Easy as the breeze...

May 14, 2013 11:53 AM

The Boston easy listening station WJIB has developed a cult following among senior citizens, children, and young artsy types. Before local radio legend Bob Bittner revived the call letters and format of the beloved beautiful music station, the 740 frequency had an unusual and eccentric history.

Throughout the 1970s, the independently-owned station WCAS held down the 740 frequency. The initials stood for Watertown, Cambridge, Arlington, and Somerville. The station was known for its folk music format (including the weekly live music broadcast from Passim), but the quirky format attracted a loyal (if small) listener base. Though the station shut down at dusk (due to issues unique to AM radio), they made this into a selling point, and even composed songs and wrote sketches to close out their program day. Though the station survived two community fundraising events, they closed their doors in 1981.

posted by pxe2000 (15 comments total)

This was on pretty much non-stop at my Granma's house, from a big old console hi-fi, with a very fashion-forward fiber-optic centerpiece displayed on the part that didn't flip up. When you heard the ship-bells and seagulls, you knew the radio was on, and more Liberace than any human being can reasonably stand was on the way.
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:06 PM on May 14, 2013

Growing up in the 70s, the old WJIB-FM 96.9 was for scorning. It was, literally, elevator music. Luckily, this new station has nothing to do with that.
posted by Melismata at 12:17 PM on May 14, 2013

You're telling I have to try to figure out how to get AM on my receiver? All right, I'll give it a shot over the weekend. (No, 'ZBC, I don't need that much reggae!)
posted by benito.strauss at 12:30 PM on May 14, 2013

They spent $2,036.20 but only $119.40 for internet access. Something's not right.
posted by jsavimbi at 12:35 PM on May 14, 2013

I think they're not streaming, so that amount, combined with 400 free hours on AOL, is enough to pay for their office email service.
posted by benito.strauss at 12:38 PM on May 14, 2013

740 WJIB was my landlord's favorite station for months, at least until he became sick of the constant repetition of songs like Tennessee Waltz, Sentimental Journey, and Portrait of my Love on their narrow playlist, and I even acquired some appreciation myself for the music of that era.
posted by The Confessor at 1:14 PM on May 14, 2013

So let's say they used NetZero at $9.99/month but how does one spend $2000 on 'telephones.' Who exactly were they calling when the donations come in through the mail?

Also, somewhere out there my gramps is listening to Perry Como on WJIB whilst drinking an ice-cold can of Ballantine Ale.
posted by jsavimbi at 1:24 PM on May 14, 2013 [3 favorites]

Oh, man! I loved Jib! Even as a kid I was a total square. I loved Jib and I loved WSRS (Where The Beautiful Music Is* (was - now it looks like WSRS is where the generic adult variety is.)

*You have failed me, internet. I can't find a link to the old WSRS station bumper.
posted by dirtdirt at 2:12 PM on May 14, 2013

For people of my age, it seems right somehow that this stuff is on the radio somewhere. We will eventually find some elderly people preserved in string crescendos, like flies in amber (although it sounds like they play mostly pop vocal stuff, and the worst of it at that. Que Sera Sera? Really?)
posted by thelonius at 2:28 PM on May 14, 2013

more Liberace than any human being can reasonably stand was on the way.

I'd rather Liberace than Enya and Richard Marx, both of whom have made it onto the WJIB playlists of late.

...says the girl who listens to 'JIB late at night, while getting ready for bed.
posted by pxe2000 at 3:46 PM on May 14, 2013

In my house in the 70s, we called WJIB "dinner music." It was part of separating dinner from the noise (TV blare, brothers fighting over toys, etc.) that bracketed it. I have a soft spot for it.
posted by drowsy at 5:14 PM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Bell and seagulls in 1967.
posted by adamg at 7:54 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]

I wish I could get this. As I’ve gotten older I’ve developed an un-ironic love for easy listening music and AM radio is the way music sounds best.
posted by bongo_x at 11:03 PM on May 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

I was on the tail end of the Beautiful Music format's presence on the Boston radio dial, and I associate it with sitting in the passenger seat of my grandmother's Buick as we drove into town to go shopping at Jordan Marsh.

When I'm stuck in delis or drugstores, I find myself missing the Beautiful Music radio format the most. Why would anyone want to listen to Jason Mraz or the Plain White Ts when (say) "Classical Gas" or the theme from A Summer Place gets the same job done in a much classier way?
posted by pxe2000 at 5:10 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

I had no idea this existed, but I'm pleased to know that I can kind of pick up the sister station out of Bath, ME. It hits just the right balance of "corny old person music" and unsettling broadcast timewarp to make for a compelling listen through AM static.
posted by anthom at 5:26 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]