WQXI was THE definition of Top 40 radio in Atlanta, starting in the late 50’s at 790 AM and later at 94.1 FM. But by the late 80’s, the station had evolved into Hot AC territory with ratings in the 4-share range. With the demise of WZGC (Z-93) as a CHR in January 1989, the station reverted to CHR as “Atlanta’s Hit Music Station” for a few months, but faced serious competition from WAPW (Power 99), which kept their ratings down in the 3 to 4 share range. Realizing that they needed to drop their 30+ heritage as a CHR and start from scratch, the station was “blown up” at midnight on November 15th, 1989 and reborn as WSTR (Star 94). Star 94 started out as a Hot AC but switched to Adult CHR in September of 1991. When Power 99 became WNNX (99X) in October 1992, it left Star 94 as the only station that resembled a CHR in the market, and spent the rest of the 90’s straddling between Hot AC and CHR..
Christopher
i wish i had a master copy of the last 94Q promo (about them signing-off the air) and the final announcement from 94Q and the launch of star 94
Brian
Christopher, I have a master copy on a good tape that has been stored for years. I’ll dig that up and record it to digital. Will check back here and see if we can figure a way to get it to you.
Steve M
It was weird hearing John Young of Z93 doing the final station ID for 94Q.
ben
I still miss 94Q! Garo, Atlanta needs you back!
Brady
As much as it always sucks to lose a good station, the CHR format was going down the tubes, but I think they could have at least held onto the Q branding until the early 90s and then re-imaged as Hot AC, maybe preserving the Q moniker.
Trixie Rodriguez
I knew all those djs and they were great fun to hang out with. Remember the ferris wheel in buckhead? Russ and Craig and Harriett we miss you.
RW
Gary McKee, Willis The Guard, Yetta Levitt, Beau Bach, The Birthday Monster, Lobster Alerts, Slow that car down, don’t you come drivin through here like you crazy!
McKee spun my favorite music and kept me laughing. He is my favorite all time DJ. The day he said goodbye on 94.1 was a heart breaker. Thanks for the memories guys!
Donnie Gerrin
wqxi am one of the greatest stations in the 60s and 70s. Funny djs such as Dr. Don Rose and Tony “The Tiger” Taylor and many more made it a great station to listen to and who can forget 94q with McKee in the mornings. Fun fun times. Radio now days sucks.
John Haffey
I still wear the 12/75 limited edition belt buckle up here in Pennsylvania!
AtlantaRadioGuy
94 QXI was a mess by late 1989.
Jerry Blum was a genius in the 1960s and 1970s, but when he gave programming control to the sales department in the 1980s, they should have put him out to pasture right then. Sales ruined that station with their laziness in knowing that weeknight “Jazz Flavors” was an easy yuppie-sell, but it was tanking the entire radio station.
Enter Jan Jeffries in mid-1988. His mandate was to bring the station back to its former glory. First thing he did was refocus the music on what was popular, calling the station “Atlanta’s Hit Music 94 QXI” and building on the heritage and legacy of the original 790/WQXI, marrying the old with the new. Then, somehow, he managed to get the gay jazz show banished back to Sundays only. That ended the audience erosion from CHR to jazz and vice versa.
Well…Jerry Blum’s sales slugs had a fit. No jazz?!? You mean we might have to actually do some work? Weh weh weh… So Jerry did a pirouette in his caftan and big oversized Charles Nelson Reilly glasses, fired Jan Jeffries, and took early retirement, but not before issuing the edict that the gay jazz would be returning to weeknights ASAP.
When the ratings came out for the winter and spring of 1989, 94Q was UP in every demo. But by then, Jeffries was gone and the jazz was back. And when the station became Star 94, the ratings went as low as had ever been recorded on 94.1.