WRAP (Norfolk)
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Transmitter coordinates | 36°51′40″N 76°21′12″W / 36.86111°N 76.35333°W |
WRAP was an historic radio call sign, that was transferred, along with a
Format
The
Disc Jockeys
WRAP's first three full-time black disc jockeys were Robert "Bob" King, Milton "Milt" Nixon, and Oliver Allen.[1]
WRAP's most popular deejay was Jackson "Big Daddy Jack" Holmes. Born in 1915 in Merchantville, New Jersey, outside Philadelphia, Jack began his radio career at WLOW in Portsmouth in September 1949. Within a few years, Jack had developed a devoted following in the area. And then in the late 1950s Jack joined the WRAP staff and became their most prominent deejay.[2]
Other popular deejays at WRAP over the years were Jay Dee Jackson, Frankie "The WRAP Soul Ranger" Stewart, Throckmortan "Gosh Oh Gee" Quiff, Maurice Ward, H.J. Ellison, William "Bill" Boykins, Chester Benton, Alvin Reaves, Calvin "Shakespeare" Perkins, with Calvin Cooke, and Leola Dyson. One of the first black female radio deejays in the country, Dyson directed public relations for WRAP and performed on the air for more than twenty years.[3]
Reunion
WRAP staffers came together for a reunion in 2003, organized by Chester Benton and Bill Boykins.[4]
History
AM 1050 (1952–1954)
The WRAP call sign and associated format premiered on September 21, 1952 as a new station on 1050 kHz, which was limited to only operate from local sunrise until sunset.
The station broadcast with only 500
As early as 1953, a newspaper article described WRAP as "the only station in the Tidewater area of Virginia which beams its programs exclusively to a
AM 850 (1954–1987)
In 1954, the WRAP call letters and format were transferred to the former
In December 1978, five African American WRAP DJs joined together and asked the station's white management for raises. They were summarily fired. One of the DJs, Randy Williams, managed to issue an on-air "statement of solidarity" in protest of the firings before he was forced to leave the station. The next month, "The WRAP Fired Five" organized a public rally to protest WRAP. They called for African Americans in the area to
AM 1350 (1987–1989)
In 1986, a local cable television company, Clinton Cablevision, bought WRAP on AM 850.
In 1989, AM 1350 changed its ownership to Three Chiefs Broadcasting, and the call sign was switched to WBSK, and the WRAP call letters disappeared from the Hampton Roads area, after they were sold to a North Carolina broadcaster. Shortly thereafter, the new management at WBSK fired fifteen employees – many of them longtime WRAP personalities – without any warning.[14] The WBSK management justified these actions by arguing that the staffers had not yet completed a 90-day probationary period they had started at the station and were thus subject to termination without notice.[14] The station switched to a gospel music format.
References
- ^ "Norfolk Radio Boasts Three Colored D.J.'s". Baltimore Afro-American: 7. January 24, 1953.
- ^ Gibson, Jockey Jack (September 12, 1976). "Jack The Rapper, Nostalgia Flash-Back". Atlanta Daily World. p. 10.
- The Virginian Pilot. December 7, 2008.
- ^ Colvin, Leonard (September 24, 2003). "WRAP-AM radio to observe reunion". New Journal and Guide. p. 1.
- ^ "New Radio Station WRAP Goes On Air", Portsmouth (Virginia) Star, September 21, 1952, page 20.
- ^ William Barlow, Voice Over: The Making of Black Radio, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998.
- ^ Juan Gonzalez and Joseph Torres, News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media (New York: Verso Books, 2011), 328
- ^ "WRAP Tabs New General Manager". Pittsburgh Courier. July 4, 1953. p. 5.
- ^ "WRAP advertisement", New Journal and Guide, p. D30, June 12, 1954
- ^ "WKDA, WCAV, WRAP Sales Filed at FCC", Broadcasting, May 10, 1954, page 67.
- ^ Wilayto, Phil (January 26, 1979). "Boycott Of Radio Station Urged: Black Community Must Use 'Listening' Power". New Journal and Guide. p. 1.
- ^ "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada:Virginia:Norfolk", Broadcasting Yearbook (1987 edition), page B-299
- ^ Moore, Mark (July 26, 1989). "WRAP-AM: Keeping up with the times". New Journal and Guide. p. 4.
- ^ a b Golden, Ron (December 27, 1989). "Mass firings affect AM radio personalities". New Journal and Guide. p. 1.
External links
- FCC History Cards for WVXX covering 1950-1981 as WRAP / WCMS (AM 1050: was WRAP from 1952 until 1954)
- FCC History Cards for WTAR covering 1947-1981 as WCAV / WRAP (AM 850: was WRAP beginning in 1954)