KLUE 1280 Longview was a great little top 40 stations in the 1970's, although they were hampered by their daytime-only 1000 watt signal which didn't travel very far because of poor ground conductivity in East Texas. Please share your memories of KLUE.
KLTI 1280 went on the air sometime in the 1950's and was owned and operated by LeTourneau Institute, now LeTourneau University.
In the mid 1960's, KLTI switched to Top 40 KLUE, and became world famous in 1966. John Lennon had made his infamous “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus Christ” statement. KLUE, along with other stations around the country, protested by staging a “Beatles Bonfire” where listeners were encouraged to bring their Beatles’ records, posters, etc to be burned. A thousand or more teenagers showed up with their Beatles’ paraphernalia on Friday evening, August 12, 1966. The bonfire was lit, and the crowd cheered and sang Elvis songs. The following day, Saturday, August 13, 1966, the station’s tower was hit by lightning, sending their news director to the hospital and causing extensive damage to the station’s equipment.
105.7 in Longview may have had the original calls of KLUE-FM when in went on the air in the late 1960's but I am not sure if they simulcasted 1280 or went on the air with a country format.
There wasn't much on FM in Longview in the 1970's. We had country KYKX 105.7 and beautiful music KNUE 101.5 from Tyler. Two other Tyler stations, country 92.1 KROZ and top 40 93.1 KTYL had fair to poor signals into Longview, as well as two Shreveport stations, top 40 94.5 KROK and country 101.1 KRMD. There was also a country station from Texarkana, 98.1 KTAL, that broadcasted in mono until 1984 when they became 98 Rocks. So, most of us kids listened to AM. KLUE was top 40, KFRO was middle of the road, and KEES was country. There was also KOCA 1240 from Kilgore, and a gospel station KHYM 1060 from Gilmer. Two other top 40 stations, KEEL Shreveport and The Mighty 1190 KLIF Dallas were receivable in Longview during the day. At night, I usually listened to XEROK X-Rock 80, WLS, WOAI, or WLAC. XEROK was broadcasting with 150,000 watts, and after XERF blew up their 250,000 watt transmitter (officially 250,000 watts, although some claim 1,000,000 watts), XEROK took the title of "North America's most powerful radio station."
In 1976, I won a Nazareth album in a call-in contest and went to the studios on Signal Hill Dr. to pick it up.
Around 1983, KLUE flipped formats and calls and became country KLGV. In the late 1980's it flipped to an urban format. The calls were changed to KARW in 1992. 1280 finally went dark around 1995 when thieves broke into the studios and stole most of the uninsured broadcast equipment.
I went by the old Signal Hill studios a couple of years ago. The tower is still standing, and the old studio building is still there, although boarded up and in poor condition. There was a lot of rusty and broken equipment just lying around.
The KLUE calls are currently used by an FM in Poplar Bluff, MO.
KLTI 1280 went on the air sometime in the 1950's and was owned and operated by LeTourneau Institute, now LeTourneau University.
In the mid 1960's, KLTI switched to Top 40 KLUE, and became world famous in 1966. John Lennon had made his infamous “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus Christ” statement. KLUE, along with other stations around the country, protested by staging a “Beatles Bonfire” where listeners were encouraged to bring their Beatles’ records, posters, etc to be burned. A thousand or more teenagers showed up with their Beatles’ paraphernalia on Friday evening, August 12, 1966. The bonfire was lit, and the crowd cheered and sang Elvis songs. The following day, Saturday, August 13, 1966, the station’s tower was hit by lightning, sending their news director to the hospital and causing extensive damage to the station’s equipment.
105.7 in Longview may have had the original calls of KLUE-FM when in went on the air in the late 1960's but I am not sure if they simulcasted 1280 or went on the air with a country format.
There wasn't much on FM in Longview in the 1970's. We had country KYKX 105.7 and beautiful music KNUE 101.5 from Tyler. Two other Tyler stations, country 92.1 KROZ and top 40 93.1 KTYL had fair to poor signals into Longview, as well as two Shreveport stations, top 40 94.5 KROK and country 101.1 KRMD. There was also a country station from Texarkana, 98.1 KTAL, that broadcasted in mono until 1984 when they became 98 Rocks. So, most of us kids listened to AM. KLUE was top 40, KFRO was middle of the road, and KEES was country. There was also KOCA 1240 from Kilgore, and a gospel station KHYM 1060 from Gilmer. Two other top 40 stations, KEEL Shreveport and The Mighty 1190 KLIF Dallas were receivable in Longview during the day. At night, I usually listened to XEROK X-Rock 80, WLS, WOAI, or WLAC. XEROK was broadcasting with 150,000 watts, and after XERF blew up their 250,000 watt transmitter (officially 250,000 watts, although some claim 1,000,000 watts), XEROK took the title of "North America's most powerful radio station."
In 1976, I won a Nazareth album in a call-in contest and went to the studios on Signal Hill Dr. to pick it up.
Around 1983, KLUE flipped formats and calls and became country KLGV. In the late 1980's it flipped to an urban format. The calls were changed to KARW in 1992. 1280 finally went dark around 1995 when thieves broke into the studios and stole most of the uninsured broadcast equipment.
I went by the old Signal Hill studios a couple of years ago. The tower is still standing, and the old studio building is still there, although boarded up and in poor condition. There was a lot of rusty and broken equipment just lying around.
The KLUE calls are currently used by an FM in Poplar Bluff, MO.
