WBAM

WBAM signed on in 1953 as AM 740. WBAM was a powerhouse at 50,000 watts, covering much of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

From its earliest days, WBAM put on concerts for the Montgomery area. One of its earliest Big BAM Shows featured Elvis Presley as he ascended to fame, on the same bill with Roy Acuff. Hank Williams was another frequent live on-air performer.

WBAM became known as "The Big BAM" or "The Voice of the Deep South", and is legendary. Disc jockeys associated with WBAM's Top 40 heyday include Bill J. Moody, now the sales manager for WDJR in Dothan, Bobby Brennan, Dan Brennan (Dan's Dusty Discs), Coby Shubert and Joe Cook. Big BAM Shows of the late 1960s and early 1970s featured all the biggest artists of the day, including Paul Revere and the Raiders, Lou Christie, Iron Butterfly, The Carpenters, The Monkees (as a group and individually), Tommy Joyce and Bobby Heart, The Grass Roots, and many more. Ticket prices were never more expensive than $4.00.

Mornings were dedicated to farm and gospel music programming, with country and popular music played during the day. When 740 AM powered down at night, one would hear "Dixie" as a sign-off.

In 1973, WBAM-AM 740 adopted a country music format. In 1978, WBAM-FM 98.9 signed on with a Top 40 format. AM 740 was sold to Colonial Broadcasting in 1985, and an era ended when the call letters changed to WMSP for sports radio programming.

In the mid-1950s, the station was home to the "WBAM Deep South Jamboree" featuring live country and bluegrass acts such as Shorty Sullivan and his Green Valley Boys, Rebe Gosdin and his Sunny Valley Gang, Judy Jenkins, Jack Turner, and other rotating regulars.

Radio personality Johnny Gilbert began his broadcasting career at WBAM. Gilbert was killed in a helicopter accident while working as an airborne traffic reporter at KULF in Houston, Texas, on March 15, 1974. He was posthumously awarded the Steve Pieringer Award by the Texas Association of Broadcasters in 1974.

Station's like WBAN frequently promoted area and seasonal concerts during the Top 40 era.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the station sponsored a series of pop/rock concerts known as "Big BAM Shows" featuring acts ranging from Paul Revere and the Raiders, Lou Christie, and The Beach Boys to comedian Pat Paulsen. Other notable former personalities included Bill J. Moody, Paul Simpkins, Mark Robbins, Gene Hocutt and Joe Cook.

Paul Simpkins, an original WBAM on-air personality from the time of the station's launch in 1953 until the sale in 1984, received a number of honors during his more than three decades with the station. These include being named Sterling Magazine Personality of the Month and TV Radio Mirror Personality of the Month in 1967, 1968 and 1972. Simpkins was inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame in 1998.