Present

WGOE currently operates as an Internet Radio Station serving the Richmond, Virginia region.

In its current form, the website operates as a searchable information resource for the many thousands of fans of the old station as well as others who are interested in discovering things to see and do in the Virginia region.

The website features a rich and searchable database containing many Artists, Businesses and an Entertainment Guide.

It has an especially broad and unique database for musicians seeking vendors and other resources.

The WGOE name has been trademarked by Chenault Broadcasting LLC which operates WGOE as wgoe.org

Early Days

The station was first on the air briefly in the late 1950s as a popular Top 40 station with the call letters WEZL, called "Weazel." But, by the end of the 1950s, the station had gone dark due to money problems (and probably due to new Top 40 competition from 24-hour WLEE-AM). The station at 1590 kHz went back on the air in 1964 and was owned by brothers Richard S. (Major) Reynolds III and J. Sargeant Reynolds

J. Sargeant Reynolds

Julian Sargeant Reynolds of Richmond, Virginia was a teacher, businessman, and politician. He served in both the House and Senate of the Virginia General Assembly and served as Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the first Republican to serve in that position since Reconstruction...

, two of the grandsons of the founder of Reynolds Metals Company

Reynolds Metals

Reynolds Group Holdings is an American packaging company with its roots in the Reynolds Metals Company, was the second largest aluminum company in the United States, and the third largest in the world...

. The transmitter was near Holly Spring Avenue and Hopkins Road in South Richmond. The studios were at Willow Lawn in Henrico County

Henrico County, Virginia

Henrico is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2010, Henrico was home to 306,935 people. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, later moving to Southside Richmond on Belt Boulevard, and later to Carytown in Central Richmond.

−
−

The 1960s Top 40 Years

−
−
Early on air talent included Jess Duboy and "Gentleman" Jim Granger, Charley Flowers, "Bachelor" Bill Meade, Tom Ogburn, Larry Lewis, Bill James, and Bob Mann. Local legend Norman "Bob-A-Lou" Freedlander also worked there during the station's Top 40 1960s heyday.

−
−
In the mid-1960s, WGOE briefly had an FM sister station under different ownership when the Reynolds brothers took on management duties on local classical FM station 103.7 WFMV, which was onwed by Fidelity Bankers Life Insurance Company. (WFMV was sold off to a Pennsylvania absentee-investor in 1968.) During this time, 1590 would bill themselves "WGOE...All The Way Right," to refer to the 1590 position to the far right of the AM dial, and also as "GO Radio" to refer to the WGOE call letters. From about 1964 to 1970, the station enjoyed local success and decent ratings during the “golden era of Top 40" and, for a while, was an aggressive competitor to then market-leading Top 40 station WLEE

WLEE

WLEE is a News/Talk formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, serving Metro Richmond. WLEE is owned and operated by Davidson Media Group....

.

The 1970s Progressive Years

−
−
By 1970, listener habits were changing, and WGOE's listenership was falling off mostly due increased competition from then-Top 40 competitors WLEE

WLEE

WLEE is a News/Talk formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, serving Metro Richmond. WLEE is owned and operated by Davidson Media Group....

-AM and WTVR

WTVR

WTVR may refer to:* WTVR-TV, a television station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, United States* WTVR-FM, a radio station licensed to Richmond, Virginia, United States...

-AM. Both boasted 24-hour signals (as opposed to WGOE's daytime only signal), along with a rumored change to Top 40 coming on then crosstown automated country station WRVA-FM (which became fact in 1972 when that station became Top 40 as WRVQ).

−
−
Seeing the success of a late night album rock weekend show on crosstown WEZS-FM called "Veronica Lake" that presented rock LP cuts in the then up-and-coming "Progressive" style made popular by several west coast FM stations, the station decided to start its own daytime weekend Progressive Rock show in 1970 called "Saturday Subway." Seeing good results from the "Subway" show, the Top 40 format was dropped and the Progressive Album Rock format was put on full time in late 1970.

−
−
During WGOE's Progressive days, they were the only local commercial station that would play "new rock music" right "out of the box" and exposed many up-and-coming artists throughout the 70s, many who became rock legends. Among the regular visitors to the station were Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...

, Todd Rundgren

Todd Rundgren

Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...

, and Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

, who was a local resident at the time. During the 70s, the station was commonly known simply by its last three call letters: G-O-E. The station also would venture into folk, Jazz, Blues, R&B , and even classical .