1 of 1- RadioActive
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One Of My Favourite Long Distance DJs Is Gone
Back in a very different time, when the AM band was less subject to interference, one of the stations I listened to regularly at night was WOWO 1190 in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. And the guy on the air at night was the great Ron Gregory, whose show could be heard across parts of the U.S. and Canada on the 50K powerhouse.
Sad to hear that Gregory has passed away after over 45 years in radio, at various stations.
He was 77.
The world famous WOWO fire escape will never be the same.
Fort Wayne mourns radio legend Ron Gregory, passes at 77
WOWO Remembers Ron Gregory
- turkeytop
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Re: One Of My Favourite Long Distance DJs Is Gone
When I was kid I got a crystal radio kit for Christmas. On Christmas night, after our Christmas dinner, my dad helped me put it together. The first station we heard was WOWO.
After all is said and done, more is usually said than done.
- RadioActive
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Re: One Of My Favourite Long Distance DJs Is Gone
Next to CHUM, perhaps one of the greatest set of call letters ever. 
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Thread Starter- RadioActive
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Re: One Of My Favourite Long Distance DJs Is Gone
I have one exclusive memory of WOWO. One night, at the TV newsroom where I was working, one of the anchors was showing a friends of his around. He introduced me to the guy and he told me he worked in Fort Wayne, which he was sure I'd never heard of.
To his stunned surprise, I stood up from my desk and was wearing the T-shirt pictured below. The guy almost lost his mind. The odds of running into someone in Toronto who not only knew of his hometown but had its most famous radio station on his shirt was incredible.
I still have no idea who the devious-looking character depicted on the shirt is supposed to be. 
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Thread Starter- tdotwriter
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Re: One Of My Favourite Long Distance DJs Is Gone
WOWO was literally one of the legendary 24/7 50kW hit music stations in the '60s and '70s right up there with the likes of WABC, WLS, WJR and CKLW. In the late '90s, the owners of WLIB; a station in New York City on the same frequency actually bought it specifically so they could downgrade its nighttime signal and broadcast classification to legally allow their station in New York City to broadcast 24 hours. Despite this, I was sometimes able to hear it at night growing up in Mississauga circa the early 2010s.
- mace
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Re: One Of My Favourite Long Distance DJs Is Gone
tdotwriter wrote:
WOWO was literally one of the legendary 24/7 50kW hit music stations in the '60s and '70s right up there with the likes of WABC, WLS, WJR and CKLW. In the late '90s, the owners of WLIB; a station in New York City on the same frequency actually bought it specifically so they could downgrade its nighttime signal and broadcast classification to legally allow their station in New York City to broadcast 24 hours. Despite this, I was sometimes able to hear it at night growing up in Mississauga circa the early 2010s.
WJR, a hit music station? I always thought of them as the CFRB of Detroit. J.P. McCarthy was their Wally Crouter.
- Shorty Wave
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Re: One Of My Favourite Long Distance DJs Is Gone
I have one exclusive memory of WOWO. One night, at the TV newsroom where I was working, one of the anchors was showing a friends of his around. He introduced me to the guy and he told me he worked in Fort Wayne, which he was sure I'd never heard of.
To his stunned surprise, I stood up from my desk and was wearing the T-shirt pictured below. The guy almost lost his mind. The odds of running into someone in Toronto who not only knew of his hometown but had its most famous radio station on his shirt was incredible.
I still have no idea who the devious-looking character depicted on the shirt is supposed to be.
I love stories like this! Years ago I went to the UK and gave my friend there a MuchMusic sweatshirt. He was out one day with it on and someone asked him where he got the sweatshirt from, my buddy said he got it from me. The stranger who asked burst out laughing, as he was my boss at the time, on vacation in London! So they had a pint and gossiped about me…. Back to this thread, R.I.P. Ron Gregory.
Last edited by Shorty Wave (Today 7:57 am)