Waylon Richards had previously worked in California, Omaha, Tulsa, Kansas City, Dallas & San Antonio and joined WPGC following the Great Strike That Struck Out in the Summer of 1977 from WGCL in Cleveland.

Initially he did late nights 9p-1a then moved to 6-10p when Program Director, Dan Mason took himself off the air to tend to National Program Director duties for First Media. With the arrival on Don Geronimo on 03/17/80, he moved to 10p-2a. He left WPGC in 1982 for mornings in Baltimore at B104. Today, he is retired in San Diego.

Heard here at the tail end of the July 4th weekend on a Sunday afternoon, the more music battle with Q107 is apparent. Breaks are brief and to the point, or as in Program Director, Steve Kingston's terminology, 'Eight words or less'. The Top 40 titans had been squaring off against one another for two years by the time of this aircheck.

And then a curious thing happened; Q107 launched its ill-fated repositioning campaign, 'Q Phase 2' which left WPGC comfortably ahead in the ratings race. Inspired by the success of Howard Stern on DC-101, Q107 began jettisoning Top 40 mechanics like talking up song vocals, did away with jingles, let songs fade out to oblivion and toned it's jocks way down.

In reaction, WPGC stuck to the basics, kept the promotional pressure on, played the hits and took no prisoners. A true Top 40 battle if ever there was one and perhaps the best remembered in DC radio history.

It didn't take long for ABC management to realize the mistake it had made. But by then it was too late. WPGC clinched the Top 40 crown and did not relinquish it for another year's time until First Media's disasterous decision to change the station's format after 30 years to Adult Contemporary.

WPGC had recently introduced a new innovation of the era; an 800 number request line - but only for Maryland!! At the time, multi-state 800 lines were cost prohibitive, particularly considering the vast number of calls the station received. It was cutting edge for its day but cost cutting led to its removal the following year. Listen for Waylon soliciting requests at 800-492-0832.

Agency spots on WPGC far outnumbered local ones by the time of this tape. From a bygone era, listen to commercials for the now defunct Pan- Am as well as equally defunct Schlitz beer. Midway through the latter, you'll notice Waylon's wit in response to Schlitz's CEO's statement, 'There's only one reason I came to Schlitz'; "Money!".

 

Small Print Dept.: This non-profit historical site is not affiliated in any way with WPGC Radio today or CBS Radio, Inc. Use of copyrighted material is consistent with the "fair use" provisions contained in §107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 due to the following characteristics: Use of copyrighted material is of a nonprofit, educational nature, intended for the sole purposes of research and comment and does not significantly negatively affect "the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work(s)." Use of registered trademark material is not subject to civil action or injunction as outlined in §1114 and §1125 of the Trademark Act of 1946 (the Lanham Act) due to the following characteristics of this work, and the registered marks published herein: Use of reproductions of registered marks is not for the purpose of commerce, nor is the use connected with the sale, offering for sale, or advertising of any goods or services. Use of reproductions is not likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception as to the affiliation, connection, or association of this work with owners of published registered marks, nor as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of this work by owners of published registered marks. Wherever possible, the copyright or registered mark owner's name has been noted near the copyrighted work or registered mark; however, all material used in this site, including, but not limited to, newspaper articles, syndicated themes, promos, commercials, photographs, playlists, press releases, ratings, airchecks, newscasts, traffic reports, sports reports, 'sound-offs', sweepers, bumperstickers and station logos, should be considered protected copyrighted material or registered mark with all rights reserved to the owner, named or unnamed. So there!