WLNG Sag Harbor, NY |
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WLNG/ Summer 1979
Yes,
I've worked at the crystal-clear, tall tower, blanketing the coastline
- 16 and 92 L-N-G. This was my first shift as a "disc-jockey"
and I was surrounded by two floor-standing rotating carousels full of
jingles, thousands of 45s and lost pet lists. The log had at least forty
elements per hour. I got yelled at once for segueing two songs back to
back. I'd show up for my Saturday evening shift, and Paul Sidney would
be in the back yard, ever-present radio on his chest. If I talked one
up, he'd show me the thumbs up. Located on the Redwood Causeway, the studios
have a beautiful view of the bay in Sag
Harbor.
What I'm remembered for most, is a certain 8 hour shift I did one
afternoon that summer. I knew the staff was listening off premises at
an event so I was "on." "On" as in I talked up every single record
right up to the vocal. Over ten years later, I was in the Caldor
Shopping Center in Lake Ronkonkoma and I found 92.1 coming in loud and
clear, uh, CRYSTAL clear. Paul Sydney was on location talking to Gary
Sapiane in the studio. As usual the talk was more about radio than the
client and Paul was reminiscing about all the remotes the station has
done. And sure enough, Paul starts talking about the time I "talked-up
every record."
At least there was one listener who knew what he meant.
On September 28, 2005, the Nassau Suffolk
Chamber of Commerce gave Paul Sidney the "Lifetime Achievement Award."
Many dignitaries and radio friends past and present joined Paul at the
Canoe Place Inn for the special event.
Click
here to see the photo album.
To this day, WLNG does its own thing; a type of radio unheard of anywhere on any dial. Radio professionals debate whether this type of radio works anymore. Well, it does on Eastern Long Island and I finally figured out exactly how it does. At least I think I do. Here's my response to Allan Sniffen on the New York Radio Message Board as to why I believe WLNG is still on the air, well into the new Millennium.
For years, programmers and consultants have tried to figure out what makes WLNG tick or try to concoct a scenario as to why it still exists. I’ve lived on the East End of Long Island most of my life and I’ve just recently begun to understand why this station works.
WLNG is to radio much like the Pennysaver is to newspapers. Not something you would ever read from cover to cover, but if you were looking for something local, you would definitely open the pages. There’s a little bit of everything and it’s all just around the corner. WLNG isn’t about playing “oldies,” it’s about the community and what’s going on. If the latest thing in radio is your IPOD on shuffle, then LNG is your scanner on roam.
The original post mentions ratings and out here in wine country ratings are for suckers. Don Brink of WRCN once told me that all the ratings meant was that someone sneezed while filling out a diary and you got credit for it. Back then there was no Hamptons-Riverhead book, but it still holds true today. WLNG doesn’t buy or need “the book” because it’s the response to the ads that retain the sale and LNG is way ahead of the competition. As just a small example; anytime I’ve run into Paul, Rusty or Gary and they’ve put me on the air for one minute, I’ll run into 5-6 people who will later say they heard me on the air. Politicians from all east end towns know their ad HAS to be on LNG to be re-elected. You see, despite having 75 minutes worth of commercials per hour, people listen to those ads much like people read the ads in the Pennysaver. And like the Pennysaver, the commercials are part of the content. Good, bad or ugly; most people do their own ads!
Death Notices and lost dogs may sound bizarre to the outsider, but many times I’ve been able to reach out to a family I’ve known over the years because I heard it over the air. I’ve known many people who’ve had pets returned to them through WLNG. I know what’s going on in my kids‘ schools, when the carnival is coming to Jamesport and where last night’s fire took place. And you haven’t experienced all of radio’s wonder until you’ve listened to Paul Sidney during a hurricane.
Now could all this be done without the reverb, jingles and hitting the post on “Color My World?” Of course, but where else could you do and play what you wanted on the air and still win big? Seriously, if you could play a song that peaked at # 47 in 1962 just because it was your favorite song and could get away with it, wouldn’t you? And don’t think those guys don’t know it. As the bumper sticker says, “I Put Up With WLNG.” And believe me, many do. I’ve gone into my accountant’s office and heard Rusty giving away donuts for TV trivia. And then have the secretary tell me to hold on a sec because she was calling in the answer. I’ve been on people’s boats and there’s LNG’s marine report. I’ve sat in the Supervisor of the Town of Riverhead’s car and there was WLNG so he would know what was going on.
Allan, you say there’s no competition out here and that’s simply not true. There are more signals on the dial here than in midtown Manhattan. Plenty of local stations with equal or better signal patterns cover the market, plus a great deal of Connecticut stations provide many well-tested formats. And out here, competition includes everything from newspapers to the phone book to the signboards on the back of a Little League field. Unlike New York, there are no specific “newspaper” or “radio buys.” Businesses have one, often very lean, advertising budget and you fight for any dollar you can get.
You say that WLNG wouldn’t work in a market like New York and you are absolutely, unequivocally correct. But to that I have to add that you could take any radio station from New York City and put it out here and it would not bill what WLNG bills. Unless you have competed against, worked for and/or lived with WLNG; you will sound like hundreds of other “big-city” programmers who think they can teach these hicks on the twin forks a thing or two about radio. Come out here and try it. Your station might sound good and may even top the ratings on occasion (see above). But you will lose money.
There are many stations out here that have and are still trying. I tried with WWHB, Paul Simon and Billy Joel tried after I left, SONY tried with “big city” personalities and a seven person newsroom. Even WNEW-FM, in its rock ‘n roll heyday, gave it their best shot. They’re all gone. Out here, in our “real world,” Paul Sidney and company are still standing.
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