Top 100 of 1973

(Special thanks to Walt Bailey for the audio above).

The growing influence of FM is evident in this year's countdown, as WPGC began touting its Stereo broadcast (an aspect market competitor WRC on AM couldn't) with positioners like 'The Stereo Rock' and 'W - Stereo - PGC'.

As in previous year's countdowns, contesting played a role. This year the WPGC 'Musical Mystery Tour' had listeners guess by title & artist, three mystery songs which had been locked in the WPGC Gold Money Car (no doubt it would have been even more compelling if the WPGC Money Girls had been locked in there too!). During this run of the countdown however, no listener guessed all three songs correctly to win the $3,000.

Dan Steele joined WPGC in 1973 for nights, replacing the departing Johnny Jones, and stayed until 1975. Dan mentions the WPGC Money Plane flying over various locations in Maryland that night several times during the course of the countdown.

Also listen for:

- At 5:15PM, the AM sign-off and the 'tune over now to WPGC-FM 95.5' transition. For years, WPGC combated its daytimer status on AM by actively training its impressionable, youthful audience to move over to FM. Within a year of this countdown, WPGC-FM would surpass the ratings of the AM (which was 100% simulcast) for the first time. By 1976, FM listening as a whole would surpass AM in the market, making DC the first FM dominant market in the country, thanks in large part to WPGC.

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