Dickie Robinson. Big D Big Shows. Charlie Parker. Kemosabe. Survey Says. 1360. Connecticut School of Broadcasting. 750 Main Street, Hartford, Winners Circle. Sandy Beach. Swinging 60 Survey. Individually these terms mean little, but taken together from the collective memories of thousands of people who grew up in Connecticut in the 60's and 70's, these embody WDRC radio.
WDRC was at the core of teenage life back then. From the transistor radio on the beach to the AM radio in Dad's car, we all kept it tuned to WDRC...except after dark, when the 'DRC transmitter reduced power to this part of the state and everyone had to switch to another station. Those were the days!
Those teenagers grew up, as most of us do, but loyalty to WDRC remained, as they continued to play the songs of the early years of rock 'n roll through the decades. The Beatles, Herman's Hermits and the Rolling Stones continued to be served up to the listeners, as well as older songs from the 50's, the "Golden Oldies."
This era ended this month with the sale of WDRC to Connoisseur Media from Westport, which also manages WPLR. WDRC on-air personalities such as Grahame Winters, Mike Stevens, Floyd Wright and Rockin' Ron Sedaille were removed from their jobs and the tag line of the station was changed to Classic Hits of the 70's, 80's and More on July 7. Newscaster Kim Zachary remains at the station, as does Brad Davis, whose morning show on WDRC-AM is simulcast in the Northwest Corner on WSNG.
The switch to classic rock will be a big change for listeners who have been with the station since the Beatles hit the shore, but the Connoisseur personalities will soon be as familiar to them as were Dick Robinson and Sandy Beach, albeit minus the nostalgia.
R.I.P. WDRC rock n' roll. You will be missed. Welcome WDRC classic rock. It's really one and the same.