Exclusive | How WBLS, led by Frankie Crocker, became a New York radio institution celebrating 50 years of classic R&B and rap

When legendary WBLS DJ Frankie Crocker broke McFadden & Whitehead’s “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” — the 1979 Philly soul classic that has provided the soundtrack to many a cookout — he might as well have been establishing a theme song for the enduring legacy and listenership of the New York radio institution.Because there has been no stopping WBLS since Crocker turned the station into the No.1 R&B destination on the dial — and an influential tastemaker nationwide — in the ’70s.“At the time that I started, Frankie was program director, so I got an opportunity to just really kind of see how he operated,” Cynthia Smith, the current WBLS program director, told The Post.“And he was all about gut and hits, and he played songs that people wouldn’t really think that maybe ’BLS would play or break.

But that was just his way.”And as WBLS celebrates its 50th anniversary at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Friday with DJ Cassidy’s “Pass the Mic Live!” — a star-studded concert featuring everyone from Charlie Wilson and Chaka Khan to Bobby Brown, SWV and Keyshia Cole — Crocker’s spirit lives on 24 years after his death in 2000.“His legacy is that strong that sometimes people even call up to the front desk and say, ‘Hey, I want to speak to Frankie Crocker,’ ” Smith told the Post.“Frankie Crocker’s reputation has just, you know, transcended, and it continues to be present.

I have huge shoulders that I stand on.”DJ Cassidy, having grown up on WBLS in New York City, will be channeling the airwave vibes of Crocker as he passes the mic from act to act in his popular franchise.“He kind of created a vocabulary of music that hip-hop DJs went on to play,” he said of Crocker, who championed everyone from Bob Marley and Blondie to Grace Jones and a young Madonna.“There’s so many non hip-hop records that I played as a young hip-hop DJ that Frankie is credited for breaking — records like Alicia Myers’ ‘I Want to Tha...