Rebuilding my station..

[radioboy]

Hi gang,

After a short hiatus from Part 15 due to a combination of storm damage and the death of my grandmother in 2006, I am now getting ready to rebuild my station. (Along with renovating parts of my house, which has thousands of dollars worth of water damage due to defects in the house itself.)

This time around, I'm planning to use a Rangemaster on 1610 and broadcast a "full-service/variety" format.
I've been learning how to use ZaraRadio for the overnights and so far it seems like it will do everything I need.

I used to have an old McMartin 8 channel board but donated it to a licensed station in another state that suffered a devastating fire. Now I kinda wished I'd held on to it..but wanted to help them get back on the air..and I didn't even know anyone there. So if anyone has a spare 6-8 channel board sitting around. shoot me an email. I have a small Radio Shack one that's OK, but I could use more inputs. I also need a processor that will work with the Rangemaster.

Having worked in local radio for many years, I've discovered that since taking early retirement that I miss being on the air..but satellite, brokered shows and voicetracking have about eliminated the local jobs outside of mornings.

Here's my new station's site:

http://www.musicbox1610.com

I hope to be back on the air later this year. I'm looking forward to getting more active here once again. I have managed to keep WJJD going through everything via the Internet and will keep it as it is unless the royalty rates kill it off.

 

[al_atl]

There is some really old WJJD stuff on ebay now. Before I saw this, I never knew WJJD was ever top-40. I thought it was country until it went with nostalgia/ez...then went away. Anyway, thought you might be interested.

 

[hammondo]

1160 WJJD was the Chicago top 40 station of the late 50's and first year or so of the 60's until WLS (then later WYNR and WCFL) happened.

"Radio Chicago WJJD a broadcast service of Plough Incorporated." Plough made St. Joseph Aspirin and Coppertone, and the station always had lots of ads for Plough products. They also published an 8 1/2 by 11 white with red type "top 40" survey. It featured pictures of ALL the dj's on the bottom of the front side.

WJJD was 50kw - but a DAYTIIMER then. They had to go off an hour after Salt Lake sunset beacuse of KSL, Salt Lake, but they could go ON an hour BEFORE sunrise (because of KSL).

The station offices were located on Michigan Avenue, but the studio and transmitter were in an old house on Ballard Road in DesPlaines. The transmitter was in the basement. The air studio and control rooom were on the first floor.

Ernie Simon was the morning man, Del Clark (who also did auto racing) Jim Lounsbury and Bernie Allen were other announcers there.

WJJD had a GREAT news department and did lots of "police" news. They always made you feel as though if you didn't listye you'd be missing something.

WJJD had very memorable jingles (I can still sing a few) and LOTS of silly promotions, like "Herman Gingfingdingler day." Listeners were supposed to write that name on your classroom blackboard - and call in WHAT SCHOOL. Thne they read the schools on the radio. This was also the station I was listening to in when Johnny Horton died.

WJJD went "beautiful music" for a while after they dropped rock because of WLS. THEN they went country (maybe late 60's), calling themselves "The JD brand."

 

[radioboy]

Interestingly enough, this past week I received an email from "Jack," who now lives around Tampa, Fla., who
wrote a note about Ernie Simon and also Randy Blake's "Suppertime Frolic."

Jack wrote, in part,
"In the middle or late 40s, WJJD hired a morning DJ by the name of Ernie Simon. He was quite
a comedian. He used to say "1160 on the dial, somewhere in the pile, Chicago."

I have received a number of airchecks of WJJD after it went country. The best guess is that
it went country in late 1962. The first country song they played was "I've Got A Tiger by the Tail" by Buck Owens.

My "WJJD Revisited" tribute station focuses on the "JD brand" era of country. I did manage to get most of
the IDs and jingles from that time, including the Plough Broadcasting legal ID that hammando mentioned.

Interesting ebay link, also, al_atl..thanks.

I've written a little about the country era of WJJD at http://www.wjjd1160country.com

A number of folks from all around the country have written to me about the station, including some
of the DJ's families. Roy Stingley's daughter, Vicky, keeps in touch. Roy was one of the "Western Gentlemen" ,
of the country format.

The country format, along with WJJD IDs and such, is streaming now (link in sig)

The Part 15 is being rebuilt in a separate mobile home here on the farm. My radio stuff is starting to take up
too much space in the house ;D

 

[hammondo]

Alan, I DO remember Roy Stingley.

The station had a few concerts and an employee of my dad LOVED WJJD and LOVED Buck Owens. I was NOT into "country" at the time, but remember that Buck did a LONG Sunday afternoon concert. Not sure if it was at the Airie Crowne Theatre (before it burned down) or the International Amphitheatre. As a kid, I saw lots of shows in both venues

As I mentioned below, Plough made St. Joseph Aspirin and Coppertone, and the station always had lots of ads for Plough products. You might see about getting some old airchecks with those ads, and running them. It would make your place sound even MORE authentic.

Do you have THIS jingle?; ("guitar riffs") WJJD - Countrywide Weatherscope (long closing riff to read the weather). THAT played for years and years.

Their slogan was always "Radio Chicago" - that appeared in big letters on their top 40 lists.

PS Randy Blake's "Suppertime Frolic." was a 40's thing from the FIRST time JD was a country station. THEN it went "rock" then beautiful music, then country, then, standards.

Randy went on to be the spokesman on WGN-TV for "Behrends - the midwest's largets continental, Mercury, Comet dealer, 6221 North on Western Avenue" (Chicago). Behrends ads ran on Sundays, and I believe they were a "charter advertiser" when wgn-tv began to run movies overnights on Friday and Saturday nights.

Ernie Simon was a 50's thing. Ernie used drop ins and sound effects and was a real hoot. He had a drop in that said "I'm FEELIN' GOOD (then with lots of echo) TO -dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

When I was about 10 years old my dad and I built a crystal set. We only lived about 5 miles from JD's transmitter - and THAT was the only station we could pick up (it was still rock then).

 

[radioboy]

As I mentioned below, Plough made St. Joseph Aspirin and Coppertone, and the station always had lots of ads for Plough products. You might see about getting some old airchecks with those ads, and running them. It would make your place sound even MORE authentic.

Do you have THIS jingle?; ("guitar riffs") WJJD - Countrywide Weatherscope (long closing riff to read the weather). THAT played for years and years.

Their slogan was always "Radio Chicago" - that appeared in big letters on their top 40 lists.

You know, I MIGHT just have a few of those ads..will have to go through and see.

I do have the Weatherscope jingle - actually I have two of them..one has a little "electric guitar"
mixed in but it is basically the same.

A few of the IDs I have also say "Radio Chicago."

This thread is a reminder of how much fun "WJJD Revisited" has been to recreate. I'll be adding
some more content to the stream shortly. It takes a while to convert all of the old stuff to mp3.