Founded in 1926, WWRL originally had a multi-lingual format serving the various ethnic communities of New York City. The radio station took on a mostly Spanish identity in the 1950s. In the mid-1960s, under the direction of news director Dick...
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Founded in 1926, WWRL originally had a multi-lingual format serving the various ethnic communities of New York City. The radio station took on a mostly Spanish identity in the 1950s. In the mid-1960s, under the direction of news director Dick London, the station oriented towards African Americans living in New York City. As the station became an advocate for legislative change, London invited community leaders to voice their concerns publicly on air. The music and news advocacy was an integral part of the Black American community. WWRL played rhythm and blues music from 1964 to 1982, before changing to urban contemporary gospel music and religious programming from 1982 to 1997. DJ's for WWRL in the 1960s included Frankie Crocker and Jocko Henderson. Today, WWRL is the New York City outlet of the Black Information Network (BIN). This collection consists of one-page WWRL weekly newsletters which listed the "Soul 16", or the top 16 soul songs in the United States. These newsletters were available for free at various record stores. The newsletters listed songs under various headings, such as "New Sounds", "Boss Blues", and "On the Move". Around 1969, the newsletter's title changed to "WWRL Soul 16 Survey" and in the early 1970s, it changed again to "The Big 16 WWRL". Additonally, new category names included "Hit Bound" and "Top of the Dome". The collection contains newsletters from 1966-1972, but some years are incomplete.
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