Original Call Letters: WQXQ 

Originally Licensed: Aug 1, 1957  

Original City of License: Ormond Beach    

Original Frequency: 1380 

Origin of Call Letters: 

Original Power:  1,000 watts

Original Location: 

Original Format: Top 40

Network Affiliation(s):

WDAT History
From Don Williamson "...WDAT and WQXQ both broadcast from time to time from the Riviera Country Club..."
I recall that WDAT was originally licensed to South Daytona...and I believe it went on the air in 1957 as the first black programmed station in the Daytona Beach area.  There was a fellow who did an air shift and, I believe, was also an engineer.  His last name was Bennett.  First name, I think, was  either Bill or Bob (Memory does funny things over the years.)  His brother, Boyd, was semi-famous at the time for having a very early rock and roll hit record.  
The group was Boyd Bennett and the Rockets, and the song was "Seventeen," which was in the style of the Bill Haley hits of that era.   I recall the early studios were in a concrete block building with very little, if any, soundproofing, and the audio had its own distinctive echo when the mic was on. 
 
From Marc Tyll, more history of WDAT.
WDAT-AM 1380 ended Top 40 in 1981 making room to briefly program a big band/swing format in 1981 before flipping to adult contemporary with a cross over country mix in 1982. The flip to total country was implemented in January 1983 when channel 6 meteorologist Tom Hale (Hale Communications, Inc.) acquired WDAT from Barnett Bank of Ormond Beach, N.A (Barnett Bank had repossessed WDAT from the previous owner Phillip Knight and Hunter-Knight Daytona, Inc. Barnett owned WDAT from 1981 until Hale Communications finalized its acquisition in early 1983). Ocala resident and former WVOJ-AM 1320 Jacksonville program director, Ken Cameron was hired to become WDAT's operations manager an program director. Ken also hosted PM drive. The flip to WELE happened in 1986 when WELE-FM 105.9 dropped those calls to become adult contemporary formatted WOCL-FM 105.9 "Class 105.9".

From K.P. Manning
Tom Hale (of Hale Communications) flipped the calls from WDAT to WELE when WELE-AM in South Daytona went to WZIP. Hale was playing country, he wanted those calls and got them. Hale had to give up the station due to money and other problems, it went into receivership and former WELE-AM GM Eugene McMahon took it over until it went on the auction block and (Doug Wilhite) Wings Communications bought it for $125,000.