They had a broad playlist and I wish I could have been a kid in Chicago. I completely agree. The Last Contest was born here. Thank you, Lee and Thank you, Randy. I am saddened at what it has become today. CKLW/Windsor-Detroit. And lets not forget Z-100 (WHTZ) ITSELF! As a kid I surfed the dial nightly from my Guelph Ontario backyard on one of the first 6 transistor Sony battery radios from Dick Summer on WBZ Boston to Cousin Brucie at WABC NYC, from Quixie in Dixie to WOWO Ft.Wayne to WLS & WCFL Chicago. WHAT ABOUT WSGN BIRMINGHAM, AL!!! And this is only a partial listing. WTIX spent its first days on the air reading the phone book to get attention. He had 60 shares with a 500- watt daytimer. I cant believe the PNW was left off of everybodys list. Thank you for still give g praise to him. Randy also sorta had something to do with Stevens & Pruitt and that 97.1 frequency in DFW, being the PD and all. I remember walking on the beaches on the local lakes. Sorry. Like other stations, it rolled with the times and changed. KY102 was AOR not Top-40. KOWH went off to other call letters and other formats. as well as creating the mess that radio is now. Only then did KOIL take notice and knocked off the daytimer with the larger 5kw day/night signal. He stole and enhanced McLendons treasure hunts and other promotions and added a crazy outrageousness that hasnt happened since, except maybe for the Power Pig, which owes a lot to the Kaplans. Listen to any aircheck from any era of Kaplan ownership Jack Gale, Robert Murphy, Boo Baron, or Jay Thomas. Ohas far as Adult Contemporary stations of the pastand the greatest such stations of all timeare concerned, Id be remiss if I omitted KMPC Los Angeles. I hope he and his legacy will never be forgotten. ), all air talent/music driven Top 40 stations. 3. I agree, Scotty. From the early 60s to the mid 70s, WKIX was a powerhouse. You made radio come alive. (3/30/2018 @11:15p: ) As a kid listening to WLS, WABC, WLAC, WSAI and any market I could pick up, the excitement was universal. They had a New Years count down of the top 100 from the year and I listened to every song for several years. WMCA outgunned WABC and WINS both with terrific signals. Frank Brodie (CKLW) was incredible on the air in ANY format, as were most of the jocks from the true Top 40 era. Jocks with a bit more rope. The best years came in the early 70s when the Top 40 battle was between WDGY, True Don Bleus KDWB before he went to KHJ, Chuck Knapp and MG Kelly on KSTP and Rob Sherwood moving from KDWB to start up U100. It could compete anywhere. All 60s 70s 80s 90s Incidentally, almost all of us had been previously on WKDU, which shared time with us on 91.7 FM. I worked in Trenton, MO in 78 and thought that WDAF 61 Country was great Top 40 radio and how good country radio could be programmed. Maybe Im biased, but its my list. KOMA interviewed the dealership owner and all he could talk about was that GD gas station was still standing amid all the rubble. And in Buffalo, the list of the greatest Adult Contemporary rockers of all time would have to include not only the aforementioned WGR, but also WBEN and-particularly circa mid-to-late 80s-are you ready for this?-WKBW. in the Spring of 1978, I was doing a late night fill-in on WKDU during their weekday Progressive Rock programming and I decided to do a show of all classic Progressive Rock tracks from the 60s and very early 70s, the music I had enjoyed from the afore-mentioned stations. WebWith the FCC's reallocation of frequencies in the early forties, AM dial stability began to appear with WJR (760), WWJ (950), WXYZ (1270) and WJBK (1480). 80 miles away, across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Kids all over the Midwest left their radios on 890, turned them on after school, and waited for darkness. Automation, consolidation and syndication killed the small-and-medium-market farm system that fed those larger-market stations. Classic Rock '78 and Beyond! KBOX and the Balaban stations trained Stan Kaplan. Funny that nobody looked at the list and recalled Jeff Kayes often quoted positioning statement WKBW one of Americas two great radio stations!. After sunset gone. By the way, I have since heard, on the Rock Radio Scrapbook website, an composite aircheck of WINS last day as a Top 40 station (complete with [a] then-weekly Sunday night/Monday morning transmitter-maintenance sign-off followed by [a reinserted recording of] the National Anthem, [b] the then-weekly Monday-at-sunrise sign-on [with the prior or shortly-subsequent SSB edited out?] PLEASE! They were late in the AM game. Thats a shame. WMEX went on the auction block on this past December 15, 2017. Oh-two soft rock stations I meant to name-check (I list those among the greatest AC stations of all time, as well): WSB and WSB-FM Atlanta (WSBs full-service format had, musically, reformatted to Adult Contemporary by circa early 1980s). suck! Another station that is still around but with new ownership I believe. Really? KDU was a great station in 1978 under P.D., Santo Canone, also very professional. WQXI was promotionally crazy at times (Rambling Raft Race) and very localized to the market musically. The night I visited Joey in the studio, he asked me to take a 45 in to PappyMemphis by Lonnie Mackplayed for the first time that night! ), I personally would ALL of the early or present AC stations mentioned above. Remember you well from Toronto and would have loved to work some those famous stations you didbut then again, you were one of the smoothest jocks ever!!! Perry Murphy was a great host Took me home to meet his wife and through the KOMA facility BUddy Scott was doing his usual magic He was a BIG fellow but full of energy. WKBW went Top 40 in 1958 by stealing the PD and airstaff from WBNY, which was number one with only 250 watts. Just consider the staff: Ken Dowe (& Granny Emma), mornings; Michael Spears (PD), middays; Beau Weaver, middays; Kevin McCarthy, afternoon drive; Tommy Kramer, nights; Christopher Haze (that would be me), late nights; Jim White and Nick Alexander, overnights. The aforementioned call letters are at least said to have originally stood for I Believe in God.. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Was in college there in the mid 60s. Great contemporary music doesnt exist today. How many lost 45s I have bought listening to those old WCFL airchecks is astounding. KFJZ 1270 was Fort Worths Top 40 station, headlined by Marky Baby, later known as Mark Stevens of the Stevens & Pruitt morning show on KFJZ-FM (Z-97) which morphed into The Eagle (KEGL) on the same frequency. WERA Plainfield, NJ (went dark in 1997 due to WWRL New Yorks then-impending wattage boost) Jeff Hurvitz Or maybe KSFO went all-soft rock later on in its years as a music station? In college I often drove at night and I could travel from Denver to Chicago tuned to KOMA listening to cmmercials for the Kearney Dragway in Nebraska, the commercial blarring out Be There, Be There, Saturday night.. WLS was fun to listen to, but, was never as tight as WHK during the above-mentioned years. Generic syndication and voice-tracking leave little room for localized fun and connection and way fewer role models for the next generation of announcers. WJET 1400. How could this survey overlook two important Philadelphia stations: WIBG- an early giant from the late 50s thru mid 60s at a time when the local American Bandstand set the tone of the nation. What a great business it was back then! With only a 1,000-watt night signal, KLIF routinely clocked more listeners than all other Dallas-Ft. Worth stations combined. There were many good radio stations all over the USA radio map, like for me KACY, Ventura, KIST, Santa Barbara, KMBY Monterey, KDON Salinas. https://wjla.com/news/entertainment/argo-contriversy-ex-canada-ambassador-slighted-by-affleck-s-argo85572. WKVQ (15Q)/Knoxville. He outgunned WABC within a year and made history for bringing FM into the 20th century. WABC drove us home from Ft. Dix when we signed out on pass at midnight. I LOVED the 6-years+ I spent at the helm of those prestigious monster radio stations. Your contributions to the Seattle music scene and radio are undeniable. An old-school, multi-talented showman, Barrett worked at dozens of stations from the mid-1950s into the 1990s, including WGAR-AM/1220, WBBG-AM/1260 and Enjoyed working together in syndicated 24/7 formats as well. reconsider your sources. WMCA killed WABC in the ratings from 1963-1965. Whats easy to forget (especially if all the history happened before ones time) is that top 40 stations had strong loyalties akin to ball teams. With the big 50,000-watt signal and the relatively few rock-n-roll radio stations across the plains, KOMA was the main station for the hits. Both were top rated when AM Radio was King. (The same year the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta, by the way. As the name impliedand impliesTop 40 played, then as now, the most popular songs (read: hit recordings). WDGY and WQAM were purchased in 1956, KOMA in 1958 and KXOK in 1960. WRKO-FM/98.5 (R-KO, The Shy But Friendly Robot) should get some honorable mention. Hows that for some entertaining teachers?! A program devoted to the type of both early R&B and early rock n roll that today is called Doo Wop was added to WADOs schedule at this time. And dont forget Ron Ugly Thompson! There were so many great Personality AM powerhouses in the 50s-70s. Like I said this was a tough assignment. Yes, it was a smaller market but, the 10kw daytime on 940 covered 90 of 99 counties in Iowa and at night with 5kw covered into Denver as well as WHO. Sandy Shore went all the way to Drake LA as Marc Elliot. I think one of the elements that is missing today is competition, radio wars. And I definitely remember John Leader. WasntKXOL in Fort Worth Top 40 back in the day? I based this list on originality and impact. Private Lives - Living in a world; 70 80 Only TOP 40 Hits since 1970 Lee, in addition to answering the question, included what he considers to be the 15 characteristics of great Top 40 stations. Again, I enjoyed reading about all the other great stations across the country as well. 4. Amazing talent, awesome production, revolutionary promotions. WCBS-FM, New York (when they first launched, c. late 1980s into the 1990swent downhill since) While in the USAF in 1967-68 I visited KOMA. One night I decided to check out thatr box. Thanks to all the fans who voted CKLW #1. Not bad company for my first dream station that I ever worked for to be in. No doubt WQXI held off FM competition for years after the city grew beyond its signal. As far as CKLW goes I think every jock I knew all tried to emulate the great sound of the Big 8 jocks. I think one of the elements that is missing today was competition, radio wars. who contributed to that magic. OR KQV and KDKA in Pittsburgh? That KB audio could also be heard as One of Americas TOO great radio stations. Heres how everyone stacked up against each other. But the signal was awful, the staff was expensive, and 15Q failed quickly. It was overdubbed several times. Fun. Ask most any of themit was the greatest experience of their careers. The Power Pig was more outrageous, but Y107 was a better station. (Thats three Drake stations in the top 4.) WAPE/Jacksonville. [Apologies if Im forgetting anybody.] Super CFL!! Log In (Existing Digital Subscriptions Only), KILT Goes Way Over 10K For The Troops In Houston, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i6WheuRi0s, Political Rewind Out Of Tape After Public Radio Cuts, AM Matters: This CO Mayor Saved His Towns Station. Heard hed make the production director Bill Mousis redo the promos over and over again. They took overalong with the likes of Tommy Shannon, the still-to-come Dan Neaverth, Joey Reynolds and so many others. s. WMCA/New York. Mac Richmond did not wreck WMEX. The FCC wasnt amused, but the public was. The glory days of CKLW were only five years long, but the Big 8s influence reverberates today. WROV was the lowest powered full time station in the market and often beat all other stations combined. In stereo! We held a three-week online poll asking readers what they think are or were the best Top 40s, and here are the results: Guys, Youre bringing back some great memories with your comments. Radio INK. Do you mean KFRC and *KYA* San Francisco? WROV in Roanoke deserves a mention On the market for close to five years with more listeners than all other Roanoke stations Bert Levine, who owned the station, believed very much in developing personalities without exception all the personalities on the station became major celebrities in Western Virginia. the Mighty 1190, KLIF. There were no general-market oriented rock n roll stations in the early and probably even well into the mid-Fifties. Consider the voices who worked the window on Burnside at NW 10th Tom Murphy, The Real Don Steele, Roger Hart, Sam Holman, Dick Sainte, Mike OBrien, Tom Michaels, Roger W. Morgan, Dave Records Stone, and the all-night Preacher, Pat Pattee. WLS WAS radio to us. . Just as I was leaving B100 to trade PM drive for med school, Bobby returned and reinvigorated San Diegos greatest station for several more years. But, that station, in its on-air presentation, was wound as tight a top-quality watchit was flawless, with great talent like Dave Shafer, Tom Shannon, Gary Burbank, Jim Edwards, Brother Bill Gable, Super Max Kinkel, Charlie OBrien, Charlie Van Dyke, and on and on. Heres a shout out to them. Im not sure what happened to WYNG except that it was possibly drowned in the FM tsunami. A Top-40 jock named Eddie Haskell?!? K-NUZ. Some of their former personnel are at WVLT, 92.1 in Vineland, NJ. Or certainly brought FM into the 1970s! 2. Including two that are in The National Radio Hall Of Fame. (Ill give an honorable mention to WARM, Scranton, the first TOP 40 station I discovered; the jocks didnt have the personality of WABC, but the station played good music and had a nice flow.). The equipment was ancient. 16. I agree that Burt Levine created magic in that quonset hut! And I wont pretend to be as up on some of the other legendary calls as many of my radio brethren. just wanted to list my name as the author of the preceding post. of THE PACIFIC MOTHERFUCKIN NORTHWEST!!! Sorry no credibility. radio and podcasts, all free. of great Top 40 stations. Cant do it. Hi Mike! (P.S., Rockin Ron did a great Oldies Show Sunday nights on WBT, Charlotte). Stan Roberts, Larry Anderson, Frank Benny, Shane, Tom Donahue, John Otto, Golden Joe Galuski, Craig Matthews and many, many others including yourself. Erie also had the talented Oogie Pringle who went from WJET to WRIE in Erie and then jumped to WNBC in NY. Lock it in and rip the knob off.. I wouldnt leave out KEWB Oakland, where such notables as The Real Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, and Casey Kasem played DJ before any of them became nationally known.
