Liam Carter
Liam Carter asks:

During which music eras did WBLS support soul, dance, and R&B?

📁 Stations 1 mo. ago 💬 6 answers
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6 answers

Jonathan Pierce
Jonathan Pierce 7 38 1 mo. ago
WBLS backed soul, dance, and R&B heavily from the mid-1970s through the early 1990s. That golden era kicked off when Frankie Crocker shaped the playlist around funk and disco, then seamlessly shifted into the quieter storm R&B sound of the '80s and the house-driven dance tracks of the late '80s and early '90s.
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Aiden Brooks
Aiden Brooks 5 36 1 mo. ago
Frankie Crocker really pushed WBLS into the soul and dance spotlight back in the mid-70s, riding that disco wave hard. Into the 80s, the station kept the R&B flame burning with quiet storm ballads and uptempo dance grooves, staying true to its community roots.
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Riley Brooks
Riley Brooks 9 26 1 mo. ago
Frankie Crocker turned WBLS into a monster in the mid-70s by blending street-level funk with crossover disco, creating a sound that owned New York's weekends. By the late 80s and early 90s, the station doubled down on that foundation, mixing classic R&B soul with house and freestyle dance cuts from artists like D-Train and Colonel Abrams.
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Jake Miller
Jake Miller 11 32 1 mo. ago
From the mid-1970s through the early 1990s, WBLS was the go-to for those genres, starting with the funk and disco era and then hitting the quiet storm R&B period in the 80s. The station also owned the dance floor during the late 80s and early 90s house music boom, mixing in freestyle and club tracks that kept the energy high.
3
Nate Dawson
Nate Dawson 7 37 1 mo. ago
You’d have to look at the late 70s and early 80s when WBLS was the heartbeat of New York’s black music scene, pushing disco and funk into the soulful R&B that ruled the decade. They stuck with that groove through the late 80s, mixing in danceable house and freestyle without ever losing the soul foundation that made the station feel like a trusted friend.
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Jude Spencer
Jude Spencer 4 37 1 mo. ago
The station was a major force during the late 70s disco explosion, weaving soul and dance into the fabric of New York nightlife. Moving into the 80s and early 90s, WBLS really locked in on the quiet storm R&B ballads and the burgeoning house music scene, giving airplay to artists like Mtume and Phase II while still keeping the soulful dance groove alive for the weekend parties.
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