January 1, 1972 marked the beginning of a yearlong celebration of WDRC's Golden Anniversary. Charlie Parker and company pulled out all the stops with a series of promotions, newspaper advertisements, and dozens of on-air promos. The theme was "Friends with you since '22."

Throughout 1972 the stations ran a special top of the hour station identification (voiced by Dick McDonough) built around the 50th anniversary. On November 5th, The Hartford Courant included a 16 page supplement on the station (left).

Click to listen to the 7:35 50th anniversary montage written by Charlie Parker and produced by Dan Siemasko, or click on the icons below to hear some of the many special anniversary promos.

The campaign included The Secret Sentence, a variation of the 1960s Secret Sound contest. Lon Landis was the voice of the secret sentences. Key syllables of his historic statements were edited and listeners had to guess the correct wording to win a cash jackpot. This montage features Jim Harrington, Barry Grant, Dick Robinson, Dick McDonough and Tom Hopkins.

SERIES #1 - Production Director Dan Siemasko churned out a nassive number of promos...the first group ended with WDRC's pretty "has got a lot to share" jingle from TM's "Friends" package. In some of these examples the jingle is faded at the end to avoid repetitiveness.

Funday - August 18, 1960 - the day WDRC dropped CBS and went with local, rock & roll programming.

Doug Weedwell - WDRC's agricultural expert with the Leather Seat Degree Report on the Ron Landry Show.

Long John Wade's kiss - but Harry always gets there first.

Murray the K - appearing on the Dick Robinson Show.

Ross jingles - instrumentals from WDRC's 1962 package.

More Ross jingles - from the 1962 jingle package.

Jingles - examples of OBGs on the Dick Robinson Show.

Ron Landry - a recurring bit from Ron's morning show was when he visited the WDRC Barbershop.

Spotlight Song/Earwitness News Extra - a music feature and newsman Al Fletcher with a 1962 Earwitness News Extra.

Mayor DeLucco - it's September 21, 1961 and Jerry Bishop is rolling peanuts down Main Street with the Mayor of Hartford.

Arthur Godfrey - a mainstay of CBS, this Arthur was the voice of midday host Kurt Russell in 1962-63.

Ross jingles - here Kurt Russell has Arthur Godfrey admiring WDRC's jingles.

Earwitness News - it's 1963 and time for Wayne Hickox with Earwitness News.

Sandy Beach - from 1965-1968 he and his laugh were WDRC stars!

Big D Loves Thee - and Ron Landry proves it with a discaway.

Dick Robinson - it's November 17, 1964 and Dickie plays the hits.

WDRC Mailcall - Informing you as a community service!

Goodbye to 1961 - The voice in this clip was Jerry Bishop.

Goodbye to 1963 - The voice in this 1963 clip was Jim Nettleton.

Goodbye to 1965 - The voices in this clip are Jim Nettleton and Long John Wade.

Goodbye to 1966 - The voice in this clip is Lee Vogel.

Ken Griffin & Fats Fontoon.

Hi there, Buster - Ron Landry mimics the Old Philosopher.

Music contrast - two songs fill the gap in WDRC's music format.

Secret Sound contest winner - Ron Landry notifies Mrs. A. Campbells that she had solved the Secret Sound!

Joey Reynolds - it's 1967 and we're listening to the Voice of America.

Apollo 11 - On July 21, 1969 Big D witnesses "one giant leap for mankind" as man walks on the moon.

Woodstock - the music festival.

Don't Say Hello - Charlie Parker even invented contests so listeners could win prizes for WDRC's birthday.

Bachman's Big D is 50 LP Spree - Dick McDonough cleans out the Big D music library.

The Beatles - a montage of music from the Fab Four.

Beatles Jingle #1 and Beatles Jingle #2.

1965 Northeast Blackout - Charlie Parker takes to the air from somewhere...

PAMS jingles #1 and PAMS Jingles #2.

Honda Winner - Long John Wade gives away another Honda.

Is McCartney Dead? - an excerpt from WDRC's 1969 special.

The Carpenters - We've Only Just Begun.

Boston Blackie - This series of promos featured clips from the heyday of WDRC's CBS affiliation.

Soap Operas - a montage of CBS soaps.

FBI/Lum 'n Abner - two popular shows from the CBS Network era.

Tom Mix - one of the great cowboy series from the days of network radio.

Henry Aldrich - the famous cry of "Coming Mother" from this CBS series.

It Pays to Be Ignorant - there were numerous additional cuts featuring CBS programs.

SERIES #2 - The second series ended with the "you've got a friend here in Hartford" jingle. Like all of the series, the voiceovers were by Dick McDonough.

Boss Weekend - Long John Wade promotes a Big D boss weekend.

Shindig - Ron Landry tells us the popular ABC-TV show is coming May 10.

Escape - an exciting dramatic show from the heyday of CBS.

Contest Winner - Long John Wade calls Gary to tell him he's a winner.

SERIES #3 - The third series were used coming out of newscasts and primarily featured the music WDRC helped make famous.

Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree

Blue Skies

Dance Ballerina Dance

How's About A Kiss?

Just A Dream

Object Of My Affection

Perez Prado's Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White

Prisoner of Love

Roll Over Beethoven

She's The One

There's No Tomorrow

Venus in Blue Jeans

You're Sixteen

Remember When? - This series featured the voiceover talent of Pete Ross and Gary DeGraide, plus the musical tag from a hit song which was from a brand new, controversial television show.