# Chicago-area dopers in late '30s/early '40s, what music did you listen to growing up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 6, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980 "2011-07-06T02:35:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980/1 "2011-07-06T02:35:46Z")
Says it all really. Djing at a wedding that’s gonna have a small Chicago contingent in that age bracket and wanna put on a couple of unusual tunes. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980/2 "2011-07-06T03:57:34Z")
I don’t think we have any Chi-Dopers who are that old. The 1930s were a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980/3 "2011-07-06T03:58:31Z")
I could ask my dad. He was in Racine at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980/4 "2011-07-06T04:01:42Z")
I’m guessing you mean the ages twixt late-30’s early 40’s? I’d qualify, but not sure if there was a particular Chicago Sound when I was growing up there. Lots of Yes and Boston; for a particular Chicago feel, I’d definitely go with blues, but not sure what blues style was particular to Chicago at any given time. Surely someone knows 🙂 ETA: I googled for WLS’s playlists during the 80s and didn’t get far, but found this list of the top 7 in Chicago during the 80’s. I know I certainly recall all of these, and pretty sure at least one of them was used at my brother’s wedding 15 years later. > **[What Are the Top Chicago Songs of the '80s?](https://www.liveabout.com/chicago-songs-of-the-80s-10120)** > > A list of some top hits from band Chicago's distinctive, if somewhat disappointing, '80s phase. ETA: Doh. Top 7 CHICAGO songs. Not songs in Chicago. /facepalm Still… ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980/5 "2011-07-06T04:07:44Z")
You can get the audio bit off this youtube of a WLS ad through zamzar. This brings me back to the days of painstakingly recording songs off the radio. 🙂 [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/M_mfq-jzLQQ/hqdefault.jpg "The 50,000 Watt Blowtorch - WLS Chicago") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_mfq-jzLQQ) Oooh, plus Larry Lujack! Youtube is awesome. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/AYS6mFTmIT0/hqdefault.jpg "WLS Musicradio 89 - Larry Lujack - 'Animal Stories' (1980)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYS6mFTmIT0) Larry Lujack’s last ten minutes on air [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/c_PEjXMp54M/hqdefault.jpg "Larry Lujack - Last Show on WCFL 3/15/76") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_PEjXMp54M) Ok I’mma shuttin’ up now. ETA: I lied. If you get no luck in this forum, try cross-posting over to the Chicago forum. k, now I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980/6 "2011-07-06T04:11:19Z")
The main commercial rock station at the time in Chicago was The Blaze. Rock with a bunch of hair metal thrown in. You’d get Def Leppard, Van Halen, Guns n Roses, Poison, Warrant, etc. Those in the know would switch over to WVVX (The Rock Chicago Wants) at 9 pm. The harder stuff was found there–Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax. Listeners of VVX would remember “Three Little Pigs” by Green Jello or “Detachable Penis” by King Missile. The “cool” kids listened to VVX. Despite a vibrant local music scene I can only think of one Chicago band (at least in the rock scene) that got any sort of national attention. Enuff Z’nuff got some radio and MTV play with “New Thing” and “Fly High Michelle.” Of course there’s always Wesley Willis but unless someone was really into the local music scene I don’t know if they would get it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980/7 "2011-07-06T04:17:04Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I’m guessing you mean the ages twixt late-30’s early 40’s? Indeed I am, I left out a their in the subject. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980/8 "2011-07-06T12:23:23Z")
Oh, darn. My grandfather lived in Chicago in the 1930s and I was all set to recommend his favorite musicians to you. Throw some Duke Ellington into the mix anyway – that’s always welcome at a wedding. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-area-dopers-in-late-30s-early-40s-what-music-did-you-listen-to-growing-up/587980/9 "2011-07-07T12:41:39Z")
Thanks for your suggestions so far. I’m gonna bump this since the wedding’s on Saturday. Again I meant people who are now in their late 30s or early 40s, not people who grew up in the 1930s/40s! In general are there “typical” Chicago songs that Chicago folk listen to a lot or at special occasions in the city?