Thirty years ago this week, the sound of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll” blasted over 106.1, the first FM signal licensed in Trumbull County.

The Wolf has a different home on the radio dial now, but it’s still howling 30 years later.

One constant during those 30 years has been afternoon drive DJ Fast Freddie Woak, who has bounced between mornings and afternoons at The Wolf since 1988.

“There was such a void in the market for classic rock and roll,” Woak said. “The Wizard (WSRD-FM, which became top 40 WHOT-FM in 1984) was off the air. There was a big gap there. Half of Youngstown was listening to (W)DVE (in Pittsburgh). The other half was listening to (W)MMS (in Cleveland) or (W)ONE (in Akron). We were pretty excited. We were going to fill that void and we did it pretty well.”

The station catapulted to second in the market (behind WHOT-FM) in its first full rating book, but Woak said he truly realized the impact the station was having when it sponsored a fireworks show at Lake Milton called “Smoke on the Water.”

“It was such a massive traffic jam, you couldn’t get anywhere near it,” he said. “That was one of the points where you go, ‘OK, I think we’re onto something.’ People were really into it. Traffic was backed up for miles and everyone had The Wolf on the radio.”

Woak credited station manager Dominic Baragona, who died last August, for coming up with ideas that exposed the station to a wide audience and with giving the DJs freedom on the air.

“Dominic was a marketing and promotion machine,” Woak said. “He was just amazing on everything he did. He had that flair and he wasn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers.”

The station brought major acts to the area for concerts at Ponderosa Park, Yankee Lake, Stambaugh Auditorium and the Mahoning Valley Rib Burn Off at Eastwood Mall in Niles. It also helped bring in then up-and-coming acts like Joe Bonamassa, who was playing “Tangled Up in Blues” concerts at The Cellar in Struthers in the mid-2000s and now headlines theaters and arenas.

Because of its success in the market, other acts made the pilgrimage to the station’s original offices in Mineral Ridge for interviews and other promotions. Woak remembers visits from Steve Perry of Journey, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eddie Money and multiple appearances by KISS.

Being close to those larger market radio stations with similar formats meant that WNCD had to compete not only with other stations in the Mahoning Valley but also the higher-paid talent nearby.

“We really did model ourselves after DVE, after MMS. It had to be presentable on that level,” Woak said. “That’s what people were used to listening to … We didn’t want to seem like a minor league team.”

The peak was The Wolf’s Big Radio show in the late ’90s, when the jocks were producing parody songs about former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. and other local newsmakers, and Woak was getting arrested for fishing at Meander Reservoir as part of a protest over corruption allegations with the Mahoning Valley Sanitation District.

“That kind of craziness you just don’t see anymore,” he said.

The Wolf now is owned by Clear Channel / I Heart Radio, is heard on a stronger signal at 93.3 FM and broadcasts from more modern studios on South Avenue in Boardman. The radio business has changed significantly in Woak’s 38 years (he worked for WNIO-AM for eight years before The Wolf’s debut) and local voices with a history in the market are increasingly rare.

Woak has many fond memories from his 30 years and counting at The Wolf — being a part of the creation of David Grohl Alley in downtown Warren, Wolf anniversary concerts and Rib Burn-Off performers — but being a part of The Wolf from the beginning remains a highlight.

“It was pretty exciting for me as a young guy, being part of a team that actually put a radio station on from scratch, playing the music you like in your hometown. A lot of people don’t get a chance to do that.”

Andy Gray is entertainment writer for the Tribune Chronicle. Write to him at gray@tribtoday.com.