WROX is an

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

radio station in Clarksdale, Mississippi. It is a class C station operating at 1000 watts on 1450 kHz. The WROX studio and business office is located at 628 DeSoto Avenue, one block from the famous 'Crossroads' in Clarksdale. WROX is noted for having had the first black radio announcer in Mississippi, Early Wright, also known as "The Soul Man" and "Brother Early Wright." Wright hosted a show on WROX for over 50 years.Cheseborough, Steve. ''Blues Traveling, The Holy Sites of Delta Blues''. 3rd ed. University Press of Mississippi, 2009. . p. 93. Notable blues musicians who hosted programs or performed on air at WROX include

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

Robert Nighthawk Robert Lee McCollum (November 30, 1909 – November 5, 1967) was an American blues musician who played and recorded under the pseudonyms Robert Lee McCoy and Robert Nighthawk. He was the father of the blues musician Sam Carr. Nighthawk was i ...

Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp st ...

, Raymond Hill, and

Doctor Ross Isaiah Ross (October 21, 1925 – May 28, 1993), known as Doctor Ross, was an American blues musician who usually performed as a one-man band, simultaneously singing and playing guitar, harmonica, and drums. Ross's primal style has been ...

History

WROX started transmitting on June 5, 1944, operating from 321 Delta Avenue with 250 watts and owned by Robin Weaver, Sr. It moved to 257 Delta Avenue in July 1945. For 40 years, the station was located inside the Alcazar Hotel until moving out in the 1990s. WROX Clarksdale MS

Since 2005, the station has been located at 628 Desoto Avenue in Clarksdale, one block from the famous 'Crossroads.' In 1947, station manager Preston "Buck" Hinman hired Early Wright as the first black radio announcer in Mississippi. Musicians Wright hosted on WROX included

, Sam Cooke,

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single " We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include " Baby, I Love ...

Pinetop Perkins Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011) was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock-and-roll performers of his time and received numerous honors, including a Grammy Life ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and professional baseball player. His greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Rec ...

Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for for three decades. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Pant ...

, Rufus Thomas, and

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago ...

. In the 1940s, Ike Turner became a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

at WROX and hosted his own show called "Jive Till Five." Turner later played live broadcasts with his band, the

Kings of Rhythm The Kings of Rhythm are an American music group formed in the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi and led by Ike Turner through to his death in 2007. Turner would retain the name of the band throughout his career, although the group has underg ...

. Raymond Hill, called "chief of the hepcats," who was a saxophonist in Turner's band also had a show. The station's power was increased to 1000 watts in 1964, using a RCA BTA-1R transmitter. The AM transmitter was updated with a Broadcast Electronics AM-1A transmitter in 2006. The FM simulcast on 105.7 FM was set up in 2010. The FM translator later moved to 97.5. The 257 Delta Avenue location was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2002, and in 2012 a

Mississippi Blues Trail The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the Mississippi Blues Commission in 2006 to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the birth, growth, and influence of the blues throughout (and in some cases beyond) ...

marker was placed there. In 2004, Clarksdale businessman Kinchen "Bubba" O’Keefe opened a WROX Museum. On November 17, 2020, all broadcast and business operations of WROX Radio were suspended. In a request to remain silent, the station explained that a lender had foreclosed on the property. The station returned to the air on August 16, 2021, and was then sold to Contemporary Communications, LLC. Contemporary then entered in January 2022 into an agreement to sell WROX and its translator to WROX, LLC, headed by Terry Ballard, for $150,000.

References

External links

WROX web sitePaul Wilson: It’s That Major Market AttitudeHe was tired of big bad corporate radio, so he bought his own station
{{National Register of Historic Places ROX (AM) Radio stations established in 1944 Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Mississippi Blues Trail 1944 establishments in Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Coahoma County, Mississippi Clarksdale, Mississippi