WLIR-FM

WLIR-FM

City of license	Hampton Bays, New York
Slogan	The Voice of Hope
Frequency	107.1 MHz
First air date	1959
Format	Christian
ERP	4,100 watts
HAAT	121 meters
Class	A
Callsign meaning	Long Island Radio
Owner	Livingstone Broadcasting, Inc.
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	Official website

WLIR-FM (107.1 FM) is a Christian radio station as part of the WLIX Voice of Hope Radio Network. WLIR-FM broadcasts in the Hamptons-Riverhead (Long Island, New York, USA) area. Its transmitter is currently located near East Quogue, New York.

WLIR-FM was best known as an influential Alternative, New Wave, Punk Rock and Modern Rock radio station that "dared to be different". WLIR-FM helped launch the careers of many famous disc jockeys. The station became well known during the 1970s thru 1990s while broadcasting from studio's in Hempstead, NY, Westbury, NY and Garden City, NY from its North Shore Towers, Queens, NY transmitter on the 92.7 frequency.

WLIR history

WLIR was founded in 1959 by John R. Rieger. It was licensed to Garden City, NY on the 92.7 FM frequency and played a mix of Broadway tunes and classical music from a basement studio in the Garden City Hotel.

The WLIR logo from 1979.

1970s

In 1970, part-time announcer Mike Harrison convinced Rieger to change to a progressive rock format with the famous WLIR Seagull as its logo. This meant playing obscure artists, playing many cuts off an album (not just the hit singles), and having disc jockeys speak in a slow, mellow tone. The station also became known for its concert series and support of local bands such as The Good Rats.

As the 1970s went on, most rock stations drifted to the more commercial album oriented rock, but WLIR bucked this trend. As punk and New Wave Rock started to become popular at the end of the 1970s most rock stations in the United States ignored these genres but WLIR again bucked the trend by playing artists from these genres.

1980s

In 1982 it had been decided that in order to move the station into the future a format change was needed. Program director Denis McNamara recommended to the station's owner that he choose one of two formats progressive adult contemporary or New Music. Although adult contemporary seemed commercially appealing, New Music was chosen because it was more in step with the "dare to be different" campaign being used to promote the new format and it was more "fun". On August 2 the format switch occurred. The station featured new wave (McNamara "hated" that term because he felt it was a trendy phrase that might be out of style in a year), synthpop, post-punk, early alternative rock acts as well as novelty records. The personalities of the disc jockeys became much more upbeat. The station became known worldwide for introducing new artists and playing singles months (if not years) before other stations. WLIR became the first radio station in the country to play U2, The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, Duran Duran, Madonna, George Michael, Men at Work and Prince. The station was one of the few commercial radio stations in the United States to play these type of artists. One method of doing this was the "Screamer of the Week" a promotion in which listeners would call in and vote for their favorite new song of the week. New Order, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Yaz and Blancmange were early staples of this format. According to McNamara the "entire music industry was looking upon 'LIR and that 'LIR marketplace of New York and Long Island as one of the hippest music areas of the world. People used to refer to it as the gateway to America if you were an upcoming artist." A criticism of the station in this period was that it favored artists from Great Britain (and to a lesser extent western Europe in general) at the expense of local bands.

In 1987, the station's license was revoked after a fifteen-year battle, and as a result on December 18, 1987, the station's ownership changed. The call letters of WLIR were changed to WDRE by the new owner, Jared Communications, (later to regain the WLIR call letters), while the interim operator (Elton Spitzer's Phoenix Media Corp.) took the WLIR call letters to an AM radio station in Rockland County, New York. The previous owners also took the "Dare To Be Different" slogan with them as intellectual property, so WDRE's moniker became "New Music First". The "Screamer of the Week" became the "Shriek of the Week" and the station remained on the cutting edge of new music as they broke new bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana and others.

1990s

In 1991, the station changed its moniker again, this time to "The Cutting Edge of Rock".

The explosion in popularity of grunge and alternative rock in the early 1990s led to the period of turmoil detailed below. The synthpop-based music on which much of the station's playlist was based was now out of fashion. Alternative rock artists which used to be played almost exclusively on the station were now being played on many rock and pop music stations.

The WLIR logo used from 1998 to sign off on 1/9/2004.

In 1992, WDRE Garden City (New York) started simulcasting its programming with what was 103.9 WIBF-FM Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, which later became WDRE Jenkintown/Philadelphia. Subsequently, in the mid 90's, Greg Morey claims to have created the first alternative rock network known as "The Underground Network". The Underground Network simulcasted WDRE New York and consisted of WFAL 101.1 Cape Cod, WRLG 94.1 Nashville, KDRE 101.1 Little Rock, WWCP 96.7 Albany, KFTH 107.1 Memphis, WMRW 98.5 Westhampton, NY, as well as WIBF. After several years, The Underground Network was ended and it was decided in 1996 that WDRE Garden City/New York would switch formats to Adult Album Alternative (AAA), bring back Malibu Sue (who had been fired earlier by then PD Russ Mottla), change its call letters back to WLIR and change its moniker to "The Island". Also in 1996 WDRE Philadelphia became an independent local modern rock station.

2000s

The WLIR "The Box" logo used during 2004 when the station changed its frequency.

On January 9, 2004, Univision bought the 92.7 frequency and other assets for $56.9 million and began simulcasting the Spanish radio format of WCAA Newark, NJ. on 92.7 under the call letters WZAA. The last song played on WLIR that day was "Forever Young", the upbeat version by Alphaville. The WLIR call letters moved to the 107.1 frequency on Eastern Long Island, which had been simulcasting WLIR for several years. The new WLIR adopted an Active Rock/Alternative format and new image as "THE BOX". Since the 107.1 version of WLIR is located about 50 miles east of the original WLIR, many of the station's fans in New York City, southwestern Connecticut, southern Westchester County, New York, northeastern New Jersey, and even the western parts of Long Island itself could not easily receive the station (many of these areas were closer geographically to other 107.1s, WXPK in central Westchester County and WWZY in Long Branch, New Jersey, which hindered reception).

On September 12, 2005, WLIR changed formats to a block-sponsored smooth jazz/chill music format known as "FM Channel 107: NeoBreeze." As a result of the format change, which was also instituted at two other stations owned by the WLIR's owners (The Morey Organization), all of the on-air staff was fired. This truly marked the end of WLIR's unique over the air "new music" format after almost three decades. In addition, with the new format, the station would run commercial-free during the day, with the actual airtime during this period paid for by advertisers. According to the station's owners, this move was made as an attempt to take on satellite radio and MP3 players, which had been cutting into listeners of traditional radio. In an effort to keep WLIR and its alternative music alive, longtime WLIR employee and historian Bob Wilson developed the WLIR.FM website and began an internet broadcast of WLIR music called "Next Wave".

On December 20, 2005, after three months of low ratings, the NeoBreeze format was dropped, and the WLIR alternative format returned.

On December 26, 2006 BusinessTalkRadio.net President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Metter announced the purchase of three Long Island radio stations: Alternative WLIR-FM (107.1), Classic Rocker WBON-FM (98.5), and Top 40/Rhythmic WDRE (105.3). WBON was renamed WBZB and flipped to a business talk format on January 2, 2007. The sales of WLIR-FM and WBZB were approved on February 27, 2007 and according to the FCC database, the selling price for WLIR-FM was expected to be $1,750,000 and the selling price for WBON-FM was also expected to be $1,750,000. The sale of these stations, however, was never completed.

In September 2007 WLIR began broadcasting from a new antenna at a location 5 miles to the west of the original. On October 11, 2007, WLIR-FM began simulcasting on translator 96.9 FM Manorville (W245BA), expanding its coverage area into western Suffolk County and a portion of eastern Nassau County. On November 18, 2007, this simulcast of WLIR-FM ended with the simulcast of 98.5 WBON, "La Fiesta", taking over the 96.9 frequency.

The WLIR 107.1/ESPN Logo used from January 2008 thru July 2011

On January 3, 2008 in part because of the reach of the new antenna WLIR-FM began simulcasting programming from sister station WDRE (Party 105), fueling speculation that a change in format to ESPN was imminent. On January 21, 2008, WLIR-FM became an ESPN Radio affiliate via an LMA with New York City radio station WEPN (1050 AM).

WLIR today

On February 9, 2011, Jarad Broadcasting of Hampton Bays entered into an asset purchase agreement with Holding Out Hope Church d/b/a WLIX Radio to sell the station for $650,000. On February 17, 2011, Holding Out Hope Church assigned the agreement to Livingstone Broadcasting, Inc. On May 25, 2011 the sale of WLIR-FM to Livingstone Broadcasting Inc was completed. On August 1, 2011, WLIR-FM began broadcasting Christian content as part of the WLIX Voice of Hope radio network.

The original "World Famous" WLIR alternative music, air personalities, sounders, jingles, shreiks and screamers as well as today's new music can still be found at WLIR.FM.

Important WLIR Personalities - Where are they now?

WLIR was blessed with many personalities who have gone onto become broadcasting legends both on and off the air. Some of these include:

• Abel Sanchez (now on-air at PULSE87NY.com)
• AJ (Mistress of Modern Rock)
• Alex "Alley Cat" Anthony (now public address announcer for New York Mets)
• Amy Paige (now on-air at Sirius Radio "The Highway")
• Andre "The Dre Dog" Ferro (now on-air at PULSE87NY.com)
• Armin Laszlo (overnight jock in the late 1970s)
• Barry (Ravioli) Carollo (now owner of ADCstudios & Audio Digital Communications)
• Basic Bob ("The Van Man") (WLIR Vinyl Van driver in the early 1980's)
• Beaver Kowalski (DeBella Travisty sports reporter)
• Ben Manilla (now President of Ben Manilla Productions)
• Bernardo Moronta (now on-air at WXNY-FM "X96.3", NY)
• Berner (on the beach) (Dennis Boerner, music industry professional)
• Bill Holly ("All Request Morning Show" and Modern Rock Dance Party producer)
• Bill Powers (now on-air at WRCN-FM, Riverhead, NY and traffic reporter at Metro Traffic - aka Nick Benjamin and Chuck Hesselberg)
• Bob ("The Mighty") Waugh (now on-air and program director at WRNR-FM, Annapolis, MD)
• Bob Kranes (now Senior Director Marketing at The Decca Label Group/Universal Music)
• Bob Marrone (now on-air at WRKI-FM, Brookfield, CT and producer of Jazz Stew online)
• Bob Wilson (now WLIR historian, WLIR internet radio programmer and owner of Next Wave Media)
• Brian Cosgrove (now on-air at WPPB-FM, Southampton, NY)
• Carol Silva ("Mini Close-Up/news) (now on-air morning anchor at News-12 Long Island)
• Caroline Corley (now on-air at WXPK-FM "The Peak", Briarcliff Manor, NY))
• Charlie Ahl (later on-air at WPLJ, WCBS-FM and WHN in NY, host of Westwood One's "Weekly Country Music Countdown" (as Chris Charles), now PD of WBOQ-FM Boston
• Chris "The Greek" Panaghi (now President of Amathus Music / DJG)
• Chris Simmons (now on-air at WBZO-FM, Bayshore, NY)
• Cooper Lawrence (now news reader and entertainment reporter at WPLJ-FM, NY)
• Couzin Ed (Underground Network) (now manager of "The Irish Pol" bar in Philadelphia, Pa)
• Dale Reeves (now President of REVOmedia Productions)
• Dan Binder (now President/CEO Vandalay Communications and PD/OM at Sunrise Broadcasting, Wilmington, NC)
• Dan Zako (former General Manager - now GSM for WDVD/WDRQ, Detroit, MI)
• Danny Toy (now General Sales Manager at NAVTEQ)
• Daredrew
• Darrin Smith (now Vice President, Music Progamming at Sirius XM Radio, on-air and Program Director at Sirius XM Radio "1st Wave")
• Dave "DC" Caggiano ("DC's All Night Diner") (died September 8, 2009)
• Delphine Blue (now on-air at WBAI-FM, NY)
• Denis McNamara (now morning driver at WRCN-FM, Riverhead, NY - Inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2010, runs NYM Inc., an Internet radio consulting company. In the process of starting to write his autobiography.)
• Dennis Daniel
• Domonique (now on-air at WIGX-FM, Smithtown, NY)
• Donna Donna (now on air at WBAB-FM, Babylon, NY)
• Doug Frye
• Drew Kenyon (morning show 1999–2000) (now owner of Drew Kenyon Productions)
• Drew Scott (news) (now on-air weekend anchor at News-12 Long Island)
• Earle Bailey (now on-air at Sirius Radio "Deep Tracks")
• Elliot Jacobi
• Elton Spitzer (now involved in the boat industry in North Carolina)
• Eric Bloom ("The Bozo Patrol")
• Evan "Funk" Davies (now Director Business & Operations, VH1 Digital at VH1 and on air at WFMU-FM, Jersey City, NJ)
• Faithful Marianne
• Famous Bob
• Flo & Eddie ("By The Fireside")
• Frank Bruno (now Production Director, Fox News Talk at Fox News Channel)
• Gary Cee (now program director and afternoon host at WPDH in the Hudson Valley)
• Gene Pardo (morning show announcer)
• Hank Fredricks (news)
• Harlan Friedman (now Owner of The Harlan Group and Sports Correspondent at Live It Up!)
• Heather Schoen (former Public Affairs Director 1971-1974 - now President at Schoen and Company)
• Hillary Blazer (now owner of Hillary Blazer-Doyle Voiceovers)
• Howie Greene ("The Greene Team")
• Hugh Foley (now Dr. Hugh Foley - Professor at Rogers State University, OK)
• Jed Morey (now publisher of the Long Island Press)
• Jeff Carlson Beck
• Jeff Faus (production staff)
• Jeff Jensen (now traffic reporter at Cablevision)
• Jeff Levine (former program director) (now President at South Florida Chamber Maps)
• Jerry Rubino ("Left of Center") (now APD/MD & Producer at Last.fm Discover)
• Jim Cameron (evenings and operations manager 1972–1975) (now at www.mediatrainer.tv)
• Jim McGuinn (now Program Director at KCMP-FM "The Current", Minneapolis, MN)
• Jimmy Howes (Weekend on-air personality 1989) (now program director at WGHT-AM, Pompton Lakes, NJ)
• Jodi Vale (now on-air at WKJY-FM "KJOY", Long Island)
• Joe Bonadonna (now Program Director at WBGG-FM, Miami, FL)
• Joe Taggart - Morning show (1996–1999) (Now a stand up comic and works on Jerry Seinfeld's show "The Marriage Ref" on NBC as a comic)
• Joel Moss (former program director in the 1970s progressive era before Denis McNamara; Joined heritage rocker WEBN-FM, Cincinnati in 1984 where he is still Creative Services Director (12/16/11)
• Joey Salvia (now at WEPN-AM, NY)
• John "Johnny McFly" Caracciolo (now owner of JVC Media LLC)
• John ("Don't call me Johnny") DeBella (now morning driver at WMGK-FM, Philadelphia)
• John Moschitta (now operations manager and program director at WDVE and WXDX in Pittsburgh, PA)
• John R. Rieger (former owner) Died of natural causes in May 2009 [1]
• Jon Daniels (now on-air and Program Director at WIGX-FM, Smithtown, NY)
• Jonathan Lobdell (now Communications Director at Gathering of the Vibes and Advertising/Marketing Specialist at DAP - The Radio Agency)
• Jonathan Clarke Grevatt (now on-air at WAXQ-FM, NY)
• Kerin McCue (news) (now on-air at WXPK-FM "The Peak", Briarcliff Manor, NY)
• Kim Berk (now on-air at WWFS-FM "Fresh 102.7", NY)
• Larry "The Duck" Dunn (now Newsday Sr. Vice President of Advertising Sales and on-air at Sirius Radio "1st Wave")
• Larry Kleinman
• Laurie Gail (now Vice President Radio & Label Relations for Play MPE)
• Lazlow ("The Technofile" and underground hard drive)
• Lenny "The Intern" Diana (now Program Director at WRZX-FM "X-103" Indianapolis, In)
• Linda Joseph
• Lisa Ritchie (morning show co-host and News Director 1989-1993) (now traffic reporter at Cablevision and freelance fitness writer at Alkalinelifestyle.com)
• "Long Tall" Andy Geller (now a national voice over artist - AndyGeller.com)
• Lorraine Rapp (now president elect at Voice-Overs & Media Production)
• (John) Loscalzo (now Founder/Publisher at Brooklyn Bugle Media)
• Lynda Lopez (now on-air news anchor at WCBS-AM, NY)
• Malibu Sue (now on-air at WRCN-FM, Riverhead, NY, WWFS-FM, New York, NY and News 12 Traffic & Weather)
• Maria Chambers (now on-air host of VH1's syndicated "Best Week Radio Show" and host on OURscene.TV)
• Margaret Locicero (promotions director 1973-1979 - now president of Blame It On Us Marketing & Promotion)
• Mark "The Shark" Drucker (deceased 2/23/2005)
• Matt Cord (now evenings on-air at WMMR-FM, Philadelphia)
• Matt Wolfe (now music director and on-air at WBAB)
• Max "The Mighty Maximizer" Leinwand (now Director Media Relations/Acquisitions at Retail Entertainment Design)
• Meg Griffin (now on-air at Sirius Radio "The Loft" and "Classic Rewind")
• Michael "Eppy" Epstein (Punky reggae party and owner of "My Father's Place")
• Michael Ross (former part-timer and on air at WPLJ-FM, WSHE-FM, WZTA-FM and WBGG-FM - died January 1, 2000)
• Michael Tapes (producer Tuesday Night Concert Series - now owner of Michael Tapes Design, Melbourne, Fl)
• Mike "Kidman" DeFosses (Underground Network Morning Show - now a realtor in Glastonbury, CT)
• Mike Jones ("the man with a face for radio")
• Mina Greene ("The Greene Team") (now weekend news anchor at WBZ-AM, Boston)
• Mindy Barstein owner WXUR-FM AND WRNS-AM in Utica /Rome, NY
• Morgan "Morgasm" Thomas (now looking for her next broadcasting challenge)
• Mrs. Gyrtlebaumer (Eric Wasserman)
• Nancy Abramson (now Executive Director of the Wall Street Journal Radio Network)
• Orli - The English Muffin
• Otis Finn (Jim Finnemore)
• Pam Merly (now on-air at Sirius Radio "Deep Tracks")
• Pat McCormilla
• Paul Cavalconte (now on-air at WEMP-FM, NY)
• Paul W Robinson (PD - Mid-days - Founder & CEO Emerald City Media Partners)
• Pete "Captain Traffic" Tauriello (now traffic reporter at Metro Networks)
• Peter Schacknow (news) (now senior producer at CNBC)
• Ray White (now on-air at Classical 102.1 KDFC-FM, San Francisco)
• Rob Rush (Now on-air at WIGX-FM, Smithtown, NY and production/voiceovers for the Long Island Radio Group)
• Ron "RJ" Morey (now CEO of the Morey Organization)
• Russ Mottla (former program director)
• Scott "DJ" Bird ("sitting in" - now Military Admissions at Kaplin Univerity and owner/editor of Hockeybird.com)
• Sean "The Brain" Ross (now VP of Music and Programming at Edison Research)
• Sharon at the Shore (now President/Co-Owner of Trailhead Marketing)
• Shelley Miller (former music director)
• Sid Zimet (Audio by Zimet, Workshop Recording Studio - died March 4, 1988)
• "Smokin" Joe Belsito
• Spicey McHugh (traffic reporter)
• Steve "The Pistol" Jones (now VP ABC News Radio)
• Steve Kass (Kastenbaum) (now New York-based correspondent for CNN Radio)
• Steve Morrison (now on-air at WMMR-FM, Philadelphia, PA)
• Steve North ("Mini Close-Up"/News Director) (now Broadcast Writer, CBS Early Show)
• Steve Reggie (news) (now traffic reporter at Metro
• Steven Starr (volunteer/news volunteer 1974-5) now CEO of CitizenGlobal.com
• Susan Browning (former Island morning show host - now radio personality at WHUD, Peekskill, NY and Total Traffic Network producer at Clear Channel)
• Ted Taylor (now new media and artistic director at House of Rock Entertainment)
• The Cat
• The Unknown DJ
• "Tokyo" Rose Pisani (former music director) (now SVP Marketing for WE TV & Wedding Central)
• Tom Calderone (now President of VH1)
• Tommy "DJ Tarnax" Nappi (now on-air at WKTU-FM, Lake Success, NY and VP of Top 40 promotion for Sony/BMG)
• Trulia Child ("Platter D'Jour")
• Vin Scelsa (now on-air at Sirius Radio "The Loft")
• Willobee (Carlan) (now Operations Manager/Program Director at Shamrock Communications, Scranton, PA)
• Zim Barstein (former General Manager) (now Sales Manager at Arnold Aerial Advertising in Manhattan)

Memorable WLIR-FM Moments and Shows

WLIR had many memorable and unique shows. Some of these include:

• Party in the Park - 8/21/1979
• Party in the Park II - 8/23/1980
• Tuesday Night Concert Series
• "Off The Boat" - Sunday night import show
• "Party Out Of Bounds" - weekends
• Midnight Snack" with Ben Manilla
• "The News Blimp"
• Segue contests
• "WLIR "Heavy Hitters" softball team (featuring Billy Joel)
• "Donna Donna's Spotlight Dance Dance" at Mailbu Beach Club
• "All Request Morning Show" with Mailbu Sue and producer Bill Holly
• "The Bozo Patrol" with Ben Manilla and Eric Bloom (Blue Oyster Cult)
• "The History of Modern Rock"
• "Airline Club" and "DaREline"
• "WLIR-kives"
• Audio by Zimet
• "WLIR Non-Conformal Ball" - April 1985
• "Left of Center"
• "DRE After Dark"
• "LIR After Dark"
• "LIR After Hours"

Memorable Clubs and Venues

WLIR music and bands were featured at many Long Island venues. Some of these include:

• My Fathers Place - in the Village of Old Roslyn, NY
• "Spize" - Huntington, NY
• "The Angle" - Mineola, NY
• "Calderone Concert Hall" - Hempstead, NY
• 007 - Franklin Square, NY
• Malibu Night Club - Lido Beach, NY
• The Dublin Pub - New Hyde Park, NY
• Paris, NY
• Spit - Levittown, NY
• Chevy's - Bayshore, NY
• The Oak Beach Inn - Oak Beach, NY
• The Oak Beach Inn West - Island Park, NY
• The Ritz
• The 1890's Club - Baldwin, NY
• Speaks - Island Park, NY
• Reds
• Ultrasonic Recording Studios - Hempstead, NY
• Uncle Sam's - East Meadow, NY

External links

• Voice of Hope official website
• WLIR.FM - New York's Original Alternative Station streaming "The World Famous" WLIR

Reference websites

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WLIR
• Radio-Locator information on WLIR
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WLIR
• User Report: Jampro Helps WLIR Change Direction by John Caracciolo President and Director of Engineering for RadioWorld December 22, 2008

Fan websites

• 92.7 Archive & Aircheck Registry
• Official Group Myspace Website
• Official WLIR Fan Website
• WLIR Screamers & Shrieks lists
• Hockeybird.com (history of 92.7 WLIR)