If there is ever a trivia game created about late 20th-century local history, here is one question that can be asked of residents of the Sidney area.

What were the first three songs played on WCDO Radio when it signed on for the first time May 8, 1982?

Greg Davie could tell you in an instant. Twenty-five years later, the memories are vivid for Davie, as he was the on-air personality people heard for the first time Saturday morning at 8 a.m. on AM 1490.

"It was everybody’s question for weeks," Davie said of local residents regarding the first song to be played. They knew he would be the first on the air for the new station.

"�The Long and Winding Road’ by The Beatles was the first song," Davie said, "which seemed appropriate, because we’d hopefully have a long road ahead."

The next song was the No. 1 hit at that time, "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis, and then came the No. 2 hit, "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.

At sign-on that morning, before the tunes began to play, there was an invocation by the Rev. Dwight Giles of the Sidney Methodist Church, as well as a "pep-talk" speech, as Davie described it, by then-Mayor Elwood "Dixie" Davis.

Harry Graves, a veteran newscaster of the region, took care of the news on opening day and beyond. The first commercial was for The Bookworm, a former bookstore in the village.

Getting the station on the air goes back to 1980, when Syracuse businessman Robert Raide filed an application with the Federal Communication Commission to construct a radio station in Sidney. The process took longer than expected because of a type of radio frequency deregulation, but the application was granted. Raide had targeted Sidney because the area had no local radio station, served then by Binghamton, Norwich, Walton and Oneonta.

Davie, a Sidney native, had been living in South Carolina when he heard a station was being formed. Davie had met Raide and returned to the area in the summer of 1981. They began scouting out areas for a radio tower and site for the station.

They found a site on Main Street over an insurance agency office, which at the time was an apartment. From January through May, the place was remodeled into a studio and offices, which since have expanded.

WCDO initially signed on as an AM frequency, but by the next year, FM 100.9 was added to the local airwaves.

Craig Stevens, today’s general manager, arrived at WCDO in March 1986. The station had been for sale and was purchased by two investors in western New York. The two sent Stevens, then working at one of their radio stations, to run WCDO.

Davie had left the station but was playing a softball game in Sidney one day. Stevens was on the opposing team. The two met for the first time when Stevens was running to second base, being covered by Davie. The two talked awhile, and Davie soon returned to WCDO. Stevens and Davie have the longest tenures at the station to date.

Stevens said the staff turnover has always been minimal, which adds to their success. When he began, Stevens said, the station began many promotions and giveaways. WCDO also got more involved in the area, including extensive and award-winning coverage of the General Clinton Canoe Regatta.

Davie and Harry Graves initially became the main radio voices of local high school sports for Sidney and several nearby communities. New York Mets broadcasts began in 1987. WCDO has also been a "go-to" station for emergency news and information at times, especially during the two tornadoes in 1998 and the flood of 2006.

Stevens says all these factors give people a reason to listen to the station. "You’ll never appeal to everyone’s musical tastes," he said, "but other things will get people to listen at certain times of each day."

WCDO remains one of the few independent radio stations in upstate New York and since its earliest years on the air has been nicknamed "The Tri-County Heartbeat."

On the weekend: While WCDO celebrates its 25th anniversary, a local high school newspaper celebrates its 100th.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.