WCZY-FM TOP 40 MUSIC GUIDE COMPILED THRU RETAIL SALES AND RADIO AIRPLAY
Z-95 FM THE ALL HIT LIST * Herb Alpert w/ Janet Jackson * WCZY-FM (No. 04)
Z-95 FM THE ALL HIT LIST * Kenny G * WCZY-FM (No. 08)
Z-95 FM THE ALL HIT LIST * Jody Watley * WCZY-FM (No. 25)
Z-95 FM THE ALL HIT LIST * Suzanne Vega * WCZY-FM (No. 38)
WCZY-FM TOP 40 MUSIC GUIDE COMPILED THRU RETAIL SALES AND RADIO AIRPLAY
A MCRFB VIEWING TIP: To fully appreciate this WCZY Z95.5 ALL HITS Survey (week of) June 15, 1987 chart feature click on image 2x and open to second window. Click image anytime to return to NORMAL image size.
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While MCRFB has every song selection on this WCZY playlist archived in it’s massive music library, the above four songs randomly were selected for your listening enjoyment here.
From the MCRFB radio notebook: 1981,1983, 1985, 1986
WCZY-FM
DETROIT (August 1, 1981) — Bill Garcia has been hired away from WDRQ-FM Detroit to be program director at WOMC-FM. Garcia had been moving the Hot 100 formatted WDRQ into a more adult contemporary mode and into direct competition with Metromedia’s WOMC. Charter Broadcasting has WDRQ on the block. Garcia succeeds Dave Shafer, who’s moved over to WCZY-FM, which is running the syndicated Schulke II vocal-oriented Beautiful music format. END
DETROIT (January 22, 1983) — Dick Purtan is about to make one of radio’s more expensive walk across town, leaving CKLW to join Gannett’s WCZY Detroit. Not only does he have the biggest contract in WCZY’s history, topping the $200,000 paid him by CKLW, but he will also be featured on Gannett’s new U.S.A. Today Radio Network.
His current contract with CKLW expires March 1, but he’s already off the air there and it’s likely he’ll start before that at WCZY. Whatever the date, WCZY promises the biggest promotion blitz to ever hit Detroit radio. As for mornings at the Big 8, CKLW is planning to team up Tom Delisle of WDIV-TV Detroit with Purtan’s former morning partner, Tom Ryan, who will assume a larger role on the morning show. END
OPERATION GRADUATION 1985
DETROIT (June 1, 1985) — Furthering the efforts of the MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and SADD (students Against Drunk Driving) WCZY-FM has come up with a promotional blitz targeting the various “prom nights” celebrations that occur annually at this time and often the cause of fatalities associated with drunk driving.
In a campaign known as “Operation Graduation 1985,” the station is seeking further to educate the youth in the Detroit area about the real dangers of drinking and driving. To get the point across, the station has enlisted the support of well-known musicians/artists Kim Carnes and the Beach Boys’ Bruce Johnston, as well as local celebrities and station personalities, who have recorded urging listeners to have fun but warning, “If you’re going to drink, don’t drive.”
Rather than attempt to dissuade kids from drinking, or attempt to have them drink less, the campaign is non-judgmental in this regard. The issue is not drinking, but drinking and driving. In that spirit, a “Parent/Student Agreement” is also being made available, and kids and parents are urged to read and sign it. Basically, the student promises not to drive with someone who has been drinking. Nor attempt to drive if he or she has been drinking. The student also pledges, “If I need a ride, I will call home for one.”
On the parent’s part, the order is a bit taller, stating, “”I promise to offer a ride to my child if she/he would need it . . . with no questions asked.” END
DETROIT (August 3, 1985) — Lee Douglas takes on additional duties at Gennett-owned pop outlet WCZY-AM-FM Detroit. He’ll continue programming the FM, as he has for the past two years, while moving into the vice president/operations post. Having taken the FM head-to-head with competitor WHYT in the latest Arbitron, Douglas oversaw the station’s switch to pop in June, and the combo is now broadcasting 24-hour simulcast. END
HOT 100 SINGLE SPOTLIGHT
DETROIT (April 5, 1986) — It’s great a record shows renewed strength and regain it’s bullet. Three records rebulleted this week. The first one, “Your Smile,” by Angela & Renee (Mercury) at No. 73, pulled in strong sales reports, and the record has now gone Top 5 at WCZY-FM in Detroit. END
– (Information and news source: Billboard Magazine. All excerpts culled as was first published from the dated editions as noted above).
DETROIT — “Detroit is suppose to be one of the worst cities in the country to get ahead . . . except in radio and television,” says Maureen Hathaway, station manager of of Motor City top 40 WHYT-FM.
Hathaway is one of a large number of women holding holding top exective positions in Detroit radio — vice-presidents/general managers, station managers, general sales managers, even owners. Radio is a business whose key jobs are generally held by men, and Detroit is widely perceived as a two-fisted blue-collar city. Yet women there have been able to make a more than significant mark in the upper echelons of radio.
“The radio market here is [one of the most] competitive in the country,” observes Elaine Baker, VP/GM of adult contemporary WOMC-FM. “Because of that, talent is recognized for what it is. Women have been able to move up the ladder because they’re good in what they do.”
Both Hathaway and Vicky Trondle, general sales manager of WNIC-AM-FM, surmise that Detroit is such fertile ground for women executives because extensive station turnovers in the recent past have cleared the way for capable, talented women.
“One of the biggest problems for women had been lack of opportunity,” say Hathaway. “Men were holding jobs they’d always held, but when turnovers occurred, women were there to take those jobs.”
Trondle add, “It took a long time for women to get the type of experienceit takes to run a large business.”
Trondle was promoted to GSM when her predecessor left to join former WNIC GM Lorraine Golden, who had formed her own company. Golden is now VP of Metropolis Broadcasting and GM/VP of its first property, the top 40/AC formatted WDTX.
The turnover theory doesn’t hold for Vera Green, VP/GM of urban outlet WJLB-FM, who brought the station from a No. 12 overall when she joined in 1982 to its current No. 2 status. She says, “Women has the least seniority, and so were the first to go.”
Green’s prior experience in the automotive industry left her with the perspective that the male concentration there and in Detroit’s other heavy industries “gave women other ways to achieve.”
“For women to excel in this market place,” agrees Suzanne Gougherty, national sales manager of WWJ-AM, “they had to look in other areas.”
The majority of the female’s executives started out not in the typing pool, but in the sales department. “It’s the business aspect of the radio station,” observes Gougherty. “Working in sales gives you an awareness of the bottom line . . . and GMs have to be aware of the bottom line . . . it gives an idea of the structure of the station.”
Operating in a predominately man’s world, Detroit’s female execs nevertheless all agree they have faced little or no gender discrimination in their positions. “There has probably been some, but I’ve been too busy to notice,” remarks Green.
However, says Betty Pazdernik, VP and GSM of top 40 WCZY-AM-FM, “I still think we have to do a bit more, be superior, excel.
“If I felt I wanted to do a tantrum, I wouldn’t do it,” she continues, “yet I’ve seen males fly off the handle, and its perfectly acceptable. If I feel like crying from frustration, I’ll leave the office. But, men are allowed to explode for the same reason with no loss of esteem. It’ll probably always be like that.”
All agree that their stations hire for excellence, not gender.
“I’m looking for the best person for a job, when I hire,” says Baker. “I had a female program director in 1983 [Lorna Ozman], and we had a female sales staff — not because they’re woman, but for their skills.”
Woman applicants can look forward to advice and information on support groups when they go to WJLB, says Green. “We tell them to contact American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT), the Women’s Advertising Club in Detroit, Women In Music, and Women In Communications,” she describes. “We advise everyone, not just women, to read the trades and market reports. Women graduate as mass communications majors with no practical skills; we try to spread the word that if they’re considering internships, they can get them.”
Detroit’s women executives all stress that hard work, knowledge, desire, goal-setting, risk taking, and dedication got them where they are. “Don’t be overly conscious of your difference,” advises WHYT’s Hathaway. “You can be a lone wolf and succeed.” You’ve got to be part of the system, teamwork and company loyalty, that’s what has traditionally gotten men ahead. A lot of women feel they have to be Joan of Arc, but that just reinforces differences. Being a team player does not mean selling out.” END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; April 26, 1986).
