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Was WGL, Fort Wayne Ever Top 40?

C

Corky Marlowe

A couple nights ago, I was listening to a Sunday night oldies show on Hot 99-7 in Van Wert, Ohio. The host was playing some rather interesting airchecks of WGL-AM 1250 in Fort Wayne from the early 60's. I was surprised to hear some then-current Top 40 music, specifically, "Running Scared" by Roy Orbison, along with a very clever comedy bit parodying "The Lone Ranger". So, was WGL ever a full time top 40? I only remember them as a "nice music" station with a heavy CBS Radio programming load before going talk in the early 80's, and I had always thought FW got its first top 40 when WLYV hit the scene in the mid 60's.
 
WGLI in Babylon, New York played Top 40 in the '70s. AFAIK, WGL in Ft. Wayne has been religious, talk, and nostalgia.
 
WGL was never top 40.

WMEE and WLYV were. WGL may have been "adult hits" for a while, playing easier current songs, much like WOWO and WIND, Chicago.
 
Hey Corky,

Was this a local show on WKSD you were listening to? It sounds interesting. I had thought 99.7 was all satellite from ABC. What other stations have they featured?

I just had a thought (and keep in mind I was not around at the time, so I don't know)... might WGL have been block-programmed at the time? I know there were a lot of stations in the '60s and '70s that dayparted between MOR and Top 40, with the Top 40 programming in the afternoons and evenings when the kids were out of school - especially in smaller markets. If Fort Wayne didn't get a full-time Top 40 of its own until WLYV, it's possible WGL might have been taking this approach.
 
Was this a local show on WKSD you were listening to? It sounds interesting. I had thought 99.7 was all satellite from ABC. What other stations have they featured?

There are 2 hour-long local oldies shows on Sunday..."The Oldies Treasure Chest With Gary K The Rockin' Mailman" (where I heard the WGL stuff) plays mainly pre-Beatles stuff from 5 till 6, and "Wax Tracks", which is mostly late 60's-early 70's from 6 till 7. Much of the playlist is really rare stuff, and kind of jarring after hearing the "Classic Hits Radio" satellite service, which plays the usual 23 songs over and over.
 
Geeeez. Tell ya what. Here's the "Contact Us"part of their website. Ask them about being Top 49 and report back. Thank yew.
I'll do that right now...
 
I can remember hearing songs as heavy as Heart's remake of "Tell it Like it Is" on WGL but it was never as far as I know, top 40. Some music around the otehr elements was about it until they went full time talk.

When did WLYV sign on as a Top 40? I believe WMEE was 1972.
 
Mr. Marlowe,
You suggest to "Ask them about being Top 49 and report back. Thank yew. Quote I'll do that right now...

I hope you succeed in your quest. I might suggest that there are LOTS of radio stations (WGL since the 1920's) absolutely without a clue as to what the format was any more than a few years ago. WGL has had many wners and formats over the years. Good Luck.

GR8 asked, "When did WLYV sign on as a Top 40? I believe WMEE was 1972."

My partner and I owned WFDT, Columbia City from 73-75 until he was killed in a car ax. Jerry Clark from WLYV worked for us in those years. He was finished w/'LYV by '73 and they were NOT top 40 then.
 
I think WLYV went top 40 in '65 or '66 (until then they were WANE and played MOR)...I definitely remember WKJG ditching their NBC-heavy MOR format and flipping the calls to WMEE in the fall of '71. I thought (mebbe I'm wrong) that WLYV flipped to country in '75, prompting Phil Gardner (now using his real name, Phil Reasor, on WBCL) to play "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" on his last day.
 
Don't remember WGL being Top 40. In the mid 70s they sounded a bit traditional WGN-like MOR in the mid 70s. WLYV was Top 40 before WKJG-AM became WMEE and blew WLYV away with the Drake jingles and deep voiced Dan Collins...formerly "one of the men at WERK." Lots of WMEE's talent came from WERK.
 
Corky Marlowe said:
A couple nights ago, I was listening to a Sunday night oldies show on Hot 99-7 in Van Wert, Ohio. The host was playing some rather interesting airchecks of WGL-AM 1250 in Fort Wayne from the early 60's. I was surprised to hear some then-current Top 40 music, specifically, "Running Scared" by Roy Orbison, along with a very clever comedy bit parodying "The Lone Ranger". So, was WGL ever a full time top 40? I only remember them as a "nice music" station with a heavy CBS Radio programming load before going talk in the early 80's, and I had always thought FW got its first top 40 when WLYV hit the scene in the mid 60's.
Click to expand...
I found a WGL survey from the 60's, online. It lists the station as Top-40. Here is the link: WGL 1250 Fort Wayne
 
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