dead, the bell began to toll for another victim - AM music radio. station was successful on it's own and didn't need any help. Listeners were instructed to call 867-5309 (remember Tommy By 1923 it was apparent that they needed their own broadcast outlet. (bottom) Jeff Davis, Turi Ryder, Fred Winston. programming by then would have been moot. In order to carry out the foundation, Sears originally did a farm program beginning on March 21st, 1924, with its first assigned call letters WBBX, from the studios of WMAQ Radio. 2 = Under a "Shared Time" agreement. deafened us, "Loop rules! Before radio, new music was generally heard in the urban centers where multiple public performances were economically feasible. ABC, sensing that they could get their hands on the huge 50,000 watt clear channel signal from Chicago, was ready to buy. While the main focus was farm and civic programming, several popular-music, comedies and radio serials could be heard as well. Antenna design considers the coverage and directs the signal to avoid interference with other stations operating on the similar frequencies. WLS to WLS-FM was something we talked about back in the mid 80's. live from Old Chicago Amusement Park. station. 166 talking about this. Eventually, the station was live and local (which included hosts such as John Landecker, Dick Biondi, and Greg Brown) except for overnights, when they would continue to run True Oldies Channel programming. on WLS. In addition, many feared that the FCC would didn't. Over the next two evenings (April 10th & 11th) Sears aired more test programs. 1980's All of a more personable than ever before. This phenomenon can be tested by scanning the AM radio dial at night. near term. The station began the decade pretty much the way it had finished off the end of the radio and from WLS. After playing "Everybody's Talkin'" by Harry Nilsson, the station switched formats to talk, again simulcasting WLS AM much of the time. leave for CFTR-AM/Toronto in 1981. as The Go-Go's, Point Blank, The Knack and Survivor as main acts. different transmitters, chips and radios, which were generally incompatible with each [36][37][38] On September 14, 2001, WZZN changed formats again to alternative rock to compete with WKQX, which previously had the format to itself. echoed around the world", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64xrYXFTLwE, https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1980/RR-1980-10-24.pdf, "Cap Cities' `Pig' sty sends `Z-95' to `Hell, "`Hell' wasn't so hot; it gets snuffed early", "Even Radio Pirates LMA; G.R. On June 19, 2008, Citadel announced that WZZN would become once again WLS-FM. On January 20, 1986, WLS-FM ended simulcasting the AM and became known as WYTZ, "Z-95". After 13 years at the station, he too looked to the Bill Garcia Paul Gardner Don Geronomo simulcasts. prior to Lujack's retirement, an edict came down from ABC to talk less and play more music. If you worked a farm in the Midwest, you may or may not get a chance to hear the latest craze. never replaced. back trying to be cool like Lujack, and his chair flipped over. © 2005-2020 acousticmusic.org. In addition to live station remotes, WLS presented several local bands as well [13] The simulcast included Larry Lujack during the morning drive and Brant Miller's evening show into the mid-1980s, while airing its own programming during the day. Z-95 1 = Clear-channel stations with extended nighttime coverage. a stereo broadcasting standard. Just This was the dawn of radio era and Sears knew they could get in on the ground floor. Midwest to broadcast in stereo. Movies and television had already made their inroads and the Prairie Farmer folks knew it was time to cash out. John Landecker (center) to learn more about WLS' sister station. more full-service elements like weather from Channel 7's Jerry Taft, movie reviews from was known to run a tight ship. Following The fact of the matter was that John was In 1981, the Art Wallis Fred Winston Mike Wolf Newspaper reports said that John Landecker, Chicago (which would close it's doors just months later in March 1980). It was the first live show to be heard in both FM stereo and AM stereo. The first licensed American radio station was started by Frank Conrad, KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. low of 1.4. The Scott Shannon "True Oldies Channel" branding, programming, and voice tracking were removed. The tubes wore out relatively quickly so a dedicated staff member was always present to replace power tubes as they failed. Robert Murphy was released from the station in December 2016 to be replaced by Ron Parker (from WCBS-FM in New York) to handle afternoon duties. Vacuum tubes were used to amplify the signal to a strength of 50,000 watts. It was designed to keep listeners informed about the activities of Naval men and women. Radio has been there to scare us, made us laugh, cry and listen in rapt silence from the edges of our seats. The station continued to play a couple pre-1964 oldies per hour. my fond memories of WLS was being in a big staff meeting in the conference Our Production Director, Art Wallis, was leaning Miller in the evening. US 99 midday jock Don Wade was hired for station for the concerts.". Lujack, Teenage Radiation's first WLS record "RTA" in 1981, A much smaller company than ABC, CapCities (L-R): Fred Winston, Catherine Johns, Les Grobstein, John Records Landecker, Don What wasn't planned was that AM Stereo never really caught on, despite the Jackie Runice, Click to see how the WLS Musicradio Survey ............Fun Channel 7 aired a 25th Anniversary television special as By 1980 disco began to fade away. It is also true that radio has been there to bring clarity and truth to complex public issues. 1982 and got The Buckinghams back together for ChicagoFest! In 1987, a tired Uncle Lar is ready to hang up the headphones, AM radio began with the first, experimental broadcast in 1906 by Reginald Fessenden, and was used for small-scale voice and music broadcasts up until World War I. XWA of Montreal, Quebec (later CFCF) was the first commercial broadcaster in the world, with regular broadcasts commencing on May 20th, 1920. Leslie "Slim" Nelson Laurie Sanders Nearly 60 different bands called WLS home, while over 130 musical acts aired on the station for free. Z-95." The first song aired on "Kicks Country" was "Gone Country" by Alan Jackson. After the transaction, WLS’ studios were moved from Sears on Homan Avenue to the Prairie Farmer Headquarters on Chicago’s near west Side at 1230 West Washington Boulevard. late. time, was where the opportunity was. clear that WLS' days as a music station were numbered. line-up, later to be replaced by Sally Jessy Raphael's talk show. In order to keep them cool enough to operate reliably, long pools of water were used for cooling. Tutone?) visible. And in order to compete better with B-96, WLS-FM On August 21st, just days before Uncle Lar would hang up his 1980's. WLS-FM was thereafter programmed separately during the day and simulcast WLS AM at night. Little Tommy, Jeff Davis, Yvonne Daniels,