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  • Spotlight 08

    Spotlight 08 DOWNLOAD
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    This week we highlight WCPR/WFAT/WHOT all stations helmed by he same scurvy crew Hank Hayes and Jim Nazium.

    It all began with WCPR on the upper end of the AM broadcast band in the mid 70s. Which was visited by the FCC and subsequently taken off the air. It wouldn’t bee the last time Hank and Jim crossed paths with the FCC. They wer’nt off the airwaves for long, they soon returned with the soon to be legendary WFAT.

    WFAT signed on April 14th, 1979 to say goodbye – at least until things calmed down a little. As they were preparing to wrap up the show. Jim noticed the courtyard below filling up with official-looking vehicles, out of which FCC agents began running into the building. “Hal” and “Larry” announced that the FCC was on the way up, and immediately pulled the plug on the show, dismantling the transmitter and cutting the long wire antenna. The FCC agents were not fooled.   It wasn’t long before they were back on the air via FM as WILD, a low power outlet at 91.5 under the new names of Hank Hayes and Jim Nazuim.

    By 1980, the guys were in a new location, doing semi-regular broadcasts at 91.5 FM (or “91 and a half” as it was being called) as the newly-christened WHOT-FM, sporting a new sounding Top-40/Oldies format that relied on the time-honored radio traditions of high-personality on-air DJs, jingles, and (of course) reverb!

    By 1985, WHOT’s listenership was growing in leaps and bounds, thanks in no small part to a power boost  and an increase in broadcast hours. Then, during the early-morning hours of November 26th when suddenly there was a pounding on the door. Jim looked through the peephole to see two FCC agents demanding entry to the building. WHOT  signed off abruptly, and refused to answer the door. After an hour or so of knocking, the FCC agents gave up. After spending some time off the air, WHOT relocated temporarily to a different address, thanks to a listener who himself would run a pirate later – none other than Johnny Lightning of WJPL fame. WHOT got through the New Year’s Show of ‘85, and as impossible as it sounds, the FCC showed up AGAIN at the “new” location early in 1986! Again, having no warrant, their entry was refused. WHOT had now been “busted” twice in two different locations within the last three months – without any actual “bust”.

    There is a lot of history and information to these guys and I cant do them justice. Everything from their stint on RNI to the return of WHOT in 1987 to its bust in July of 89. Then the Radio free New York crew on WWCR shortwave, then finally broadcasting on WBCQ.
    The hank and Jim radio team have a huge amount of pirate radio history and deservedly placed in the  pirateradiohalloffame.com from there you can follow the links to the many pages dedicated to their radio history, with air checks and video from the busts and a lot of really interesting material.

    Find the entire 1983 Independence Day aircheck HERE  And the entire history pages HERE.