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WAAF 107.3 FM (simulcast on WKAF 97.7 FM) is a Boston area commercial Album Oriented Rock/Active rock radio station that mixes music that is popular in the modern rock, heavy metal and classic rock genres. Originally the station targeted the Worcester, Massachusetts market, but by the mid-1980s, WAAF had begun to direct most of its attention to the Boston radio market. Since it began targeting Boston, WAAF has been in an ongoing rivalry with crosstown rock station WBCN.
WAAF signal issues WAAF normally broadcasts out of Paxton, Massachusetts on 107.3 FM and now simulcasts at 97.7 FM, which is licensed to Brockton, Massachusetts (where their signal can be better heard in Boston). When its antenna is located in Paxton, the central part of New England, WAAF can be heard throughout much of Massachusetts, as well as parts of neighboring U.S. states New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Vermont. Currently in spring and summer of 2006, due to testing and a possible permanent change in antennas, the stations signal strength and listenability has decreased in most parts of Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont and Western Massachusetts. WAAF is trying to concentrate the signal into its primary sales market, Boston. However, some claim even though the station targets Boston, the current signal begins to fade out as one travels eastward into downtown Boston and many surrounding neighborhoods. The new transmitter operating on a construction permit from the FCC is on Stiles Hill in Boylston, Massachusetts. The first experiment with this antenna took place between October 31 and November 22, 2005 but had to resort back to Paxton for a couple months to address multipath issues. FCC pdf On August 21, 2006, Entercom acquired Urban Contemporary outlet WILD-FM (97.7) from Radio One for $30 Million. Hours after that deal was made Entercom pulled the plug on WILD-FM's format at 7pm (EST) and replaced it with a computerized voice countdown "T Minus Hours, Minutes, Seconds and counting", also adding little funny snippets every few seconds leading up to the August 22, 5:30 PM start of simulcasting WAAF's format on that signal, beginning with AC/DC's "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)". The addition of 97.7 now gives WAAF an improved signal coverage in Boston. On August 30, 2006, WILD Was renamed WKAF. WAAF and WKAF still suffer signal issues in the South Coast Area of Massachusetts and parts of the Taunton area. Early history The WAAF call letters were first adopted in 1967 and the station had a Beautiful music format. WAAF switched to its long running Rock music format two years later in 1969. (WAAF previously had been WAAB-FM having the same call letters as its sister AM station 1440 WAAB-AM. Historically, the station is often noted as the worlds first FM station. The stations original owner was Edwin H. Armstrong who invented and patented FM radio in 1933. The stations first call letters were W1XOJ. W1XOJ was the first experimental FM radio station, granted a construction permit by the FCC in 1937. Today, WAAF is often still broadcast from the same Paxton, Massachusetts site as W1XOJ. For more on the early history of WAAF/W1XOJ see FM broadcasting in the USA and History of radio. Radio station WXOJ-LP 103.3FM "Valley Free Radio" in Northampton, Massachusetts is a low power station whose call letters pay tribute to WAAF's ancestral origins). Freeform era 1969-1974 In the late 1960s and early 1970s the Rock format WAAF ran was referred to as Freeform, where the air talent is given total control over what music to play, regardless of commercial interests. From the late 1960s through the early 1970s WAAF featured typical rock artists of the day such as The Beatles, The Who, Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, It's A Beautiful Day, Aerosmith, The Doors, Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Electric Flag, Billy Preston, Sly & The Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Van Morrison, Steppenwolf, Blood Sweat & Tears, and many others. In hindsight, some of these artists are now considered more pop sounding and part of the Oldies or Classic hits musical genres. Some are more eclectic sounding acts, popular during the hippie/counterculture era of the 1960s and early 1970s and not remembered as well past that time period. With FM radio stations expressing a wide artistic freedom at that time, various musical styles were considered proper for a Rock station. Album Rock era 1975-1981 By the mid-1970s the format WAAF practiced became known as AOR (Album Oriented Rock). Though some critically acclaimed artist like Blue Öyster Cult, Elvis Costello and Tom Petty were played, this was the era of Arena rock and the majority of airtime was given to mainstream rock bands with such examples being Boston, Kansas, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Doobie Brothers, Journey, Foreigner and Foghat. "MOR" pop rockers like Billy Joel and Elton John were also core artists. While most of the Stevie Wonder/Billy Preston/Chicago styled music was considered too pop by the late 70s ,a few upbeat pop sounding classics like "Good Lovin'" by The Young Rascals and "Shout!" by The Isley Brothers were still in the stations music library and frequently played. In the second half of the 1970s heavy metal artists like Black Sabbath increased in airplay on the station. Some, such as AC/DC, were played for the first time. During this era WAAF helped launch the careers of Van Halen and Rush by giving them heavy promotion and airplay. WAAF's slogan in this time period was, "WAAF, The Rock N' Roll Air Force" "Non-Stop Rock" era 1981-1989 WAAF went through several owners and numerous management changes in the 1980s, but excluding one brief format shift, the station had a very consistent and commercially viable rock format for most of the decade. During this period of time, the station came to rely on playing an increasingly large amount of older music to meet advertisers demographic demands. The 1980s was a more conservative time and the height of the 'Yuppie' subculture. WAAF wanted to branch out to this large baby boomer audience located in the nearby Boston market, while not alienating its core Worcester and Central Massachusetts listeners who tended to be younger and working class. They did this through the heavy use of dayparting, playing mostly older music and lighter artist during the day and saving airplay for most harder music for evenings after 7:P.M. when younger listeners were more dominant. As a result, for most of the 80s, WAAF was a broad based Album Rock station. The range included relatively light pop/rock artists such as Huey Lewis and the News and Phil Collins, played more during the morning and afternoon hours. Hard rock and heavy metal artist like Iron Maiden, Ratt, ZZ Top, Slade, Def Leppard and Guns N' Roses were heard more towards the late afternoon and were played more heavily at night. However, about two thirds of the stations core artist and style of music for most of the 1980s was from the late 1960s to 1970s, what was then coming to be labelled classic rock. The stations two popular slogans from the autumn of 1981 through the summer of 1989 were "Crank It Up" (1981-1985) and "Non-Stop Rock" (1985-1989). The station also adopted it's long time, and very recognizable, 'paint splash' style logo during this era in the autumn of 1981. The "Rock of the 80s" spring 1983 For a brief period of time in the spring of 1983, WAAF shifted its format to having an alternative music slant. During this time WAAF called itself "The Rock Of The 80s" and was consulted by radio programmer Rick Carroll. Mr. Carroll introduced the format on KROQ in Los Angeles in 1978 and by 1983 was having much success with it. WAAF was one of many stations he consulted with the format. Core artist during this brief period included Boy George and Culture Club, A Flock of Seagulls, Human League, Talk Talk, Duran Duran, and Spandau Ballet. WAAF also mixed in some pop music during this period, most notably two of Michael Jackson's hit singles from his Thriller album, Billie Jean and Beat It. This was WAAF's first attempt at getting a larger audience in Boston (The stations ratings were already up in that market due to the success of the 'Bob and Zip' morning radio show). The experiment failed as the stations ratings took a deep drop in its home market of Worcester and failed to impact the Boston market (at that time in Boston 'Alternative' station WFNX signed on in the spring of 1983 as well as the short lived, but extremely popular from 1983-1985, Top 40 hits powerhouse Hitradio WHTT). WAAF quickly switched back to its broad based Album Rock format that summer. "Untamed Radio" 1989-1991 After many years with a broad based rock format WAAF changed directions in October of 1989. WAAF dropped many acts from the 1960s and 70s (though they continued to play a few such as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd). They began only playing harder songs by core artists while increasing the amount of current music product being played. They became a "Rock 40" station playing only rock and heavy metal (mostly metal in the more pop oriented Glam Metal genre) but in a manner similar of that to Top 40 stations. WAAF's new slogan between late 1989 and 1991 was "Untamed Radio". The station during this period was inspired by Los Angeles radio station KQLZ , "Pirate Radio 100.3 FM" (WAAF aired the live and nationally syndicated KQLZ produced show "Pirate Radio U.S.A." on Saturday nights from November 1989 through October 1993 when the show ceased production several months after the Los Angeles station changed its format). Alternativelean 1992-1995 In early 1992 heavy metal and hard rock rapidly lost ground to the growing popularity of various "Alternative Subcultures" and the music associated with them. In trying to keep up with the times, WAAF began adding more music acts popular in the alternative music genre to its playlist rotation. Alternative artists, including Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Beck and Belly received ample airplay. Such college radio acts as Sugar and King Missile were also added. WAAF was one of the stations to launch the career of Alanis Morissette in the summer of 1995, by playing the first two singles from her Jagged Little Pill album, "You Oughta Know" and "Hand In My Pocket". Though WAAF included more 'Alternative' acts in their programming during this era, they still played many hard rock and metal bands other stations during that time would not play. These included harder heavy metal bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Pist.on and Prong, as well as progressive rock act Dream Theater. With this music mix, WAAF had evolved to one of the pioneers of the Active Rock format. During this time WAAFs slogan was "The Only Station In Boston That Really Rocks". The "In Boston" part of the slogan had to be dropped after several years due to complaints, and eventually a cease and desist order, filed by rival WBCN. For many years prior, WBCN used the slogan "The Rock Of Boston" and claimed ownership for the combined use of the words 'Boston' and 'Rock' in any company slogan. WAAF, to avoid a legal battle, at first started to insert the names of various New England cities and towns the station could be heard in instead of just exclusively saying 'Boston'. (Examples being, "The Only Station In Manchester That Really Rocks" citing the New Hampshire city or "The Only Station In Wellesley That Really Rocks" recognizing the popular Boston suburb). By the mid-1990s the station had shortened the slogan to simply "The Only Station That Really Rocks" "Real Rock" 1996-2005 From the beginning of 1995 till the summer of 1999 radio rival WBCN switched to a broad alternative music format putting them more in competition with Boston's WFNX. With two stations fighting for the same audience, WAAF decided to reembrace hard rock and heavy metal as its main music focus. In early 1996, WAAF responded by playing only harder guitar based 'Alternative Rock' acts (ex. Bush, Stone Temple Pilots) and became instrumental in helping several local Massachusetts metal musical acts achieve success, including Godsmack, Staind and Shadows Fall. WAAF also helped many national Nu metal acts to prominence from the mid-1990s through mid-2000s. These acts include such heavyweights as KoЯn, the Deftones, Disturbed, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. By the summer of 1999 WBCNs alternative format started to lean more Active Rock, once again putting them in direct compititon for many of the same musical acts played on WAAF. WAAF's two slogans during these years was "The Only Station That Really Rocks" (1992-2002) and "If It Rocks...It's 107.3 WAAF" (2002-2005). "Everything That Rocks" 2005 - present In the autumn of 2005, WAAF adjusted its format again to include a wider variety of music that fits under the umbrella title of 'Rock'. Using the new slogan "Everything That Rocks" WAAF continued to play the hard rock, modern rock and metal acts that it was known for (such as Mudvayne, System of a Down, Nickelback, Rage Against The Machine as well as acts new to the WAAF playlist Wolfmother, Hinder, Flyleaf and Avenged Sevenfold). The station also began to mix back in more long-time alternative music acts (such as Weezer and U2), and classic rock acts (such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Yes) that had not been played on the station in many years. In addition, WAAF added many new current alternative and rock acts that it had not been playing. These acts included minimalist blues-rock duo The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and virtual band the Gorillaz. Many artist influenced by such alternative music subgenres as power pop and pop-punk were also placed on the stations playlist, including The Killers, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and AFI. On-air personalities The station has been through several host changes in recent years. Their current lineup includes: Weekday Who cares about he her shop sucks listen to Toucher and Rich on 104.1 WBCN mon-Fri 2-6pm Weekend and overnights Notable former on-air personalities Hillman Morning Show a show for gay men dealing with gay topics If youer strait listen to opie and antony on WBCN mon-fri 6am-9am and toucher and rich mon-fri 2pm-6pm mon-fri " ==Past shows and personalites== Opie and Anthony On February 13, 1995, WAAF brought shock jocks Opie and Anthony on board. One of the their first major acts was "Whip ‘Em Out Wednesday," or WOW. They sold bumper stickers that simply said "WOW", and encouraged all of their female fans to flash any car or truck with the sticker. It became a popular fad, especially among truckers, and for a period of time many of the trucks in Massachusetts had WOW written somewhere on them. The last controversy they pulled at WAAF was an April Fool's Day prank in 1998 wherein they informed their listeners that Boston Mayor Thomas Menino had died. City Hall had some trouble reaching Menino since he was in a plane at the time, so they weren't able to deny the rumor before it spread throughout Boston. Once the truth was out, there was a significant backlash. Opie and Anthony were placed on leave without pay; a week later they were fired. Opie and Anthony eventually landed at WNEW-FM in New York, and into national syndication. Today, the duo does two morning radio shows, one in syndication (which is heard on rival WBCN), the other exclusive to XM Satellite Radio. XM also simulcasts the syndicated show. John Osterlind John Osterlind doubled as the Music Director for the station and the popular 10am to 3pm DJ for many years. Nicknamed "Ozone", Osterlind combined a detailed, knowledgable banter about current musical trends with such popular segments as one in which he invited listeners to call in daily with midget sightings in the greater Boston area. Osterlind left WAAF in May 2001 to host a radio call-in show with former congressman, Peter Blute, on WRKO AM 680 in Boston, Massachusetts. Walk and Rock for Change Every November, starting in 1993, WAAF has held its popular annual charity event "Walk and Rock for Change". During this event, the DJs (Greg Hill 1993-2003)from the station walk across Massachusetts, asking for change from the people as they stop in each town. The station will often air interviews with people as they come across interesting events. Starting in 2003, while this event is proceeding, the DJs at the station will play requested songs, for a price. While the station will play any song requested, obnoxious or unpopular songs, such as the Spongebob Squarepants theme, will have a higher price than the station's standard fare. CD releases The station has released a number of mostly limited edition CDs containing exclusive in-studio performances and various comedy bits from the on-air staff. 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