WGOE currently operates as an Internet Radio Station serving the Richmond, Virginia region.
Contents
In its current form, the website operates as a searchable information resource for the many thousands of fans of the old station as well as others who are interested in discovering things to see and do in the Virginia region. The website features a rich and searchable database containing many Artists, Businesses and an Entertainment Guide. It has an especially broad and unique database for musicians seeking vendors and other resources.
The WGOE name has been trademarked by Chenault Broadcasting LLC which operates WGOE as wgoe.org
Early days
The station was first on the air briefly in the late 1950s as a popular Top 40 station with the call letters WEZL, called "Weazel." But, by the end of the 1950s, the station had gone dark due to money problems (and probably due to new Top 40 competition from 24-hour WLEE-AM). The station at 1590 kHz went back on the air in 1964 and was owned by brothers Richard S. (Major) Reynolds III and J. Sargeant Reynolds, two of the grandsons of the founder of Reynolds Metals Company. The transmitter was near Holly Spring Avenue and Hopkins Road in South Richmond. The studios were at Willow Lawn in Henrico County, later moving to Southside Richmond on Belt Boulevard, and later to Carytown in Central Richmond.
The 1960s Top 40 years
Early on air talent included Jess Duboy and "Gentleman" Jim Granger, Charlie Flowers, "Bachelor" Bill Meade, Tom Ogburn, Larry Lewis, Bill James, Mike Dawson and Bob Mann. Local legend Norman "Bob-A-Lou" Freedlander also worked there during the station's Top 40 1960s heyday.
In the mid-1960s, WGOE briefly had an FM sister station under different ownership when the Reynolds brothers took on management duties on local classical FM station 103.7 WFMV, which was owned by Fidelity Bankers Life Insurance Company. (WFMV was sold off to a Pennsylvania absentee-investor in 1968.) During this time, 1590 would bill themselves "WGOE...All The Way Right," to refer to the 1590 position to the far right of the AM dial, and also as "GO Radio" to refer to the WGOE call letters. From about 1964 to 1970, the station enjoyed local success and decent ratings during the “golden era of Top 40" and, for a while, was an aggressive competitor to then market-leading Top 40 station WLEE.
The 1970s progressive years
By 1970, listener habits were changing, and WGOE's listenership was falling off mostly due increased competition from then-Top 40 competitors WLEE and WTVR. Both boasted 24-hour signals (as opposed to WGOE's daytime only signal), along with a rumored change to Top 40 coming on then crosstown automated country station WRVA-FM (which became fact in 1972 when that station became Top 40 as WRVQ).
Seeing the success of a late night album rock weekend show on crosstown WEZS-FM called "Veronica Lake" (hosted and programmed by Jerry Williams) that presented rock LP cuts in the then up-and-coming "Progressive" style made popular by several west coast FM stations, the station decided to start its own daytime weekend Progressive Rock show in 1970 called "Saturday Subway." Seeing good results from the "Subway" show, the Top 40 format was dropped and the Progressive Album Rock format was put on full-time in late 1970.
During WGOE's Progressive days, they were the only local commercial station that would play "new rock music" right "out of the box" and exposed many up-and-coming artists throughout the 1970s, many who became rock legends. Among the regular visitors to the station were Alice Cooper, Todd Rundgren, and Bruce Springsteen, who was a local resident at the time. During the 1970s, the station was commonly known simply by its last three call letters: G-O-E. The station also would venture into folk, Jazz, Blues, R&B, and even classical.
WGOE Website with streaming audio