Radio Listeners Welcomed To WHN Reunion

Just as New York finally gets a new country radio station, some of the pillars of the city’s country radio history are having a reunion — and inviting fans to join the fun, reports David Hinckley at nydailynews.com.

WHN 1050 AM played country music from March 25,1973, to July 1, 1987, with a unique sound that mixed timely artists like George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis and Dolly Parton with the timeless Hank Williams.

Ed Salamon

Ed Salamon, the programmer mainly responsible for that sound, has put together a 40th anniversary panel Monday night at Hill Country Live, 30 W. 26th St.

Participants will be WHN personalities Lee Arnold, Dan Taylor, Mike Fitzgerald, Jessie, Alan Colmes and Larry Kenney.

It starts at 7:30 tonight , with the doors open at 6, and the night will conclude with live music by the Bellamy Sons, Noah and Jessie. There is no admission charge.

The reunion then continues Tuesday on WFDU (89.1 FM), 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m. The microphones will be taken over by Arnold, Kenney, Taylor, Fitzgerald and Jessie, with Gene Ladd doing the news.

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For those who want to study up on the station, Salamon has also written a book called “WHN: When New York City Went Country” (Archer, $19.99).

The reason WHN was successful in what’s not generally considered a country town, says Salamon, was personalities and music that reflected the city.

Now an executive in Nashville, Salamon sees no reason new country station WNSH (94.7 FM) can’t succeed, as long as it connects to an audience he says is sprinkled all around the town.

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