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93QFM Rewind

V

valkyrie777

Bunch of us were talking at the NAB and the subject of "swinging-door operations" came up. I said that I had always heard that Shamrocks's 93QFM in Milwaukee was one of the worst! Am I right? Wasn't there a lo-o-o-ng line of Morning guys at the old 93QFM? I mean like more than one or two different ones a year?

It seems to me (when I was doin' radio in Chicago in the early 90s) that they were some kind of regional joke; we always used to punk each other with "you got a call from 93QFM in Milwaukee and they're interested in you for Mornings."

Anybody in the Milwaukee-area remember if that buzz was true?
 
> Bunch of us were talking at the NAB and the subject of
> "swinging-door operations" came up. I said that I had always
> heard that Shamrocks's 93QFM in Milwaukee was one of the
> worst! Am I right? Wasn't there a lo-o-o-ng line of Morning
> guys at the old 93QFM? I mean like more than one or two
> different ones a year?
>
> It seems to me (when I was doin' radio in Chicago in the
> early 90s) that they were some kind of regional joke; we
> always used to punk each other with "you got a call from
> 93QFM in Milwaukee and they're interested in you for
> Mornings."
>
> Anybody in the Milwaukee-area remember if that buzz was
> true?
>
During the latter day of their rock days, yes very true. From the late 80s till they flipped to jazz in circa 95 they tried every stunt in the book to try to beat LZR, most of them laughable.
I remember this one stunt they pulled around 88 or 89 were the jocks "locked" themselves in the studio and took over the station. Well Steve Dahl called them on the air and called their b.s.He basically said what's keeping management from turning off your transmitter??? Their answer... we have the transmitter in the studio with us..... had me ROFLMAO.
However back in the early 80s the station was great!! They took out rival WLPX.Their morning show aptly named "the morning sickness show" was great. Remember Jim Rodio and Gene Mueller(now at KTI), had this bit called the buffoon line were they would take calls at random from listeners and just ad lib from there. Funny stuff.
IMHO they went downhill after they let morning "shock jock" Perry Stone go because advertisers were threatening to pull out due to his comments on the gay community in Milwaukee. I remember when they tried the same thing with FOX over " married with children" and FOX said fine go and found other advertisers. QFM should have done the same.
Also in the late 80s-early 90s QFM found itself sandwiched between LZR and KLH. They had a major identitity crises couldn't decide to go classic rock or more active...Saga really put the thumbsrews to em. ( kinda like CC is doing to Saga now)
 
<font color=3333ff>I don't know much about the station, except that they had one of my all-time favorite station logos.


<img src=http://www.boomspeed.com/teejay/93qfm.jpg>
</font>

> > Bunch of us were talking at the NAB and the subject of
> > "swinging-door operations" came up. I said that I had
> always
> > heard that Shamrocks's 93QFM in Milwaukee was one of the
> > worst! Am I right? Wasn't there a lo-o-o-ng line of
> Morning
> > guys at the old 93QFM? I mean like more than one or two
> > different ones a year?
> >
> > It seems to me (when I was doin' radio in Chicago in the
> > early 90s) that they were some kind of regional joke; we
> > always used to punk each other with "you got a call from
> > 93QFM in Milwaukee and they're interested in you for
> > Mornings."
> >
> > Anybody in the Milwaukee-area remember if that buzz was
> > true?
> >
> During the latter day of their rock days, yes very true.
> From the late 80s till they flipped to jazz in circa 95 they
> tried every stunt in the book to try to beat LZR, most of
> them laughable.
> I remember this one stunt they pulled around 88 or 89 were
> the jocks "locked" themselves in the studio and took over
> the station. Well Steve Dahl called them on the air and
> called their b.s.He basically said what's keeping management
> from turning off your transmitter??? Their answer... we have
> the transmitter in the studio with us..... had me ROFLMAO.
> However back in the early 80s the station was great!! They
> took out rival WLPX.Their morning show aptly named "the
> morning sickness show" was great. Remember Jim Rodio and
> Gene Mueller(now at KTI), had this bit called the buffoon
> line were they would take calls at random from listeners and
> just ad lib from there. Funny stuff.
> IMHO they went downhill after they let morning "shock jock"
> Perry Stone go because advertisers were threatening to pull
> out due to his comments on the gay community in Milwaukee. I
> remember when they tried the same thing with FOX over "
> married with children" and FOX said fine go and found other
> advertisers. QFM should have done the same.
> Also in the late 80s-early 90s QFM found itself sandwiched
> between LZR and KLH. They had a major identitity crises
> couldn't decide to go classic rock or more active...Saga
> really put the thumbsrews to em. ( kinda like CC is doing to
> Saga now)
>
 
> I don't know much about the station, except that they had
> one of my all-time favorite station logos.
>
>
>
>
>

Sheeesh QFM WAS rock for Milwaukee. Rodeo and Mueller were great....now to look at Mueller...well he shoudl retire.

ROCK ON MILWAUKEE!
 
> > I don't know much about the station, except that they had
> > one of my all-time favorite station logos.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> Sheeesh QFM WAS rock for Milwaukee. Rodeo and Mueller were
> great....now to look at Mueller...well he shoudl retire.
>
> ROCK ON MILWAUKEE!
>


Yes, WQFM was a GREAT rock station in the early 80s. I agree with everyone about Rodeo and Mueller, that was one of the best morning shows ever.

How could a radio station that was so good get so bad a decade latter? They went from being one of the best rock stations in the U.S to a station people laughed at. I was happy when they changed formats because they finally put themselves out of their misery.
 
> Bunch of us were talking at the NAB and the subject of
> "swinging-door operations" came up. I said that I had always
> heard that Shamrocks's 93QFM in Milwaukee was one of the
> worst! Am I right? Wasn't there a lo-o-o-ng line of Morning
> guys at the old 93QFM? I mean like more than one or two
> different ones a year?
>
> It seems to me (when I was doin' radio in Chicago in the
> early 90s) that they were some kind of regional joke; we
> always used to punk each other with "you got a call from
> 93QFM in Milwaukee and they're interested in you for
> Mornings."
>
> Anybody in the Milwaukee-area remember if that buzz was
> true?
>

What about MC and the sports guys or Mitch in the morning? That show was pretty entertaining
 
There is a blog with a lot of great history and stories of WQFM.

http://93qfm.blogspot.com

In the 70s they called themselves Sunshine Radio..I would say they were on the format border between AOR and AAA. I remember they ran an animated TV commercial with the Beatles "Here Comes The Sun" as audio.

In the early 80s QFM was one of the hardest rocking AORs in the U.S. Competitor WLPX had the advantage of being owned by a larger company. WLPX was easily winning the format battle until their consultant Burkhart Abrams advised their stations to play a lot of synth new wave and pop music. This was a disaster for WLPX, QFM totally dominated after that and soon LPX flipped formats to CHR B97.

In 1986 WKLH launched and really hurt QFM on the upper end. A year later a new competitor WLZR attacked them on the younger end. That was pretty much the end, they spent their last years in the ratings toilet with constant staff turnover and format tweaks.

Being the exclusive rock station at the time they never would have done it, but IF QFM somehow beat WKLH to the classic rock format in the mid-80s they would have had more good years. Who knows they might still be around today?
 
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