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1934 Calendar
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For many years during the 1930s and 1940s WDRC issued an annual laminated pocket calendar. As it turns out, the 1934 version (right) coincides with much of 2012...if you don't count the leap year part.

Here are some prominent July dates in the annals of WPAJ/WDRC history:

July, 1942 - WDRC founder Franklin M. Doolittle was appointed technical FM advisor to Board of War Communications in Washington, DC.

July 15, 1944 - FCC license renewal paperwork showed Sam Pickard no longer owned shares in WDRC and WDRC FM. Doolittle Broadcasting Co. owned 71%; Franklin M. Doolittle individually owned .2%; CBS executive Lawrence W. Loman owned 28.8%.

July 1956 - Art Johnson began a six-year run becoming known as A.J. at Midday on Big D.

July 1, 1957 - To mark the International Geophysical Year (July 1, 1957-December 31, 1958), WDRC gave away "Space Age News Maps" published by Rand McNally. Only AM 1360 was listed because FM 102.9 was still a year and a half away!

July 1958 - Lou Terri began a one-year assignment as WDRC's host in the wee hours of the morning.

July 15, 1959 - The FCC approved the sale of WDRC (and an FM construction permit) to Buckley-Jaeger Broadcasting Corporation of Connecticut for $815,000.

July 1963 - One of the charter members of the Friendly Five, Jerry Bishop, ended his career at Big D, heading for southern California.

July 28, 1963 - A twice monthly column began running in The Hartford Courant TV magazine. Ghost written mostly by Charlie Parker, it featured DJ photos, interviews and interesting tidbits about station staff and promotions. It ran till June 25, 1967, then resumed from April 7-June 16, 1968.

WDRC's 1934 pocket calendar
 
 

July, 1966 - A new phone number was installed specifically for listeners to phone in requests: 987-6205.


July, 1969
- New Haven deejay Ed Flynn picked up some overtime by doing Sunday morning fill-ins at WDRC for the month.

July, 1969 - The station became affiliated with Scene 2 magazine, a nationally-syndicated publication on the music world which contained several WDRC-related pages each month.

July 2, 1972 - Rod Allen signed off his final all-night show and headed for Alaska where he's been ever since!

July, 1973 - WDRC FM began employing a new positioning statement: "Connecticut's non-stop stereo rock." It stopped on-air references to 102.9, calling the station "Big D 103." WDRC AM spent the rest of the decade calling itself "Hartford's Music Authority."

July 23, 1973 - Ted Dalaku arrived in Hartford as WDRC's utility man, filling different airshifts, before eventually settling into morning drive.

July 1975 - John Larrabee began a three-year run as WDRC's 7 p.m.-midnight personality, replacing Mike Holland.

July 1977 - Country Paul Payton left WHCN Hartford to become the afternoon driver at D103.

July 4, 2004 - Well-known Connecticut air personlaity Cadillac John Saville stepped into Bruce Owens' Sunday afternoon shoes on WDRC FM; a year later he began hosting the morning show with Beth Bradley.

July, 2004 - WDRC AM gave its web site another makeover and a new URL: talkofconnecticut.com.

March 31, 2008 - Marianne O'Hare concluded her service on the DRC FM morning show; she worked with John Saville and Jerry Kristafer

July 31, 2011 - Buckley Broadcasting President Richard D. Buckley, Jr. died.

 
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