WAPE (defunct) - The Late 1960s

The Late 1960s

In early 1967, Jim Shirah, who had grown up in Daytona Beach and worked in Daytona and Orlando, was brought in from WIRK, West Palm Beach, to do mid-days. After Jim took the ratings for his show from #16 to # 1 in a single ratings period, Ike Lee recommended to the Brennans that Jim be appointed Program Director and morning host. Shirah, who was 23, had been listening to the Big Ape since it hit the air. He was given complete freedom to put his vision on the radio and assembled a strong and varied lineup. The “In-Men” fronted an audience-driven radio station that successfully incorporated highly diverse elements… maintaining continuity and heritage, while taking on a hipper, late '60s attitude and significantly embracing what could easily have been polarizing rock from The Doors, Cream, Deep Purple and Eric Burdon and the Animals. WAPE took chances on songs like 'I Love You' from The People, 'Mechanical World' from Spirit, 'I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know' from (Al Kooper’s original) Blood, Sweat and Tears and 'I Put A Spell On You' from the Alan Price Set. The Big Ape featured local bands like Mouse and the Boys and (future Allman Brothers Band heavyweight Dickie Betts’) Second Coming.

The music list became The Tuff Thirty (tuff, not to be confused with “tough”, was a popular word at the time, meaning cool). Shirah added high-quality “PAMS” jingles to the station and stepped up the showbiz qualities. As Jim put it, “listening to the Ape then was like listening to 5 different stations. I loved Elvis (still do) and played his stuff. Dale was more into country, so he sneaked in Dolly and Tammy. Alan loved Cream, The Doors and other "head" music of the time, and Honest John loved the Beatles and played lots of their stuff. Ron Wayne liked oldies and local bands, so he leaned on them.” The truth is, Jim knew the heritage and understood the people in the market. The station was coherent... to the listeners.

WAPE featured Jim Shirah from 6 to 9 a.m., Dale Kirby (formerly an assistant engineer), from 9 to noon, Music Director Alan Sands (from WIRK) until 3 and Honest John Ferree (from Daytona’s WMFJ) ‘till 7:00… with Dan Brennan’s "Dan's Dusty Discs" from 4 to 4:30. Ron Wayne (formerly of WPDQ) covered 7 to midnight and Tom Clark (of WLOF, Orlando) handled overnights. When the Big Ape In-Men made an appearance in Waycross or Savannah, they were celebrities. These were heady days for the Big Ape, which soon dominated the Metro, as well as the outlying area. Honest John Ferree recalls three ratings periods in a row in which more than 30% of the listeners were tuned to WAPE. By no means was Jacksonville without serious competition, either… WPDQ always sounded strong. The downside was a dramatic increase in commercials (even in the customized Jacksonville-only version of Dan’s Dusty Discs), plus five-minute newscasts. No doubt, though, The Big Ape was cool again. The ratings were strong throughout the late ‘60s. It looked as if nothing could stop The Big Ape.

The end of an era, however, was just around the corner. Bill Brennan died in a plane crash in 1968. After a time, the Brennan and Benns families divided up the stations, with the Brennans owning WBAM and 50% of WVOK. The Benns family now owned WFLI outright, plus 50% of WVOK. The decision was made to sell WAPE. In April 1970, Stan and Sis Kaplan (owners of WAYS, Charlotte) bought the radio station. The entire airstaff, with the exception of Honest John Ferree, was out. John stayed only a few months. A new phase began for WAPE.

The early to late 1970s 690 WAPE continued to dominate the Jacksonville airwaves with Program Director Bill Burkett, 690 WAPE lineup included (Mornings), Larry Dixon (Dixon and Nixon) with Alan Moore Morning News, (Middays) Tom Murphy, (Afternoons) Cleveland Wheeler (Nights) King Kong Kirby, Weekend air-shifts included Nick Sommers (Nick Sommers Productions) Don Gatlin and many more up and coming Broadcast Legends, In 1975, The Greaseman Joined 690 WAPE as morning anchor replacing Larry Dixon as morning host,