WLIR

WLIR on FM radio

WLIR was best known as an influential radio station that launched the careers of many music acts and disk jockeys from the 1970s through the 1990s. In 1970, it changed to a progressive rock format before switching to a new music/modern rock format in 1982. The station originally broadcast from studios at the Garden City Hotel, Garden City, New York, then 175 Fulton Avenue, Hempstead, New York, 1600 Stewart Avenue, Westbury, New York, and finally, 1103 Stewart Avenue, Garden City, New York, with its transmitter located on the North Shore Towers in Floral Park, New York.

1959-1970: 92.7 FM beginnings

WLIR was founded in 1959 by John R. Rieger. It was licensed to Garden City, New York on the frequency 92.7 FM and played a mix of Broadway tunes and classical music from a basement studio in the Garden City Hotel.

1970s: The progressive era

In the early 1970s, announcer Richard Neer and part-time announcer Mike Harrison convinced Rieger to change to a progressive rock format. This meant playing obscure artists, playing many cuts off an album (not just the hit singles), and having disc jockeys speak in a slow, mellow tone. At this time, the station adopted the famous WLIR Seagull as its logo. Also, in the early 70's, Bob Shavelson (music director) began the first ever live broadcasts of major artists from UltraSonic Studios and the club My Father's Place. Included in the series were Bruce Springsteen, The Allman Brothers Band, Dr. John, Jackson Browne and many other notable celebrities of the era. In addition to the live concert series WLIR promoted local bands such as The Good Rats.

The air staff in the early 70's included Program Director Ken Kohl, George Taylor Morris, Jim Cameron, Joel Moss, Dave ("The Wrench") Friedman and Public Affairs producer Heather Schoen.

As the 1970s went on, most rock stations drifted into a more commercial album oriented rock direction, but WLIR bucked this trend. As punk and new wave rock started to become popular at the end of the 1970s, most rock stations in the United States ignored these genres. WLIR, again, bucked the trend by playing artists from these genres.

1980s: Dare to be different

In 1982, it was decided that in order for the station to move into the future, a format change was needed. Program director Denis McNamara recommended to the station's owner that he choose one of two formats, either progressive adult contemporary or New Music. Although adult contemporary seemed commercially appealing, New Music was chosen because it was more in step with the "dare to be different" campaign being used to promote the new format and it was more "fun". On August 2, the format switch occurred. The station featured new wave (McNamara "hated" that term because he felt it was a trendy phrase that might be out of style in a year), synthpop, post-punk, early alternative rock acts as well as novelty records. The personalities of the disc jockeys became much more upbeat. The station became known worldwide for introducing new artists and playing singles months (if not years) before other stations. WLIR became the first radio commercial station in the country to play U2, The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, Duran Duran, Madonna, George Michael, Men at Work and Prince. The station was one of the few commercial radio stations in the United States to play these types of artists. One method of doing so was the "Screamer of the Week," a feature in which listeners would call in and vote for their favorite new song of the week. New Order, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Yaz and Blancmange were early staples of the new music format. According to McNamara, the "entire music industry was looking upon 'LIR and that 'LIR marketplace of New York and Long Island as one of the hippest music areas of the world. People used to refer to it as the gateway to America if you were an upcoming artist."

In 1987, the station's license was revoked after a fifteen-year battle, which began in the early 1970s when the station operated only on special temporary authority granted by the FCC. As a result of this revocation, the station changed ownership on December 18, 1987, and the WLIR call letters were changed to WDRE by the new owner, Jarad Broadcasting (it would regain the WLIR call letters some years later). The interim operator (Elton Spitzer's Phoenix Media Corp.) took the WLIR call letters to an AM radio station in Rockland County, New York. The previous owners also took the "Dare To Be Different" slogan with them as intellectual property, so WDRE's moniker became "New Music First". The feature "Screamer of the Week" became "Shriek of the Week," and the station remained on the cutting edge of new music as they broke new bands into the next decade, like Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana and others.

1990s: Alternative rock expands

In 1991, the station changed its moniker again, this time to "The Cutting Edge of Rock."

The explosion in popularity of grunge and alternative rock in the early 1990s led to a period of turmoil. The synthpop-based music on which much of the station's playlist was based was now out of fashion. Alternative rock artists which used to be played almost exclusively on the station were now being played on many rock and pop music stations.

In 1992, WDRE started simulcasting its programming with what was 103.9 WIBF-FM Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, which later became WDRE Jenkintown/Philadelphia. Subsequently, in the mid 1990s, Greg Morey claims to have created the first alternative rock network known as "The Underground Network." The Underground Network consisted of the following stations:

Four years after WIBF became WDRE's first affiliate, The Underground Network was disbanded. In 1996, it was decided that WDRE Garden City would switch formats to adult album alternative (AAA), bring back Malibu Sue (who had been fired earlier by then program director Russ Mottla), change its call letters back to WLIR and change its moniker to "The Island". That same year, WDRE Philadelphia became a local, independent modern rock station.

After the Underground Network

In 1997, Gary Cee was named program director, Malibu Sue assistant program director, and night jock Andre Ferro earned the music director position. New features implemented during this era included Malibu Sue's All Request Morning, The 5:00 Rush, Flashback Lunch, LIR After Dark, Andre's 9:00 Knockout, and "In the Mix," an important alternative dance show with DJ Theo and Andre. The station had a unique sound during that era with the combination of alternative from chart toppers Coldplay, Foo Fighters, No Doubt but also alternative dance from Daft Punk, Wolfsheim, Moby, Fatboy Slim and others. This popular sound helped WLIR's ratings and would continue to the station's end in January 2004.

2000s: Move to 107.1 FM

On January 9, 2004, Univision bought the 92.7 frequency and other assets for $60 million and began simulcasting the Spanish radio format of WCAA Newark, New Jersey on 92.7 under the call letters WZAA. WLIR then signed off at noon with "Forever Young" by Alphaville. Andre Ferro would be the last jock heard on the 92.7 airwaves, followed by a message from ownership. The WLIR call letters moved to the 107.1 frequency on Eastern Long Island, which had been simulcasting WLIR for several years. The new WLIR adopted an active/modern rock format and new image as "THE BOX". Since 107.1 FM is located about 50 miles east of the original WLIR at 92.7 FM, many of the station's fans in New York City, southwestern Connecticut, southern Westchester County, New York, northeastern New Jersey, and even the western parts of Long Island itself could not easily receive the station. Many of these areas were closer geographically to other stations occupying 107.1 FM (WXPK in central Westchester County and WWZY in Long Branch, New Jersey) which hindered reception.

On September 12, 2005, WLIR changed formats to a block-sponsored smooth jazz/chill music format known as "FM Channel 107: NeoBreeze." This same block-sponsored type formatting was also instituted at two other stations owned by The Morey Organization, WLIR's owner. As a result of this change, all of the on-air staff was fired. This truly marked the end of WLIR's unique over the air "new music" format after almost three decades. In addition, with the new format, the station would run commercial-free during the day, with the actual airtime during this period paid for by advertisers. According to the station's owners, this move was made as an attempt to take on satellite radio and MP3 players, which had been cutting into listeners of traditional radio. In an effort to keep WLIR and its alternative music alive, longtime WLIR employee and historian Bob Wilson developed the WLIR.FM website and began an internet broadcast of WLIR music called "Next Wave".

On December 20, 2005, after three months of low ratings, the NeoBreeze format was dropped, and the WLIR alternative format returned.

Jeff Levine was there from 2006 to 2007. During that time, LIR had a safe, almost hot adult contemporary sound, similar to WPLJ, and carried Islanders Hockey.

On December 26, 2006, BusinessTalkRadio.net President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Metter announced the purchase of three Long Island radio stations: Alternative WLIR-FM (107.1 FM), Classic Rocker WBON (98.5 FM), and Top 40/Rhythmic WDRE (105.3 FM). WBON was renamed WBZB and flipped to a business talk format on January 2, 2007. The sales of WLIR-FM and WBZB were approved on February 27, 2007. The selling price for WLIR-FM and WBZB was $1.75 million for each station. The total selling price for all three stations would have been $5 million, however the sale was never completed, and WBZB returned to the WBON calls.

In September 2007, WLIR began broadcasting from a new antenna at a location 5 miles to the west of the original. On October 11, 2007, WLIR-FM began simulcasting on a translator in Manorville, W245BA (96.9 FM), expanding its coverage area into western Suffolk County and a portion of eastern Nassau County. On November 18, 2007, this simulcast of WLIR-FM ended with the new simulcast of 98.5 WBON, "La Fiesta", taking over the 96.9 frequency.

On January 3, 2008 in part because of the reach of the new antenna WLIR-FM began simulcasting programming from sister station WDRE (Party 105), fueling speculation that a change in format to ESPN was imminent. On January 21, 2008, WLIR-FM became an ESPN Radio affiliate via a local marketing agreement with New York City radio station WEPN (then on 1050 AM, now on 98.7 FM).

2010s: Jarad sells 107.1 FM

On February 9, 2011, Jarad Broadcasting of Hampton Bays entered into an asset purchase agreement with Holding Out Hope Church d/b/a WLIX Radio to sell the station for $650,000. On February 17, 2011, Holding Out Hope Church assigned the agreement to Livingstone Broadcasting, Inc. On May 25, 2011 the sale of WLIR-FM to Livingstone Broadcasting Inc was completed. On August 1, 2011, WLIR-FM began broadcasting Christian programming as part of the WLIX Hope radio network.

WLIR Today

The original "World Famous" WLIR alternative music, air personalities, sounders, jingles, shrieks and screamers as well as today's new music can still be found at WLIR.FM.

In addition, starting November 23, 2016, WLIR resumed broadcasting over the air and can be heard on 105.3 WPTY-FM HD-3 in Suffolk County, NY.

WLIR/WDRE legacy

As of July 2012, a documentary entitled Dare to Be Different - WLIR: The Voice of a Generation by Ellen Goldfarb was in production. It is expected to detail the 1980s format change, the influence the station had, and its battles with the FCC. The stations staff and fans were also to be documented. The film is scheduled to debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2017. After the debut A Flock of Seagulls, The English Beat, and The Alarm are scheduled to perform.

People and personalities

Many WLIR personalities have had continued success and notoriety both on and off the air. Some of these include:

Memorable moments and shows

WLIR had many memorable and unique shows. Some of these include:

Clubs and venues

WLIR music and bands were featured at many Long Island venues. Some of these include: