Fourble

These files are thanks to TheBobWhooKidSamShow at http://classicafro.blogspot.com -- he also edited out commercials and any overly distracting radio static etc. Special thanks to him and his fine work here!

Collected from OAPedia.com:

1999

September - WNEW drops the Rock format altogether, and
focuses solely on "Hot Talk". Opie and Anthony get their afternoon-drive
talk radio slot, and O&A version 2.0 begins.
September 13 - WNEW flips to "FM Talk @ 102.7".
WNEW is a New York City FM radio station operating at 102.7 MHz and owned and operated by Infinity Broadcasting. It was previously WNEW-FM
for many years, after sister AM WBBR (1130); when that station was sold
to Bloomberg and became WBBR in 1992, WNEW-FM adopted the four-letter
callsign. It was also co-owned with WNYW-TV until 1986, when the station
was sold to Fox Entertainment Group and became WNYW.

This frequency was first occupied by WNJR in 1949, broadcasting
from Newark. WNEW-FM came on the air in 1958, playing a popular music
format (notable only for a period in which as a gimmick they had an
all-female broadcasting staff).

In 1967 WNEW-FM adopted a "progressive" freeform format, one that
it became famous for and that influenced the rock listenership as well
as
the rock industry. Disc jockeys would broadcast in ways that bore out
their personalities:

morning fixture Dave Herman was not afraid to mix Erik Satie or Donna Summer into the playlist;
noontime stalwart Pete Fornatale promoted The Beach Boys when it was not fashionable and later started his eclectic weekend Mixed Bag program;
afternoon legend Scott Muni would use his gravelly voice to introduce largely unknown British artists on his "Things From England" segments;
nighttime host Jonathan Schwartz was a raconteur would sneak in the
Sinatra pop standards that he not-so-secretly liked better than rock;
overnight presence Alison "The Nightbird" Steele would play space rock groups in between readings of her equally spacey poems;
weekend personality Vin Scelsa started his idiosyncratic Idiots' Delight program which soon gained a devoted following.
Other well-known disc jockeys who worked at the station included Bill
(Rosko) Mercer, Dennis Elsas, Richard Neer, Dan Neer, and John
Zacherle.

WNEW-FM was among the first stations to give Bruce Springsteen
significant airplay, and Springsteen would sometimes call up the DJs
during records. John Lennon would stop by and guest-DJ for on occasion.
The station sponsored a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden each
holiday season that drew big-name acts. It could fairly be said that
WNEW-FM earned its slogan "Where Rock Lives". The station's television
commercials during its rock years featured the song "Layla" by Derek and
the Dominos and was considered the station's anthem.

In the 1980s, the station gradually adopted a more conventional
album oriented rock format, and sometimes seemed stodgy compared to
college radio stations playing alternative rock. When long-time
competitor WPLJ switched away from rock in 1983, WNEW-FM picked up some
of its most known DJs, such as Carol Miller
and Pat St. John. By the 1990s, the station was further losing
relevance in the face of the popularity of grunge rock and so became
more of a classic rock station. In 1995 it adopted an adult album
alternative format called "New York's Rock Alternative" with
considerable fanfare, but reverted to classic rock within a year. At
this point, many long-time fans felt WNEW-FM had lost its focus. During
this decade many of WNEW-FM's jocks defected to classic rock
competitors WXRK and later WAXQ or to smaller but more freeform WFUV.

FM Talk @ 102.7

FM talk logo

In 1999 the station abandoned music altogether and tried an extreme "hot talk" format. This consisted of "Shock jocks", such as Opie and Anthony, Don and Mike and Ron and Fez, as well as a morning "guy talk" show that revolved around sports, called The Sports Guys. Opie and Anthony
were fired in 2002 for a stunt involving two people having sex within
St. Patrick's Cathedral, bringing considerable bad publicity to the
station. In any case, outside of Ron and Fez in the evenings, the
post-O&A talk format failed to win listeners, and the station began
playing some music again.

More format flops

In 2003 the station became "102.7 Blink"
(keeping the WNEW call letters) and adopted an unusual "Entertainment"
format, which would mix old and contemporary pop hits with talks shows
and entertainment news from sources such as E!. The station's ratings
sunk further and after a few months the station changed their slogan to
"102.7 Blink FM: Music Women
Love" with an (again, unusual) explicit appeal to a female audience.
This format also failed to draw audiences and towards the end of the
year the station adopted the increasingly popular "all Christmas Music, all the time" format.

The day after Christmas in 2003, the station became "Mix 102.7",
playing a hot adult contemporary range of hits from the 1970s to the
2000s. In the succeeding months, the "mix" tended to skew towards dance
hits, the program director, Frankie Blue was fired for drunken on-air behavior
, with this all culminating in a change to an official "classic dance"
or Rhythmic AC format in early 2005 under the slogan "New York's Classic
Dance Mix". However, the "Mix 102.7" moniker and the WNEW call letters
also remain.

1. 1999-01-04 (17.6Mb)
2. 1999-01-05 (15.5Mb)
3. 1999-01-06 (15.3Mb)
4. 1999-01-07 (12.4Mb)
5. 1999-01-08 (18.3Mb)
6. 1999-01-11 (12.7Mb)
7. 1999-01-13 (19.2Mb)
8. 1999-01-14 (12.1Mb)
9. 1999-01-19 (14Mb)
10. 1999-01-21 (9.2Mb)
11. 1999-01-25 (18Mb)
12. 1999-01-26 (20Mb)
13. 1999-01-27 (17.8Mb)
14. 1999-01-28 (16.9Mb)
15. 1999-01-29 (16.8Mb)
16. 1999-02-02 (11.6Mb)
17. 1999-02-03 (22.7Mb)
18. 1999-02-04 (17.1Mb)
19. 1999-02-05 (19.2Mb)
20. 1999-02-08 (8.2Mb)
21. 1999-02-10 (5.6Mb)
22. 1999-02-11 (5.8Mb)
23. 1999-02-19 (15.9Mb)
24. 1999-02-22 (5.9Mb)
25. 1999-02-23 (19.8Mb)
26. 1999-02-24 (14Mb)
27. 1999-02-25 (17.2Mb)
28. 1999-03-01 (19.6Mb)
29. 1999-03-02 (17.4Mb)
30. 1999-03-03 (19.6Mb)
31. 1999-03-04 (19.9Mb)
32. 1999-03-08 (19.9Mb)
33. 1999-03-09 (20.1Mb)
34. 1999-03-10 (16.3Mb)
35. 1999-03-11 (19.9Mb)
36. 1999-03-12 (22.7Mb)
37. 1999-03-15 (19.1Mb)
38. 1999-03-16 (19.4Mb)
39. 1999-03-17 (9.9Mb)
40. 1999-03-18 (19.2Mb)
41. 1999-03-23 (19.6Mb)
42. 1999-03-24 (12.7Mb)
43. 1999-03-25 (12.8Mb)
44. 1999-03-30 (19.2Mb)
45. 1999-03-31 (13.6Mb)
46. 1999-04-01 (13.3Mb)
47. 1999-04-05 (19.8Mb)
48. 1999-04-06 (12.7Mb)
49. 1999-05-05 (1.2Mb)
50. 1999-08-18 (1.1Mb)
51. 1999-10-05 (2.6Mb)
52. 1999-12-16 Homeless Shopping Spree (48.3Mb)
53. 1999-12-27 (Worst Of) (45.9Mb)
54. 1999-12-29 (Worst Of) (49.2Mb)
55. 1999-12-30 (Worst Of) (51.8Mb)
56. 1999-12-31 (2.9Mb)

MP3 files hosted by archive.org.