Friday, May 8, 2009

KOKE

On this date in 1886 a pharmacist from Atlanta first sold Coca-Cola whose main ingredients were caffeine and cocaine. At the time he claimed it was a "patent medicine" and cured such ailments as headaches, impotence and morphine addiction. The cocaine was removed starting in 1904 but to this day Coca-Cola uses cocaine-free coco leaf extract as an ingredient. A company in New Jersey imports coco leaves from Peru, extracts the cocaine (which it sells to a Mallinckrodt, the only company in the U.S. licensed to purify cocaine for medical use) and sells the coca flavoring agent to Coca-Cola.


KOKE was a Country music station from Austin, Texas. In 1973 they developed an experimental format called "Progressive Country" which included everyone from Willie Nelson to Janis Joplin to the Rolling Stones. It earned a "Most Innovative Station" award from Billboard magazine in 1974 but struggled to earn ratings despite a fiercely loyal audience. By 1977 they had moved toward a more mainstream format billed as "Sterling Country."

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