Some were mighty, others modest. Over the decades they were neighborhood fixtures, or simply neighbors. These Long Island AM radio stations mostly played the oldies and aired hyperlocal news. Each would come in crystal clear within a few miles of their transmitter — beyond that, just a crackle.

Doomed by changing technologies and tastes, they're long gone.

"These stations were able to super-serve Long Islanders by talking to you about everything to do with Long Island. That was the identity," said Paul Fleishman, former general manager of one of these gems, WGSM, (and later a Newsday vice president). 

Here's a glance back at five:

Launched in 1951, WGSM began with lofty intentions — those call letters stood for "World's Greatest Suburban Market" — but "Seven-Four-Oh on your radio" truly became a powerhouse mostly in Huntington, from the studios on New York Avenue (those later moved to Melville, while a transmitter in Smithtown got the signal as far east as Riverhead). Jack Ellsworth (later of WALK) was the morning man, while other prominent personalities included Dave Rosehill, Bruce Herbert and Lee Carle. Seven-four-Oh even had a resident fishing expert — Ray Adell, who anchored "Fisherman's Forecaster" for decades.

In 1991 WGSM launched an all-news-and-information show called "Good Morning Long Island," which folded after three years. A blizzard of changes followed, while now it's WNYH, and largely filled with brokered religious programs. Listen to a WGSM air check from 1975 here.

Babylon's WGLI ("The Mighty 1290") did indeed seem mighty, thanks to what eventually became a 5,000-watt signal. But much of that power was directed due south and if the wind and waves were just right, early host Bob Charles (later Robert Siegel of "All Things Considered") could be heard as far away as Bermuda. Launched Sept. 1, 1958, WGLI later adopted a top 40 format, and for a time became a huge local success. By the late 1980s, the decline had set in: In November 1990,  a Spanish-language broadcaster bought it for $375,000, then promptly shut it down because WGLI's signal (1290) was interfering with New York-based WADO's (1280). Listen to a WGLI air check from 1987 here.

Long Island's first radio station (Dec. 15, 1924) was beloved by listeners around Merrick and Freeport, and its "Super Six" jocks — including the best-known of them all, Dave Vieser, or just "The Vieser" — were household names. Taken over in 1956 by WGSM, WGBB then forged deep ties with Huntington's own radio icon. Both shared news resources and WGBB had deep ones (12 reporters at one time, including former News 12 anchor Carol Silva) at 1240 Broadcast Plaza across from the Merrick train station. But the call letters were later retired (then restored), while a Justice Department lawsuit blocked a sale to a new owner, effectively ending the original WGBB for good. By the late 1990s, the station began simulcasting a Chinese language network and still does. Listen to a Dave Vieser show on WGBB here.

In the early 1960s, John Hay "Jock" Whitney — publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, scion of the Whitney family — decided to bring classical music to Long Islanders and thus begins one of LI's more unusual radio station histories. Whitney bought, then relocated, East Islip-based WFYI near his estate, Greentree, in Manhasset. But the signal mainly went north/south — not much use to LI classic music lovers due east. He sold it in 1965, and the renamed WTHE would later go all-country — the only country station in New York for a time — but the signal was so strong that the new owners had to direct the signal out into the Long Island sound to avoid interference with an upstate station. Later relocated to Maple Place in Mineola, WTHE then became New York's first (and in 1969 only) gospel station. Shut down in 2018, it then restarted when Cantico Nuevo Ministry changed the call letters to WJDM and moved it to 1530 on the dial.

Tiny WBIC (250 watts) began life on Main Street in Bay Shore on Oct. 16, 1959, mostly as a music station. By the mid-1960s the call letters had changed (WLIX) and the music too, then by the mid-90s it was WLUX. But the big change arrived in 2002, when WLIE was christened, along with an all-talk format — Long Island's first, known as "Island Talk 540." Didn't last long: the company's president, Stuart Henry, told Newsday "We felt there was a real void to be filled. Unfortunately, we misjudged ..." Since 2018, WBWD (as it's now known) has largely broadcast programs in Hindi.