Hey there, WAKY has made somewhat of a comeback, complete with Johnny Randolph on afternoons from 3 to 7pm. Check out http://www.waky1035.com/ and for more information on the old WAKY check out www.LKYradio.com -- complete with airchecks!KeithE4 said:
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"The Big 89" WLS Chicago.
KMPC Los Angeles 1956-1972
KHJ Los Angeles 1966-1969
KSAN San Francisco 1968-1974
KBCA Los Angeles 1968-1971
KFRC 5an Francisco 1972-1979
KFMB San Diego 1974-1976
KROQ Los Angeles 1979-1989
KFRC San Francisco 1981-1983
KHJ Los Angeles 1966-1969
KSAN San Francisco 1968-1974
KBCA Los Angeles 1968-1971
KFRC 5an Francisco 1972-1979
KFMB San Diego 1974-1976
KROQ Los Angeles 1979-1989
KFRC San Francisco 1981-1983
michael hagerty said:
All good choices, Michael...but I'm curious about why KFRC fell off your Best list from in 79 and 80. It's been a long time, but I don't remember any drop off in quality for those 2 years.
Glad to see KBCA on your list. Terrific jazz station. KJAZ - Alameda (San Francisco) was also excellent in the 70s (started in the mid 50s and finally went bankrupt in the early 90s). The station's owner was a huge jazz fan and notoriously poor businessman.
KRE-FM - Berkeley was a close second with a loose jazz "fusion" format in the early 70s - sort of a fore-runner to Smooth Jazz, but more soulful and upbeat. Inner City Broadcasting homogenized the station when they turned it into KBLX.
I mentioned it earlier in this thread, but as a "free form" album rock station, KPPC Pasadena had no equal (in my opinion) in 70-71 when Les Carter was running it - not even KSAN, and certainly not the KMET or KLOS of that era.
M
MsMusicRadio
Guest
WAMO 860 AM in Pittsburgh during the late Fifties and early Sixties. They had an integrated airstaff and played doo wop when it was fresh music.
WHAT in Philadelphia during the Jerry Blavat years.
WTAE , WHEN, KULF, and WRNL were early pioneers with AC music before it was called that. They all sounded as good as any FM AC today
WHAT in Philadelphia during the Jerry Blavat years.
WTAE , WHEN, KULF, and WRNL were early pioneers with AC music before it was called that. They all sounded as good as any FM AC today
Lkeller said:
Llew:
The last days of Les Garland and the first days of Gerry Cagle were pretty rough. 1979 was fine. It was 1980 that it got sideways.
Dr. Don was about the only constant, oh...and Don Sainte-Johnn. Dave Sholin had moved on to an RKO corporate gig, Rick Shaw and Big Tom Parker crossed the street to KYUU, John Mack Flanagan had walked out over money, Mark McKay was at WRKO, Big Bob Anthony bought a station in Santa Rosa...
About the only thing that went right was that Mike Novak came back from KYNO.
And the music...well, 1980 wasn't a great year for Top 40 or album rock, the two styles that Garland fused to avoid disco. And KFRC was still making fun of New Wave, so that wasn't there to help.
It wasn't until '81, when Gerry Cagle threw out the charts and went seriously rhythmic, playing the Gap Band instead of Air Supply, that things began to work. Sholin came back, Gerry hired Jackson Armstrong, Mark McKay came back, Gerry hired Bill Lee, Gerry hired Bobby Ocean...and from there until Cagle's departure in very early '84, KFRC was arguably the best ever.
KBCA was remarkable...especially in the years I mentioned. I still miss it.
I never heard KPPC...not having a stick on Mt. Wilson, it wasn't one of the FMs on the cable system in Bishop, and by the time I was spending any kind of time in L.A. with an FM reciever, they were long gone. I need to round up some airchecks.
michael hagerty said:
Michael - you've left me an opening to reminisce about KPPC - too bad you missed it. I discovered the station in 1969 as a college freshman at UCLA - I had gotten a high-grade AM/FM stereo for a high school graduation present. I loved the album rock music on the "underground" stations, but as a Top 40 junkie, I found the stations to be kind of lacking as radio - I didn't expect Johnny Mann jingles or loud jocks, but I expected something more than 3 songs in a row followed by a few seconds of stoned sounding jock. The competing stations at that time were KMET, which was still running automated elevator music in some day parts, and KABC-FM, which ran the "Love" format with Brother John and Tony Pigg - no local content at all.
In contrast to the others - KPPC had a lot of programming content and formatting - clever drop-ins (with a counter-culture hippie bent, naturally), actual jingles done by the Persuasions, and a lot of special programming. Dr. Demento started there, and they picked up the Credibility Gap when KRLA dropped them. The jocks were excellent, too - PD Les Carter (a former KBCA jock), his wife Susan Carter ("Outrageous Nevada" on air), Steven Segal (who became "The Obscene Steven Clean" at some point), Jeff Gonzer, and others.
Bizarre programming was commonplace. The Firesign Theater would show up from time to time to provide some brilliant programming, including alternate "sound tracks" to TV programs. I was listening once when they provided alternate dialogue for one of those late Saturday night low budget 'Creature Feature' type horror films...you'd turn off the volume on your TV, and tune in KPPC.
It was a brilliant station for awhile. Some of the KPPC programming - Demento, Steven Clean, and the Persuasions jingles -made it over to KMET in late 1971 when KPPC's owners (The National Science Network) fired Carter and the entire staff. KMET never reached that level of brilliance, though...and KPPC languished from that point on, the victim of a boycott by outraged hippie listeners like myself.
Frank Zappa sitting in with the jock on KPPC - 1968:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orHiPyD3gDE
I don't know if I mentioned it on this board or not, but this summer, I found multiple copies of "Riding On The Ether Express", a book about KPPC by former jock Dave Pierce at the Scottsdale Waterfront Borders Books.
An entertaining read marred only by a few fact and timeline errors (but hey, it's been almost 40 years, and as is made clear in the book, he wasn't straight and sober at the time).
Here's a link with details from an online vendor: http://booksxyz.com/profile3658771.php
An entertaining read marred only by a few fact and timeline errors (but hey, it's been almost 40 years, and as is made clear in the book, he wasn't straight and sober at the time).
Here's a link with details from an online vendor: http://booksxyz.com/profile3658771.php
michael hagerty said:
If you mentioned it before, I missed it, Michael. Thanks for the tip.
Someone mentioned WNDR & WOLF in Syracuse. Gotta throw in WHEN in the early 70's. I grew up in CNY and heard them all. I have to add WTLB in Utica -Rome. No one ever got more out of a 1,000 watts. In the early days of top 40 they really showed up co-owned WBBF in Rochester. A much better sound. Later on when owned by R. Peter Strauss and the Strauss Broadcasting group, they were a just amazing sounding station. Back then it was a top 100 market. Fortunately for me, a got to work there for a short time at the end of the "Good Guys" years. I met, and became friends with, some amazing talent.
I don't know if these are the best, but here are my favorites from my 20-plus years of radio listening:
- WLW. Really enjoy most of their programming. They just need to turn off IBOC.
- WGN, for the Cubs, other sentimental reasons and always being live and local to Chicago.
- WSCR in its 670 form ... never lived in Chicago so didn't hear it on 820.
- WOWO in the late 80s and early 90s.
- KKRW/Houston in the earlier days of its classic rock incarnation, when it didn't sound like a cookie-cutter Clear Channel station. The Arrow's Classic CD at Midnight introduced me to a lot of classic rock you don't usually hear.
There are a lot of other stations I enjoy, but these are atop my list.
- WLW. Really enjoy most of their programming. They just need to turn off IBOC.
- WGN, for the Cubs, other sentimental reasons and always being live and local to Chicago.
- WSCR in its 670 form ... never lived in Chicago so didn't hear it on 820.
- WOWO in the late 80s and early 90s.
- KKRW/Houston in the earlier days of its classic rock incarnation, when it didn't sound like a cookie-cutter Clear Channel station. The Arrow's Classic CD at Midnight introduced me to a lot of classic rock you don't usually hear.
There are a lot of other stations I enjoy, but these are atop my list.
As far as where I live (Nashville)
T1. 107.5 WRVW--Top 40 (when it was WYHY--Hot AC? or Top 40ish?) "Y107"
T1. 103.3 WKDF--Country (when it was WKDF--Rock) "KDF"
3. 100.1 WRLT--AAA "Lightning 100"
4. 102.9 WBUZ--Active Rock "102.9 The Buzz"
5. 101.1 WUBT--Urban (when it was WZTO--Contemporary Christian) "101.1 The One"
6. 97.1 WRQQ--Rock (when it was AC, then 80s, then Hot AC) "Star 97"
7. 96.3 WCJK--Jack (when it was WMAK--Oldies) "Oldies 96.3"
8. 92.1 WQQK--Urban AC "92Q"
9. 93.7/94.1 WFFI/WFFH--Contemporary Christian "94FM The Fish"
10. 104.5 WGFX--Sports "104.5 The Zone"
Outside of Nashville:
1. 101.9 WTMX--Hot AC, Chicago IL "The Mix"
2. 107.1 WUHU--Hot AC? Top 40?, Bowling Green KY "WUHU"
3. 103.3 WRZX--Alternative, Indianapolis IN "X103"
4. 101.1 WKQX-Alternative, Chicago IL "Q101"
5. 93.1 WXRT--AAA, Chicago IL "XRT"
6. 92.3 WTTS--AAA, Bloomington/Indianapolis IN
7. 99.7 WMC-FM--Hot AC, Memphis TN "FM 100"
8. 99.7 WDJX--Top 40, Louisville, KY "DJX"
9. 99.5 WUSN--Country, Chicago IL "US 99"
10. 100.7 WUSY--Country, Chattanooga TN "US 101"
T1. 107.5 WRVW--Top 40 (when it was WYHY--Hot AC? or Top 40ish?) "Y107"
T1. 103.3 WKDF--Country (when it was WKDF--Rock) "KDF"
3. 100.1 WRLT--AAA "Lightning 100"
4. 102.9 WBUZ--Active Rock "102.9 The Buzz"
5. 101.1 WUBT--Urban (when it was WZTO--Contemporary Christian) "101.1 The One"
6. 97.1 WRQQ--Rock (when it was AC, then 80s, then Hot AC) "Star 97"
7. 96.3 WCJK--Jack (when it was WMAK--Oldies) "Oldies 96.3"
8. 92.1 WQQK--Urban AC "92Q"
9. 93.7/94.1 WFFI/WFFH--Contemporary Christian "94FM The Fish"
10. 104.5 WGFX--Sports "104.5 The Zone"
Outside of Nashville:
1. 101.9 WTMX--Hot AC, Chicago IL "The Mix"
2. 107.1 WUHU--Hot AC? Top 40?, Bowling Green KY "WUHU"
3. 103.3 WRZX--Alternative, Indianapolis IN "X103"
4. 101.1 WKQX-Alternative, Chicago IL "Q101"
5. 93.1 WXRT--AAA, Chicago IL "XRT"
6. 92.3 WTTS--AAA, Bloomington/Indianapolis IN
7. 99.7 WMC-FM--Hot AC, Memphis TN "FM 100"
8. 99.7 WDJX--Top 40, Louisville, KY "DJX"
9. 99.5 WUSN--Country, Chicago IL "US 99"
10. 100.7 WUSY--Country, Chattanooga TN "US 101"
shame on you people for not mentioning KYA 1260 in San Francisco
D
desertv
Guest
Out West in the 70s..
KFI in LA (Lohman & Barkley, Hudson & Landry, and the nightly frost forecast including beautiful Tal-Wi-Wi)
KOY in Phoenix (Bill Heywood and H G Listiak with the news from "55 Phoenix K-O-Y!")
KOB in Albuquerque (Seventy-Seven K-O-B!)
KFI in LA (Lohman & Barkley, Hudson & Landry, and the nightly frost forecast including beautiful Tal-Wi-Wi)
KOY in Phoenix (Bill Heywood and H G Listiak with the news from "55 Phoenix K-O-Y!")
KOB in Albuquerque (Seventy-Seven K-O-B!)
JeeperOne
Banned
I agree. You'd better be careful when you say the "E" word here. I too am an OTR buff (And an AVID one at that!)Ultimajock said:
That said, I'll narrow things down a little. In the days before Rock N' Roll, it's pretty simple. ANY station affiliated with NBC Red & CBS were the best. In the days during the Rock N' Roll era but BEFORE September 30th, 1962 (When the OTR era essentially came to an end), it's pretty much a toss up since radio was changing. Some stations (Such as 66 WEAR/WNBC in New York & 670 WMAQ in Chicago) were able to make a smooth transition while other stations REALLY struggled (Some of them never recovered).
While of course Mutual & NBC Blue/ABC existed back then, they were HARDLY great networks like NBC Red & CBS were.
Today, all the GREAT networks are the sports networks - BAR NONE (Sorry but not even Fox News Radio falls into the same category as its sports sibling IMB).
All that said, I'm about to start a similar thread that explores where we think radio would be today if the old NBC Red Network (Later NBC Radio) & Mutual were both still around.
Cheers
WLW's best days were in the mid-late 80's, IMO. WOWO was good in its oldies days (1988-1992?) but it was at its best in the 60's and 70's, while Westinghouse still owned it.
Okay....I posted a while back, and I've been watching this thread and thinking about it since. I'm going to post the stations that get my vote. I'm limiting it to only those that I was fortunate to have listened to "back in the day". So don't tell me I'm overlooking some great ones....I already know that!
Major Market: WTIX New Orleans (Perhaps N'Awlins is a stretch for Major Market, but this "vote" goes to the Storz group in general...I was fortunate to have heard KOMA, WDGY, KXOK, KOIL, and WHB. All flat-out excellent, but the "Krewe of TIX" was just a slight notch above!)
Midsize Market: KAAY Little Rock. Quintessential mid-60s top 40 on a blowtorch signal.
Smaller Market: KIOA Des Moines, KSTT Davenport, WIRL Peoria (3-way tie IMHO). Jocks and programmers who knew their stuff.
Small Town: WLCX, La Crosse, WI. A great listen and a great fit for a college party town. Even the interruption of a half hour live Saturday night polka party broadcast somehow worked!
Major Market: WTIX New Orleans (Perhaps N'Awlins is a stretch for Major Market, but this "vote" goes to the Storz group in general...I was fortunate to have heard KOMA, WDGY, KXOK, KOIL, and WHB. All flat-out excellent, but the "Krewe of TIX" was just a slight notch above!)
Midsize Market: KAAY Little Rock. Quintessential mid-60s top 40 on a blowtorch signal.
Smaller Market: KIOA Des Moines, KSTT Davenport, WIRL Peoria (3-way tie IMHO). Jocks and programmers who knew their stuff.
Small Town: WLCX, La Crosse, WI. A great listen and a great fit for a college party town. Even the interruption of a half hour live Saturday night polka party broadcast somehow worked!
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