How to get it to St. Paul? The other stations had an unwritten agreement not to play race music because they assumed the Twin Cities audience would be outraged. Curtis J. Johnson sits down with Twin Cities Radio Airchecks website creator, Rick Burnett to discuss his career in radio, starting from high-school with concentration on his work at WDGY in the late 1960's as a 20/20 newsman. Minneapolis, MN. WDGY seemed to appeal to 18- to 35-year-old listeners while KDWB held a fair share of the teen audiences - considered hot properties during this period. Charlie does a ply on the Chicken Man radio series by introducing Donald as "the most fantastic newsman the world has ever known." . Then they would have to schlep the transmitter in a big box (about the size of a single hole outhouse) back to Minnesota. Preacher Paul was there three nights a week as a host, and on Saturday afternoons he broadcast from the place. In 1937 the station had a 15-minute program on Sundays featuring black singers that was advertised in the Minneapolis Spokesman. The old tower was removed and a new tower erected. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE, This photo was taken as the car pulls into the driveway on a Richfield winter day. And you can try it today. We asked them what WPBC should be playing and it was almost unanimous that we should play the top 40, rock and roll, Stewart recalled. And, Im sure it was after checking with their attorney, one by one they dropped our little campaign. Wedgy Devices for a variety of Electrical, Low Voltage, Plumbing, Piping, Mechanical, HVAC, Fire Protection and other construction applications using Wedgy Cable Supports. The jocks shouted, snarled and chanted the KSTP slogan that was spilling from billboards and buses all over town, according to a 1977 Strib article. You will hear Curt share stories on WDGY personalities, including Jim Dandy, Rich Holter, George Young and others. This first tape was recorded off the air in March 1973. An October 1949 ad in the Trib called it The Northwest Empire Station and morning shows featured Irene and Lou, hillbilly favorites; Sschunemans Red Rooster Hour; and Johnny Aarthun, popular singer of old-country songs. On June 3, 1963, KTWN began programming by its new owners, K-TWN, Inc., headed by Gene Posner, President of Cream City Broadcasting, Milwaukee. Jack Reynolds became General Manager in April 1971. History The WDGY callsign was used for another well-known station in the area from 1925 until 1991 and broadcast at 1130 kHz. In February 2017, WDGY added another FM translator, W221BS 92.1, broadcasting from an antenna atop Wells Fargo Place in Downtown St. Scripts saved all these years by DJ John Evans list songs such as: WLOL had lots of shows with tantalizing names, such as Top Tunes, Roys Record Shop, Todays Hits, Top Ten, Hit Parade, and Off the Record. He planned to conduct on-the-air happiness experiments twice a day. After all, its a thing to be able to sit down and listen to sides all day., There was also a Richard Nelson, who Connie Hechter at the Insider called Dick, but he actually was known as Admiral Richard E, and was on the air from 1966 to 1968, according to Curt Lundgren (who says he would cringe at the name Dick.). The first two sites below focus of Twin Cities radio stations, while the third is mostly national. Airchecks from 1955 57 on www.radiotapes.com seem to indicate that the music was pretty middle-of-the-road, but they did play Hound Dog on September 7, 1956 Its #1! The station was DJ-driven, with a July 2, 1956 ad touting the Fabulous 4+1: Herb Oscar Anderson, Don Loughnane, Jack Thayer, Bill Armstrong, and Bill Bennett. For awhile they called the AM station KEVE and the FM station KADM Adam and Eve in the Valley. The two stations were simulcasting classical music when they both went to KQRS. Wonderful WeeGee, home of the boss jocks like Johnny Canton, hit its stride in the 60s, competing neck and neck with KDWB. Sweet Potato, September 1979. On August 30, 1968, a concert and dance was held at Stem Hall at the St. Paul Auditorium, emceed by Jack Harris, a/k/a KUXL disc jockey Daddy Soul. Click on Photo to go to a site with old bloomington antenna site and transmitter photos put together by Aaron White. Fan Feed More The OFFICIAL Fictional Radio Stations Wiki. The station put on its salesmen, some, like Stan Mack, were former jocks. See Top 30 and Top 40 countdowns from 1966 on Robb Henrys blog. Herb Oscar Anderson was the first disk jockey on the air with the new Top 40 rock n roll format that morning, and the jocks and the new sounds boosted the station from a tepid Number 4 to second place behind behemoth WCCO. In April 1929 the frequency apparently became 1180. Unfortunately, the American Research Bureau came in at fewer than 1,000 listeners at 3 pm on a week day. I guess. I did not get to talk to the Twin Cities until 1972 when I was hired as a part-time DJ at KTCR-FM, a country station in Minneapolis. (Only eight stations in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Bad news from Wikipedia: Despite receiving positive reviews in some mainstream publishings, Purple Haze was a flop. The FCC required that the station identify itself as KDWB Lake Elmo, also occasionally serving Minneapolis and St. Paul. The station provided immediate competition to leading rock n roll station WDGY: See a good piece on the KDWB/WDGY rivalry from KARE-11 News. End Of The World - Skeeter Davis 4 3. The station finally landed at the great 1130 on March 24, 1941, when all of the local stations were repositioned. That spring the station presented Saints baseball with Ray Christensen. Metropolitan Radio moved to a new site, and built a new and modern transmission facility (4-tower complex west of Highway 100 in St. Louis Park) a broadcast service that brings it within clear signal range of thousands who could nevr before enjoy wtcn 1280 as easily as they wished. The simple fact was that the black population was so small (less than one percent of the states population through 1970) that the community wasnt able to support one. In a blurb in the Minneapolis Star (September 1, 1977), station manager Dale Webber was quoted as saying the reason for the change was getting out of the ridiculous Top 40 market. There were three other country stations on AM in the market at the time. After a couple of changes the call letters became WDGY (Dr. George Young) in 1926. More than a nostalgia station, more than a mixture of rock n roll history and local rock trivia, TC offers listeners personality programming and a fun sense of belonging to a rock n roll community. ARSA: ABOUT: SURVEYS: STATIONS: 1970-02-13 WDGY 1130 AM ( Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota ) TW LW ARTIST TITLE WKS NOTES; 1: 4 : Sly & The Family Stone: Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) 1: 4 : Sly & The Family Stone: Everybody Is A Star: 2: 1 : On May 27, 1965, Will Jones noted that with Daylight Savings Time and sundown getting later Billy G would be able to wail with the records from Cassius Bar until 9 pm. Photo by Greg Helgeson, Minnesota Music magazine, Bumper sticker @ 1980 1984. Unfortunately, by September 1976, the programs two advertising contracts had expired, and Adams was unable to find new sponsors. In November 1957 Jerry Cunning did Night Watch, Twin Cities first all-night record party Top 40 and then some from 11 pm to 6 am. I worked with Jim when he was at KTCR-FM. Optometrist George W. Young started radio station KMFT in 1923; his first broadcast was on January 13, 1924 from his house at 2219 N. Bryant. Apparently the station had a wide variety of programs. Although the records say that KUXL was granted the license to increase its power to 1000 watts on October 1, 1963, Will Jones of the, Both KFMX 104.1 and KRSI 950 am flipped to Music of Your Life as KRSI AM-FM that day, with Don Shore as the Program Director and morning host. Talk about a time frame, eh?) He was a captivating jock on WDGY. Wayne Red Williams was Station Manager and Ray Christensen was Program Director. Access Minnesota. WWTC started out as WTCN radio, 1280 kc AM. Meanwhile, they borrowed a little trailer studio from someone and that was our production room for the next month or so. And they would play some jazz, depending on which of the announcers was on or what day of the week or what time of the day it was, youd turn the radio on and hear something different.. In a column dated January 24, 1954, Will Jones of the, Merle Edwards was at WMIN from 1949 to 55 and had shows like, Michael Scroggins, General and Program Manager, Program Director, Jean Myts, Commercial Manager and News Director, Al Alonzo, Vice President and Program Director (also identified as General Manager by the, Mornings featured DJs Larry Fitzgerald and DonOvan Staar Johnson, formerly of KMOJ. R&B existed right here in the Twin Cities, but was apparently a well-kept secret. The transmitter location was .3 miles north from the intersection of Sixth Ave. North and Highway 100 in Golden Valley, and the transmitter would be remotely controlled from the studio. Freed: KDAN, being a daytimer, was a perfect station to shoot at because it was off the air from sunset to sunrise, so a film shoot wouldnt interfere with normal operations if the filming was overnight. Jim Dandy, Perry St. John, Scott Burton, George Young, B. Mason Dean. They also reported that people were buying tickets for 50 cents entitling them to buy drinks. First you will hear the turkey gobble sound indicating listeners should call Johnny to be a part of the WDGY Turkey Shoot. (Were they ahead of their time?) WLOL FM and KUOM AM cooperated to create the stereophonic sound. There were going to be 27 separate short entertainment features every day, ranging from the supernatural to what makes raindrops round. According to PD Chuck Roberts, the new format is closer to AOR than Top 40 radio. In the 60 I later converted to KDWB, but still listened to WDGY. Finally, in the late 50s Sam Cooke broke the color barrier in the Midwest with You Send Me and black artists began to appear regularly on Top 40 charts. You can view more history by clicking the following web address:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFAN_%28AM%29 And also at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDGY. . WLOLs Swing Club had Dan Anderson on Saturdays from noon to 6 pm., also Top 40 and then some.. By that time Elvis had hit it big with Heartbreak Hotel and Hound Dog a cover of a black record followed. Radio and Records magazine, March 18, 1977, courtesy Todd Mitchell, Only reference to Y-11 that came up in a search of the Strib. in Golden Valley, across from the Point Supper Club. A touch of Formula 63 is the perfect way to brighten up your mundane day. The turntables (pre-historic CD players) are out of the shot to his left side. Good New Show on KUXL: Saturday at 5:00 pm is the time to listen to all the old hits on Bill Blast Hits of the Past. The show, hosted by Al Collins of Music City, downtown Minneapolis, received good response from listeners. We were thinking about this positioning problem when Don remembered something which had been a national marketing phenomenon a few years earlier. Police shut down Nicollet Ave. and were heckled by the crowd. Like an acid-etching, the events of that day in early December 1969 are sharp as cut crystal. Most of them were from me. KSTP had some country shows as well, such as Dude Ranch Jamboree, but some of the other programs leave room for speculation that they may have played something hot: Rhythm at Random, Saturday Juke Box, Young Ideas, and Record Rack. This was on the grounds of the U.S. Silver Fox Farm, at the very northern border of the Village.The document below is the application to move the transmitter in 1927. Bottom Row: Dan Halyburton, Larry E. Cummins, Jimmy Reed. Notice the Catman poster on the upper wall. Suddenly it was true, 63 thats easy to remember. He had a pilots license so he rented an airplane and he and the engineer, Rey Lark, and someone else hopped in with Bob and flew through the night to Peoria where they picked up the transmitter. It was perhaps the only American commercial radio station the Russians had to jam to prevent their people from hearing all that decadent American Rock & Roll! A Hammond RK4 reverberation unit has been ordered The echo unit will be .. controlled by push buttons installed at the news table and console. In the July 2, 1967, edition of the TMC Insider, we learn that KDWB went off the air last Friday when a 50-foot tower was blown down and fell on top of the stations studios. The owners brought in Robert Purcell to inject life in the station, and a friend who booked Country & Western touring shows told him that the area was one of the top in the country. K You Excel. Stuart A. Lindman with photos of Steve Cannon, Merle Hub Cap Edwards, and Bill Diehl, 1949. was WeeGee getting ready for the country format switch? The stations license was always in the name of Universal Broadcasting during these years, so it is difficult to know what role Smith played at KUXL. Forrest Powers of the Star filed his report on March 17, 1964, explaining how Ed Skotch was doing market research with a group of 40 housewives. The station again went dark, this time for good, but when? The station was the first to put in the companys prepackaged Great American Country service. How could this format possibly be a winner on AM? The frequency was originally 1140 kc. 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Jimmy Reed was originally at KDWB-AM 630 before coming to WDGY 1130 onSeptember 23, 1969. On December 10, 1962, the station launched one of those call-in shows where people argued with the host, who was called Norman Frederick. CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE, WDGY Donald K. Martin contributed this undated from the late 60's - early 70's. ERP. They built their studio on Stinson Blvd. In addition to this web site creator's recorded aircheck collection, there are also manyairchecks that were recorded and submitted by friends and acquaintances, or contributed by other collectors. 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