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People tend to think of Top 40 as Rock, but it wasn't. In fact, it wsn't a musical format at all. It was a sales format. If the record sold sufficiently, it got played, (with few exceptions for "taste.") Rock, Motown, R&B, folk, country, MOR, jazz, show tunes, even big band all had a place on Top 40, and virtually every demographic listened.
How WABC became "hate radio" is directly related to that. When FM began to make inroads on the dominance of AM radio in the mid to late 70s, one programming method to attack the entrenched AMs was to position the FM station in a particular musical niche. Disco was the start of the fractionalization of the Top 40 format. WKTU began playing all disco, at a time, when it was wildly popular. The fact that you could hear your favorite music, without country, or bubblegum, or whatever, coupled with the better sound of FM stereo, led to WABC's defeat in the ratings in 1978. By early 1982 WABC made the decision to go Talk, and did so on May 10, with a balanced talk format.
When Bork and Scalia killed the FCC's Fairness Doctrine in about 1986-87, and Reagan vetoed the staute passed by Congress to reinstate it, the way was open for Limbaugh to be given free reign without the threat of his station having to provide opposing view points. That led to his syndication, increased popularity, and eventual cloning, until we have the Hell that is AM radio as we know it today.
How I wish it was 1965, and Dan Ingram was telling us to "Roll your bod" on one coast, while The Real Don Steele was screaming for Tina del Gado on the other.
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