The Infinite Dial

66 WNNNNNNNNNNBC. I prefer the Time Machine era for obvious reasons, but PERSONALITY TALK and TUNES wouldn't be bad. There's Only One Place For People Like Us!

WLS and WCFL Chicago's approach to Top-40 in their respective heyday.

The mid to late 1970's era of KMET Los Angeles.

KAAY Little Rock, with their southern influenced Top-40 format.

The Storz' Top-40 stations--WHB, KXOK, etc.

The R&B era of WLAC Nashville.

And while extremely difficult to replicate with corporate radio, "border blaster" radio of different eras (XERB, XEROK, XERF, XEG).

top 40 WFIL/philly late 60's/early 70's and an updated version with today's mainstream a-c music--much like sorensen did with his "WABC/WNBC" approach on WKXW/trenton prior to NJ101.5. gotta bring the fun and personality back. (I'd like to see someone here try to do what BBC Radio 2 is doing now, and dare to put it on their analog/main HD...)

Rick Carroll's KROQ *is* back at www.roqofthe80s.com, and 106.7 HD-2 in LA...My favorite HD-2. Maybe a bit broader than just 82-83, but they do keep it within the "Roq of the 80s".

I know ... and yet not quite the same thing. But very enjoyable when I've heard them.

1130 WDGY, Minneapolis..and 20/20 News!
circa '70-'75 and or 15KSTP

99 and a Half...WLOL...Minneapolis...Circa 1989. Gregg Swedberg is still in Minny, one of the great PD's in the country... The Twin Cities used to be a great CHR town... 99 1/2 W-L-O-L! Minneapolis-Saint Paul...Ya'll!!!

Hey Sean...

Why not WNEW-AM 1130?
There was only one...W-N-E-W. I have all the music and the jingles. I'll be happy to pull together whoever is around. Is anybody interested?

Dick Carr (WNEW-AM, WNEW-FM, WIP, WMMR)
Big Bands Ballads & Blues

Thank you for including WHN on your list.
You nailed it that the local vs national approach was/is the key. We took a lot of flack for that.
I agree that the same variety of Country music presented by personalities would again capture the ears of New Yorkers.
Personally, I'd like to hear the Mike McVay era 10-Q when he directed Charlie Tuna, M G Kelly, Jack Armstrong, etc. with the same classic 70s music "10-Q is ON"

KFRC 1973-1983

WNBC "the next one" era

OK100 washington dc 1977

KDAY 1974

1)WMCA/New York, in the "Good Guy" era, 1962-1968. Nothing like it, before or since. Hey, Harry Harrison, Dandy Dan Daniel, Ed Baer, Gary Stevens & the Wooleyburger all out there!
2)WILK/Wilkes-Barre, 1981-1983. I was the night jock & MD. On a slowly-dying AC station on AM, we changed to Hot Hits, (the "MTV Hour" at 10pm, with all those great sounding oh wow songs like "Jukebox" by the Flirts) along with smokin' compatable non-currents from 1964-1981. Great personalities like PD Banana Joe Montione, Frankie Warren, Shivaun. We didn't beat KRZ-FM with their monster signal, but we did pretty good (125,000 cume one book in '82) for awhile. I bet there'd be some nostalgia for it in the Wyoming Valley.

Sean-

You always amaze me with your ability to bring up more great memories/subjects! John Lander's 79Q was fun alright; coming along right about the time that Houston's AM stations had all but died.

However, the station really took off after sister 93Q was launched from the ashes of the old "beautiful music" KYND/Pasadena, in January of 1984. The station was created in the image of Scott Shannon's Q105 in Tampa, both owned at the time by "Heartless Hank's!" But 93Q diverged to become it's own thing...with the Q-ZOO morning show simulcast came a subsequent "cast" expansion includign John Carillo and his creation of "Mr. Leonard" on 93Q.

True, perhaps some nostalgia was lost once 79Q became the "wicked stepsister" as Lander jokingly referred to it, but it was really the FM--93Q--that became a phenomenon in Houston from 1984 to 1988. By mid 1984, little more than a year after 79Q's launch, the the audience transition to the FM was pretty complete, and the AM was already becoming an afterthought. Still, I considered myself lucky to leave KRBE and join the 79Q staff for middays in June of 1984. By August of 1985, simulcast rules were relaxed and since the 79Q was no longer "live" except from mornings, I transferred to co-owned KSDO-FM (KS103)in San Diego for PMD, also a great "Hot Hits" station at the time.

As luck would have it, KKBQ APD Ron Parker eventually left for Dallas and Lander recruited me back to 93Q for PMD in February of '87. I remember that period as one of the most magical times of true CHR personality radio. We had stations where the personalities and non-music entertainment were as critical, or more, than the actual music, combined with the audio quality of FM. (The launch of MTV also helped to raise the Houston public's consciousness of pop music at just the right time, and for a radio station, timing IS everything.)

Little did I know that 93Q would be one of the last of its kind, in many ways. John Lander is a great person and was a fantastic leader...not so much a PD in the sense we think of today, but a LEADER. He left the music and day to day operation of the station to others like John Cook and Ron Parker, but Lander's love and vision for 93Q and 79Q was so infectious that everyone on the staff really lived and breathed that station, from the GM down to the receptionist! I know I learned so much during that time--not the technical x's and o's of programming; that came later with Zapoleon--but how to put together the magic--the "entertainment package" surrounding the music. That experience proved invaluable and I will always be thankful for the opportunity to learn from one of the best.

Again, thanks for reviving great memories! If terrestrial radio survives it will be due to a return to what works, updated for today's realities. But I'm not sure "what works" is really all that different from what made it work for 79Q and 93Q in the 1980's! It just takes money and talent; two tools which our "industry" has become reluctant to employ.

Max Floyd's KLZ-FM Denver, circa '67-'68. Album Oriented Rock, before it was know as AOL. We had a format structure that kept us grounded and a music depth chart that allowed us to fly - so to speak!

That other WNEW. Or KMPC/WBZ/WIP etc. A handful of current wide-appeal hits (read, not year-old AC tracks), a deep library of adult-friendly gold, and interesting people talking in between (nearly) every song. Let's bring the station-as-friend concept back and see if anybody but me cares.
-r

I'm a big fan of the sound of New York, and so my wish list includes WBLS (Frankie Crocker era), WKTU (the original), and WNEW-AM. I certainly love the fact that WNEW is back (at least on the web for me). Thanks!

You can stop at THE BIG 8, CKLW, but if I may be so bold WVAZ Chicago was one of the most original and successful stations of the late 80's and 90's. Then of course the best Jazz station ever WJZZ Detroit in the late 70',
K104 Dallas during the Michael Spears era and of course WBLS in the mid to late 70's.

Maxx

Would love to have the "New WCOL" of Columbus, OH back, with the top 40 music of the late 50's and early 60's.

KFWB, Chuck Blore's 42 share Los Angeles masterpiece circa 1958.

WABC, Pick any top 40 year.

KLIF Dallas, Top 40 promotional legend.

WTIX New Orleans, Storz's first Top 40, 1954.
All of these stations, along with KHJ, were high watermarks in the evolution of Top 40 radio.

Tom Donahue's stations in late 60's. "Progressive FM"

WHY BOTHER WITH HD? JUST PUT GREAT RADIO ON THE RADIO...LIKIE IT SHOULD BE DONE....AND GET SOME REAL RATINGS. JUST BACK FROM A TRIP TO NYC. HATE TO HEAR CLUNKERS ON THE AIR. PLAY THE HITS AND BE BIG TIME FOR TODAY. FM & AM IS FAR BETTER THAN I-POD, WWW. AND SATELLIGHT. WHEN DONE RIGHT, EVERYBODY GETS IT.
Best regards,
Clark

I'll Vote for Softrock AAA WEEI-FM CBS '81. The Eagles. Without The Turleys.

Will never happen, but the old "Dusty Radio 1390" WGCI-AM Chicago of the early 90s. Incredible music and good DJs such as Armando Rivera and the late Lon Dyson.

WFLZ/Tampa (the Power Pig) 1990-1992. Q105 was a monster at the time, but FLZ was able to find the achilles heel (conservative music and very late adds on bonafide national hits) and exploit it by being aggressive both musically and the on-air imaging.

I'd vote for Mike Joseph's Hot Hits jingles!! Combo that with the hottest flashback hits of the 70s and 80s. Where do I sign up?

I grew up listening to country before it was cool, so...

My vote is for stations like WJJD Chicago, during the 60s-70s country era.

Since I've always lived in Tallahassee, Fla., I never had a chance to hear the original, but there were plenty of other country stations playing similar music and the old Pepper-Tanner jingles.

My beginnings of the tribute site and stream is available on the website. I have a lot of the music, IDs and jingles to pull it off.

I agree with Clark Smidt above. WEEI-FM, Soft Rock 103. Joni...without the baloney. Fleetwood Mac...without the yack. Also WABC in its heyday. Herb Oscar Anderson, Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, Cousin Brucie, Chuck Leonard, Charlie Greer. Another...WMEX in 1965. Fenway (Jack Gale) in the morning, Mel "Mile o' Music" Miller in midday, Melvin X. Melvin (JJ Jeffrey) in PM drive, Arnie Woo-Woo Ginsburg at night, Larry Glick overnight. Or in 1967 when WMEX had Charlie Tuna. Okay, one more: Big Jim Dunlap on WQAM, the South Florida Giant.

I agree with Clark Smidt above. WEEI-FM, Soft Rock 103. Joni...without the baloney. Fleetwood Mac...without the yack. Also WABC in its heyday. Herb Oscar Anderson, Ron Lundy, Dan Ingram, Cousin Brucie, Chuck Leonard, Charlie Greer. Another...WMEX in 1965. Fenway (Jack Gale) in the morning, Mel "Mile o' Music" Miller in midday, Melvin X. Melvin (JJ Jeffrey) in PM drive, Arnie Woo-Woo Ginsburg at night, Larry Glick overnight. Or in 1967 when WMEX had Charlie Tuna. Okay, one more: Big Jim Dunlap on WQAM, the South Florida Giant.

Eighty Nine....Double U LLLLLLLLL SSSSSSSS, Chicago! John "Records truely is my middle name" Landecker! Bring back the Boogie Check! One of the best stations in the 70's!

Would be nice to have a real alt-rock station back on the air in DC a-la 102.7/99.1 WHFS.

For me, the obvious choice is WBZ Boston from the mid-1960s when guys like Bruce Bradley, Jefferson Kaye and Dick Summer ruled my radio. These three guys are all still around. Let's find them a station, offer them the opportunity to work together again and see what happens.

How about WBCN out of Boston from back in the 80's. from the early Oedipus days.....

WLIR 92.7 (in the 80s ) bring back larry the duck(on sirius from time to time) and malibu sue !This station is missed I go to people's homes everyday and half of NJ used to jimmy rig their radio so they could tune in LIR.Miss it dearly.

Belated thanks to Mark Pfeifer above. As an ex-PD of Dustyradio, I think Chicago could still use an R&B Oldies station as well. Not sure if I'd call it Dustyradio or, since this is Rotisserie Radio here, call it WVON--since Chicago's legendary R&B AM was what we were hoping to evoke.

I've got a great idea: Here in Boston, we used to have something called "The Big 68!" Yes, sir! For 13 years WRKO radio was a top 40 powerhouse! I'd like to see The Big 68 on one of Entercomm's FM HD channels!

Most of the stations mentioned above I'm in full agreement with - especially those voting for WABC, WMCA, and CKLW. A couple of others come to mind for me, though. I'd like to see (rather, hear) the early 1970s KFRC, featuring Ron Hummel's production work. A tighter sounding station never existed. Also, the 1968-1970 Kahn Hamon era of KTSA, San Antonio. Hamon's version of the Drake format added a few modifications, but the Johnny Mann jingles were there, along with 20/20 news and a dynamite top-of-the-hour I.D. that was NOT Drake.
The mid-sixties KYA in San Francisco, before KFRC came upon the scene, was an interesting station. I'd also like to hear KGFJ in Los Angeles during the Magnificent Montegue era.
Finally, to my mind, the greatest MOR station ever was KSFO in San Francisco in the late 1950s and well into the 1960s. Don Sherwood in mornings, Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins, Jack Carney, Jim Lange, Carter B. Smith, Dave Niles, Herb Kennedy, Dick Cook - what a lineup! Of course, many of these talents are deceased, so it'd be hard to recreate, unless we had REALLY High Definition Radio.
Honorable mention to Philly's WIBG, including the Paul Drew era, KILT in Houston (an underrated Top 40 station in the 60s and 70s, IMO), KQV in Pittsburgh (mid 60s), and pre-Drake WOR-FM in New York.

It's probably already been mentioned, but my vote would be......"Music Radio" -- WLS/Chicago!! (I can already hear the PAMS legal ID jingle in my head) Any WLS-era would be great, especially 1971-1976 (ala "The Big 89 Rewind" like they did this past year with the original jocks). Can you imagine once again hearing "Boogie Check" every night???? Mr. Landecker???

NOBODY has mentioned the very early FM days when beautiful music ruled! Bring back Gaslight Review and WPAT which played it; and the original Washington's WGAY, and Atlanta's WSB-FM ("Great 98") and let's not forget "Bay" which was WWBA St Petersburg or Orlando's WDBO "FM 92" and all the rest! For those of us over 50 who HATE rock, DESPISE talk, always have disliked C&W, AOR and all the rest bring back Jim Schulke, Peters Productions and the original TM and Kalamusic. Oh, and let's not forget Chicago's FM-100 with John Doremus. By the way, thanks to the net and locals there WKTZ in Jacksonville, Fla. still has that same sound--just as we enjoyed when I lived there in the 70s! And Marlin Taylor is programming "Escape, channel; 78" on XM, but they are the LAST hold-outs!

Uncle Greasie and THE BIG APE in Jacksonville. From Saint Augustine to Myrtle Beach it was like a local. If you grew up in the Carolinas or Georgia and went to the beach in the 60's and 70's the Tarzan yell at the top of the hour is something you will never forget. This would be great on an HD channel.

To Dick Carr,
VERY interested in your WNEW-FM jingles and clips. Please contact me if you would be willing to share some!
Thanks,
DB

This is easy. Stereo 103.7...KVIL 1976-1978.

Anyone for pre-1974 KFI? Dave Hull, Garroway, Lohman and Barkley, Jerry Bishop, Jay Lawrence. Besides, I've always hated stations with ratings.

Very long before the current 99.5 FM spot here in the Twin Cities was good old WLOL-FM, "the Twin Cities Voice of Classical Music." I have my bio of my good times there on the web. It's a 9,000 word story "What Does A Classical DJ Do...?" And that was also long before MPR took over the frequency. :)

So let me take you on a tour of the old WLOL digs at 1370 Davern in Saint Paul, on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Read about the time the automation tapes ran backwards and other stories.

BTW, it would be great to get together with the radio folks of my days here, from 1965 through 1977. Let me know via email.

Thanks!

Jim Stokes

610 WIP, Metromedia Radio in Philadelphia. Programmed by Dick Carr, circa 1964-80. Loved the great jingle, "Nice things happen to people, who listen to radio 6-1-0 in the Met-ro-pol-itan ar-ea, W--I--P." They had it all-great DJs, the best music, the Cash Call Jackpot (always ending in 61 cents), top-flight news on the hour(great news sounder), and Eagles football.

Jammin' Oldies in NYC