WAPE (defunct) - The Early Years

The Early Years

Although there were differences in the on-air presentations of each of the Brennan stations, there were more similarities. For many years, none of them used jingles (the short station "songs" played between records, with lyrics such as "77, WABCeeee", "WMCA, Yeah Yeah", "Music Radio, WLS" or "93, KHJ"). Especially prior to the British Invasion, the stations' playlists were quite deep and unorthodox, delving into deeper R&B than most stations while simultaneously playing large percentages of Country crossover (songs that were acceptable to both country and Top 40 listeners).

Air talent was generally more low-key on the Brennan stations than on typical Top 40's, projecting a warm, friendly, “real” attitude, without a lot of hype. Many of them were very good at what they did. They were bigger than life. Colorful word pictures and a sense of shared experience were definitely a part of the equation. Each of these stations was designed to serve a large, and largely rural, area. Typically, they might not be rated #1 in the Metro (the city and the counties closest to the city), but showed strong ratings in the overall area.... Their greatest strength was in the outlying areas. For many listeners, these stations were a musical lifeline... the one radio station that provided a strong signal and played the music they liked.

Although WAPE signed on in the morning and off in the late afternoon with a short, fast-paced Star Spangled Banner, both WVOK and WBAM used a short, fast-paced Dixie. Dan Brennan hosted the pre-recorded "Dan's Dusty Discs" at 4:00 on all the Brennan stations… 30 minutes of oldies, with no commercial interruption. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, The Mighty 690 carried shorter newscasts and longer weather forecasts than most Top 40's (Leroy Cumbie was News Director, from 1958 until 1970). Dan Brennan was the station’s voice on station “drops”… with phrases like, “Every hour on the hour, the Big Ape scans the Weather Eye”, “Here’s a hit from the past that will always last” and “From the Big Ape Hall of Fame” (this one was always followed by a Country classic). Ken Fuller handled mornings (and served as Program Director) for some time, Jack Mock did mid-days and station star Dino Summerlin held down afternoons. Ken Rogers held down late afternoons (till sign off) during the summer months. Saturday and Sunday afternoons (from 3 to sign off) and was the host of the weekend pool party counting down the current top 40 hits. Other Big Ape alumni from the early years included Ted Jones, Bobby Dee, Bert James, Barry Kryspin, Cliff Hall, Jr., future Sales Manager Jim Atkins and former WBAM personalities Jimmie Adams and Charlie Herman. For years, WAPE had fewer commercials than other stations in the region, although this was certainly not part of the strategic plan.

WAPE featured the notorious and distinct Ape Call, a Tarzan-like yell taken from a 1956 song by Nervous Norvus. The Ape Call identified and branded WAPE more effectively than any radio station's jingles (almost fifty years later, WAPE-FM still uses The Ape Call at the top of almost every hour). Each summer, listeners looked forward to the Big Ape Convention, sometimes called the Big Ape Shower of Stars. These Saturday afternoon concerts featured an incredible lineup of the biggest stars of the day (with much of the lineup duplicated at shows in Birmingham and Montgomery). Another summertime feature of The Big Ape was the weekend pool parties. The pool attracted crowds who often became part of the on-air entertainment. WAPE was a major force in radio for listeners in Savannah, Charleston and Myrtle Beach. The station had billboards along the main north-south highway, US 17 in Georgia and South Carolina, wherever the road ran near the coast. The boards were short and distinctive, a cutout of the Ape holding a sign with the words "WAPE, 690… 500 Miles of Music".

The Big Ape followed its own path. When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, radio stations in every format played only beautiful music (elevator music) and many dropped all commercials. Day and night, for three days, there was no rock ‘n roll on the radio, from WPDQ, Jacksonville, WQAM, Miami, WLOF, Orlando, WLCY, Tampa, not even from the New York City and Chicago stations. Big Ape covered it on the news, but stayed “in format” otherwise. The music played on.