Adult Top 40 playing the hits of 1955 to current product by 1968. They dropped most pre-1964 oldies in 1972 and became known as WXLO 99X. That station evolved into more on an Adult Contemporary format in 1979 and a Rhythmic Top 40 format in 1980. Other FM competitors like oldies station WCBS-FM, soul station WBLS, and album-oriented rock stations like WPLJ and WNEW-FM all did well in the ratings, but none rivalled WABC's success. AM competitor WNBC also never came close to WABC's audience during this period. WNBC then had a format similar to 99X playing Adult Top 40. In 1977, WNBC tried sounding younger and moved their format musically closer to WABC. Then by 1979 they tried sounding older and somewhere in-between. Until 1978, WABC remained dominant. WABC's ratings strength came from its cumulative audience, what the radio industry calls "cume". Most listeners didn't stay with WABC for long periods of time, as the station had some of the shortest "time spent listening" (or TSL) spans in the history of music radio-an average listener spent about 10 minutes listening to WABC. It was the price paid for a short playlist, and numerous commercials between songs (the large number of ads being due to WABC's large audience), but what WABC lacked in TSL it more than made up for with its sheer number of listeners. By 1975, WABC tried becoming more music-intensive, reducing commercial breaks to three per hour. It began playing 3 to 5 songs in a row, still mixed with talk and personality, but done in a tighter manner. Fed up with the short playlist, Cousin Brucie left in August 1974 to defect to rival WNBC. Rick Sklar was promoted in 1976 to vice president of programming for ABC Radio, and his assistant program director Glenn Morgan became WABC's program director. The station's influence could be found in odd places: Philip Glass' 1976 opera, Einstein on the Beach, has as part of the background a recitation of WABC's DJ schedule in the 1960s. The end of the 1970s found FM radio beginning to overtake AM music stations in most markets. In June 1975, an FM station on 92.3, owned by the San Juan (Puerto Rico) Racing Association flipped to Soft Rock and became known as Mellow 92 WKTU. That station had very low ratings and had no effect on WABC. But on July 24, 1978, at 6 PM, WKTU abruptly dropped its Soft Rock format in favor of a disco-based top 40 format known as "Disco 92". By December of that year, WABC was unseated, as WKTU became the No. 1 station in New York City. The first "disco" ratings saw WKTU with 11 percent of the listening audience-a huge number anywhere, let alone in a market the size of New York City-and WABC dropping from 4.1 million listeners to 3 million, losing 25 percent of its audience practically overnight. After this initial ratings tumble, WABC panicked and began mixing in several extended disco mixes per hour and sometimes played two back-to-back. Some of the disco songs ran in excess of eight minutes. What regular listeners heard was a major change in sound. While the station continued playing non-disco and rock songs about a third of the time, the station's familiar format had seemed to disappear and as a result, WABC began to lose its identity. In late spring 1979, Billboard magazine reported that Rick Sklar had demoted program director Glenn Morgan to "moving carts" instead of making programming decisions. WABC's numbers dropped for four consecutive ratings periods. On August 2, 1979, the Donna Summer disco hit "MacArthur Park" was playing during Dan Ingram's afternoon drive program. During the song, DJ George Michael (who also was a sports reporter) interrupted to break the news that New York Yankees catcher and team captain Thurman Munson had died in a plane crash. In late summer, WABC moved, temporarily, back to their tight playlists. That fall, Al Brady took over as programming director of WABC. He had come from WHDH Boston, where he evolved that station from MOR to more of an adult contemporary music format. At WABC, he added a huge amount of music and went as far back as 1964. He added The Beatles, Motown 60's hits, 70's rock hits, a few album rock cuts, and basically deepened WABC's music. The same amount of current hits still got played but less often and about 40%. That November, he let Harry Harrison, George Michael, and Chuck Leonard go. He made a couple shifts longer, moved Dan Ingram to mornings, moved Bob Cruz from overnights to afternoons, and hired Howard Hoffman for evenings. For overnights he hired Sturgis Griffin and eliminated the late night shift merging that with evenings and overnights. In the first six months of 1980, ratings were slightly up and stable. Also, Brady made a deal for WABC to air New York Yankees baseball beginning the next year in 1981, though the station carried a few Yankee games from 1010 WINS during Republican Convention week in 1980. It was the first sign of the beginning of the end for the music format of WABC. Al Brady left WABC in July 1980 and soon became General Manager of crosstown WYNY, which by then had a similar format to their then-fraternal twin sister station WNBC, as well as WABC. That fall, Jay Clark took over as program director at WABC. Jeff Mazzei arrived as assistant program director from crosstown WNEW (which was moving from adult contemporary to big bands and standards). Under Clark, the station played current music leaning toward a more Adult Contemporary sound, trying to appeal to a slightly older audience, as most younger listeners had moved to the FM dial. Part of the reason was the Top 40 chart was leaning that way at that point as well. So WABC still played rock and soul crossovers in moderation, but began to move away from album cuts and more toward 1960s and 1970s oldies. In September 1980, they also dropped the "Musicradio WABC" slogan and became "77 WABC, New York's Radio Station" (though they called themselves New York's radio station at times as Musicradio), the apparent implication being that the station was more than just music. By early 1981, WABC's cumulative audience was down to 2.5 million-rival WNBC, a perennial also-ran, was by this time beating them with 3 million. Fewer people were tuning into WABC, listeners who had switched to FM were not coming back, and, while still moderately successful, the ship was sinking. Like Al Brady Law, Jay Clark tried to improve the time-spent-listening. In March 1981, Bob Cruz departed, Dan Ingram went back to his familiar afternoon slot, and the team of Ross Brittain and Brian Wilson from Atlanta moved into morning drive. Ross and Wilson, as the show was known, was very information-oriented, playing exactly four songs in an hour except on Saturdays when they played the usual 12 or so songs an hour. A week later, the station also began airing a weeknight sports-talk show with Art Rust, Jr. from 7 to 9 pm. WABC's ratings by this point were mediocre and they were still going down. Also, that March, WABC became the full-time flagship radio outlet for Yankees baseball games, a distinction the station carried through the end of the 2001 season. This would be the longest continuous relationship the team would have with any flagship station (to date). Jay Clark reasoned that Yankee baseball would bring back some listeners to the station and that they would recycle back into the music format, but not even the "Bronx Bombers" could save music on WABC. In the fall of 1981, WABC dropped the remaining heavy-rock cuts and non-crossover urban hits. They began playing more oldies, as well as songs from the adult contemporary chart, and added an "advice" talk show with Dr. Judy Kuriansky from 9 pm to midnight on weeknights. Howard Hoffman and Sturgis Griffin exited at this point. By then, WABC was almost unrecognizable as a Top 40 station, the ratings were languishing, and rumors, which began as far back as 1979 were rampant that the station would be changing its format to talk and news sooner or later. By early 1982 it looked sooner than later. The management at ABC denied the rumors but did state that plans were to modify WABC into a Full Service AC format with music by day and talk evenings and overnights like KDKA Pittsburgh was doing. Once a week beginning in February, WABC was auditioning prospective talk shows for the Midnight to 2 a.m. time slot. In February 1982, WABC officially confirmed it would be going to an all-talk format that May. They stated that there would be ample notice before the switch happens. At that point the once a week overnight auditions for talk shows ended and WABC continued playing music overnights until the switch. The airstaff began saying goodbye with a comment here and there from February into May. Finally, on April 30, it was announced that the switch to all-talk would occur on May 10 at noon. From May 7 to 9, the departing station air-staffers said their goodbyes one last time. The official music format ended 10:45 p.m. May 9, 1982. The station aired the Yankee game that day at Seattle. From 2 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. they ran the normal Sunday evening public affairs programs preempted due to the Yankee game. Ross & Wilson played their usual 4 songs and the music ended with a tribute show from 9 a.m. to noon May 10 hosted by Ron Lundy & Dan Ingram. Staffers that departed included Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, Marc Sommers and Peter Bush. Assistant Program Director Jeff Mazzei left for a similar position at WCBS-FM where he would stay for well over 25 years. Marc Sommers also went to WCBS-FM and eventually Ron Lundy and Dan Ingram would join him there. Johnny Donovan and Mike McKay remained at WABC as staff announcers and producers. Mike McKay left WABC in 1984 for RKO Radio Network and Johnny Donovan stayed at WABC until his retirement in 2015. Monday, May 10, 1982, the day WABC stopped playing music, is sometimes called "The Day the Music Died". WABC ended its 22-year run as a music station with a 9 am-noon farewell show hosted by Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy. The last song played on WABC before the format change was "Imagine" by John Lennon, followed by the familiar WABC "Chime Time" jingle, then a few seconds of silence followed by a minute jingle for talk radio before the debut of the new talk format.