Max Wolf was hired by Program Director, Steve Kingston in 1981 from WYRE in Annapolis where they had both worked together previously. If anyone knows of his whereabouts today, please email the webmaster.

The catastrophic change in format occured around Labor Day in 1982 but the full effects of the mass exodus of its listeners wasn't completely evident until the ratings for the Fall survey period came out in January 1983. A jaw dropping 50% of WPGC's cumulative audience had found a diet of Dionne Warwick, Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow too much to take and hit their radio button faster than you can say 'Q107' which became #1 by default.

Contesting on the station was no longer a driving force as it once had been. However, teases for an upcoming station promotion in which WPGC 'guarantees the music' can be heard on this tape. The premise was that the station would play at least 51 minutes of music an hour or pay $10,000 if it failed to do so as a stunt to call attention to how much music it played. Unfortunately, few listeners by that point were willing to sit through nearly an hour of milk toast tunes.

Especially inciting was the fact that unlike the previous year in which the station would occasionally blow the guarantee intentionally as a vehicle to give away the money, no such thing occured this time around. The station strung its remaining listeners along with the lure of a big dollar cash payout that never happened!

Poor Max Wolf must have thought he led a dual life having initially done late nights at WPGC then middays, then was moved with the format change back to late nights only to be moved yet again to middays within a few months of this aircheck. Finally fed up with radio roulette, he departed to do mornings in Salt Lake City in 1983.

Jingles were from the last package ever ordered from JAM, 'Double Plus' which had been created originally the year before for WYNY in New York.

If the music the station was playing wasn't enough to chase listeners away, the fiasco in mornings was. In less than one year's time since the departure of Elliott & Woodside for big bucks & big disappointment at Q107, WPGC had gone through a succession of at least three different morning shows and soon more.

Dave Foxx was teamed up with Redskin's QB, Joe Theismann. By training camp though, Joe took off and Dude Walker who had been displaced at Q107 by Elliott & Woodside's arrival began doing mornings with Dave as 'Dude & Dave'. That pairing lasted merely months before yet another change was instituted by the arrival of J. Robert Howe for morning news from sister station, KYAK in Provo. 'How' was the operative question within the industry; how did someone from a market the size of Provo wind up in mornings on one of the biggest stations in a top ten market like DC? Only the Mormons knew for sure.

'Walker & Howe' didn't last much longer. In fact just a few months after this tape, still another show debuted as Dave Foxx moved back to mornings with J. Robert Howe. Then later in 1983, they in turn were replaced by (Jeff) Baker & (David) Burd.

Promos on this aircheck include one showcasing Joe Theismann taking a listener's football question and one by Dave Foxx for free coffee on New Year's Eve at all metro area 7-Eleven stores, courtesy of WPGC. One wonders if WPGC's Mormon owners insisted it be decaffinated!

All commercials were agency produced. Listen for one from Universal Pictures for its latest release, 'Sophie's Choice' with Meryl Streep.

To summarize then, as 1982 thankfully drew to a close and 1983 began, the music sucked, the station insulted its listeners with the come-on of a big prize that was non-existent and couldn't keep a morning show in place more than 95 days at a time. This was a once proud radio station desperately gasping for air and in dire need of help........

 

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