30 Years Since Eagle 106 Ended

[BRUSSTAR]

Today marks 30 years since Eagle 106 ceased to exist.

It was only around for about six years. But the brand in this market was so strong that I still hear fond recollections of the station from Gen-Xers and younger Boomers every now and then.

It was a Friday (at 1:06 PM), and later that evening it started snowing like crazy. When the flakes finally ended Monday morning, so had Kiss 100. At 6 AM it became Scott Shannon-consulted "Z-100," then "Y-100" about a month later once it was clear Malrite wasn't going to back down on contesting Philadelphia's use of its New York name.

Hard to imagine it's been that long since the "Storm of the Century" weekend when Philly had no hit music station.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Fond recollections here. Less so for the Lander era and more for the initial era, but still, enjoyed it during that run, albeit brief in retrospect.

 

[Radio Wreck]

Today marks 30 years since Eagle 106 ceased to exist.

It was only around for about six years. But the brand in this market was so strong that I still hear fond recollections of the station from Gen-Xers and younger Boomers every now and then.

It was a Friday (at 1:06 PM), and later that evening it started snowing like crazy. When the flakes finally ended Monday morning, so had Kiss 100. At 6 AM it became Scott Shannon-consulted "Z-100," then "Y-100" about a month later once it was clear Malrite wasn't going to back down on contesting Philadelphia's use of its New York name.

Hard to imagine it's been that long since the "Storm of the Century" weekend when Philly had no hit music station..

Good post. I don’t remember any of this off the top of my head and I didn’t realize that Eagle and Kiss ended the same weekend however it’s not accurate that there was no hit music station that weekend. 30 years ago was 1993 and Q102 was already well established by then. In fact people used to talk about Q102 vs. Eagle 106. Anecdotally speaking I remember Q was much hipper and hotter with their imaging than Eagle was and ultimately they won.

 

[BRUSSTAR]

The famous "Q versus Eagle" days were earlier, during Q's Mark Driscoll days.

In fact, by 1993, Driscoll was consulting (and the station voice of) Eagle.

Q was not doing hit radio at that point. It was almost 100% Urban, using "Peace On The Streets" as it's main positioner. Q was going firmly after Power 99 by this time. This continued until a year or two later, when FM duopolies became allowed and EZ (Q) bought Power from bankrupt Tak and the two stations became sisters. Only then did Q phase back into the dance-leaning rhythmic CHR sound Driscoll had brought to town in early 1989. Even then, it remained far enough away from CHR that by 1996 Evergreen saw an open lane for Star 104.5 to briefly flirt with hit music (as Y had gone almost exclusively Modern AC and Alternative).

 

[wibgradio99]

When did short lived Electric 106 (Josephs clone of Hot Hits) come on board, they sounded pretty neat and the TOP FM, for all you old goats like me I remember them flipping live on a Television show forgot when and I think it was Channel 29 at the time...

 

[wprt949]

I know there’s an aircheck of eagle 106 becoming WJJZ but is there an Actual aircheck of kiss-100 becoming z100 anywhere ?

Another point when Eagle 106 was flipping formats there was a lot of talk at the time of 106.1 flipping to country or alternative at the time they ended up on smooth jazz a new format at the time sweeping the country

 

[Gregg.]

WTRK Electric 106 was consulted by Mike Joseph, same guy who did Hot Hits WCAU-FM 98.1 for CBS five years earlier. The TRK stood for elecTRiK. (All about Ben Franklin flying a kite during a thunderstorm in Philadelphia to demonstrate electricity.) WTRK only lasted from March 86 to March 87, less than a year.

I liked the excitement of the Hot Hits format. But the magic Mike Joseph created five years earlier wasn't repeated. The station stayed Top 40. But it became Eagle 106, not as current-driven, a bit more adult friendly.

 

[Radio Wreck]

The famous "Q versus Eagle" days were earlier, during Q's Mark Driscoll days.

In fact, by 1993, Driscoll was consulting (and the station voice of) Eagle.

Q was not doing hit radio at that point. It was almost 100% Urban, using "Peace On The Streets" as it's main positioner. Q was going firmly after Power 99 by this time. This continued until a year or two later, when FM duopolies became allowed and EZ (Q) bought Power from bankrupt Tak and the two stations became sisters. Only then did Q phase back into the dance-leaning rhythmic CHR sound Driscoll had brought to town in early 1989. Even then, it remained far enough away from CHR that by 1996 Evergreen saw an open lane for Star 104.5 to briefly flirt with hit music (as Y had gone almost exclusively Modern AC and Alternative)

Clearly you remember more about Q and Eagle than most of us ever knew. Interesting stuff. What I remember is the Welch & Woody show on Eagle 106 and their hilarious “Clint Eastwood” skits. I had over an hour of those skits on cassette tapes and I stupidly tossed them in the trash in the early 2000’s. I wish I had kept them because they were funny.

But what I enjoyed most about radio in 1993 is the fact that we had 3 Oldies stations; WOGL AM & FM and WPGR. I recorded those 3 stations regularly and I still have most of those tapes. Maybe one day I’ll actually digitize them.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Electric’s perpetual countdown approach was obnoxious. Yeah, the underlying principles were the same as hot hits, but this execution left a lot to be desired. But the jingles were fun. 😉

 

[Radio Wreck]

WTRK Electric 106 was consulted by Mike Joseph, same guy who did Hot Hits WCAU-FM 98.1 for CBS five years earlier. The TRK stood for elecTRiK. (All about Ben Franklin flying a kite during a thunderstorm in Philadelphia to demonstrate electricity.) WTRK only lasted from March 86 to March 87, less than a year.

I liked the excitement of the Hot Hits format. But the magic Mike Joseph created five years earlier wasn't repeated. The station stayed Top 40. But it became Eagle 106, not as current-driven, a bit more adult friendly.

I’m almost positive that before Electric 106 they were known as Z106. Please correct me if I’m wrong. But if I’m not wrong, does anyone know what the deal was with Z106?

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

They were indeed. WZGO. Damn good station, but never a bit of traction against WCAU. Ross Brittan’s show was great before he was neutered on Electric. Even had a Sunday night jazz fusion show. Shades of things to come down the road.

 

[BRUSSTAR]

The TV simulcast was with Dave Stanley on Channel 3. Bobby Rich was brought in by Cox to transform WWSH from its short-lived AC format to its first of four CHR incarnations, "Top 106 FM."

I came to like Z-106 a lot because during that time we'd gotten a used Buick Century. The radio's tuning knob was broken and we were stuck with the five buttons that had been set by the car's previous owner. Sadly for me, 98 was not one of them. But 106 was, probably set back when the station was softer (given the others were WFLN, WWDB, Eazy 101, and I think Magic). I'll never forget the day I finally was able after hundreds of tries to get the dial to 'CAU-FM by pushing the buttons for 'DB and 101 back-and-forth just deep enough to land on 98. When I pulled out that center button and gave Hot Hits the spot it deserved... what a victory.

I agree, "Brittain For Breakfast" was a good show. WZGO was a nice alternative for when 98 was in spots or playing "Broken Wings" for the eighth time of the day. And while I loved Hot Hits, Joseph's Electric 106 I found to be lackluster. Like it was "trying too hard." Habits and the music itself had changed a lot by 1986, and the repetition was just too much. The first time I heard, "Electric 106... Weather Mix!" I thought it was the lamest thing I'd ever heard.

The Clint Eastwood stuff on Welch & Woody was great! I also liked Rumble & Thrower, who succeeded them. At one point Scott Thrower was replaced by John Lodge. Rick Rumble was still under contract when Lander was brought in in 1991, and he was kept on for a time as a sidekick. I liked Lander's "Nut Hut" a whole lot, but I felt a little bummed hearing the station's former morning star relegated to being the fourth voice in the room.

 

[wibgradio99]

Why does the name Harriet Coffee (sp) stick with me, was she with the station through all the transformations....

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Up to Electric, she was.

 

[Radio Wreck]

I came to like Z-106 a lot because during that time we'd gotten a used Buick Century. The radio's tuning knob was broken and we were stuck with the five buttons that had been set by the car's previous owner. Sadly for me, 98 was not one of them. But 106 was, probably set back when the station was softer (given the others were WFLN, WWDB, Eazy 101, and I think Magic). I'll never forget the day I finally was able after hundreds of tries to get the dial to 'CAU-FM by pushing the buttons for 'DB and 101 back-and-forth just deep enough to land on 98. When I pulled out that center button and gave Hot Hits the spot it deserved... what a victory.

Ahh so you too owned a vehicle with an AC Delco radio with a spinning dial that refused to spin. The knob turned but the red indicator went nowhere? Yup, I dealt with that same issue in my Oldsmobile. Lucky for me tho, all of my presets were set before it broke. Then one day while tooling around down the shore my idiot cousin wanted to listen to Kool 98.3. I told him we couldn’t listen to it because I didn’t have it preset. He decided to take it upon himself to do exactly what you did with Hot Hits and press two buttons at once and got it to land on 98.3 and set it. Normally I might have been thankful but the preset he used without my permission was set to WDRE at 103.9. I was furious because I was never able to listen to WDRE in that car ever again. Fast forward to 2023 and I highly doubt that 1983 Oldsmobile is still on the road, but if it is, whoever drives it can hear Kool 98.3 on preset # 4 next time they’re tooling around the Jersey shore.

 

[DOB]

Pretty sure that Eagle 106 was top 4 in mornings when they switched.
They were one of many chr stations that should've transitioned into a strong hot ac with excellent adult women demos.
Q102 at this time was doing hip hop and rnb, they got a nice lead over Power 99 until they properly adjusted and Q went back to 4 share bliss, supposed to be a dance lean yet it took literally a year for them to play the songs that were already hits in the clubs. When KTU came on Q got better by copying many of the hits that defined KTU.
Q could never duplicate that feeling good upbeat sound which is what so many people found at KTU, a fun feel good radio station, in contrast to the negativity that held chr back. The chr stations who sounded fun, dance, adult, rock or mainstream, if they got back to the key principles of the format they did well.
All of the failed Philly adult top 40 attempts were hilarious.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

IIRC, yes, they were doing ok with Lander’s show, but not so much the rest of the day. Tough to run the business when too many people left at 10 am. Oh well, they had a good long run in the next incarnation.

 

[wibgradio99]

I always wondered why they never used the farm to transmit, I know WMMR was blocked by the 103.9 signal (still don't understand the technical aspects of it all), they were always on Mermaid lane and joined with WPEN years back, and MMR joined with PPZ.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

@wibgradio99
The engineers here can explain it better'n I can. But that 93.3-to-103.9 probably has something (if not everything) to do with the 10.7 intermediate frequency thing on FM. 93.3 plus 10.7 = 104.
I know that a rimshot class A or two NYC FM's are prohibited from having their stick moving within 12 miles of the Empire State Building for what's probably the sane 10.7 reason.
* * * * * *
Was questioned in my car by a Lynbrook cop one foggy overnight while FM DXing at that Long Island train station. There were overhead wires all over the place -- great spot for nulls and lobes and fog. One of the Philly stations roaring in that night was 106.1. That, despite L.I.'s giant WBLI 106.1 being on the air. The only Philly station I didn't get on the car radio was WIFI 92.5 .
I convinced the cop I was okay. He also said he'd be back in fifteen minutes to see if I'd gotten lost and out of his train station. I opted to get lost.

 

[teaneck]

When did short lived Electric 106 (Josephs clone of Hot Hits) come on board, they sounded pretty neat and the TOP FM, for all you old goats like me I remember them flipping live on a Television show forgot when and I think it was Channel 29 at the time...

Thinking 1986 for the Mike Joseph, and March 1987 to become Eagle 106