Corporate Business

[flintstone mop]

hello
I hope I'm understanding the youtube link below correctly./
But wasn't it WFAN the evil entity that effectivly bought WOWO and had their clear channel status reduced to a "local A.M." status to enable them to get a higher power status for "Ethnic" broadcasting for the inner-city of New York?
Now they sucked up WNBC and turned that into sports/talk radio. Nice spot on the radio dial for coverage, though.

Fred

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RmljR1-bc8&feature=related

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

No. WFAN has been the call letters for 660 kHz out of NYC for quite a while now. The same company may own FAN and the other station......?

This kind of thing is nothing new. Stations have changed power, moved frequency and changed directional patterns over the decades to accomadate other stations. WBT in Charlotte has those three beautiful Blaw-Knox towers because they had to protect some station out west. That happened in the 40's or 50's.

[Jeff W9GY]

Fred, it was the WLIB  corporate bunch that purchased WOWO and downgraded it's 50 KW night time signal to a puny 9.8 KW and tinkered with the pattern to put a pretty big null to the east.  This knocked out WOWO's big night signal up and down the east coast, but allowed WLIB some sort of night time service on 1190 kHz.  I'm sure their legenday announcer, Bob Sievers W9FJT, is rolling over in his final resting place.  Jeff W9GY

[KB5MD]

Wonder whatever became of Dick Beyondee (spelling?) on WLS Chicago in the 60's and 70's?  I used to love listening to him late night back in the day.

[W2PFY]

Dick Beyondee

The last I heard of him, he was still out there. I remember him as a kid on WKBW. He used to open up with some howling like Wolfman Jack.

[Bill, KD0HG]

I loved Dick Biondi on WLS when I was a mere punk. Yes, he started out on WKBW. The Wild "I-Tralian"

He's still on the air, WLS-FM in Chicago. Must be 80 years old now.

(WLS- World's Largest Store- Owned by Sears, Roebuck way back...They sold a lot of radios)

Damn- He was a heck of a top-40 DJ on WLS. Along with Fred Winston, Art Roberts, Clark Weber, Ron Riley,Larry Lujack, Dex Card, Chuck Buell, Bob Sirott ("BS"), John Records Landecker, and the sexy voiced Yvonne Daniels.

Some of them moved to Chicago's WCFL, 1000 on your radio dial, 50 KW into a 3-tower array pointed east out of Downer's Grove, Ill. (To protect KOMO in Seattle). Smokin signal into the NE Conus. Like CKLW.

WCFL  (Chicago Federation of Labor) was the first radio station I heard on my homebrew crystal set when I was ~ 9 years old. You could get them on your bedsprings 5 miles away.


WLS doesn't have half the signal they used to...Q5 from the Rockies to the east coast. Pilots used them to navigate on their ADFs from the Arctic to Central America. I used them on an ADF while flying from Denver to Chicago once. Locked the autopilot on and rocked out) . 50 KW into a 1/2 wave tower.

God, I miss those days.

[ka3zlr]

WYDD always did a cool thing and played Album cuts on Saturday night, it was hip by the time you had a good buzz on and was heading somewhere those album cuts were sometimes Timed perfect....was great for working through night turn too.

73
Jack.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Yea, but YDD was FM. Not as cool as AM.   

I did like their more laid back style though. Not all this "stack of wax, mounds of sounds" talking over the beginning of songs crap.

[Bill, KD0HG]

Here's a WLS rewind.
Want a major 60s flashback?
Including 60s AM processing.
I love this thing.
I know EVERY one of the songs and who did them.
Life dealt a terrible blow to Connie Francis. (Where the Boys are)
And Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee...

http://www.wlsam.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.wlsam.com/sectional.asp?id=16865

Then click on the Big 89 rewind, Part 2.

[W9GT]

We loved listening to WLS here in the 50's and 60's, even though, of course WOWO was king. 
Remember those dumb testimonials that Biondi and others played all the time? 
example:

"Hi...Hammer Nails here, local contractor.  I love WLS 'cause I get a big bang outta it!"

Also loved listening to XERF and the Wolfman later on.....could hear him in the car later at night.  Those were the days!  Remember how great and loud those AM stations sounded on the good ol' tube-type car radio with the vibrator power supply hummin' away.

73,  Jack, W9GT

[N3DRB The Derb]

ZZ Top
Fandango (1975)
Heard In On The X

Do You Remember
Back In Nineteen Sixty-Six?
Country Jesus, Hillbilly Blues,
That's Where I Learned My Licks.
Oh, From Coast To Coast And Line To Line
In Every County There,
I'm Talkin' 'Botu That Outlaw X
Is Cuttin' Through The Air.

Anywhere, Y'all,
Everywhere, Y'all,
I Heard It, I Heard It,
I Heard It On The X.

We Can All Thank Doctor B
Who Stepped Across The Line.
With Lots Of Watts He Took Control,
The First One Of Its Kind.
So Listen To Your Radio
Most Each And Every Night
'Cause If You Don't I'm Sure You Won't
Get To Feeling Right.

Anywhere, Y'all,
Everywhere, Y'all,
I Heard It, I Heard It,
I Heard It On The X.

[KB5MD]

Thanks for the update Bill.  I had forgotten about those other names on WLS, talk about bringing back memories.  KAAY, Little Rock, Arkansas was another big clear channel station in those days.  It is now religious talk radio and alot lower power, if it's still on the air at all.  We here in the South always listened to one of three, WLS, WNOE NEW ORLEANS or KAAY, LITTLE ROCK.  Those were the days, drive-in movies, fast cars and rock-n-roll....oh man!

[W9GT]

Fred, it was the WLIB  corporate bunch that purchased WOWO and downgraded it's 50 KW night time signal to a puny 9.8 KW and tinkered with the pattern to put a pretty big null to the east.  This knocked out WOWO's big night signal up and down the east coast, but allowed WLIB some sort of night time service on 1190 kHz.  I'm sure their legenday announcer, Bob Sievers W9FJT, is rolling over in his final resting place.  Jeff W9GY

Yeah Jeff, the history and traditions of WOWO still go on, even after we said goodbye to Bob Seivers and many of the other great personalities from the heyday of the flamethrower   Check out this site for WOWO fans: http://www.historyofwowo.com/interviews.html.

By the way, Ron Gregory, W9RGM (famous former WOWO night guy) is on 75 AM sometimes and I see him frequently at club meetings, Field Day etc.  He was at the Marshall, MI hamfest.

73,  Jack, W9GT

[w5omr]

ZZ Top
Fandango (1975)
Heard In On The X

The best darn story of the whole 20th Century!

http://www.ominous-valve.com/xerf.html

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Doctor Invents Media Politics

It would appear, then, that mass-media politics are older than most of us think.

Interesting write up. Brinkley was an interesting character. The author appears to be somewhat deficient in history though. The first quote is completely wrong. The second is correct but his reason for making it is wrong. Media politics are as old as this country (older actually). Before radio, there were these things called newspapers. 

[Jeff W9GY]

"Hey baby they're playing our song - on the Art Roberts show"---  WLS used to do a great job into the Western UP of Michigan back in the 60's.  Sure miss all the top-40 R&R.  I believe Art is SK.... rest in peace, Art, and thanks for all the great tunes and memories.

[Jeff W9GY]

Hi Jack,

Many thanks for the WOWO link.  We used to test overload and cross-modulation on new Delco Radio receiver front end designs in front of the transmitter building back in the late 60's.  Lots of RF from the 50HG-2.  Those were the days --- companies actually cared about perormance! 

Hey, the WOWO jingles are great...and they are MP-3's too boot!  lots of fidelity.  I downloaded them for some memories later on.

thanks again! Jeff W9GY Kokomo, In.

[W3SLK]

Derb, thanks for the throwback. I saw ZZ Topp perform that one live at the Cow Palace in San Francisco back in 1981.

[N3DRB The Derb]

With Lots Of Watts He Took Control

yeah, baby! 

[w5omr]

Doctor Invents Media Politics

It would appear, then, that mass-media politics are older than most of us think.

Before radio, there were these things called newspapers. 

Surely you don't mean to say you think Newspapers (think Hurst syndication) print every word of truth in their daily fish-wra.. uh... "news"papers.?

;-)

But, STEVE!  I read it on the INTERNET!  It *MUST* be true!

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Hearst or the NY Times. They are all bought and paid for by some special interest or group of politicians. Andrew Jackson has his own Washington newspaper and so did Presidents and other politicians before him.

[w5omr]

Hearst or the NY Times. They are all bought and paid for by some special interest or group of politicians. Andrew Jackson has his own Washington newspaper and so did Presidents and other politicians before him.

Safe to say, the Average Q. Citizen of the United States of America has always been 'told' what to think... or at least led in their 'preferred' direction.

Which begs the question;
"What happened to those free-thinking fore-fathers that formed this nation?"

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Which begs the question;
"What happened to those free-thinking fore-fathers that formed this nation?"

They died....And life goes on.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

There are plenty still around Geoff. You just won't find them writing for newspapers, or on many college campuses.

Hearst or the NY Times. They are all bought and paid for by some special interest or group of politicians. Andrew Jackson has his own Washington newspaper and so did Presidents and other politicians before him.

Safe to say, the Average Q. Citizen of the United States of America has always been 'told' what to think... or at least led in their 'preferred' direction.

Which begs the question;
"What happened to those free-thinking fore-fathers that formed this nation?"

[flintstone mop]

I read that most of the music on the X was one pounding hard rock cut after another. No sleeping music.

One old report on YouTube about WABC's last day of music was "plenty of choices, no giants."
Just a conglomeration of chatting and sports and worn out music on corporate radio.

Fred