big hits by standards artists such as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Eddie Fisher, Perry Como, Andy Williams, McGuire Sisters, The Four Lads, The Three Suns, Peggy Lee, Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, Mel Torme, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Nat "King" Cole, Patti Page, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Vaughn Monroe, Tony Martin, The Ink Spots, The Mills Brothers, The Ames Brothers, Jo Stafford, Margaret Whiting, Guy Mitchell and Frankie Laine among others. Also, groups from the Big Band era of the 1930s and 1940s were played several times an hour, which included such artists Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and Sammy Kaye among many others. The format also played a very limited selection of pop. Most of these artists were quasi-rock and rollers such as Connie Francis, Jaye P. Morgan, Ray Charles, Pat Boone, Bobby Vinton, Jerry Vale, Vic Damone, Johnnie Ray, Matt Monro, Teresa Brewer, the Platters, Bobby Darin, Kay Starr, Sarah Vaughn, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, and others. Though most of the songs played were recorded roughly between 1940 to 1965, a few songs by later artists like Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, and The Carpenters were also heard. The station was given a regular formula to implement. Ham's strategy worked well. More stations joined the network during the 1980s. Another strategy developed by Ham in the early 1980s for his national format was having recorded messages by the very stars being played, such as, "This is Perry Como, and I'd like to thank you for making us all a part of the Music of Your Life." In the meantime, J.R. Russ was put in charge of the local implementation of Ham's format and the station maintained a live on-air staff including Jim Nowicki in mornings (and earlier, Guy Michaels), Joe Kozma, Aaron Christopher (Russ' air name), Tim White, Dave Prescott (radio name of the late Joseph Skurzewski), Lynn Dixon, Ray Rogers, News Director Bruce Allen, Dave Teresa and Sports Director Walt Hankin. Ham's syndicated music format was a big hit with of Buffalo's large adult population. WECK grew from a "no show" in the ratings at the time of the format change (on 4/4/81) to an all-time high of #4 in the market in late 1983. The trade publication "Inside Radio" touted the headlines: "WECK takes town by storm" and "WECK skyrockets into contention." Radio and Records designated WECK as a "Fastest Mover" up the