B104
was not the first FM Top 40 station in Baltimore. Both WLPL
and WKTK had enjoyed varying degrees of success (though
neither ever came even remotely close to that which WPGC
enjoyed in nearby DC). But no Top 40 on FM in Charm City
dominated the ratings as WCAO had done so on AM in the '60's
and '70's until the old WITH-FM was blown up to become WBSB
(the call letters were inspired by the City of Baltimore's
marketing campaign, 'Baltimore'S Best' in 1980).
Program
Director, Joel Denver signed on the station that year and
saw continual ratings growth book after book. With the resurgence
of CHR in the early '80's, B104 became a real force to be
reckoned with, particularly after former WPGC
Program Director, Steve Kingston returned home from B94
in Pittsburgh to program it in 1984.
When
I first began working every weekend at 66
WNBC in New York, I still lived in Washington and commuted.
That left plenty of time on my hands during the week for
other things. From time to time, primarily for the fun of
it, I would drive up to Baltimore and pull a shift. The
tape heard here is from 1985 during this period.
After
the announcement of the sale of 66
WNBC came down in 1987 and it became clear the entire
staff but for Imus in the Morning was about to be let go,
I returned to Washington. By then B104 was programmed by
Brian Thomas who hired me for fill in air work. Because
I was also working in DC at WMZQ
using my real name, he wanted me to use a different air
name at B104. (B104 was at the time the #1 station in Baltimore.
Concurrently, WMZQ was the
#1 station in Washington. This allowed me the claim of working
at the #1 stations in two top 15 markets simultaneously!).
The
imaging voice of B104 back then was the legendary Bobby
Ocean. The day I was hired, Brian got off the phone with
him and said, 'You're our new Bobby Ocean!'. And so I was,
working primarily at night for about a year or so until
California came calling. (I would often get off the air,
drive to DC and pull a shift an hour later at WMZQ!).
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