William B. Williams (DJ) - Rock 'n Roll

Rock 'n Roll

As the emergence of rock 'n roll music began in the 1950s, Williams left no doubt as to where he stood on the subject: against. "Most of its so bad it's embarrassing," he said. "In the days of the big bands, a vocalist had to be able to sing....I believe teenagers are hungry to hear good music, and at some point we must assume a lot of the blame for the quality of what is being heard. I use the word 'we' to mean disc jockeys and radio stations in general." A well-known advertisement of the era showed Williams holding his nose under the caption "We asked William B. Williams of WNEW Radio what he thought of rock 'n' roll." Still, beginning in the late 1950s, WNEW began mixing in softer tunes from rock artists, which continued into the 1960s. While WNEW was still playing pop standards, soft rock was a big part of the format, making them a MOR station. Williams hated most of these songs, but played them when he had to.

In the 1970s, WNEW became more of an adult contemporary radio station, mixing in very few pop standards. Williams stated that the during the period from 1965 to 1978, WNEW was at its worst, but finally came to its senses. By then, the Make Believe Ballroom title was dropped from Williams' show, although he continued to host in the late morning and early afternoon. In the fall of 1979, much to Williams' happiness, WNEW began restoring the standards format on weekends, middays, and late nights, leading off with a revived Make Believe Ballroom on October 6. In January 1981, WNEW dropped the adult contemporary format (which by then was only heard on weekday mornings and late afternoons) altogether, adopting the standards format full-time.

From the late 1970s until the mid-1980s, Williams became a TV spokesman for the New York-based Genovese Drug Stores chain, pitching the week's specials and delivering the tagline "A real drug store and so much more!".