WCAS, Cambridge, Massachusetts

AM-740

From sometime in the early 1970s to May of 1981, there existed a remarkable little radio station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It had only 250 watts of power; it was AM; and it had to sign off the air at sunset. By those measures, it was the least among the dozens of Boston-area radio stations. Yet, many people recall it fondly to this day.

This page is dedicated to those who created and who listened to

WCAS.

This page is maintained by Dan Murphy. Email dan.

NEW February 2008: Off-the-air recordings of WCAS during the Blizzard of 1978.
NEW March 2008: Reggae Bloodlines hosted by Peter Simon
Coming Soon: Off-the-air recordings from 1973-1975.

1972-1976

The format for which WCAS became known and which so many people wanted to "save" evolved into being in the early 1970s during the time that Rick Starr was program director. In his recollections of those years, Rick gives generous credit to several other staff members for the end result. It is those recollections which prompted the creation of this page, and they may be found here.

Rick Starr and Neila Smith, circa December, 1973

March 19, 1976

On March 19, 1976, the ownership of WCAS officially changed to Wickus Island Broadcasting Corp. During the preceeding 3-4 years, the station had twice been scheduled to be sold to owners with plans to use the station for religious broadcasts. Comments from community groups were filed with the FCC protesting the prospective format change, and the FCC delayed approval of the sale until the prospective buyers withdrew.

With the completion of the sale to Wickus, that particular threat subsided. On the morning of March 19, 1976, Rick Starr signed the station on the air, noted the change of ownership, and played a most interesting song to begin the day and the years of Wickus management. Click here for the WCAS signon of March 19, 1976.

Later that morning, the "music news" was preempted for a summary of the history and sale of WCAS. The segment was produced by Rick Starr and includes an interview with the new owner, Dan Murphy.

January, 1977 - Concert Calendar

February, 1978 - The Blizzard of '78

February 2008: We just passed the 30th anniversary of the "Blizzard of 1978", something that anyone in the Boston at the time remembers well. A state of emergency was declared in Massachusetts for the rest of the week while we dealt with, among other things, hundreds of cars abandoned on Rt 128 and other roadways. It also provided a unique experience for WCAS staff and listeners for that week -- the station was on the air at night, a practice allowed by FCC rules in times of emergency. The staff worked long hours, and volunteers came in to help gather and organize local storm-related information. Prompted by retrospectives around the anniversary, Pete Stassa dug out several hours of off-the-air recordings of the station during the emergency and has kindly provided them for us. (The files have been divided into 10-minute segments for ease of online listening.) Seg1 Seg2 Seg3 Seg4 Seg5 Seg6 Seg7 Seg8 Seg9 Seg10

December, 1979

A brief excerpt from "Reggae Bloodlines" hosted by Peter Simon. Peter showed up at our door one day offering to do a reggae show. It didn't hurt that his sister was Carly Simon, so we signed him up for "Reggae Bloodlines", a one-hour slot on the weekend. Peter was also a contributing photographer for the Village Voice, the Phoenix (Boston, Cambridge), Rolling Stone, and others. To date, he has published ten books, including "Reggae Bloodlines" and his latest, "I and EYE".

January 1, 1980

On January 1, 1980, WCAS broadcast the "WCAS TOP 74" songs of the 1970s as ranked by WCAS listeners and staff. During December, WCAS asked listeners to vote for their favorite 5 WCAS songs. From several hundred responses, plus staff input, we compiled this list of the WCAS TOP 74 and counted down the entire list on January 1.

At the conclusion of the TOP74 countdown and just before signoff, we credited the many WCAS staff members who had added their talents and efforts to the station up to that moment. Click here for the audio.

Coming soon: more audio from the January 1, 1980 countdown, including recollections of Moe Shore and Don Cohen.

This site is new as of August 18, 2004. Much history will be added in the future. For now, enjoy this collection of bumper stickers spanning the lifetime of WCAS.
If you have memorabilia or recordings of WCAS to share, we would love to add them to the collection. Let us know.