Many of the dedicated journalists at Newsradio 88 were -- and are -- radio buffs. When not listening to WCBS-AM, their station of choice is its smaller sibling, the oldies station, WCBS-FM.

June 1995 -- click to enlarge
WCBS-FM ALBUM COLLAGE
by John Landers

WCBS-FM introduced it's oldies format on July 7, 1972, and save for a slight and gladly forgotten hiccup they have now blanketed the number one market with music heard no where else on the dial for 40 years. CBS-FM listeners are an extremely loyal and sought after demographic. They will be the first to happily tell anyone that asks that oldies music is a daily staple in their lives whether at home, in their car, at work or on the way to school. CBS-FM is more then simply a part of their lives. For many this kind of music is what they live their lives by and it gets them through their busy days. Nevertheless, there are times when the faithful have a hankering for a certain song, group or type of oldie that is not on the air. This is partly why CBS-FM produced a multitude of theme albums so that their listening faithful can always hear what they want and enjoy even if it's not on the air at that moment. Above is a colorful collage of covers of just 24 of the many albums in the WCBS-FM retail library.

BEFORE THE OLDIES THERE WAS... ...which in 1967 was an automated light pop music package syndicated to twenty stations ("Do you know the way to San Jose?"). Totally canned, it consisted of two Ampex reel-to-reel tape recorders in the master control room of WCBS-AM on the sixteenth floor of Black Rock. The NY Radio Archive Site has a lot about the Young Sound. Click HERE The Rock Radio Scrapbook Site carries the WCBS-FM on-air lineups since 1967. Click HERE

THE EARLY WCBS-FM NEARLY LAID AN EGG -- AND THAT'S NO YOKE

The Solid Gold Egg Imbroglio by John Landers. To read click HERE

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1972

click to enlarge WCBS-FM ad running in July 1, 1972, issue of Billboard Magazine touting how it is "America's Fastest Growing Rock Station (AM or FM)." Exactly six days later on July 7, 1972, it abandoned its rock format and switched to oldies.

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WCBS-FM AUDIO
EARLY WCBS-FM JINGLE PACKAGES

WCBS-FM Jingles: Tuesday Productions -- Taking You There With The Music (4:46) LISTEN

WCBS-FM Jingles: Gold Evolution -- PAMS First Oldies package (4:59) LISTEN

WCBS-FM Jingles: Jock Cuts -- Gold Evolution -- PAMS First Oldies package (3:13) LISTEN

WCBS-FM JINGLES. Consists of several jingle packages in the 1980s and 90s with intros to various FM disc jockeys. Instrumentals and vocals. This is a large file so please give it time to open. Excellent quality. [a shorter version of WCBS-FM signature sounds below] LISTEN. [runs 20:56]

WCBS-FM ALERTS AND SOUNDERS. Includes sounders for bulletins and special broadcasts for the FM oldies music station. LISTEN. [runs 2:50]

WCBS-FM PAMS Top of the Hour Drum Roll. Debuted during its 1979 Memorial Day Top 500 Countdown Weekend. Used on the hour followed by a Top 500 CBS-FM jingle. LISTEN. [runs :09]

WCBS-FM SIGNATURE SOUNDS. Jingles created for sister station WCBS-FM. Audio courtesy of David Saviet. (2:09) WCBS-FM, 101, Signature Sounds

More WCBS-FM audio at Mark Wolodarsky's WCBS-FM tribute page. HERE

Much of the material on this site was provided by John Landers