WNAP 70s & 80s

[IndyDan]

I've got to hand it to Chris Connor! People are still talking about what he did 30 years later!
He had the oppertunity, the power, and the talent to pull off something very unique! His sound
was really the last thing to be truly new in Indy radio. For those of us who grew up in the 70s here,
Chris Connor was the last King of Indiana radio!

Amen! Christopher C. Connor, and as he would often say on the air, the "C" stands for KILLER. Where else could you hear a Tony Olando song, one of those classic Heller jingles, then a Led Zepplin cut? I use to kick a kick out of hearing the "Capsule Countdown". What a strange mix of tunes in the top 5! But you know what? We listened as often as we could..in my case, fighting my mom over the radio when she wanted to listen to WXLW (in its' pre-rock days).

 

[Mid West Clubber]

I think I was born too late. I only have very blurry memories of WNAP from about 1983 till they changed to oldies in 86 or 87.. At this time WNAP was pretty much an Adult Top 40 station. I think I would have really liked WNAP in the late 60s through the 70s. Its Ashame that 93.1 is no longer even a music format. At least when Radio Now was on 93.1 it was sort of like the WNAP for the new generation and on the same frequency. I also sorta remember when 99.5 was called Kiss 99 with a Rock Leaning Top 40 format until they changed to WZPL-Indys Apple in 1984, I still have an old cassette of the very first WZPL Hot 9 at 9 from 1984 with Girls just wanna have fun, Footlose, and Talking in your sleep, amoung other songs. Ive read that 99.5 was once a Dance/Disco station, but I dont remember ever hearing that at all, maybe it was before I was born, or before I owned a radio.

 

[shortbaldguy2007]

WZPL, 99.5 was at one time during the disco craze, WIKS, "KISS 99." Once the disco died, so did KISS. Again, great memories.

 

[MightyFrenchman]

WZPL, 99.5 was at one time during the disco craze, WIKS, "KISS 99." Once the disco died, so did KISS. Again, great memories.

I'm not originally from Indy so I have no memories of WNAP. In the late '70s I remember driving thru Indianapolis and for an extremely brief moment listening to Kiss 99's disco format. My comment is that even in disco's most popular days, it wasn't popular with everyone. One of Chicago's rock stations had a disco record burn at Commisky Park one summer night (mostly for promotion I'm sure, but they got plenty of attention nonetheless.) Probably why even now The Track is getting both cheers & boos from listeners when they play disco oldies.

 

[Timewarp]

To me, WNAP and Cris Conner represented the Golden Age of FM. FM was still new back then
and this was the reason we made the switch from AM. You could travel the country or the world and there was only one WNAP. The corporate stations today sound the same from coast to coast. Same cookie
cutter formula and same consultants. Conner lived the dream we all had when we got into this biz.
He did it his way.

We're still talking about him more than 30 years later! Wow!

 

[bigtime]

As good as WNAP was then, something similar wouldn't have the same impact now. Back then there were 2 or 3 chr/rock radio choices. Now it's more like 100+ when you factor in the many more local signals and the huge number on the internet. If the Beatles came along now they'd never have the same cultural impact either. Instead of 1 or 2 radio stations and 3 or 4 tv stations we have almost too many choices now. That makes it very hard for any artist to have the reach of media exposure they did in those days. The Beatles were seen (live) by almost half the US population when they did the Sullivan show. Today even Britney Spears or Hannah Montana come nowhere close to that kind of nationally shared exposure.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Thats because we have so many choices that everything just gets diluted. Everyone is tuned into something different for their niche broadcast, instead of everyone in America forced to watch only 1 or 2 tv stations, and maybe a half dozen radio stations if they were lucky. Music these days has changed so much that you couldnt put a station on like WNAP and expect it to work, especially not in a big market like Indy. Todays radio listeners in the age of presets, I pods and CD players are mostly Button Pushers, if they dont know the song they often change it without giving it a chance, one of the reasons its harder to break new music these days.... Am I right... You have to be so careful what you add because you want the listeners to stay on your station and hear your entire music sweep and stop set, versus flipping between 5 stations like most people do now.

 

[ten_four]

WZPL, 99.5 was at one time during the disco craze, WIKS, "KISS 99." Once the disco died, so did KISS. Again, great memories.

Which reminds me of the Adam Smasher move from WNAP to IKS. The Smash had a no compete, but IKS would run promos counting down the days until he would be a part of the KISS team. He took his no compete to court and if I remember correctly, Fairbanks won, keeping him from being on the air for 6 months.

 

[Timewarp]

True. We have many more choices today. No longer just 4 TV channels. I have hundreds to choose
from. The Beatles or Elvis would not be able to be who they became with all this media today. But
how or why doen't really matter, just what they became. All that really matters is, they got there.
So, Cris Conner was the King of Indiana radio. And I agree. No one else will ever be able to do that
again!!!!! And, I don't care how he got to be the King because he wore the crown very well.

 

[flashback]

janis joplin would not have made it big today.no matter how good she was.she didn`t have the right look to be promoted today if she was alive today.


on many levils , in many ways, things were better in the whole entertanment field in the days wnap was big.

 

[bigtime]

Britney Spears wouldn't have made it beyond kid talent pageants in those days. Actually there are plenty of people with very limited musical talent who are deemed to be great artists these days. Certain hip-hop artists come to mind.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Yeah, thats the problem, you gotta have good looks more than the ability to perform these days. There are alot of people that can sing, that might not be so good looking, but they cant get into the field because of people like Simon on American idol.

 

[kirkiefan]

Yeah, thats the problem, you gotta have good looks more than the ability to perform these days. There are alot of people that can sing, that might not be so good looking, but they cant get into the field because of people like Simon on American idol.

I agree...it's all about looks whether you have talent or not. One exception may be Carrie Underwood with that feathered ON-J 70s hairstyle but that's about it!

As for the local talent like Bodine,Conner and Smash..it's no longer an option for newcomers anymore...it's all sydnicated/sattelitte people. Blame it on 80s deregluation and CC greed..the "fifth estate" has become the "hood" of the corporate moguls.

 

[Ur-A-Dawg]

What do looks have to do with this? I thought we were talking about radio?

 

[flashback]

What do looks have to do with this? I thought we were talking about radio?

now a days an artist has to look good as well as have talent . I guess it is for promotional purposes.

 

[Toaster]

What do looks have to do with this? I thought we were talking about radio?

now a days an artist has to look good as well as have talent .

So how do you explain Dave "The King" Wilson?

 

[shortbaldguy2007]

The point was that to be a successful ARTIST looks are important...thank goodness it's not that way with jocks!

 

[radiowannab]

Why did WNAP ever swtich formats? I remember that Buzzard station and it was great. Then they brought Howard Stern in and it started going down hill. I moved away came back and it was new music. I remember what a good station it was. I am surprised they ever swtiched it. Can any one provide me with some background on why it was changed?

 

[IndyDan]

Why did WNAP ever swtich formats? I remember that Buzzard station and it was great. Then they brought Howard Stern in and it started going down hill. I moved away came back and it was new music. I remember what a good station it was. I am surprised they ever swtiched it. Can any one provide me with some background on why it was changed?

If you're talking about the Emmis version of WNAP, it was switched to Radio Now because as soon as Stern's show was over, people just weren't listening to the station, in spite of evolving from an all-70's format into the "classic rock that really rocks" format (heavy AC-DC, Aerosmith, etc.) Stern did ok with the male audience in the mornings from what I have read, but not well enough to keep them listening the rest of the day. Apparently they would switch back to Q-95, hence the change. In my opinion, the newer version(s) of WNAP in no way came close to being what the Fairbanks version was. With the Fairbanks version, I have heard a lot of stories about its' demise..mostly the disco days and people that were working there at the time that helped dig the grave. That's about the time Q-95 went live and WSMJ was sold to Heftel and switched to WIKS (disco). WNAP switched to WEAG, but I really think by then, it was too late and we ended up with oldies on 93.1 untl Emmis attempted to revive the buzzard.

 

[radio-outsider]

WNAP was a "one size fits all" station in a much simpler time. In the mid 70's there were only a half a dozen or so FM signals of any consequence vying for listeners, WNAP - Hybrid TOP 40/AOR, WFBQ - Automated Top 40, WFMS - Country, WXTZ - Beautiful Music, WTLC - Urban, and 107.9 was off the air for several years because of license revocation.

All the other frequencies in the area that are currently part of the Indy market were either VERY sleepy suburban stations serving their city of license without a clue as to the value of their signal, or had not been built yet.

Once WFBQ went live and stole the male audience, and WFMJ became WIKS and stole the kids, the days of 12 plus shares were over.

But all in all at it's peak in the mid 70's, WNAP was perhaps one of the best executed REAL radio stations of ALL time in ANY market, period, and that's why it's still being discussed today.