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Thank you for your patience!
- M.W.
Thank you for your patience!
- M.W.
40 years ago in 1979
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
Back then also in September of 1979 on "ROCK 106" WIOG, the song "All My Love" by Led Zeppelin (edited 45 version) was cut into 2 parts because the instrumental break went to a different song. When the commercial was over, they cued the remaining song!! That's Led Zeppelin with "All My Love" before that "Get It Right Next Time" from Gerry Rafferty
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
Yet they still dumped the rock format a few years later for soft rock / AC despite being number 1 overall in the ratingsBryce wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2019 9:46 pm1979? We owned Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland at WHNN. I can still smell the Tuscola studios, dump that they were.Mega Hertz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2019 7:58 pm Interesting thread! I'm really digging all this history!
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innate-in-you
- Posts: 684
- Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:54 am
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
Oh, the memories!matt1 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 4:41 am I forgot to mention that Traverse City, Michigan station "106 KHQ" (actually 105.9 FM) debuted on May 8, 1980. Did not heard that station until December of 1980 with the reel to reel tape & also the same announcer who would tell you the song by the artist or group as he did on "ROCK 106 WIOG"!!! I wonder when the reel to reel tape & the same announcer ended back then?? Around 1985 or 1986???
My family took us to Benzie County for about ten years. I would lay a TV antenna on the rafters of the open-frame cabin.
One year, I had unpacked all the radio and TV goodies and checked the FM band. Wandering around the dial, one of the first breaks I heard was "106-KHQ".
I mistakenly thought I was getting Spokane
The change in the FM band between 1975 and 1985 up there was amazing.
In 1975, with no outdoor antenna, you could listen to any FM station you wanted - provided it was 88.3 WIAA!
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
Our family stayed at various places along the South side of Crystal Lake in the 1960s. Most were near or off Mollineaux Road. Once we stayed in a cabin called THISLDU, owned by Bob Renwick. It had been their family cabin which he now rented. I think he was related to a couple of Renwicks in radio. We stayed at a place with two triplexes facing each other. We could barely hear WTCM 1400 (even had a heterodyne) and 5000 watt WCCW 1310 on our transistor radio. However, our neighbor in another cabin had an AM-FM radio and it was extremely clear on the Tigers game. I think it must have been WTCM-FM, but it looked like the pointer was at the same place on the dial. I could get WDOR 910 though, which played "Silence Is Golden" by The Tremeloes, and WDBC 680 played "Jill" by Gary Lewis. So it had to be 1967. It was a "cool, cool Summer". Don't think it got warmer than about 68 degrees in late August that week.
Is THAT where they got the idea for the 486-SX?
Same (x, y, z), different (t)
Your bullet missed my trial balloon.
RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.
Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.
Same (x, y, z), different (t)
Your bullet missed my trial balloon.
RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.
Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
I was checking some History Cards and Maps around Crystal Lake. WTCM-FM 103.5 had recently signed on when I was there in 1967. It was 38 kW ERP, H and later added V Bays. It was a little over 700 feet HAAT from the M-72 old WPBN tower 2-3 miles West of Traverse City. The WTCM (AM) 1400 and WCCW (AM) 1310 towers were nearby out there also. So I don't know where you were if you could only hear WIAA 88.3 when it was on the Interlochen tower. Perhaps you were in the blanketing range?
Is THAT where they got the idea for the 486-SX?
Same (x, y, z), different (t)
Your bullet missed my trial balloon.
RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.
Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.
Same (x, y, z), different (t)
Your bullet missed my trial balloon.
RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.
Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.
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jlpeterson1957
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 12:13 am
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
Well, since I see my name here I might as well chime in.
I started at JML in November of 1979 doing midnight-530am. A month later they moved me to 7p-midnight. KHQ wasn't on the air yet. Corporate HQ in Muskegon controlled the new adds to the playlist. We were just in the process of converting music to cart, so we were still playing the vast majority of our stuff off 45s and LPs. Yes, the signal was massive...and compressed beyond belief. You had to be paying attention when a song ended because a fade ending dropped off the cliff if you weren't careful. I'd get phone calls from Green Bay, from Blind River, Ontario, Alpena and Cadillac.
We had three categories of songs: current, recurrent and everything else ("oldie"). The format was this
Top of the hour - fast oldie. This was when we had the Lyle Dean voicer with the time bomb. "It's seven o'clock at the music station...WJML-FM, Petoskey." The song was to start in the space between 'station' and 'WJML.'" Since at that time there was really no competition, sales went crazy and when summer rolled around and tourist season was in max mode, we'd run 35 commercials an hour, maxing out at 18 minutes per hour.
KHQ went on the air in either late spring or early summer 1980 if memory serves. Rob Hazelton was the PD then and we had the great idea one night of showing everyone that KHQ wasn't any different from us, so I monitored KHQ and then played every song they did, right after they did. Ah, the foolishness of youth. However, those 18 minutes of commercials per hour versus the 8 which KHQ was playing made our "JML, the Music Station," tagline seem a little odd. They're playing music, and we're playing ads.
We were losing market share due to the whims of HQ changing things all the time, bringing in guys from larger markets who "knew A/C." Well, after a few years they made me PD and we had Art Bussure and Tom Griswold doing the Breakfast Club in the morning. I was doing middays and Jerry Noble, who has now been at WWCK in Flint forever was doing evenings and Jane Noble, who later made her name in San Diego, was doing overnights. We then brought in Bob Kevoian from WMBN and paired him with Tom and moved Art to afternoons (he was also our engineer) and the rest is history.
Our GM hated the fact that Bob & Tom wouldn't start the news right on the dot at :25. They'd get to it around :30 or :35. Face it, people weren't listening for the news, they were listening for them, so I just kept saying, "OK," saying to B&T, start it on time, but don't worry about it and away we went. The GM also hated anything which was rock & roll and wouldn't let us play anything she thought was too "rocky," because she didn't want us playing teenybopper music. Get this, though - she had us start playing Asia's "Heat of the Moment." Why? HER TEENAGE SON liked it. It's that kind of stuff which helped contribute to JML's downfall.
B&T left for Indy in late 1982, I believe. They were making $190 and $215 per week. Indy offered them each $30k per year. After that, things went downhill real fast. They brought in another PD from another large market and I left shortly thereafter.
Why were we running so many ads in 1979 and 1980? Well, we could, without any competition. But also, HQ had purchased KQRS in Duluth and turned it into an AOR station and they paid it off in three years with money from JML - we were billing over a million a year then which was not chump change. KHQ also knew what they were doing, They were patient. No knee-jerk reactions, they had a long-term plan and they stuck with it.
The only ARB I recall seeing from those days was from late '79 or '80 if my fading memory serves and we had something like a 50 or 60 share 6a-midnight and it was off the scale 7-midnight.
It was a lot of fun and yes, do we have stories about the days when radio was still somewhat the Wild West. It's interesting now. I work for a health care provider in San Antonio and our CEO used to be CIO for Clear Channel. His world of the 2010s in radio was quite different than mine, to say the least.
I started at JML in November of 1979 doing midnight-530am. A month later they moved me to 7p-midnight. KHQ wasn't on the air yet. Corporate HQ in Muskegon controlled the new adds to the playlist. We were just in the process of converting music to cart, so we were still playing the vast majority of our stuff off 45s and LPs. Yes, the signal was massive...and compressed beyond belief. You had to be paying attention when a song ended because a fade ending dropped off the cliff if you weren't careful. I'd get phone calls from Green Bay, from Blind River, Ontario, Alpena and Cadillac.
We had three categories of songs: current, recurrent and everything else ("oldie"). The format was this
Top of the hour - fast oldie. This was when we had the Lyle Dean voicer with the time bomb. "It's seven o'clock at the music station...WJML-FM, Petoskey." The song was to start in the space between 'station' and 'WJML.'" Since at that time there was really no competition, sales went crazy and when summer rolled around and tourist season was in max mode, we'd run 35 commercials an hour, maxing out at 18 minutes per hour.
KHQ went on the air in either late spring or early summer 1980 if memory serves. Rob Hazelton was the PD then and we had the great idea one night of showing everyone that KHQ wasn't any different from us, so I monitored KHQ and then played every song they did, right after they did. Ah, the foolishness of youth. However, those 18 minutes of commercials per hour versus the 8 which KHQ was playing made our "JML, the Music Station," tagline seem a little odd. They're playing music, and we're playing ads.
We were losing market share due to the whims of HQ changing things all the time, bringing in guys from larger markets who "knew A/C." Well, after a few years they made me PD and we had Art Bussure and Tom Griswold doing the Breakfast Club in the morning. I was doing middays and Jerry Noble, who has now been at WWCK in Flint forever was doing evenings and Jane Noble, who later made her name in San Diego, was doing overnights. We then brought in Bob Kevoian from WMBN and paired him with Tom and moved Art to afternoons (he was also our engineer) and the rest is history.
Our GM hated the fact that Bob & Tom wouldn't start the news right on the dot at :25. They'd get to it around :30 or :35. Face it, people weren't listening for the news, they were listening for them, so I just kept saying, "OK," saying to B&T, start it on time, but don't worry about it and away we went. The GM also hated anything which was rock & roll and wouldn't let us play anything she thought was too "rocky," because she didn't want us playing teenybopper music. Get this, though - she had us start playing Asia's "Heat of the Moment." Why? HER TEENAGE SON liked it. It's that kind of stuff which helped contribute to JML's downfall.
B&T left for Indy in late 1982, I believe. They were making $190 and $215 per week. Indy offered them each $30k per year. After that, things went downhill real fast. They brought in another PD from another large market and I left shortly thereafter.
Why were we running so many ads in 1979 and 1980? Well, we could, without any competition. But also, HQ had purchased KQRS in Duluth and turned it into an AOR station and they paid it off in three years with money from JML - we were billing over a million a year then which was not chump change. KHQ also knew what they were doing, They were patient. No knee-jerk reactions, they had a long-term plan and they stuck with it.
The only ARB I recall seeing from those days was from late '79 or '80 if my fading memory serves and we had something like a 50 or 60 share 6a-midnight and it was off the scale 7-midnight.
It was a lot of fun and yes, do we have stories about the days when radio was still somewhat the Wild West. It's interesting now. I work for a health care provider in San Antonio and our CEO used to be CIO for Clear Channel. His world of the 2010s in radio was quite different than mine, to say the least.
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
I heard WKHQ for the first time shortly after they signed on circa 1980, down in Mecosta County. I had a Sony Portable with a slide rule dial and I couldn't tell the exact frequency. I called the station to tell them I was hearing them and asked the rookie DJ that answered what frequency they were actually on, as opposed to "106". I knew he was a rookie when he told me that they were on "109.5". I thought, I wonder if the FAA knows! 
Then I called Art Vuolo and he already knew about it, and just about everyone there.
WKHQ History Card
Very short History Card because they stopped recording and transferred to computerized records in 1980.
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/c ... r_id=81642
Then I called Art Vuolo and he already knew about it, and just about everyone there.WKHQ History Card
Very short History Card because they stopped recording and transferred to computerized records in 1980.
http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/c ... r_id=81642
Is THAT where they got the idea for the 486-SX?
Same (x, y, z), different (t)
Your bullet missed my trial balloon.
RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.
Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.
Same (x, y, z), different (t)
Your bullet missed my trial balloon.
RTN Price. Not guaranteed. As of 12:30, 157.71 Down 0.22.
Artificial Intelligence is a Child that needs a Parent to guide it through.
-
RobHazelton
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:51 pm
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
(-hey Jeff: Since you've referenced this topic for a second time here, I'll just copy & paste my previous reply from another thread...jlpeterson1957 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:39 am Well, since I see my name here I might as well chime in... ...if memory serves. Rob Hazelton was the PD then and we had the great idea one night of showing everyone that KHQ wasn't any different from us, so I monitored KHQ and then played every song they did, right after they did.
)-Well, I guess just like you, since I see my name invoked here, I might as well chime in and clarify a couple of things with regard to your recollection of events during our JML days together and the subsequent signing on of KHQ.
On the evening that you mentioned you had monitored KHQ and “duplicated everything they played”, KHQ wasn’t even officially on the air yet as a commercial radio station. They were simply performing transmitter and audio tests prior to their official launch date in May of 1980. No one (with the exception of those of us in Broadcasting who were paying attention) even knew KHQ existed. In truth, nobody (except for us and the engineers and managers tweaking the KHQ transmitter) was listening to 105.9 FM in late March or early April during the evening that you describe in your posts.
As JML’s PD, and knowing ahead-of-time that KHQ would be using TM’s Stereo Rock reels for their programming, I suspected and was concerned that JML would potentially be in an “uphill battle” in an audio processing war. The TM Stereo Rock Reels out of Dallas were delivered to stations pre-processed with a nominal/semi-aggressive amount of compression, limiting and other sweetening, so subscribing stations didn’t have to push their processing as hard to achieve optimal results.
What you actually did that night was assist me with an audio processing exercise that lasted no more than 30-45 minutes, because I wanted a true A-B comparison of how specific carted source material we were airing stood up against their TM Stereo Rock Reels and audio processing. – And altering our titles for a short period late at night and at a time when “pre-KHQ” was only performing tests and not officially on-the-air as a competitor was a small price to pay to hear exactly where JML stood competitively with regard to audio quality and apparent-loudness on the dial. The title rearrangements we made in those moments were insignificant and in keeping with the format, as the “softening” of JML’s music library was still months away.
Jeff, while I appreciate and have fond memories of our time together at JML, I need to clarify here that I would have never asked you to parrot another station’s programming song-for-song for an entire airshift. - This was an audio processing exercise and test, weeks ahead of a major competitor coming into the market; utilizing as a guide the actual source material that they were airing during testing prior to their official launch. I hope this refreshes your memory.
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
Anyone know WIOG's day of switching from 106 to 102? Seems like September 1986 is all the more it can be narrowed down - wonder if anyone would be able to pin a day on it.
Using Broadcasting Magazine's annual Yearbooks, I'd guess September 22.
The 1988 Yearbook gives an acquisition date for WIOG as September 21: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-B ... f#page=139
While for F-B Communications acquiring WGER, the date given is September 23: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-B ... f#page=146
September 22 would also have been a Monday - not sure if an on-air change would have played out on a Sunday?
By the way, their annual Yearbooks are available on the website World Radio History, covering a large range - 1935 to 2010. Starting at the 60s, separate TV/Radio sections are available if one wants to just look at one or the other - though the individual sections themselves make for very very large PDFs, never mind combined.
https://worldradiohistory.com/Broadcasting-Yearbook.htm
Something else I found fascinating when I stumbled upon this a few years ago. Apparently WIOG had a large enough cume to warrant having their station playlist printed right in Billboard magazine for a six-month duration in 1989!
The Hot 100 Singles Spotlight in their March 4, 1989 issue gives the explanation: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-A ... df#page=95
One thing I will highlight: "There are two additions to the Power Playlist section: KDWB-FM Minneapolis and WIOG Saginaw, Mich. The latter, despite being in a medium-size market, is the 28th-largest top 40 station in weekly cume." The 32 largest were the ones printed.
Page 21 has that issue's playlist: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-A ... df#page=21 (No logo on their playlist until April 8.)
More Billboard: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-A ... gazine.htm
Using Broadcasting Magazine's annual Yearbooks, I'd guess September 22.
The 1988 Yearbook gives an acquisition date for WIOG as September 21: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-B ... f#page=139
While for F-B Communications acquiring WGER, the date given is September 23: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-B ... f#page=146
September 22 would also have been a Monday - not sure if an on-air change would have played out on a Sunday?
By the way, their annual Yearbooks are available on the website World Radio History, covering a large range - 1935 to 2010. Starting at the 60s, separate TV/Radio sections are available if one wants to just look at one or the other - though the individual sections themselves make for very very large PDFs, never mind combined.
https://worldradiohistory.com/Broadcasting-Yearbook.htm
Something else I found fascinating when I stumbled upon this a few years ago. Apparently WIOG had a large enough cume to warrant having their station playlist printed right in Billboard magazine for a six-month duration in 1989!
The Hot 100 Singles Spotlight in their March 4, 1989 issue gives the explanation: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-A ... df#page=95
One thing I will highlight: "There are two additions to the Power Playlist section: KDWB-FM Minneapolis and WIOG Saginaw, Mich. The latter, despite being in a medium-size market, is the 28th-largest top 40 station in weekly cume." The 32 largest were the ones printed.
Page 21 has that issue's playlist: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-A ... df#page=21 (No logo on their playlist until April 8.)
More Billboard: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-A ... gazine.htm
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FormerNews5Dude
- Posts: 35
- Joined: Thu May 21, 2020 4:53 pm
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
Those reels were still lying around WIOG in a supply closet in the 90s, and they still sounded excellent!
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
The only ones that I can think of were DJ's Rich or Pat (cannot think of their last name) from W106 FM back in June, July & August of 1979 when they used to play the complete brand new album by an artist or group in its entirely on Monday & Tuesday nights!! On Friday nights, W106 played the "Classic" album of the week!! NOT sure about Wednesday or Thursday nights back then. By the way "Hit after hit after hit, we're HITS 106 WIOG" (back in 1983)!!
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RobHazelton
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:51 pm
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
FormerNews5Dude: Agreed! – I ran across some reels years later as well, and they really stood the test of time!FormerNews5Dude wrote: ↑Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:00 pm Those reels were still lying around WIOG in a supply closet in the 90s, and they still sounded excellent!
TM had an excellent audio processing, quality control and duplication chain.
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
The same man who also had stations in Steuvenville, Ohio & in Johnstown, Pennsylvania because in August of 1981, I went to my aunts house in Greensburg, Pennsylvania for a week & heard the same DJ!! Greensburg, PA had a country radio station that also used reel to reel tape with a different man saying the song by artist or group back then!!! I wonder what company in the United States carried those AM & FM stations???
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
Awesome thread! So cool to read this stuff. I wasn’t born yet for most of this stuff but remember in the late 80’s/early 90’s of WIOG with the Party Lizard bumper stickers all over and getting pulled over to win cash. Man, I remember those stickers being stuck to so many street signs in Mid-Michigan. What a station promotion in a time when radio was so alive!
Re: 40 years ago in 1979
Back in April or May of 1984, WIOG switched to brand new DJ's instead of the reel to reel tapes I think. That station played "Hot Tracks" including a few album track songs!!!