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20th anniversary of WCLU's ruination

N

NoWayNoCC

Can anyone remember what happened exactly 20 years ago in Cincinnati radio history?

Can they?

I can!

April 7, 1987 was (according to one website) the day WCLU was pooed into oblivion. Actually this process took a few days. WCLU went off the air completely for days before WCVG went on the air in its place. But April 7 is deemed the official date of the Day the Music Died.

The entire WCLU listening area was in shock. Nobody could believe WCLU was gone. I thought there'd be somebody to replace it, but what Tantrum 95.7 was doing in 2000 was as close as it got. Hard to believe a perfectly good station can just disappear and not be replaced by another station doing something similar, but the broadcast industry doesn't exactly make sense.

On the other hand, it's kind of hard to believe a station like WCLU would still be around as recently as 1987, considering the twisted mess that the radio industry is today. But that doesn't make WCLU's demise right.

So raise a glass to your memories of Cincinnati's Hit-Playin' AM! At 1:32 PM today (if you've read this by then) you should gently place your collection of '80s 45 RPM records on a sturdy shelf, genuflect before it, observe 132 seconds of silence, and salute your collection in honor of WCLU - a station that has yet to be satisfactorily replicated in the Cincinnati market.
 
As a 1972 member of the WCLU air staff, cheers & may it rest in peace...
 
NoWayNoCC said:
Can anyone remember what happened exactly 20 years ago in Cincinnati radio history?

So raise a glass to your memories of Cincinnati's Hit-Playin' AM! At 1:32 PM today (if you've read this by then) you should gently place your collection of '80s 45 RPM records on a sturdy shelf, genuflect before it, observe 132 seconds of silence, and salute your collection in honor of WCLU - a station that has yet to be satisfactorily replicated in the Cincinnati market.
Click to expand...


I will be thinking about the station when I'm listening to The Big 80's station on my Sirius radio.

Long live WCLU 132
 
Yeah, I'm sure that the 4 people that listened to that station are still moaning about it.

The station sucked. It had a lame format, no ratings, a crappy signal, muddy processing, and no big personalities. Oh, and did I mention minimal revenue? An AM music station on a bad upper-end regional frequency. Hardly anyone except radio geeks remembers that station. I bet more people remember its days as the "Elvis Station."

Get over it! If you want to stay stuck in the past, listen to Dusty and his bunch. The rest of us have moved on. As John Mellencamp sings, "If you're not part of the future, then get out of the way."
 
ouuc said:
Yeah, I'm sure that the 4 people that listened to that station are still moaning about it.

The station sucked. It had a lame format, no ratings, a crappy signal, muddy processing, and no big personalities. Oh, and did I mention minimal revenue? An AM music station on a bad upper-end regional frequency. Hardly anyone except radio geeks remembers that station. I bet more people remember its days as the "Elvis Station."

Get over it! If you want to stay stuck in the past, listen to Dusty and his bunch. The rest of us have moved on. As John Mellencamp sings, "If you're not part of the future, then get out of the way."
Click to expand...

Hey...nothing wrong with a little nostalgia for a station that apparently influenced some people, and the fact that there are those who still miss it after 20 years, says alot for the station. I never heard that incarnation of WCLU. I remember them as a Country station in the mid-60s. However, to this day, I still miss the old 1360-WSAI and 1230-WCPO....(which has been gone since 1966)
 
I can think of several people who worked at WCLU during it's country format, Dan Allen, Janeen Coyle, Suzy Gabbard, Stan Warren, Jack "Bucks" Braun, a few names after the switch were the late Chris Shea, Kristy Karas, and a guy I believe named Jason W Dackett
 
[/quote]

Hey...nothing wrong with a little nostalgia for a station that apparently influenced some people, and the fact that there are those who still miss it after 20 years, says alot for the station. I never heard that incarnation of WCLU. I remember them as a Country station in the mid-60s. However, to this day, I still miss the old 1360-WSAI and 1230-WCPO....(which has been gone since 1966)
[/quote]

I don't miss the WCPO 1230 nearly as much as I pine for Boss Radio WUBE on 1230. Drake Format with Big Al Law & Bwanna Johnny. Major market quality that left WSAI in second place in my book.

A little WCLU history...in the 1960's, WCLU was the only Country station (unless you consider WCNW 1560 from Fairfield). Their ratings were superb...I want to say a 10 share...that was until WUBE 1230 nuked Boss Radio & went County in 1968. In that day, 105.1 was beautiful music WCXL. WCLU's ratings quickly dropped as WUBE had a 24 hour signal whereas WCLU was 6AM-Sunset. I worked there when Irv Schwartz owned it in 1972. PD was Roy Wakely who I believe went on to become known as "the judge" on WUBE.
 
I vaguely remember WCLU as country in the late 70's. BIG CLU Country 1320. There was a DJ there at the time that defected to Russia which at the time was big news. I can't remember who it was though.
 
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