I love Helen Leicht, and I had no idea she’d been around that long! She was a huge champion of my girl Happy on WXPN and WMMR. I have several audio Helen/Hap interviews, but here’s a video of Helen interviewing her for Prism TV. You don’t see her too well, but she sounds so young.
Can’t believe I’m the first to say this, but … 1050 CHUM in Toronto. Late 60s and 70s.
CHUM was the Top-40 AM station in Toronto. It played the music your parents hated. Looking back, it was pretty inoffensive–the Top 40 in those days was a mix of rock, pop, country crossovers, and the occasional novelty song–but in any event, it wasn’t the Mantovani cover versions of Henry Mancini tunes that other stations in town played. Plus, it syndicated the Wolfman Jack “Graffiti” show (and the Wolfman would occasionally broadcast from CHUM’s studios); and it had plenty of “the seventh caller wins tickets to Supertramp”-type contests. More than a few of my friends (and admittedly, so did I) got to see the Rolling Stones, Supertramp, Nazareth, The Who, and other great bands thanks to those contests.
Late 50s, early 60s, there were three AM stations in Anchorage. One played pop and crossovers from C&W (there were a lot of them in those days), KENI, one played country, KFQD, and one was just whatever passed for talk radio back then; programs like The World Tomorrow! with Garner Ted Armstrong and other odd stuff - KHAR. I think there was an FM classical music station. There was a round, glass-enclosed booth on top of the local drive-in burger joint (The Bun Drive-in), where a DJ would spin records on Friday night. Oh man, when rock and roll was young. That booth still sits there, but the drive-in met its demise when those fuckers from McDonalds came to town and killed all the mom & pop burger places except one.
Late at night (weekend nights I believe), I’d listen to KAAY out of Little Rock AR. 600 or so miles away, so it would fade in and out a bit. But I did so enjoy Beeker Street (or was that Beaker Street) and Beeker Theatre.
Also, KRCB - FM and later KIWR. KRCB being where I first heard, in it’s entirety, The Ballad of the USS Titanic by Jimmy Brockett (sp?) My memory is a bit fuzzy after all these years.
And…almost hate to admit it, but it was indeed relaxing and sleep inducing to listen to KFAB’s “Serenade in the night” programming.
Hard to tune out KOIL and WOW, since it seemed like they were everywhere when I was a wee lad.
WKBW-AM in Buffalo (founded in the 1920s as a religious station) during its Top 40 years in the 1960s. By the time I was 17, I’d given up Top 40 forever but it did provide some good times as a kid.
Among the WKBW highlights: their annual Halloween programming, and I clearly remember the first time they broadcast their modernized and localized version of H.G. Wells; War of the World – complete with frequent disclaimers advising listeners that it was a dramatization:
Rock music in Houston in the 60s and 70s was owned by KILT 610 AM. I went overseas in 1980 on contract. When I came back, KILT had gone shitkicker.
I mourned the loss of a dear friend.
Used to listen to the “Daddio of the Radio,” Porky Chedwick on WAMO 860 everyday from 3:00 to sundown. Also KDKA the first ever radio station (Ithink), WEEP and a little station called KQV where a blowhard named Jeff Christy used to broadcast nightly before he went back to using his real name, Limbaugh, I think.
I lived in the Chicago suburbs, and one night I got this station out of New Orleans, too. A Beatles album had just been released that day, I didn’t have it yet, and unlike the Chicago stations they were playing the entire album nonstop. I listened to that station until the wee hours. It was 1965 or 1966 if I remember correctly.
As a kid, I loved to search the AM band at night, finding “exotic” radio stations from far-away cities like New York, Chicago, Montreal, and Charlotte.
It gave me a lonely-but-sweet feeling.
I liked to find hockey games on the AM dial, too. I listened to tons of hockey games, start to finish, on the radio. I can’t imagine doing that now.
I don’t know if you’re being literal. The FCC requires that most AM stations go to low wattage at night, so a few ‘superstations’ (one at each band) can go to megawattage at night.
Wolfman Jack was on a Mexican station, just over the Texas border, to evade those rules. His station broadcast at ridiculous wattage.
You should have heard them before they moved to Annapolis and went a little more mainstream. When I was in college they operated out of Bethesda (I think). It was a little hole-in-the-wall station with barely enough wattage to pick them up in College Park. Very electic mix back then, with each DJ playing whatever they wanted (you’d often never hear the same song twice).
As a kid I remember coming home from grade school (early 70’s) and listening to WCAO (out of Baltimore, 60.0 AM) with my mom. The played a ‘Lite’ rock that was popular due to the harder edged stuff catching on.
When I got older and started listening to FM and the more rock oriented stuff - I can’t really remember what station that was. 98 something, maybe? I do remember DC101 out of DC (duh!), but that wasn’t til I was in college.
Define “kid.”
Being old enough to remember AM rock and roll, the first stations I listened to were KLSX and KMEN, both out of San Bernardino, CA. KMEN studios were out in the middle of a field behind San Gorgonio High School (where my dad taught for a few years) so I was regularly going over to meet the DJs and scam swag from them.
As I developed musical taste (quiet, you!) I started listening to KLOS and KMET out of LA.
Little bit of Heaven
94.7
KMET
Tweedle-dee
KMET - Just a little bit farther *left *on your dial.
Man, I lived with the Mighty Met until That Day. I knew all the personalities, I would call Jim Ladd late at night to rant about his subject of the day, I got a joke on “The 5 o’clock Funnies”…good times. I think I still have a few decals around somewhere.
In the early - mid 70’s the King Biscuit Flower Hour, on the university radio station.
As a kid I sometimes (mid-late 60s) went to stay with some friends of my mom in Michigan. Listened to CKLW, Windsor/Detroit. It was an AM station but way more progressive than anything broadcasting in my home town. they played the LONG version of “Light My Fire” by the Doors!
I listened to two of the greatest in the 1980’s: WMMS Cleveland and WSHE Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.
We could get WOWO in SW Virginia most evenings. WSM for the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday.
This was late 60s.
Los Angeles Area
Early 80s:
- KIQQ-FM 100.3, for the “Top 5 at 9” countdown
- XTRA-AM 690 “The Mighty 690”, for “America’s Top 40”
- KIIS-FM 102.7, for “Rick Dees in the Morning”
Mid 80s:
- KROQ-FM 106.7, when I became more interested in New Wave, 2nd Brit Invasion, etc.
- XTRA-FM 91.1 “91X” (San Diego Station), same reason.
San Francisco Area
From 1990:
- KITS-FM 105.3 “Live 105”, since I couldn’t catch KROQ in the Bay Area (I attended Alex Bennett’s morning show many times wearing my LA Dodgers cap. :D)
Around that time I began to work at a Tower Records store and lost interest in radio. I preferred my own music selections. If I listen to any radio these days in Japan or online, it’s usually talk or news radio.
Detroit (and Windsor) radio, circa 1970/71.
CKLW, the Big 8.
WKNR, Keener 13
and later, when I discovered FM:
WABX
and, the best station I’ve ever known,
CJOM
mmm
I used to listen to WFLA AM in Tampa – it featured the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, almost the last radio drama in America (it ended in 1982).
I’m a little surprised at the number of CKLW Windsor responses.
However my older brother told me he once saw a documentary on how CKLW was almost single-handedly responsible for top 40 radio programming, or something to that effect.
Anyone know what documentary or program this might be in reference to?
KLOL - 101.1 FM - Houston - Album Rock, self programmed (back then, anyways)
KILT - Houston - Album Rock, just not as good as KLOL. I think was ABC programmed
KIKK - Houston - KIKKers listened to Country and wore boots. KIKKers boots were called shit kikkers.
1970s