Final Farewells at a Legendary Radio Station

On April 26, Emmis Communications announced that its 98.7-FM frequency had been leased to ESPN, which would begin broadcasting at midnight on April 29. That left just a few days to collectively mourn the passing of one of the city’s most prominent African-American radio stations, WKRS or KISS-FM.

The late-1970s block party atmosphere of the April 27 gathering could not obscure the worries that many employees had about the future. Some had already been told that they were losing their jobs. The KISS brand has been bought by YMF Media, the owner of its rival, WBLS, 107.5-FM. The KISS D.J.’s Shaila Scott and Lenny Green have been offered jobs at WBLS; two syndicated D.J.’s, Tom Joyner and Michael Baisden, have not, according to station executives. Many of the younger employees on hand, and many listeners, too, said that they had grown up with KISS, which made its debut on Aug. 1, 1981, on the same day as MTV, though with a playlist that emphasized disco, R&B and rap, rather than rock. The first song played, from KISS’s original studios at 1440 Broadway, was Shalamar’s “Make That Move.” But in 1994, after Emmis bought KISS, it began to change its sound. Rap was relegated to WQHT, or 97.1-FM, which is known as Hot 97. KISS was reinvented as a classic soul and R&B station for an older audience, with playlists that included Marvin Gaye, the Jacksons, Prince and Luther Vandross. Around the same time, well-known performers like Isaac Hayes, Ashford and Simpson and Roberta Flack took to the microphones with their own shows. The station, which long held the No. 1 spot in its market but has struggled in recent years, also helped start the career of Wendy Williams, now a television talk show host.