WODS
Encyclopedia
WODS, known on-air as "103.3 WODS" is a radio station in Boston, Massachusetts. WODS has a pop leaning Classic Hits
format with music mostly from 1970 to 1984, and is also involved in the organization of several concerts and events within the Boston area. WODS is a CBS Radio
station.
(FCC) regulations forced it to cease to be a 24-hour relay of the AM
side (WEEI 590). "The Young Sound" was an easy listening format focusing on instrumental versions of recent pop tunes. By 1969, "The Young Sound" had evolved to a Top 40/AOR hybrid format, voice tracked on WEEI-FM by Dick Provost. In late 1972, WEEI-FM flipped to an adult contemporary format. The station evolved into its famous "Soft Rock" format in 1977, which remained in place until 1982 when it flipped to a Top 40 format. By 1981, all of the other owned-and-operated CBS FM radio stations employed the Hot Hits format except for WCBS-FM
. Unlike their sister stations, though, WEEI-FM played hits from the past several years all along. The other Hot Hits stations evolved to what WEEI-FM was doing in 1983. By then, the Los Angeles station had dropped the format and reverted back to adult rock.
In 1983, WEEI-FM changed call letters to WHTT after WEEI (AM)
was sold; WEEI-FM is now the call letters to Lawrence
-licensed 93.7, which is the simulcast of the current WEEI (AM)
, now on 850. The station was for a time in the mid 1980s one of Boston's most popular stations, but its stay at the top of the Arbitron
ratings was not to last. WHTT continued with a Top 40 format until July 1986. At that point ratings were decent but it was determined that it was tough competing directly with WXKS-FM
"Kiss 108", as well as WZOU (now WJMN). Top 40 formats are generally hard to sell unless ratings are extremely high. It was also determined that Boston could not support three viable Top 40 stations. As a result, WHTT launched an adult rock format known as "Boston's Quality Rock" playing a blend of softer Album Rock cuts, pop rock cuts, some eclectic smooth jazz, and a few mainstream pop hits. The on-air staff stayed on from WHTT initially, though most gradually left over the next year. The station became WMRQ. The ratings went downhill fast.
In October 1987, the station switched to an oldies format playing the Rock and Roll Hits from 1955 to 1969. The station had a very deep playlist playing a larger number of songs than most oldies stations. Call letters soon were changed to WODS and the station became known as "Oldies 103". WMRQ's airstaff stayed with the station despite the format change. Several of these people are still with the station today. By 1989, WODS was also playing a very limited amount of music from the early 1970s up to 1972 mixed with the 1950s and 1960s.
As time went on, Oldies 103 added more 1970s music but continued to focus on the 1960s and still played a considerable amount of pre-1964 oldies. In 2001, WODS began to move away from 50s music. The station added more late 1970s songs and a few 1980s hits.
At the end of 2001, Little Walter's Sunday Night Time Machine was replaced with the long-running Sunday night Boston tradition The Lost 45s with Barry Scott, which enabled the station to move forward in its music selection through the 1970s and some early 1980s. In 2002, most of the pre-1964 oldies were eliminated and are now rarely, if ever, heard. WODS got deeper into music of the 1970s. Today, WODS is just about half 1964-1969 and half 1970-1979. Occasionally, they play a song from the 1980s.
Prior to the mid 1990s, WODS only played moderate amounts of Christmas music
during the holiday season and did not go wall to wall, even on Christmas. Beginning in the late 1990s, the station began wall to wall Christmas music on Christmas Eve and continued until Christmas evening. Beginning in 2003, WODS has played holiday music from a week before Thanksgiving until Christmas Day. However, in 2007, it started its Christmas music on Monday November 12; and in 2008, it commenced on Thursday, November 6 - the earliest it has ever been. The official website features a 24-hour holiday music channel all year long. This tradition has been continued in 2009 with Christmas music playing on Friday, November 13, and it started on Thursday, November 18 in 2010. In 2011, Christmas music began on Friday, November 11th.
In 2007, WODS added Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The '70s Saturdays nights at 11 p.m. and The Wolfman Jack Show Sunday nights at 11 p.m. In October 2008 WODS switched nights for the two shows and added a second airing of AT40:70s Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. The 2-hour version (second and third hours) plays in the morning and the entire 3-hour version plays at night. In 2009 the morning broadcast was dropped and now AT40: 70s airs only Sundays at midnight.
In 2008, WODS added Tom Kent's syndicated show weeknights from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. As a result, the Top 20 Countdown—a Thursday night staple on WODS for many years—was moved to Saturday mornings from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. with Patrick Callahan as host as of October 4. The Top 20 Countdown was originally known as the Thursday Night Countdown, with hosts including Sandy Benson, Patrick Callahan and most recently, J.J. Wright; though Jay Gordon, Dan McCoy and Norm Thibeault took over hosting duties while Sandy was out on maternity leave. Tom Kent's generic syndicated show only lasted a few months and, in a rare move, was replaced with local programming again. On July 10, 2010, Barry Scott returned to Saturday Nights from 7PM until Midnight where he hosts the "Saturday Night 70's". On Sunday nights from 7 p.m. until midnight, WODS plays Barry Scott
's The Lost 45s
. On June 10, 2011, 103.3 WODS began airing "Back to the 80's Friday Nights" with Joe Cortese from 7PM-Midnight every Friday.
In October 2009, WODS changed their on-air name from "Oldies 103.3" to "103.3 WODS".
5:30 a.m. - 9 a.m. - Karen Blake
9 a.m. - 2 p.m. - Paula Street (with WODS since a few weeks after the 1987 launch)
2 p.m. - 7 p.m. - J.J. Wright
7 p.m. - midnight - the jocks in this slot rotate. As of January 2010 they include:
Fridays 7PM-12Midnight-Back to the 80's with Joe Cortese
Weekends
Syndicated weekend shows
Saturday midnight - 5 a.m. The Wolfman Jack Show
Sunday 8 a.m. - 9 a.m. - Elvis Only with Jay Gordon
Sunday 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. - Beatle Brunch with Joe Johnston
Sunday midnight - 3 a.m. - American Top 40: The 70s with Casey Kasem
Classic hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
format with music mostly from 1970 to 1984, and is also involved in the organization of several concerts and events within the Boston area. WODS is a CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
station.
History
WODS began as WEEI-FM in 1948. It ran CBS's "The Young Sound" format beginning in 1965 after Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) regulations forced it to cease to be a 24-hour relay of the AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
side (WEEI 590). "The Young Sound" was an easy listening format focusing on instrumental versions of recent pop tunes. By 1969, "The Young Sound" had evolved to a Top 40/AOR hybrid format, voice tracked on WEEI-FM by Dick Provost. In late 1972, WEEI-FM flipped to an adult contemporary format. The station evolved into its famous "Soft Rock" format in 1977, which remained in place until 1982 when it flipped to a Top 40 format. By 1981, all of the other owned-and-operated CBS FM radio stations employed the Hot Hits format except for WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM is a CBS-owned radio station in New York City. The station's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in Manhattan, and its transmitter is located on the Empire State Building....
. Unlike their sister stations, though, WEEI-FM played hits from the past several years all along. The other Hot Hits stations evolved to what WEEI-FM was doing in 1983. By then, the Los Angeles station had dropped the format and reverted back to adult rock.
In 1983, WEEI-FM changed call letters to WHTT after WEEI (AM)
WEZE
WEZE is an AM radio station in Boston, Massachusetts on 590 kHz. The station is owned by Salem Communications and airs Religious programming.- History :...
was sold; WEEI-FM is now the call letters to Lawrence
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...
-licensed 93.7, which is the simulcast of the current WEEI (AM)
WEEI
WEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts, and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top-rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...
, now on 850. The station was for a time in the mid 1980s one of Boston's most popular stations, but its stay at the top of the Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
ratings was not to last. WHTT continued with a Top 40 format until July 1986. At that point ratings were decent but it was determined that it was tough competing directly with WXKS-FM
WXKS-FM
WXKS-FM, better known as Kiss 108, is a radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, licensed to nearby Medford broadcasting a Top 40 format...
"Kiss 108", as well as WZOU (now WJMN). Top 40 formats are generally hard to sell unless ratings are extremely high. It was also determined that Boston could not support three viable Top 40 stations. As a result, WHTT launched an adult rock format known as "Boston's Quality Rock" playing a blend of softer Album Rock cuts, pop rock cuts, some eclectic smooth jazz, and a few mainstream pop hits. The on-air staff stayed on from WHTT initially, though most gradually left over the next year. The station became WMRQ. The ratings went downhill fast.
In October 1987, the station switched to an oldies format playing the Rock and Roll Hits from 1955 to 1969. The station had a very deep playlist playing a larger number of songs than most oldies stations. Call letters soon were changed to WODS and the station became known as "Oldies 103". WMRQ's airstaff stayed with the station despite the format change. Several of these people are still with the station today. By 1989, WODS was also playing a very limited amount of music from the early 1970s up to 1972 mixed with the 1950s and 1960s.
As time went on, Oldies 103 added more 1970s music but continued to focus on the 1960s and still played a considerable amount of pre-1964 oldies. In 2001, WODS began to move away from 50s music. The station added more late 1970s songs and a few 1980s hits.
At the end of 2001, Little Walter's Sunday Night Time Machine was replaced with the long-running Sunday night Boston tradition The Lost 45s with Barry Scott, which enabled the station to move forward in its music selection through the 1970s and some early 1980s. In 2002, most of the pre-1964 oldies were eliminated and are now rarely, if ever, heard. WODS got deeper into music of the 1970s. Today, WODS is just about half 1964-1969 and half 1970-1979. Occasionally, they play a song from the 1980s.
Prior to the mid 1990s, WODS only played moderate amounts of Christmas music
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
during the holiday season and did not go wall to wall, even on Christmas. Beginning in the late 1990s, the station began wall to wall Christmas music on Christmas Eve and continued until Christmas evening. Beginning in 2003, WODS has played holiday music from a week before Thanksgiving until Christmas Day. However, in 2007, it started its Christmas music on Monday November 12; and in 2008, it commenced on Thursday, November 6 - the earliest it has ever been. The official website features a 24-hour holiday music channel all year long. This tradition has been continued in 2009 with Christmas music playing on Friday, November 13, and it started on Thursday, November 18 in 2010. In 2011, Christmas music began on Friday, November 11th.
In 2007, WODS added Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The '70s Saturdays nights at 11 p.m. and The Wolfman Jack Show Sunday nights at 11 p.m. In October 2008 WODS switched nights for the two shows and added a second airing of AT40:70s Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. The 2-hour version (second and third hours) plays in the morning and the entire 3-hour version plays at night. In 2009 the morning broadcast was dropped and now AT40: 70s airs only Sundays at midnight.
In 2008, WODS added Tom Kent's syndicated show weeknights from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. As a result, the Top 20 Countdown—a Thursday night staple on WODS for many years—was moved to Saturday mornings from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. with Patrick Callahan as host as of October 4. The Top 20 Countdown was originally known as the Thursday Night Countdown, with hosts including Sandy Benson, Patrick Callahan and most recently, J.J. Wright; though Jay Gordon, Dan McCoy and Norm Thibeault took over hosting duties while Sandy was out on maternity leave. Tom Kent's generic syndicated show only lasted a few months and, in a rare move, was replaced with local programming again. On July 10, 2010, Barry Scott returned to Saturday Nights from 7PM until Midnight where he hosts the "Saturday Night 70's". On Sunday nights from 7 p.m. until midnight, WODS plays Barry Scott
Barry Scott
Barry Scott is an American DJ, author and voice artist.For over 25 years Barry Scott has hosted the radio show The Lost 45s, which features Top 40 charted records from the late 1960s to the late 1980s....
's The Lost 45s
The Lost 45s
The Lost 45s with Barry Scott"*The Boston Herald calls "The Lost 45s with Barry Scott" "The most successful weekend show in the history of Boston radio"...
. On June 10, 2011, 103.3 WODS began airing "Back to the 80's Friday Nights" with Joe Cortese from 7PM-Midnight every Friday.
In October 2009, WODS changed their on-air name from "Oldies 103.3" to "103.3 WODS".
On-air staff
Weekdays5:30 a.m. - 9 a.m. - Karen Blake
9 a.m. - 2 p.m. - Paula Street (with WODS since a few weeks after the 1987 launch)
2 p.m. - 7 p.m. - J.J. Wright
7 p.m. - midnight - the jocks in this slot rotate. As of January 2010 they include:
- Mighty Mike Osborne
- Mike McGowan
- Barry Scott
Fridays 7PM-12Midnight-Back to the 80's with Joe Cortese
Weekends
- Barry Scott Saturday Night 70's 7PM-Midnight
- Barry Scott http://www.lost45.com "The Lost 45s", Sundays from 7 p.m. to midnight Eastern)
- Mike O'Reilly
- Mighty Mike Osborne
- Mike McGowan
Syndicated weekend shows
Saturday midnight - 5 a.m. The Wolfman Jack Show
Sunday 8 a.m. - 9 a.m. - Elvis Only with Jay Gordon
Sunday 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. - Beatle Brunch with Joe Johnston
Sunday midnight - 3 a.m. - American Top 40: The 70s with Casey Kasem
Former on-air staff
- Mike Finegan (who was with the station prior to the WODS launch in 1987 until November 2008)
- Austin Of Boston (Austin Davis)
- Jason Wrighthttp://www.jasonwrightonline.com
- Brian Murphy
- Dan McCoy
- Rick Hunter
- Jay Gordon (still hosts Elvis Only)
- Rick Shockley
- Robby Bridges
- Mike Addams
- Sandy Benson
- Michele "With One L" Hughes
- June Knight
- Mauzy Stafford
- John Potter
- Paul PerryPaul Perry (radio)Paul Perry is an American disc jockey, currently the host of The Paul Perry Show on WROR in Boston, Massachusetts. He has been at WROR since the spring of 2007...
- Mark "The Captain's Cupcake" Mamone
- Jimmy DelPonte
- Tom St. John
- Steve Kelly
- Little Walter DeVenneLittle Walter DeVenneLittle Walter DeVenne is an American radio personality who was for many years based in Boston, Massachusetts. He now lives in New Hampshire and is the host of the syndicated retro oldies program Little Walter's Time Machine focusing on the pop, doo-wop, blues, R&B and early rock n' roll hits of the...
- "The Famous"Jim Sands
- Doug Taylor
- Frank Kingston SmithFrank Kingston SmithFrank Kingston Smith is an American radio personality who worked extensively in Top 40 and oldies formatted AM and FM stations in major Northeastern United States markets for almost three decades....
- Joel McMillan
- Bill Lawrence
- Norm Thibeault
- Pete Falconi
- Steve York
- Harry Nelson
- Jeff Lawrence
- Maurice Wilkey
- Judy Pancoast
- Neal White
- Chris Zito
- Brett Richards
- Matthew Reid