Thursday, September 12, 2013

WIXY (Cleveland): Top 40, 1965-1976

One of the nation's liveliest Top 40 stations in the late sixties, Cleveland's legendary WIXY 1260 (say the call letters like a word) made it all the way to 1976 before sputtering into a late seventies AC format shift (and the new call letters WMGC). As reported at the WIXY tribute page, the new station's advertisements invited listeners to "Get Your Rock Soft."

The last of WIXY's promo albums was a 1973 muscular dystrophy benefit vehicle called WIXY's Top Bananas. The track list showcases the seemingly genre-blind Top 40 hodgepodge typical of the era: "Brother Louie" (Stories), "Precious and Few" (Climax), "Hocus Pocus" (Focus), "Pillow Talk" (Sylvia), "Nice to Be with You" (Gallery), "It's Your Thing" (Isley Brothers), "Mississippi Queen" (Mountain), "Super Fly" (Curtis Mayfield), "One Bad Apple" (Osmonds), "Slippin' Into Darkness" (War), "Brand New Key" (Melanie), "Rock and Roll" (Gary Glitter- not the B-side, "Rock and Roll Part 2," that we're more familiar with today), "Day By Day" (Godspell), "Uneasy Rider" (Charlie Daniels Band).