Early 70s Underground/Freeform Radio CJOM WABX WWWW

[Radiobirdman]

I have such great memories of early 70s Detroit Underground/Freeform radio. My favorite was CJOM across the river but there was also WABX, WWWW, WIOT coming from Toledo, and WNRZ in Ann Arbor. It was so exciting to hear albums played no where else, and to take in that creative and vibrant cultural moment. Names like Dave Loncao, Bill Androsiak, Ronnie Legge, Jerry Goodwin, Jack Broderick, Ken Calvert, Mark Perentau, Dennis Frawley, Jerry Lubin, and Jim Dulzo. Some great books on the history of underground radio include Michael Keith’s Voices in the Purple Haze, Kim Simpson’s Early 70s Radio, and Mark Fisher’s Something in the Air.

[ChrisWL1980]

The book "Rockin' Down the Dial" has a great chapter on the roots of free-form radio in Detroit in the late '60s.
100.3 WKNR-FM was also an underground station from about 1969 until the 1971 flip to "Stereo Island." 101.1 WXYZ-FM (pre-WRIF) aired a syndicated progressive format from ABC corporate known as "Love." And Toledo's first prog-rock station was 105.5 WGLN. After it flipped to Beautiful Music as WXEZ in 1972, listeners petitioned the FCC to get the format switched back. They were unsuccessful, but WCWA-FM became WIOT that fall.
In Ann Arbor, the market's first progressive rock programming was actually on AM - 1600 WAAM had a late night program in 1967 called 'Strobe" (later changing its name to "Spectrum"). 107.1 WPAG-FM also had a progressive block in evenings after the simulcast AM signed off.

[Radiobirdman]

The book "Rockin' Down the Dial" has a great chapter on the roots of free-form radio in Detroit in the late '60s.
100.3 WKNR-FM was also an underground station from about 1969 until the 1971 flip to "Stereo Island." 101.1 WXYZ-FM (pre-WRIF) aired a syndicated progressive format from ABC corporate known as "Love." And Toledo's first prog-rock station was 105.5 WGLN. After it flipped to Beautiful Music as WXEZ in 1972, listeners petitioned the FCC to get the format switched back. They were unsuccessful, but WCWA-FM became WIOT that fall.
In Ann Arbor, the market's first progressive rock programming was actually on AM - 1600 WAAM had a late night program in 1967 called 'Strobe" (later changing its name to "Spectrum"). 107.1 WPAG-FM also had a progressive block in evenings after the simulcast AM signed off.

Yes, that's a great book too; I forgot that one. I remember that WCAR, which was 1130 AM back then, also had a progressive format for a brief time in the early 70s.

[ChrisWL1980]

I think the late great Paul Christy was behind the AOR era of WCAR. They changed formats so many times during the '70s (with little to no success until they finally sold the station to Golden West and went Country as WCXI) that my timeline of when they did what is kind of hazy, but I think that was around 1973, after their brief foray into Top 40 but before they went with NBC's News and Information Service.

[Honeyman]

I think the late great Paul Christy was behind the AOR era of WCAR. They changed formats so many times during the '70s (with little to no success until they finally sold the station to Golden West and went Country as WCXI) that my timeline of when they did what is kind of hazy, but I think that was around 1973, after their brief foray into Top 40 but before they went with NBC's News and Information Service.

How do you give up those call letters....IN DETROIT?!?

[ChrisWL1980]

No doubt they saw the WCAR calls as damaged goods at that point. They'd been through probably half a dozen failed formats in the '70s alone.
Most of us probably know that the WDAI calls that went to Chicago stood for Detroit Auto Industry. Instead, WXYZ-FM became WRIF.

[Ben Zonia]

WDFN 1130 is now flanked by call letter recyclers WCAR 1090 and WCXI 1160.

I remember when WCAR first changed to Top 40, as "The Giant 1130", programmed by C.J. Jones. I think it was late 1971 or early 1972. Because of rapid development of AOR and new FM Top 40 formats like WDRQ 93.1, The Giant 1130 was short lived. Back in the early to middle 1960s, the Top 40 stations simulcast their coowned AM stations. If you had a good radio and or FM antenna, you could get WXYZ, WKNR, WJBK, and CKLW in clear FM sound for 50 plus miles around, and at Night when the AM signals were unreliable.

Speaking of call letters referring to the auto industry, The Mid States FM Network, later known as Panax, included WABX, "AB" originally stood for automobile business, along with WGMZ, where the "GM" stood for General Motors, and WQDC, where "DC" stood for Dow Chemical.

[moldyoldie]

I remember first hearing an entire side of the Moody Blues' On the Threshold of a Dream and the Stones' "Gimme Shelter" on WABX in...must've been '69.
I was hooked!

Another prominent "underground" DJ was "Big" John Small on WKNR-FM.

[Deleted User 16144]

Back in the day, in 1973 My friends and I would listen to WABX and W4 for the latest album releases for the week, both stations played the entire new releases with no interruptions. WABX and W4 would compete as to who would play the latest release first . On Friday’s we would head over to E.J. Korvette’s on Gratiot and 12 Mile in Roseville to purchase our latest albums for a buck cheaper. Korvette’s would have certain record labels on sale all weekend, prices were normally $5.99 per album but the record label that was on sale would be $4.99 all weekend. I remember when Led Zeppelin’s “Houses of the Holy” was released it just so happened that the Atlantic record label was on sale that weekend. We got to Korvette’s just in time, the store sold out of that LP within 20 minutes. WABX was the first to play “Houses of the Holy” when it was released. I believe W4 ended up playing it 30 minutes later.

[Marcus]

CFPL-FM in London had Progressive Rock starting at Midnight as early as 1972. That was the same year that 1570 CHLO had a similar format to what WRIF had at the time.

https://broadcasting-history.ca/radio/r ... n/cfpl-fm/

https://broadcasting-history.ca/radio/r ... n/cfhk-fm/

[Deleted User 16144]

I have a question as to when Steve Dahl worked at W4. Wikipedia stated that he worked at both W4 and WABX. He was at WABX in 1976, so did Dahl work at W4 before that? I do remember him being at W4 for a short while. When did Gary Meier join Dahl was it in Detroit or Chicago?

[CurlyHoward]

Chicago. Meier was the overnight guy at the Loop when Dahl started doing mornings there in 1979, they started bantering during the transition between the shows, Meier became Dahl's sidekick and partner from there. Don't think Meier's ever even worked outside of Chicago aside from when him and Dahl were syndicated.

[Deleted User 16144]

Got it. Thanks