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History Of Oldies XL
A TRIBUTE TO 77 WABC MUSICRADIO (1960-1982)
“A tip of the hat to the superpower radio stations that ruled the airwaves during the 60's, 70's, and early 80's”
OldiesXL.com, originally formed in 2020 as popradio77.com, began as a true tribute to the memory of 77 WABC MusicRadio in New York.
During its two year existence it featured the Super Hits Of The 60's, 70's, & 80's and built a large audience of generally age 50+ in primarily New Jersey and southeastern PA. Many people would come out to local pop-up events to see popradio77.com and meet the on air jocks.
As management and ownership changed in late 2021, a decision was made to re-brand the radio station to a name that better identifies with the great music from these three decades. As part of the re-brand it was decided that significant marketing would reach out to the under-reached regions in New York and Delaware.
Oldies XL is the result of careful planning by station leadership that love this music and believe in its timeless appeal to all ages. Oldies XL - Your Music..The Best Music!
Oldies XL honors the memory of MusicRadio 77 WABC, which dominated the AM airwaves for over 50 years. After this impressive run, 77 WABC then discontinued its music format in 1982 and became an all-talk radio station. When WABC MusicRadio changed over into the all-talk format, WNBC-AM then took over as the “favorite” Top 40 station in the New York. With personalities such as Imus In The Morning and Howard Stern, WNBC continually ruled in the ratings. Then, suddenly, one sad day in October of 1988, WNBC played its last song and converted to an all-sports radio format. This event marked the absolute end of Top 40 music on AM radio. This format change was inevitable as the FM band became more and more dominant. Therefore, they say the music “died” on May 10, 1982.
THE WABC MUSIC REMEMBRANCE FROM MAY 10, 1982
After 66 WNBC stopped playing music, fans now had to look to the FM stations of WHTZ (Z-100) and WPLJ (95.5) in the New York market. And, they did just that. However, as the decade of the 80’s came to a close then so did the music mixes that built WABC, WNBC, and WPLJ in particular. The blends of music from the 60’s and 70’s began to disappear completely by the 1990’s on WPLJ. By 1999, WPLJ completely stopped playing music from the 70’s. It modified its playlists in an attempt to catch up in the ratings with number#1 WHTZ. Then by the year 2000, the music mix that was so popular for so many years was just about gone from the airwaves.
Oldies XL brings back the “sound” and “style” that was prominent on WABC and the other great radio stations for so many years in the 60’s, 70’s, & 80’s. Familiar voices each day and great music made this era of radio so incredible. It was this and the commitment to community that made these giant super stations larger than life.
