: ''For the radio station in
New York City formerly also known as WDRE, see
WLIR . For the station with the current callsign of WDRE, see
WDRE (FM) .''
, known as "Philly's Modern Rock", is a former
Modern Rock station that was broadcasted on the 103.9 frequency in the
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , USA area. The station helped launch the careers of many famous
Disc Jockey s and local personalities. They include Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison of the
Preston And Steve morning show on 93.3
WMMR Philadelphia, Bret Hamilton of
WCAU-TV , Marilyn Russell (formerly of
Y100 ,
WXPN ,
WMGK ), and Jim McGuinn (also known as Rumour Boy), the former Program Director of WPLY Y100 Philadelphia.
WDRE originally started out as 103.9
WIBF Jenkintown, Pennsylvania , which was owned by Fox Broadcasting (not related to
Fox Broadcasting ). The station was bought in
October of
1992 by
Jarad Broadcasting , and on
November 9 ,
1992 ,
WDRE New York started
Simulcasting it's programming with WIBF, and shortly after the simulcast began, WIBF's call letters were changed to WDRE (the same calls as WDRE New York). It was decided however in
1995 that would change it's call letters back to WLIR, thus making WDRE Philadelphia an independent local modern rock station.
, known as "DREgional Volume 1".]] When WDRE Philadelphia became a local radio station, talent was hired from within the city (
Ie Bret Hamilton, formerly of
WIOQ ), and outside of the city. While WDRE never became a true mainstream radio station in the Philadelphia radio market, the station gained a cult status in the Philadelphia area, and as a result, events like the station's music festival held in (known as "DREfest"} sold out to a crowd of over 25,000 people. However, in
December of
1996 ,
Radio One bought WDRE from Jarad Broadcasting, and it was announced that WDRE would be permanently kicked off the air for a
Hip Hop /
R&B radio station.
Due to the informed notice of the station's flip, the staff at WDRE were able to organize a concert called "Bitterfest", which was to be held at
The Electric Factory . The concert featured local acts
G Love and the
Fun Lovin' Criminals , and was created to celebrate the life of WDRE as a local institution for modern rock. On
February 7 ,
1997 , "Bitterfest" was held to a sold out crowd of over 3,000 people, with all of the WDRE staff present at the event. At midnight, a lucky (or unlucky) listener was selected to "pull the plug" on WDRE, and from then on, WDRE ceased to exist. Most WDRE disc jockeys went to local radio station WPLY
Y100 Philadelphia, which ironically, was also bought out by
Radio One (in
2000 ), and was later flipped in
2005 to a Hip Hop/R&B format.
- Mornings - The WDRE Morning Show with Sarah, Spike and Vinnie
- Middays - Bret Hamilton
- Afternoons - Preston Elliot
- Evenings - John Castino
- Overnights - Leigh Taylor
- Sunday Evenings - Marilyn Russell
- Sunday Overnights - Dan Fein
- Various Shifts - Brian Robbins
- Various Shifts - Debbie Mann
- Various Shifts - Gil Edwards
- Various Shifts - Rumour Boy (Jim McGuinn)
