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First-time caller from Northeast Kansas

route56

route56

I somehow stumbled across this website while reviewing my website's log files. I looked at this forum, saw some familiar names, and decided to create an account.

I'm an IT Service Desk tech in Topeka by day and a lifelong resident of this region (mostly Lawrence). I am also the current editor of the histories of the radio stations in my area, originally started by one of those names I found on this forum, Mark Roberts. It was from him I was inspired KLWN in Lawrence, one that was adopted by the Booths and Zimmers (with proper credit, of course). When Mark chose to retire his history website, I volunteered to take it over, and merged my work into his. I've since fleshed out a little more history of the Topeka AM stations and a separate history of Kansas City's oldest FM station, KCMO-FM 94.9.
 
What a great site. Welcome to this site from one member to another. Having lived in Kansas City from about 1965 to July 1969, I knew the radio dial very well.

I see KCJC had become KUDL FM in 1969. What I recall is sometime in 1969 (perhaps the last half of the year) KCJC dropped the automated beautiful music. Their Beautiful Music was a bit more up tempo than the others as I recall a vocal each quarter hour might be something like Do You Know The Way To San Jose by Dionne Warwick. KCJC became 'freeform' or what we called 'album oriented rock'. I left Kansas City about July 1, 1969 and KCJC was still 'freeform'. I recall a jock playing the entire Canned Heat live album (or was it a 2 record set). For me a little Canned Heat is great but an hour or more was 'Going up the Country' a bit too far.

KXTR had gone to a 24 hour schedule in 1968 (if I recall correctly) with Beautiful Music 6 to Noon and Jazz Midnight to 6. Classical was Noon to Midnight (we'd haunt KXTR for AP teletype news from the trash can for our pirate station). I recall in early 1969, I think Tom Green, said the station was doing well running 20 commercials a day adding 'almost one an hour!' (with excitement). During the morning Beautiful Music from 10 to 10:30am, I think, the jock read poetry over a couple of the records he played. My mom told me she liked that.

I was a fan of KBIL 1140 in Liberty, Missouri. They had signed on as Town & Country, evolved to Top 40 less the hard stuff (true AC format) only to go country and then back to true AC (before there was such a format) around, I think, the middle of 1978.

During my years there, KUDL went from a talk station my Dad advertised on to "The Big 13-8 Cuddle" with the Boss 30 and 20-20 News. They were still in that format (and really hurting WHB that was at 710 then) as of July 1, 1969 when we left for Dallas. Let's just say when my Dad discovered KUDL went Top 40 he quickly moved his ad dollars to KBEA AM 1480 that was sort of a Beautiful Music/MOR hybrid. It was still DJ driven radio with news and plenty of commercials (usually between every song like everybody else). KBEA was a station people knew just as well as KMBC (the AM), WDAF and KCMO back then.
 
b-turner said:
What a great site. Welcome to this site from one member to another. Having lived in Kansas City from about 1965 to July 1969, I knew the radio dial very well.

I see KCJC had become KUDL FM in 1969. What I recall is sometime in 1969 (perhaps the last half of the year) KCJC dropped the automated beautiful music. Their Beautiful Music was a bit more up tempo than the others as I recall a vocal each quarter hour might be something like Do You Know The Way To San Jose by Dionne Warwick. KCJC became 'freeform' or what we called 'album oriented rock'. I left Kansas City about July 1, 1969 and KCJC was still 'freeform'. I recall a jock playing the entire Canned Heat live album (or was it a 2 record set). For me a little Canned Heat is great but an hour or more was 'Going up the Country' a bit too far.
Click to expand...
I'm trying to remember when KUDL dropped progressive rock for the soft adult-contemporary music it became best known for. I'm thinking 1973, by which time KBEY, which was KBEA's FM station and also programming progressive rock, was sold to Mark Wodlinger, who had been an executive at KMBC-TV. Wodlinger flipped it to "Super Q" Top 40 as KBEQ. Suddenly there was no progressive rock station in or near Kansas City, which led the way for WDAF-FM to become KYYS in 1974. KYYS was something of an artifice among stations of its type: it was heavily consulted, by Lee Abrams, from the start. It was a good listen during my college years; I could often pick it up in Columbia thanks to its antenna toward the top of the Signal Hill tower. By that time, KWKI had changed from R&B to progressive rock as well, following in the footsteps of its sister station in St. Louis, KADI.
b-turner said:
I was a fan of KBIL 1140 in Liberty, Missouri. They had signed on as Town & Country, evolved to Top 40 less the hard stuff (true AC format) only to go country and then back to true AC (before there was such a format) around, I think, the middle of 1978.
Click to expand...
By that time, it was KFIX and had an FM station at 106.5, which cycled through numerous formats over the next couple of decades. The FM station's transmitting site was up north in Liberty and had issues getting into parts of Kansas City and Johnson County, leading to numerous jokes about "FIX" being what the station should do with its signal.

b-turner said:
During my years there, KUDL went from a talk station my Dad advertised on to "The Big 13-8 Cuddle" with the Boss 30 and 20-20 News. They were still in that format (and really hurting WHB that was at 710 then) as of July 1, 1969 when we left for Dallas. Let's just say when my Dad discovered KUDL went Top 40 he quickly moved his ad dollars to KBEA AM 1480 that was sort of a Beautiful Music/MOR hybrid. It was still DJ driven radio with news and plenty of commercials (usually between every song like everybody else). KBEA was a station people knew just as well as KMBC (the AM), WDAF and KCMO back then.
Click to expand...
That's an interesting perspective on KBEA; I hadn't realized that it was that much of a factor at one time.

I recorded much of KBEA's final day as a nostalgia-formatted station, still with quite a bit of news, on October 31, 1994. There was a live farewell broadcast from the New York Deli on Troost, which sounded like they were broadcasting on a pay phone. Dave Wilson ended the nostalgia music at 9 pm for a syndicated talk show; at midnight, "Radio Aahs" children's programming, back when that was a thing, came on.
 
b-turner said:
My mistake on KBIL. That should read 1968 and not 1978.
Click to expand...
It cycled through quite a few formats and, after eventually becoming KCXL, was off the air for a couple of years in the 1990s until the present owner revived it.

Any confusion is understandable!
 
route56 said:
I somehow stumbled across this website while reviewing my website's log files. I looked at this forum, saw some familiar names, and decided to create an account.

I'm an IT Service Desk tech in Topeka by day and a lifelong resident of this region (mostly Lawrence). I am also the current editor of the histories of the radio stations in my area, originally started by one of those names I found on this forum, Mark Roberts. It was from him I was inspired KLWN in Lawrence, one that was adopted by the Booths and Zimmers (with proper credit, of course). When Mark chose to retire his history website, I volunteered to take it over, and merged my work into his. I've since fleshed out a little more history of the Topeka AM stations and a separate history of Kansas City's oldest FM station, KCMO-FM 94.9.
Click to expand...
Glad you're keeping this piece of radio history alive. I worked in Wichita 1978-84, listened to the Topeka stations driving to KC and eventually got to know some of the folks at WREN and WIBW. Some great radio came out of there.
 
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