WBRB-FM (Mt. Clemons) became the new WLBS-FM in January, 1979.
The “New Music” station, purchased by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, based in New York, formatted the station with predominantly disco music from the outset. Having dominated the Detroit FM dial with their new “Disco and More” sound, the station’s format was left virtually unchanged for nearly five years on 102.7 FM.
WLBS-FM became the new WKSG-FM, “Kiss 102.7 FM” (Oldies) on November 9, 1984.
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A special THANK YOU going out to Jamie Kerwin of Sarnia, Ontario, for recently contributing the featured WLBS-FM station IDs to our Motor City Radio Flashbacks archives 🙂
Detroit’s WKSG to Recall Motor City’s Brand of ‘Golden Oldies’
DETROIT — WLBS ended a brief experimentation with top 40 here Friday (November 9) when the station switched its call letters to WKSG and its format to oldies.
Now known as Kiss 102.7, WKSG has adopted the “Kiss Of Gold” format developed by veteran programmer and Detroit native Paul Christy. According to general manager Joe Buys, the new format focuses on music of the ’60s and ’70s, emphasizing Detroit artists and songs that were popular in Detroit in particular.
Program director Sergio Dean continues in that capacity. The rest of the staff will remain intact. However, Buys doesn’t rule out the possibility of signing longtime Detroit personalities: “We could use at least one person who understands Detroit’s lifestyle and characteristics.”
According to Buys, who joined the Inner City Broadcasting-owned station last month after a year in Chicago with Arbitron as central division manager, WLBS had undergone several format changes since its 1979 inception as a disco station.
WKSG Paul Christy 1988
After a lengthy stint with an urban format, the station switched to a “new music” orientation, which remained in place until last August. At that time, a Burkhart /Abrams-consulted “hybrid” hits format known as “the best of everything” went into effect.
“It didn’t work,” says Buys, noting that WLBS faced stiff competition for the top 40 market from Gannett’s WCZY and Capitol Cities’ WHYT. After researching and “evaluating the market’s holes,” Buys says, “we found ‘gold’ to be the biggest hole.” The Detroit area’s only other oldies station, he notes, is WHND Monroe, a daytime AM outlet which consultant Christy “got off the ground” in 1978.
“The baby boom generation is growing older, and they’re bringing their musical heritage with them,” says Buys. “We found an audience that wants updated gold, and they want stereo FM to hear it on.”
According to Christy, a 25-year radio veteran most recently with WCLS (formerly WABX) Detroit and currently consulting four other stations, WKSG’s ‘Kiss Of Gold’ format was “modeled for Detroit.”
“There is an emphasis on Motown music, of course,” says Christy, “as well as other artists popular in Detroit in the ’60s and ’70s.” In addition to better known artists such as Bob Seger, the MC5 and Ted Nugent, Christy says local favorites the Dynamics, the Wanted, the Velvelettes, The Gallery, Scott Richard Case and Tim Tam & the Turnons will be heard.
“I feel a cyclical backlash to top 40 coming on,” says Christy. “Artists like Prince and Cyndi Lauper are wonderful, but they’re played into the ground. WKSG’s new format, on the contrary, involves at least 3,000 titles, which is enough material so that there’s no repetition problem – with the advantage of built-in familiarity.”
Adds GM Buys: “Gold is a format that traditionally attracted loyal listeners, as well as cume sharing tendencies.”END
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Information credit and news source: Billboard; November 17, 1988
WBRB-FM (Mt. Clemons) became the new WLBS-FM in January, 1979.
The “New Music” station, purchased by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, based in New York, formatted the station with predominantly disco music from the outset. Having dominated the Detroit FM dial with their new “Disco and More” sound, the station’s format was left virtually unchanged for nearly five years on 102.7 FM.
WLBS-FM became the new WKSG-FM, “Kiss 102.7 FM” (oldies) on November 9, 1984.
— SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT —
A special THANK YOU to website contributor Vaughn Baskin for recently donating these classic WLBS-FM stickers with Motor City Radio Flashbacks! 🙂
Above Detroit Free Press WLBS feature is courtesy freep.com newspaper archive. Copyright 2020. Newspapers.com
The above WLBS newspaper feature was ‘clipped,’ saved, and was digitally imaged from the credited source by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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DETROIT FREE PRESS: WLBS-FM ‘Offbeat Home for New Music’
(Above WLBS related article is courtesy freep.com newspaper archive. Copyright 2017. Newspapers.com).
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DETROIT (April 28, 1979) — WLBS-FM (Formerly WBRB-FM) in Detroit’s suburban Mt. Clemens, is planning to increase power from 17 kw to 45 kw for its new disco format. The station was recently acquired by New York-based Inner City Broadcasting, which also operates WBLS-FM New York. Billboard’s man in Detroit John Battaglia reports it has the following new on-air lineup: Keith Bell, from ABC’s WRIF-FM Detroit, from 6-10 a.m.; Pat Edwards, from WKLR-FM Toledo, from 10-2 a.m.; Brent Wilson, from WJZZ-FM Detroit, 2-7 p.m.; Jim Siciliano, from CJOM-FM Windsor, Ont., 7-midnight; and Tom Duggan, from WJZZ, midnight-6 a.m. Working weekends is Dennis Rice, from WWWW-FM Detroit. Edwards is also the music director and Wilson is the station’s program director. END
DETROIT (September 20, 1980) — WLBS-FM, Detroit’s Inner City Broadcasting outlet, collected well over 100,000 signatures for a giant get-well card to ailing comic Richard Pryor. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard Magazine. All excerpts culled as was first published from the dated editions as noted above)
DETROIT — WLBS ended a brief experimentation with top 40 here Friday, November 9 when the station switched it’s call letters to WKSG and its format to oldies.
Now known as Kiss 102.7, WKSG has adopted the “Kiss Of Gold” format developed by by veteran programmer and Detroit native Paul Christy. According to general manager Joe Buys, the new format focuses on the music of the ’60s and ’70s, emphasizing Detroit artists and songs that were popular in Detroit in particular.
Program director Sergio Dean continues in that capacity. The rest of the staff will remain intact. However, Buys doesn’t rule out the possibility of signing longtime Detroit personalities: “We could use at least one person who understands Detroit’s lifestyle and characteristics,” Buys suggested.
According to Buys, who joined the Inner City Broadcasting-owned station last month after a year in Chicago with Arbitron as central division manager, WLBS had undergone several changes since its 1979 inception as a disco station.
After a lengthy stint with an urban format, the station switched to a “new music” orientation, which remained in place until last August. At that time, a Burkhart/Abrams-consulted “hybrid” hits format known as “the best of everything” went into effect.
“It didn’t work,” says Buys, noting that WLBS faced stiff competition in the top 40 market from Gannett’s WCZY and Capitol Cities’ WHYT. After researching and “evaluating the market’s holes,” Buy says, ‘we found gold’ to be the biggest hole.” The Detroit area’s only other oldies radio station, he notes, is WHND Monroe, a daytime AM outlet which consultant Christy “got off the ground” in 1978.
“The baby boom generation is growing older, and they’re bringing their musical heritage with them,” says Buys. “We found an audience which wants updated gold, and they want stereo FM to hear it on.”
Paul Christy
According to Christy, a 25-year radio veteran most recently with WCLS (formerly WABX) Detroit and currently consulting four other radio stations, WKSG’s “Kiss Of Gold” format was “modeled for Detroit.”
“There is an emphasis on Motown music, of course,” say Christy, “as well as other artists popular in Detroit in the ’60s and ’70s.” In addition to better known artists as Bob Seger, the MC5 and Ted Nugent, Christy says local favorites such as the Dynamics, the Wanted, the Velvelettes, the Gallery, the Scott Richard Case, the Rationals, the Fantastic Four, and other acts such as Tim Tamand the Turn-Ons will be heard.
“I feel a cyclical backlash to top 40 coming on,” says Christy. “Artists like Prince and Cyndi Lauper are wonderful, but they’re played into the ground. WKSG’s new format, on the contrary, involves at least 3,000 titles, which is enough material so that there’s no repetitive — with the advantage of built-in familiarity.”
Adds GM Buys, “Gold is a format that traditionally attracted loyal listeners, as well as cume sharing tendencies.”END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; November 17, 1984)
A MCRFB Note:Paul Christy, real name Paul Christides, passed away on June 4, 2007. He lost his life to Parkinson’s Disease. He was 69. Christy formerly was music director at WCFL. He was also the morning personality on WCAR in the early-1970s in Detroit. Christy also programmed WABX in the early-1980s, WCLS, and WKSG. As recently as the latter 1990s, he was doing mornings on WYUR-AM 1310.
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