WUFO

WUFO, Western New York's first radio station programming to the African-American community, began in 1961 when famed station owner Gordon McLendon moved WYSL from 1080 to 1400kc. McLendon sold the 1080 frequency to Leonard Walk, a Jewish man with a group of Black formatted stations (WAMO Pittsburgh, WILD Boston). When Leonard Walk bought the 1080 frequency in 1961, the original desired call letters were "WJOE" for "W-JOE in Buffalo". Since the WJOE calls were unavailable, the owner instead chose the "WUFO" call letters and named the station "WU-FO in Buffalo". These call letters provided the rhyming and identification with Buffalo that the owners desired. WUFO's new format began on November 2, 1962 with famed Cleveland Disc Jockey Eddie O'Jay as the first on the air.