MEMORABLE SLOGANS

[Bob E. Nelson]

Stations have used slogans or positioning statements to enhance identity as we all know. In many cases, such slogans have little impact on listener recall. There have been some that are still remembered long after the station changed format or call letters.

To get this thread rolling, IMHO WMAQ's slogan of the mid-70's ranks near the top in memorability:

``WMAQ's gonna make me rich!''

Around the time Chicago's WMAQ flipped to country, the bumper sticker was also ubiquitous. It was a well-marketed and branded station.

...so what are some other radio station slogans that are still seared in memory?

 

[rwells2265]

Stations have used slogans or positioning statements to enhance identity as we all know. In many cases, such slogans have little impact on listener recall. There have been some that are still remembered long after the station changed format or call letters.

To get this thread rolling, IMHO WMAQ's slogan of the mid-70's ranks near the top in memorability:

``WMAQ's gonna make me rich!''

Around the time Chicago's WMAQ flipped to country, the bumper sticker was also ubiquitous. It was a well-marketed and branded station.

...so what are some other radio station slogans that are still seared in memory?

Two memorable slogans were used for many years on WMC-FM/Memphis:

"FM 100 Means Music"
"Your radio's pickin' up FM 100" (there was even a custom song-length jingle for that slogan)


Many stations had really good identities in that way. Apart from the all-to-common "The Big ____" or "The Mighty (frequency ending in -90)", a few in this neighborhood are still recalled by many today:

Two of the Brennan-owned stations - WAPE 690/Jacksonville, Fla. (The Big Ape) and WBAM 740/Montgomery, Ala. (Big Bam Radio) - went one further and had audio "positioning": WAPE's "ape call" (still heard today on the unrelated CHR FM in JAX with the same calls), and WBAM's "cannon blast" - 'BAM!' They went beyond catchy, and became each station's ultimate signature.

Another in the same vein was WDAK 540/Columbus, Ga: "Big Johnny Reb" - a Confederate soldier was its logo, and at the top of every hour the Stan Freberg "rebel yell" was played with the ID. Play that Freberg bit today for any baby boomer in west Georgia/east Alabama and the memories will start flowing.

Sister WALG 1590/Albany, Ga. was, simply, "Johnny Reb Radio"

WAAY 1550/Huntsville, Ala. over the years played on its callsign, perhaps the most memorable was "The Great American WAAY."

By far the oddest positioner I've ever heard was used in the early '80s on (then-CHR) KGMO/Cape Girardeau, Mo.: "We've captured the music"

--Russell

 

[KeithE4]

Or, just how they pronounce their call letters: Sixty six, W ENNNNNNNNNNNNNN BC!

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Weren't there quite a few that called themselves "Tiger Radio"? (WQAM, Miami, for one?)

Some others...
WJR, Detroit "The Great Voice Of The Great Lakes"
"Yours Truly WHB"
KFWB, Los Angeles "Color Radio/Channel 98", and of course, when they went all-news, "Give Us 22 Minutes...We'll Give You The World" (If that's not exactly verbatim, someone in LA can correct me)
KSFO, San Francisco "The World's Greatest Radio Station"
KMPC, Los Angeles "The Station Of The Stars"
WLW, Cincinnati "The Nation's Station" (That's gotta be one of the oldest)

 

[firepoint525]

Stations have used slogans or positioning statements to enhance identity as we all know. In many cases, such slogans have little impact on listener recall. There have been some that are still remembered long after the station changed format or call letters.
To get this thread rolling, IMHO WMAQ's slogan of the mid-70's ranks near the top in memorability:
``WMAQ's gonna make me rich!''
Around the time Chicago's WMAQ flipped to country, the bumper sticker was also ubiquitous. It was a well-marketed and branded station.
...so what are some other radio station slogans that are still seared in memory?

Two memorable slogans were used for many years on WMC-FM/Memphis:
"FM 100 Means Music"
"Your radio's pickin' up FM 100" (there was even a custom song-length jingle for that slogan)

That was actually a single credited to a group that went by the name The Shoe Section. I have the 45 of it. If I knew how to, I would put it on youtube. Actual title: "Memphis, I'm Coming Home to You."

 

[landtuna]

KTKT 990 - "Radio Free Tucson" (they also used the "Color Radio 99" slogan)

KYA 1260 - "Golden Gate Greats"

 

[oaktree]

"And the HITS just keep on comin'"

"Boss Radio"

"WFIL - Philadelphia ...means MUSIC!"

"WFIL - Philadelphia ... MUCH more MUSIC!"

"Music Radio" -- WABC / WLS

'WASH with the Stars -- W-A-S-H, Washington."

"I'd Rather Be In Denver - with 95/KIMN"

"Someplace Special - K D K A, Pittsburgh"

"All You Need To Know -- K N X 10-70 -- Newsradio"

 

[JeffD]

WFIL - Rock'n in the Cradle of Liberty -1970's

WOGL - Rock'n in the Cradle of Liberty - 2010

"And the HITS just keep on comin'"

"Boss Radio"

"WFIL - Philadelphia ...means MUSIC!"

"WFIL - Philadelphia ... MUCH more MUSIC!"

"Music Radio" -- WABC / WLS

'WASH with the Stars -- W-A-S-H, Washington."

"I'd Rather Be In Denver - with 95/KIMN"

"Someplace Special - K D K A, Pittsburgh"

"All You Need To Know -- K N X 10-70 -- Newsradio"

 

[trusty]

WVOK - Voice of Dixie
WSB - Voice of the South

Before they turned top-40, WQXI am was branded, "The People's Choice"

 

[joshzz]

I would suggest the current jingles for LIFT FM which is our owned station will long be remembered. This is not to blow our horn but we have heard this from listeners across the country.

Indeed, a General Manager of a Radio Station in Brisbane, Australia was so impressed with our jingles that he made it a point of telling us and asking for the contact information of the company that did our jingles.

We are known as LIFT FM, the Station that LIFTS you Up. josh

 

[MsMusicRadio]

Then it was "Quixxie in Dixie" ( spelling?)

"The Voice of the Southland"-----KRLA ( unless I messed that up)

'KELY Country"

for those who were there : "Big Lee" in Richmond

"The Voice of Labor" WCFL ------( Gave me goosebumps) ( hope I got that right too)

 

[oaktree]

"Everybody's Mummy Listens to 10-10 WINS!"

"The Spirit of New England " - Radio 103 - W B Z, Boston -- A Westinghouse Broadcasting Station."

"W I B G - Philadelphia - Is ... Bosser."

"Oldies 98 -- W C A U - FM - Philadelphia"

"We Play Your Songs - W I P, Philadelphia"

 

[LKellerIII]

I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet - "Give us 22 minutes, and we'll give you the world."

(KFWB Los Angeles, and probably other all news stations)

In San Francisco - "The Boss of the Bay" (1260/KYA in the 60s). "The Rock of the Bay" (1260/KYA in the 70s)

When contests were still big on Top 40 radio - "Hit Music, Free Money" (99.7/KYUU in the 80s)

 

[trusty]

There is a (Clear Channel) Atlanta news/talk station that gutted its news dept and replaced it with all syndicated talk to save $$, so it came up with the following slogan that just MIGHT become memorable (I'm not making this up.):

"Talk Bigger Than the News"

 

[LKellerIII]

Or, just how they pronounce their call letters: Sixty six, W ENNNNNNNNNNNNNN BC!

That must have been an NBC fetish. For a couple of years, the DJs on their San Francisco FM station had to ID the station as "99.7, K-Y-YOOOOOOOU-U."

 

[KeithE4]

Or, just how they pronounce their call letters: Sixty six, W ENNNNNNNNNNNNNN BC!

That must have been an NBC fetish. For a couple of years, the DJs on their San Francisco FM station had to ID the station as "99.7, K-Y-YOOOOOOOU-U."

IIRC, it was to differentiate themselves from WABC.

 

[Ultimajock]

...I'll contribute my favourite: WGN Chicago, "Radio Home to Millions across Mid-America" (and it was, too)...

 

[jd]

Well, you beat me to it. That was always my favorite and like you said it was more than an ID. It really was the truth.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet - "Give us 22 minutes, and we'll give you the world."

(KFWB Los Angeles, and probably other all news stations)

Um, it kinda was...

The unnamed Atlanta talk station has call letters that rhyme with WGST.

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

...I'll contribute my favourite: WGN Chicago, "Radio Home to Millions across Mid-America" (and it was, too)...

I cited the ``WMAQ's gonna make me rich'' slogan because of a real-world incident involving a non-radio person. Here's the tale:

On a recent visit to a tony Chicagoland suburb, I was walking through the neighborhood for some after-dinner exercise. While waiting for traffic to cross, a woman (late 50's early 60's) was taking out her recycling bin for collection on the sidewalk. She asked me if I knew why the pickup days had been changed. I told her I was just visiting from Texas and didn't know.

Then the reaction I often get: ``You sound like you're on the radio''. I told her that indeed I was back in the dark ages but had never worked in Chicago although I admired stations like WGN and WLS from afar. She said that she did listen to both of those back in the 70's but she also liked WMAQ. I asked if she liked country music (670's format at the time). ``Not particularly...but WMAQ's gonna make me rich!'' she laughed without prompting whatsoever from me.

I thought that anyone spontaneously recalling a slogan that hadn't been around for over 30 years was pretty remarkable. Like I said, it was a very nice part of Chicago and maybe WMAQ really did make her rich.