Editing WEPN-FM (section)

==== Enter "Kiss FM" (1981–1994) ====
[[File:WRKS-FM 1981 radio logo.png|thumb|upright|WRKS logo from 1981 to 1994]]
In June 1981, the station was known on-air as "FM 99 WXLO making its move to 98.7". By the middle of July, the station had changed its call sign to WRKS-FM (the meaning of which originally referred to its being an RKO Station) and adopted the on-air brand ''98.7 Kiss FM'', as the station's transition to this new [[urban contemporary]] format was completed by that August. The first song on "Kiss FM" was ''Make That Move'' by [[Shalamar]].<ref>{{cite web |title=WXLO 98.7 New York – Launch of 98.7 Kiss FM – Charlie Burger / Mary Thomas – July 31 1981 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxbo7wJH6hs  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/Sxbo7wJH6hs |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |url-status=live|via=YouTube |access-date=March 12, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Early on, WRKS played a great deal of [[R&B]] and [[dance music]], and became an almost instant hit with listeners, as its ratings skyrocketed from 22nd place to third. Notable Kiss FM Mixmasters at the time [[Shep Pettibone]] and, later, [[Tony Humphries (musician)|Tony Humphries]], were commissioned to create longer versions of current popular songs. Longtime [[urban contemporary]] leader [[WBLS]] was caught off-guard by the sudden rise of the new station, which represented its first direct competition in that format.

Around mid-1983, the station approached [[Afrika Bambaataa]] about an underground [[hip hop music]] show. He liked the idea and appointed [[DJ Jazzy Jay]], a fellow member of [[Universal Zulu Nation|Zulu Nation]]. He then passed the gig on to his cousin, [[DJ Red Alert]]. In Fall 1983, WRKS became the first station in the United States to play [[rap music]] in regular rotation. Also that year, non-R&B dance music and disco were phased out, as the station played strictly music catering mainly to an African-American audience. WBLS responded by hiring [[Mr. Magic]] to conduct a weekend rap show, which helped WBLS reach number-three in the ratings that year, beating out WRKS. Nevertheless, the station had made such strides in its first two-and-a-half years that it resulted in Barry Mayo being promoted as general manager, the first African-American to hold such a position in the RKO radio chain.

WRKS incorporated artists such as [[Kurtis Blow]], [[Whodini]], [[Run DMC]], [[Fat Boys]], [[LL Cool J]], and [[Public Enemy]] into the same rotation as such established acts as [[Ashford & Simpson]], [[Kool and the Gang]], and [[Gladys Knight]]. In 1986, [[Indianapolis]]-based [[Emmis Communications]] launched WQHT (then at 103.5 FM), which had an early emphasis on dance music, forcing WRKS and WBLS to add more dance music to their playlists again. In 1988, Mayo left to organize a new broadcasting company with Lee S. Simonson and Bill Pearson, and RKO appointed Charles Warfield (former general manager of WBLS) as the new general manager of WRKS. With Vinny Brown as the station's program director, WRKS became the No. 1 radio station in the largest media market in the world for six years right through the mid 1990s.

By the late 1980s, however, RKO General was forced out of the broadcasting business when the FCC began revoking its licenses to its radio and television stations in New York, [[Boston]] and Los Angeles because of gross misconduct and lack of candor on the part of its corporate parent, the [[General Tire]] and Rubber Company.<ref>[http://www.nyls.edu/cmc/uscases/rko.htm RKO General, Inc. v. FCC (1981)-II. Invalid Bases of the FCC Decision; III. RKO's Lack of Candor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831093020/http://www.nyls.edu/cmc/uscases/rko.htm |date=August 31, 2006 }}. Retrieved 11/27/06.</ref> Having already been stripped in 1982 of its license to [[WNAC-TV (defunct)|WNAC-TV]] in Boston, RKO was left with no choice but to break up its broadcasting unit.<ref>[http://www.nyls.edu/cmc/uscases/rko.htm RKO General, Inc. v. FCC (1981)-(Intro) Opinion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831093020/http://www.nyls.edu/cmc/uscases/rko.htm |date=August 31, 2006 }}. Retrieved 12/09/06.</ref> In New York City, RKO's three stations were sold to different companies during a two-year period beginning in 1987. Two years after WOR-TV went to [[MCA Inc.|MCA]] (and renamed [[WWOR-TV]]), on June 26, 1989, RKO sold WRKS to the Summit Communications Group of [[Atlanta]].<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1988/BC-1988-12-12.pdf#page=70 "Summit gets WRKS-FM for $50 million."] ''[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]'', December 12, 1988, pg. 66.</ref>  Around the same time, WOR radio was sold to [[Buckley Broadcasting]].

That same year, [[WBLS]] lured on-air personality Mike Love (formerly of the original ''Kiss Wake-Up Club'') to their morning drive show. WRKS immediately formulated a new morning show featuring Ken "Spider" Webb and Jeff Foxx along with then-unknown [[Wendy Williams]]. (Foxx and Webb would continue on for the next several years, while Williams held various shifts on the station.)

For many years, WRKS was number one in the [[Arbitron]] ratings due to its [[hip hop]]-influenced format. WRKS was also the first radio station in the United States to embrace [[dancehall]] and [[reggae]] music by adding Dahved Levy to do a Sunday night reggae show with Sting International. The battle between WRKS and WBLS continued into the 1990s, but a major turning point occurred in the spring of 1994, when WQHT changed formats from dance music to primarily hip-hop by luring "Funk Master Flex" away from WRKS, who, at the time, was a fill-in DJ for "DJ Red Alert" when Red Alert was out on tour or making appearances, thus competing directly with WRKS. WRKS responded by adding "The Bomb Squad Mix Show", hosted by "The N.O." (also known as "The Native One") featuring "DJ Enuff", "DJ Ace", and "Supernatural the Freestyle Fanatic". The Bomb Squad began "breaking" hot new hip-hop artists and ushering in the "Golden Era of Hip Hop". The Bomb Squad was the first hip-hop mix show in the country to play the records of [[The Notorious B.I.G.]], [[Wu Tang Clan]], and [[Mobb Deep]]. The Bomb Squad introduced its signature "bomb dropping" whistle sound effect as they played exclusive new hip-hop music and produced fresh remixes not heard on other urban stations across the country. Leaning towards a younger demographic, the station formulated a new morning show featuring Wendy Williams, who was replaced by "The Native One" during her former 6 p.m.-10 p.m. weeknights shift.

Based on WRKS's success, several radio stations in other markets began to use the "[[KISS-FM (brand)|Kiss FM]]" moniker for branding the station itself or its format. In the case of WRKS, the branding was grandfathered even as [[Clear Channel Communications]] trademarked "Kiss FM" for its use on its [[mainstream top 40]] pop stations in the late 1990s, largely based on [[KIIS-FM]] in Los Angeles, whose "KIIS" name was trademarked by prior owner [[Gannett Company]] in 1986.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = U.S. Patent and Trademark Office | title = Trademark registration 1540895 | access-date = May 3, 2011 | url = http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=73585355}}</ref>