WRKO Boston Switch to talk radio September 27th 1981

On September 27, 1981, the station switched to an all-talk format: at 6pm on that date

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[Anotherway04]

I remember when WRKO was briefly an automated FM station playing top 40 pop rock in early 1967. In March of that year it went to AM-680 Khz and was Boston's mainstay powerhouse pop-rock station of the day. The famous radio jingle along with "The Big 68" and the "Million Dollar Weekend" take me and many others a long way back. Some of the original DJs were J.J. Jeffrey, Gary Martin, Joel Cash, Al Gates, John Powers and Chuck Knapp with his rallying cry "This is is your leader baby".

[tom01757]

sounds like wods in the mid nintys!!

[altfactor]

Justin Clark noted that WRKO had been a Top-40 station (more or less) for "thirteen years".

WRKO actually went Top-40 in March of 1967, so the station had that format, more or less, for fourteen-and-a-half years.

WRKO has been all-talk for almost 30 years; more than twice the time it was as a Top-40 station.

[brad04970]

@mthivier

I hear you mthivier there was the summer nights crusin around in my 57 chevy. I  can still hear it 68 wrko Boston.... those were the days of our youth

[altfactor]

This was truly the end of an era in Boston radio.

What eventually killed WRKO was top-40 FM station WVBF.

Although WVBF had switched to top-40 a few years after WRKO went top-40 (1967), it wasn't until 1978 that VBF pulled ahead of RKO in audience.

By the start of the 1980's, WVBF was so dominant in top-40 that WRKO had to flip to talk.

At least WRKO's top-40 format went out with a bang.

[mthivier]

Wow, growing up in the late '60s and '70s, WRKO was such a part of my youth.