WOCN Ed Winton music library

hi everyone ... i recently saw a few posts regarding WOCN AM/FM in miami. i worked at that station 3 times over a 7 year period and was hoping to share anecdotes with anyone on this board who may be aware or worked at the stations. i also worked at WGMA AM, WQXK FM, WIOD, WCMQ AM/FM and WINZ AM/FM on both the all-news side on AM and the music side on the FM ... i was at WINZ AM/FM 3 times over a 20 year period. i regard to WOCN specifically, i have been trying to locate the whereabouts ed winton's music library. ed had a son, lance, and i wonder if anyone knows how to reach him.

Wow do I know you? I knew the engineer at WOCN Les Goldberg. I also worked at WGMA and lived in Hollywood for many years. I also know some people from the WINZ all news days.

Didn't Ed Winton syndicate his music library? I know he also owned WWBA AM-FM (Bay Radio) in the Tampa area.

Seems like I had a quick look at WOCN once. I remember a huge Shaffer automation system.

Mike Sheridan said:

Didn't Ed Winton syndicate his music library? I know he also owned WWBA AM-FM (Bay Radio) in the Tampa area.

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At one time Ed Winton also owned WCGL-AM 1360 Jacksonville and WMLO-FM 104.9 Havana (Tallahassee).

My dad IIRC was big on WOCN when it started up on 1450 (1965 was it?), but I wondered if the pre-occupant, WSKP, played the same style music. I was a toddler at that time. Anybody?

The Miami News archives don't seem to say much about WSKP except that WSKP did a little blurb about having great music 24 hours a day.

(We didn't have any FM radio until about 1968!)

cd

I believe that WSKP 1450 was also good music but I'm not totally sure about that. Before it was WSKP I believe it was WWPB-AM (WWPB-FM being 101.5). The owner Paul Brake saw FM as the coming thing long before most others so he sold the AM station and retained the FM.

I don't know where the Ed Winton music went but I know that Joe Amaturo bought the WAEZ record library to make automation tapes for WGLO. WLYF using syndicator Shulke had a lot of custom recorded Beautiful Music. Good product was often hard to come by.

Need more useless information?....just ask!

"Serving Dade, Broward, the Bahamas, and the Keys with eighty one thousand watts of stereo power, this is WOCN-FM, Miami Beach
(and WOCN 1450, Miami)
The station that brought beautiful music to south Florida"

1450 was on 101½'s free standing tower downtown until 'LYF moved to channel ten's schtick.
1450 then shared the "Wheat Oats And Hay" (WLTO/WCMQ) stick where it remains to this very day.

The Deauville hotel surely looks short today.

Who remembers, "A second ocean is coming to Miami"?
Who remembers, "Folger's is bringing a mountain to Miami"?

^ Sorry to veer off here, but I thought simply that that WOAH calls were just a twisted way of spelling "Whoa!", as I think WHOA was already used in PR. (Like *they* would play country.)

I vaguely recall the bumper sticker, of a guy on a horse.

cd

Wheat Oats And Hay was a derogatory line I heard from a friend who jocked there part time.

Before it was WOCN it was "South Florida's Stereo Pioneer WAEZ". I got my first FM radio in September 1966 and enjoyed discovering all the new stations!

Only one station has not changed call letters since before 1966. That station is WEDR. Named for former owner E.D. Rivers. I believe at one time he also owned WMIE.

Mike Sheridan said:

Before it was WOCN it was "South Florida's Stereo Pioneer WAEZ". I got my first FM radio in September 1966 and enjoyed discovering all the new stations!

Only one station has not changed call letters since before 1966. That station is WEDR. Named for former owner E.D. Rivers. I believe at one time he also owned WMIE.

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As a CP, 99.1 was going to be WMIE-FM, but I don't think that ever came about.

*Both* the 1963 or so Vane Jones log *and* the 1963 Broadcasting Yearbook (thanks David E) show a WUPY in Miami on 104.3, and that it actually made the air. Does *anyone* have any info on this one? And believe me, I have done Web searches. The B.Y. shows an on-air date (Sep 1962 I think). I wonder how long this actually ran! Any aircheck of that one belongs in a vault!!

Sorry to veer again!

I hope our OP gets the info he needs.

cd

WQAM has never changed call letters since they came on in the nineteen twenties

Mike Sheridan said:

Only one station has not changed call letters since before 1966. That station is WEDR. Named for former owner E.D. Rivers. I believe at one time he also owned WMIE.

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And a year or so later, WMIE changed to WQBA, calles it retains to today.

WVUM still carries their original callsign from about 1968.

Ed Winton was a great radio man. His office was also the talk studio at night for Alan C and Larry King. I started in radio at WOCN and I carry a bit of Ocean Radio with me into the world of internet radio. It was the purchase of WOCN FM to Guy Gannett that lead me to be on the air at WINZ AM when the FM became Zeta 4. Thank you Mr. Winton for showing me the beauty of radio. After working at 40 stations I must say Ed Winton was a class act.

Alan Michaels
SouthFloridaRadio.com

ai4i said:

WQAM has never changed call letters since they came on in the nineteen twenties

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Sorry, should have specified FM stations.

hi mike ... i remember your name but can't place the face ... i'm herb sierra, started as a board op at wocn in 1969 - 1971 ... eventually produced the morning drive "newspaper of the air" with news guys don thompson, mike cavanaugh and george singer (who was also production director). there was a time when i was running the AM station on saturday night and joe rico was doing his jazz show on the FM station in the control room next to my studio. i also produced saturday morning "flying fisherman" and sunday afternoon "boston pops concerts. i remember airing ed winton's collection to TOK's (three-of-a kind) and thematic VIGNETTES that ran after the "15 and :45 commercial breaks respectively. great music. that's what i'm trying to find out about.

Ed Winton and son Lance owned and operated WMLO-FM 104.9 for several years, calling the station Mello 105.

Never got an opportunity to meet him, unfortunately. Mello had a nice music mix, for sure.

Hi Herb, I don't think we ever met but your name is very familiar too! A few of us toiled in South Florida radio. My stops included WAXY-FM, WFTL, WGBS, WQAM, WGMA, WCKO, WRMF and WNGS. A wild ride to be sure.

I remember the WOCN 3-of-a-kind feature complete with jingle. It went something like "Only Ocean Radio plays 3-of-a-kind". I thought it was a great idea, a little something different on the radio.

I miss radio, mostly the interesting people I was lucky to work with.

mike,

i also worked at wgma ... 1971 - 1972 ... gm was dudley tichenor, pd was kc (can't remember his last name), dj's were lyle reed, rick fite, jerry wichner ... i was traffic director there and also did afternoon sports and production work. engineer was lynn willoughby ... when did you work at wocn? i was there 1969-71, 1972-74 and again 75-76 ... talk about a wild ride.

hws said:

mike,

i also worked at wgma ... 1971 - 1972 ... gm was dudley tichenor, pd was kc (can't remember his last name), dj's were lyle reed, rick fite, jerry wichner ... i was traffic director there and also did afternoon sports and production work. engineer was lynn willoughby ... when did you work at wocn? i was there 1969-71, 1972-74 and again 75-76 ... talk about a wild ride.

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Wow you worked at WGMA in the good old days! I was there in 1979, just before it died. Much has been written here about the end of the Country Giant.

Started working feeding the WAXY automation in 1973 just before RKO bought it. Made very little money but had a lot of fun!