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Proud to have been listening for the best part - 1985-1988!

96 Rock Atlanta Georgia Classic Rock And Album Oriented Rock From 1974 To 1993 Totally Amazing Badass

Mark McCain DJd a dance at Rockdale High School in 1982. We had a blast. Heritage & Rockdale & Newton hung out a lot. We cruised both of the K-Mart plazas & we were just living our best lives.

😅Bring it back

IF 96 ROCK could start up again with some due diligence to the Atlanta Metro, it would be as if it never left Whoever (or whatever) it was that caused them to shut down should be unemployed. We only have the River these days, leading many away from FM broadcasting and annoying commercials. Most stations play FREE music that you can play for yourself. If not that, then pay per play is cheap. Ever wonder why they almost never play an odd request anymore? Not allowed if not on the list. Why bother when we can all listen to whatever we want at any time? Deregulation with changing times has allowed these conglomerates to sever their own wrists.

Thanks so much for sharing this ! As a life long Atlanta gal, I absolutely loved 96 Rock, always put me in a good mood, especially the Friday 5:00 whistle. I sure miss those days , such great times, and great music , and, of course, 96 Rock had the very best DJ’s ! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

What an awesome video. Broght back some memories!

Come on, Southside. We know why the license tags were really flipped upside down.

I remember when you announced the Lynyrd Skynyrd accident. You were my alarm back then. We were all shocked that day. I also won John Lennons album Double Fantasy. I picked it up from your studio off Clairmont...John was shot a week later. Always in my heart 96 Rock!!!

What a cool story. I still have a 96 rock bumper sticker NOS. So many memories come back. Sitting on the mountain above Young Harris so we could hear the premiere of REO live. Couldn't hear the station down in the valleys.

No mention of " the wake -,up crew, or the regular guys show ??? what the hell.!!!??? ( That's my generation.)

Peeteetong!

I listened to 96rock wkls in Atlanta for 25 of the 32 years it was there. Now I'm listening to 96rock on iheart radio. 96rock wkls was the best rock station on earth...hell yeah...

12:25 I feel the same as do many others.

Still have my tag on my truck, upside down. 96rock lives on for those of us who still rock on.

is that "Officer Don"?

Fantastic video about the greatest ROCK station Atlanta ever had or will have. Deregulation destroyed FM radio back in the 90's and it will never be the same. Pretty much all syndicated crap these days, or a revamped "99 Xcrement" that sucked when it was first on the air in the 90's wasteland of rock music. I was lucky enough to be in my teenage years when 96rock cranked up in the 70's. So many good memories of new groups and songs I had never heard before. I remember taping 96 rock for hours before going on a trip to Daytona, so we would have something to listen to on the way there and back. The station did so many cool promotions around town, and they were there at all the good concerts....and man did we have good shows come through town back then. I remember many a night spent at the Omni in a haze of smoke from all the "alternative" items being lit up. I also remember many stops at the Waffle House or Steak & Shake on the way back out to the burbs after the shows. Concerts seemed to always make you hungry back then.... Also gotta say kudos for having Officer Don give the station origin story. If you lived here in the 60's, you'll remember him from the Popeye Club kiddie show that ran on WSB Channel 2 on Saturday mornings. And with that all that's left is to share the words of Dean and say "Come get me Mother, I'm through".

99x hurt 96 rock a bit by taking away the youth audience. Alternative rock was the cool thing in the 90s, while Hard rock was dated and old timey. 1996 act hurt it and eventually the rise of southern hip hop put the nail in the coffin. By the 2000s, Atlanta was known as the mecca of trap rap music, it became a hip hop city. Since then, we've had Rock 100.5 but that sucks, its too corporate and mediocre. They try to play new rock artist but then they follow it up with an overplayed rock song from the past. I guess the ratings drops whenever they play new stuff. Thats sad. SInce the 80s college radio stations have Wreckage 91.1, heavy metal every Friday nights from 12am to 6am and Album 88 on 88.5 that plays rare indie rock, post punk and indie pop.

The Greatest radio station ever. I loved 96 Rock and parties at Uncle Tom's Tavern, and it was a party.

Still have my 96rock plate that I actually bought from their studio one day after work (1985?). It was placed (upside down) on several of my cars in the day and now proudly hung in my garage upside down.

96 rock is back on iHeartRadio but the FCC needs to give the boot to power 96.1 so they can be back on FM radio permanently, amen

My FAVORITE “family”, as radio was OUR thing! Thank you 96rock for making my era- Love Gen X!

The greatest rock station in Georgia 96.1 ROCK EVER

The greatest rock station ever! I grew up listening to it in the 70s and 80s. and can still listen to it now. Thank you for this!

You can blame Republicans and their corporate donors for the deregulation of telecommunications. After 1986, both Clear Channel and Sinclair Broadcast Group started acquiring regional and local radio stations, the Party was OVER! They fired almost all of the local radio personalities and went with syndication! You will never see a local Radio station like 96-Rock again.

Wasn't the night guy Blade Runner in the late 80s?

I wish there were more views. This was entertaining and informative...done professionally in fun way. Exactly like the station itself. I was a Yankee that attended Georgia Tech (RAMBLIN WRECK!). Lived in ATL from Sept '87 until Mar '92...96 Rock was the go to station. The 5 O'clock Friday Whistle never got old...it was a celebration public service announcement that brought a smile to our faces. Keeping it vague here...we had drinking games in college around this tradition. When I came back down for a visit in '96...broke my heart it was gone. Please keep this up for ad long as you can.

Very cool

I was about 14 (1978), and we lived in Doraville at the time and our phone still had a party line. 96 Rock was doing a contest, and if you know party lines it's a nightmare trying to get free time to call someone, especially a radio station...long story short I made it through - 3rd caller, if I remember correctly it was for a Styx concert or maybe Nugent...anyway I was so excited the DJ told me I won and said "hold on we'll be right back" and like a dumba$$ I hung up...what a putz. Loved 96Rock!

Loved the weekend whistle. !!

Check out 96 rock on I heart radio. Really enjoying the content.

96 Rock was great. And then we got 99X. And now Rock 100.5! Atlanta has had it good for nearly 50 years!

Great thing is....it's back! 96 rock is on Iheart radio!!

And now 15 years later 96 Rock is back on the iHeartRadio app!

Bailey is a douche

The Friday 5 oclock whistle was always such a welcomed relief to a shitty work week and the beginning of a beer filled, panty chasing weekend. Georgia is home to some of the hottest chicks anywhere in the world. Big natural boobs and flat stomachs. Damn it man, I wish I were 18 again.

Worked there 2001 to 2006 in sales before they blew it up. Was a blast. Met all kinds of fun celebrities and went to some hysterical events.

96 rock in the '70's was as good as any radio station anywhere 🎸👍

I remember cruising around Stone Mountain park listening to 96 Rock. Great times!

Thanks, Great time to be in ATL!!

96 Rock emerged during the golden age of FM radio! On the dial, the station was just above WPCH (94.9 I think) which, in the early to mid-70s, was THE "elevator / easy listening music" station in Atlanta. Anyway, 96 Rock's willingness to play album sides was always nice. Jeff Winter? Seem to remember that DJ name. Anyway, 96 rock did a good thing with their Homecookin' albums to feature local bands. Can't say I agreed with their choice of bands but at least they wanted to give hometown groups a shot. They might have also sponsored a battle of the bands thing - seem to remember that but maybe it was before 96 Rock (Thermos Greenwood won the contest) For whatever reason, I didn't listen to the station that much after say mid-80s. No particular reason - just moved on. But glad someone took the time to put this video together to capture the history. I think at some point they moved over off Clairmont? In 1979 I won one of those "be the 5th caller" type of things to win a copy of The Wall which also entered me into a contest to get tickets to see The Wall concert in one of the few cities it was playing - LA I think.

When they shut it down Nov 17th 2006 was the "Day Music Died" RIP 96ROCK

facebook.com/groups/173301292715745/ Willard At 96 Rock

I just remember when the whistle ended with 96 Rock and Roll Jet Patrol WKLS FM and AM... and the audio of that big helicopter roaring by..

Clive Cliverson

The very first song they played when the station officially was 96 rock was Baba O' Riley by the who,my two favorite DJ's there were Willard and kaedy kiley, the only rock station Atlanta has is rock 100.5 but it will never compare to 96 rock,I listen to wbab 102.3 from Long island on my app because the stations today will never be what they used to be

Ahhh...96 Rock. I was listening in on that first day in 1974 - 13 years old, and an instant convert from WQXI-AM. Jeff Winter used to wake me on my alarm clock for school - "Good morning, it's 7 O'clock, and this is 96 Rock, WKLS_FM, Atlanta..." I won lots of great albums and concert tickets from the station - my favorite was - in 1977 - the entire Yes catalogue, and 2 tickets to their show at the OMNI - my dad picked up all my winnings for me, because his office was close to the station - we lived in Decatur. Anyway, the first half of this video really brings back a lot of memories - my years there in GA were 74-79, and what an influence the station was on me and my musical tastes!

They did indeed have the 18-35 demo locked down from the start. A big advertiser back then was the Shane Company, remarkably their radio ad approach is the same today 46 years later still voiced by Tom Shane. When it was easy listening they had an ad that played on the call letters "WKLS...that's class"

Great video! Jeff Winter lived just up the street from me growing up in the mid '70's. I always knew him as the radio guy.

I am from Atlanta....remember the first who song played....I was 16 years old in 1975......96 was the staple for a whole generation. Who else remembers hearing "We don't need to pay you to listen to 96 rock". Mark McCain and Steve Mitchell....what a great time!