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January 1, 1970
- WDRC AM/FM began broadcasting 24 hours a day with overnight
host Dik Haddad. Click
here for a page of photos from 1970 taken by Scotty Morgan.
Click here for 1971 coverage
map

Richard
D. Buckley, Jr. |
September,
1972
- Richard D. Buckley died; Richard D. Buckley, Jr., and his
sister, Martha Ann Buckley
Fahnoe, took over the corporation.
September
28, 1972 - In an effort to differentiate 102.9
from 1360 in the minds of listeners, WDRC FM began airing
five hours a day of Solid Gold on the new Jim
Scott show.
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October
13, 1972 - The brand new Mobile Studio D
was unveiled at Lynch Toyota's "Put Your Hands On
A Toyota and Never Let Go" promotion. Jim
Harrington did the honors (below left). (Below right:)
Bob Craig at a 1973 remote.
click
for pictures of the 1973 motorpool
July, 1973 - WDRC FM employed 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."
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July
1974
- WDRC vice president and general manager Richard S. Korsen
was named executive vice president of Buckley Broadcasting Corp.
WDRC Sales manager Dick Robinson
was named vice president and station manager.
January 13, 1975 - "The WDRC Morning News,"
with Walt Dibble, Bill
Hennessey, and Ted Dalaku
was launched. It was a daily half hour program which lasted less
than six months. It was a victim of longtime competitor, WPOP,
which dropped pop music and went to an all-news format in June.
February 19, 1975 - WDRC began its
first Feed-A-Friend Food-a-thon at Westfarms Mall in
conjunction with the Hartford Community Renewal Team. The
goal was to collect 53,000 non-perishable food items for needy
families. Working from inside WDRC's Mobile Studio
D, Ted Dalaku, Dick
McDonough, Judd Otis,
Dave Donovan and other
staffers welcomed drive-by donations. As Charlie
Parker explains, they far surpassed their goal.
August, 1976
- To celebrate its 16th Anniversary of playing Top 40 music,
WDRC AM launched a month-long promotion giving away
dozens of double pocket albums. Production director Dave Overson
produced a special montage featuring many past personalities
that aired throughout the month.
early
1977 - WDRC moved out of 750
Main Street, Hartford, and relocated studios and offices
to the remodelled transmitter building at 869
Blue Hills Avenue, Bloomfield.
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April 9, 1977 - WDRC Vice President of Programming
Charlie Parker explains why the AM and FM morning shows are
about to split.
April
7, 1978 - The weekly issue of The Big D Sound
Survey proclaimed a new slogan for WDRC FM. The
station switched to an exclusive album format, giving it the
first 24-hour identity totally distinct from WDRC AM.
By October, all on-air references were to D103.
April
15, 1979 - A Hartford Courant TV Week column
detailed how WDRC FM had tried album-oriented rock,
modified AOR, and was now primarily an oldies format with
singles- oriented album rock. WDRC AM was described
as playing standard Top 40 music.
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