On September 18th 101.7 Kiss FM in Wilmington, DE and Tony Q (Quartarone), station owner and general manager will receive The Urban Knight Radio Award. It’s given to marketing, programming and promotion in Urban Radio and chosen by a committee consisting of individuals from The NAB, RAB and The American Urban Radio Network.
Reserved for the likes of Radio One and other huge conglomerates, this year
marks the first time The Urban Knight Award has been awarded to an independently owned station and owner and in a small to medium market.
Quartarone is largely credited with implementing the programming that came to be known as Top Urban Radio while working at Kiss 98.7 in New York; having done so in an unconventional and gradual manner by breaking new urban artists, slipping them into the Top 40 play list until the scale was tipped and the demand was created. With quiet genius, classic R&B hits such as “I Wonder If I Take You Home” by Lisa Lisa and Cult jam and produced by Full Force and Tony Q was one of the first to support rap on air starting with the first commercial song “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugarhill Gang. His vision and determination created a very influential genre of radio and enabled iconic songs to live.
He went on to guide Power 99 FM Philadelphia to its number one position in the Philadelphia market before purchasing his own station.
Wilmington’s 101.7 Kiss FM signed on in 1997, serving Delaware, Chester & South Jersey. Tony Q has continued to serve the community with the Kiss Spring Jam concert series that annually brings Top 40 acts together to Delaware for one show, a feat that was previously unheard of in Delaware.
In 2011 Tony supported The Mind Ur Business Music Conference, bringing major record execs together in Delaware to network with and evaluate aspiring artists.
