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Aircheck WLS 10-23-82 Jeff Davis

...unfortunately, this displays why WLS soon lost the rock crown in Chicago to WLUP -- only one legitimately enjoyable record ("Help!") amongst some of the '80s most pathetic corporate suck rock acts (REO Sh##wagon, Billy Joel, Triumph)...
 
..".unfortunately, this displays why WLS soon lost the rock crown in Chicago to WLUP "

Can't comment on WLUP as I didn't live in Chicago and could not hear it. Thoroughly enjoyed the music of WLS from this era, though. Great aircheck, and I appreciate folks who share them.
 
I listened to WLS alot back then. In recent years, I've heard tapes of WLS-FM from the same time period. In the early 80's, I would have to say that I preferred AM programming over FM.
I guess it's because of the personalities, promotions, and jingles. The music might have been skewed more AOR on the FM, but it really wasn't too terribly different.

Any thoughts on the subject?
 
Joe Jock said:
I listened to WLS alot back then. In recent years, I've heard tapes of WLS-FM from the same time period. In the early 80's, I would have to say that I preferred AM programming over FM.
I guess it's because of the personalities, promotions, and jingles. The music might have been skewed more AOR on the FM, but it really wasn't too terribly different.

Any thoughts on the subject?
Click to expand...

There is a WLS-FM aircheck on reelradio from about the same time. On that sample, much of it was as Ultimajock states pathetic corporate rock. Who remembers Survivor's "American Heartbeat"? At least there was some pop stuff here. Of course, this was the end of the rock leaning days of WLS. In a few months, WLS returned towards more mainstream Top 40.
 
What delicious reverb.
 
Here's my two cents: I'm pretty sure WLS did daypart so they upped the rock at night. After the disco era, radio was trying to find music that was the opposite and 'corporate rock' fit the bill. On another aircheck I recorded from that same month/ year, Jeff plays the Tarney-Spencer Band- "No Time To Lose"! That, impo, was cool & different to hear. I enjoyed their sound at night- it made great Top 40 radio for the early 80's.
 
Yes, I agree. Loved that song by the Tarney-Spencer Band. WLS played other songs that weren't very big national hits but must have been huge in the Midwest.

Point Blank-Nicole
Off Broadway- Stay In Time
Genesis-Turn It On Again

While other AM stations in the early 80's were softening their sound, WLS seemed to rock harder. After the Disco Demolition in 79, you couldn't blame them for backing off the Disco and Dance stuff. I do think WLS always did a good job of attracting teens AND adult listeners. Not always an easy balancing act.

Addressing the remarks about "corporate rock." It doesn't have a negative connotation for me. Loved it. Guess it's all about perspective.
 
Joe Jock said:
Addressing the remarks about "corporate rock." It doesn't have a negative connotation for me. Loved it. Guess it's all about perspective.
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head Joe Jock! It was straight-forward rock n' roll, perfect for Top 40.
1982 was one of my favorite years in music. I liked "American Heartbeat"- got sick of hearing "Eye of the Tiger" that Summer though.

Listening to WLS at night from my home in Ohio was a great teenage memory for me, wish I had those days back. There's nothing wrong with some good ear candy on the radio....Steele Breeze anyone?
 
In 1982 Top-40 radio was in a deep decline nationally, and AM Top-40 was already an endangered species at that point. The adding of AOR cuts to their mix extended the life of that station. I'm sure it added a bit of 'street cred' to their sound as well in order to compete with stations like WLUP, which had a dominant AOR format at the time.

While Album rock radio had gained in popularity in the late 1970's and early 1980's, the format had a true reversal of fortune by 1983. And as Radiorob mentioned, WLS went back to a more Top-40 presentation a few months after this aircheck.

In 1984 I had a chance to hear WLS-FM on a trip through Chicago. By this point, the music programming was identical to the AM, but the DJ's personalities were kept on a shorter lead.

While I don't care for bands like REO or Triumph, I like the presentation that WLS had. There's the reverb. There's that larger-than-life processing they had, which blended well with an AM skywave signal. And most of all, it was their personalities that strung it all together.
 
"I like the presentation that WLS had. There's the reverb. There's that larger-than-life processing they had, which blended well with an AM skywave signal. And most of all, it was their personalities that strung it all together."

Well put. I would add that they also had one heck of a news department. It was rapid fire and to the point. I really don't remember ever dialing out when the news came on. Was afraid I was going to miss something.
 
Joe Jock said:
"I like the presentation that WLS had. There's the reverb. There's that larger-than-life processing they had, which blended well with an AM skywave signal. And most of all, it was their personalities that strung it all together."

Well put. I would add that they also had one heck of a news department. It was rapid fire and to the point. I really don't remember ever dialing out when the news came on. Was afraid I was going to miss something.
Click to expand...
...WCFL's was much better from '73 to '76. Too bad the Chicago Federation of Labor was too stodgy to understand what a gem they owned at the time...
 
At the time, I wasn't able to hear WCFL. Since then, through listening to airchecks, I've been able to hear what they sounded like in that time period. Chicago was very lucky to have both WLS and WCFL.
 
Growing up in suburban Minneapolis during the 1970s, I was also a major fan of WLS at night. We had no fewer than four local Top 40 AMs (KDWB, WYOO, WDGY, KSTP) and all sounded great. But there was just something about WLS and the unbeatable combination of Landecker followed by Jeff Davis.

Anyone remember the WLS Final Exam? It happened in May, right before the end of the school year. When you hear the touchtones, be the 9th caller and answer a question live on-the-air. If you answered correctly, you'd win a new 10 speed bike. This was a HUGE prize for a kid in those days.

I recorded this when I was 13. Already into DX'ing and recording equipment, so the audio quality is very good from about 420 miles away. May, 1978:

http://drewdurigan.com/radiogeekhea...90-chicago-il-jeff-davis-final-exam-may-1978/
 
WLS often showed up at the bottom of the ratings in Kansas City in those days. Along with KOMA and KAAY, they were the only constantly receivable out-of-market AM Top 40 stations until 1982 or so.

It's a little pointless to argue the quality of the music nearly 30 years later. Vintage radio is vintage radio, and I am happy to listen even if I don't like the music.
 
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