Power 106 FM: Power Mix '87

In the blazing post-disco August of 1986, fledgling New York City radio station WAPP changed its call letters to WQHT and piggybacked the format of its L.A. sister station, Power 106. The newly christened "Hot 103" began mixing club hits into a steady diet of Top 40 fare, often spinning the extended 12" mixes that other N.Y.C. stations wouldn't touch. Within a year, Hot 103 was on top of the city's radio heap and had played a major role in propelling the popularity of freestyle (and dance music in general) from the clubs where it was born back into the streets of New York, and in some cases all the way to America's Heartland. This compilation recalls those heady days with some classic tracks from the era, including the Cover Girls' awesome "Show Me," Safire's freestyle moment-in-time hit "Don't Break My Heart," and "We Connect" from trash-in-the-pan sex kitten Stacey Q. The liner tray proudly proclaims Hot 103's air staff to be "the hottest radio personalities in America," and there's a good chance they were, what with the station's meteoric rise and phenomenal influence over music and its market at the time. But for posterity's sake, it would have been nice if Hot Power Mixes included some airchecks or DJ chatter. ~ Johnny Loftus