K-102 Lives!
Once in awhile you discover a small miracle in the often otherwise dreary landscape of the Internet.
If you listened to South Florida FM radio in the late 70s/early 80s and favored rock-n-roll, you'll surely remember K-102, WCKO 102.3 on the dial. I discovered it sometime in 1981, soon after that historic day I first learned to appreciate the likes of AC/DC, Rush, and Molly Hatchet in my friend's bedroom (Read) . Those artists were prominently featured on K-102, a station that experienced several format switches in a short amount of time (it was disco just prior). K-102 later became Majic 102, a long running oldies station.
I recently came across a tune I hadn't thought of in many years, April Wine's "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" and it reminded me of the long ago station which helped nuture my love for all things rock. I also listened to competitors 103 SHE and ZETA 4 back in the day. In '81 you would hear Diesel's "Sausalito Summernight", Alan Parsons Project's "Games People Play", The Cars' "Cruiser", The Kinks' "Around the Dial" and many others current Classic Rock stations seem to have forgotten. After discovering K-102 had a Facebook page, I found that some of the original staffers have put up a stream of music that mostly sounds like what you would've heard back when, complete with old air checks, bumpers, and that ubiquitous robotic voice. And no commercials! I've yet to hear replays of "The Dumb Joke of the Morning" which I remember mainly because I recorded many of them and replayed my old Maxell cassettes untold numbers of times.
There are songs here and there that are too new to have been played during the original run, like R.E.M's "Losing My Religion" and The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under the Bridge", but nothing that doesn't fit. Unfortunately, the site also doesn't list the song or artist, but hey, you have Shazam, right?
There are also links for online versions of other long ago SoFL stations at the bottom of the webpage. More to explore!
What a find. While I am always listening for new music, it's fun to have these sorts of gold mines. Plus, it's what retro/classic radio should sound like. It makes me feel like I'm back in my adolescent bedroom, huge headphones on, eyes closed, save every once in awhile when catching the red LED display of 102.3 on my receiver. Rock on!
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