Prior to WLTE-FM, WCCO used its AM call letters on the FM frequency also. The call letters changed to the WLTE in 1983-84. Scroll down for airchecks and further down for scans of some old WCCO-FM Listener Newsletters.
This Site Primarily Contains a Collection of Airchecks of Numerous Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) Radio Stations, Some Recorded Off The Air by Rick Burnett and Many Others Recorded or Provided by Other Contributors to This Site (see footnote at bottom). The Contribution of Recordings and Materials are Greatly Appreciated and Have Made this Site a Bookmark for Those Interested in Radio From this Era. Explore the many recordings on this site by using the menu at the left side of the screen. Should you have material to contribute, Please Email: Rick1031(at)HotMail.com Note: Substitute @ for the "(at)" when typing email address
WCCO-FM Studio Engineer 1981 - Provides Some WCCO-FM Memories
Al sent some MP3 recordings to be posted on the site. On the Captain Buzz recording you will hear Tim Russell do Buzz with host Paul Stagg. Buzz does his traffic report and also reports on the Gray Panther militant protest on the Capital steps. Buzz also tell the listeners about the dog he and his wife just bought and you will also hear about the Fair Deal Grocery store that he shops.
There are two WCCO-FM jingles, one slow and one up tempo. The up tempo jingle is about one minute long. These recordings are undated and would be near the early to mid 70's.
Sven Skarnasdag - Carl Lensgraf with Mark Johnson. Mark was a newsman at WCCO-FM. On the first recording, Sven reports from St. Peter Minnesota and provides some history that most of the Minnesota governors came from St. Peter. The Sven a recording has two segments.
Sven recording 2 has some minor level problems near the beginning. At the end the last few minutes was lost. Since the recordings were sent as MP3 files, I did not edit it to prevent any loss due to further compression.
More Captain Buzz at the beginning of Tim and Carl bits recording with Tim Russell and Paul Stagg. Carl Lensgraf does Charles Evens Hughes Stonebrenner with "little Known Fact," a feature done daily around 4:20 PM in the mid to late 70's.
WCCO-FM's Paul Stagg and the Captain - January 1975
John Meyer sent a collection of these recordings. Although undated, it appears these were recorded off the air by him in the early 1970's. Gone are the days you can hear this broadcasting style on the radio. Fairy tales were told by the Captain, along with one-liners, and they always seemed to get a hearty laugh from Paul.
See comments below from John Meyer.
Contributed by John Meyer, Shell Lake, Wisconsin. Posted 1/2/2011
John Meyer wrote an email in late November 2010 to tell me what he had on WCCO. Part of it follows:
"What I have.......6 Captain Marsupial bits from January 3, 5, 6, 14, 21, 24 of 1975. They run between two minutes to just over six for the longest one (it includes a sort of contest they were running based on the old McDonald's "2 all beef patties, special sauce, pickles, cheese, mustard on a sesame seed bun", commercials that was such a big hit at the time.)"
Mike Cunningham recorded his tape. I am not sure when it was recorded. the tape did not have a date. I am assuming it was some time in the mid-1970's. Sven started to cut up on this bit, but recovers well.
Contributed by Mike Cunningham of La Crosse, former KTCR-FM Operations Manager. (Posted 12-15-07)
I received this in the mail from Phillip Wagner. Phil writes in an email (which explains the short times on the clip):
"I recorded LPs onto tape in the early 80's so I could listen in the car. So that I didn't have dead space on the tapes, I connected to the FM radio and filled in the rest of the tapes with usually top 40 music. That is where I got the airchecks."
Check out the WCCO aircheck. At the beginning, you will here the famous "That's Easy to Remember" KDWB tag when mentioning 103 FM. The "63" part is edited out but it sound like the same voice. Go to the KDWB Page on this site for the "63" story as told by Chuck Blore. CLICK HERE
Also note the IBM commercial for its new PC computer "now under $13,500." Looks like computers have come a long way since the IBM 5120 was introduced in early 1980.
Thanks for sending this Phillip. Contributed by Phillip Wagner of Minneapolis (posted 11-22-07)
Photos of WCCO-FM in Mid 1970's Below, and Blooper Clip to the Right
I would like to thank Pat O'Neill, formerly of WCCO-FM - now at WMGN in Madison WI, for the blooper and the photos below Just in time for the WCCO-FM reunion (scheduled Monday October 29th, 2007 in Minneapolis). Wish I could be there to hear the stories.
Pat tells me on 10-24-07:
"You might like this WCCO-FM blooper: 1981, a drowsy Terri Davis at around 1:30AM. (I hear Terri will make the reunion on Monday).
Several years later I sent the clip to Dick Clark's production company, and it was included on the 1984 album "Dick Clark Presents Radio's Uncensored Bloopers."
The crew got together for a reunion on 10-29-07 in Minneapolis. Photos were contributed by Pat O'Neill and posted here 11-1-07.
I am sure all attendees had fun catching up with each other.
Pat O'Neill states that the CCO-FM reunion was great. Standing left-to-right: CARL LENSGRAF, CURT LUNDGREN, TIM RUSSELL, JOHNNY CANTON, PETER MAY and TOM AMRBOSE. Sitting: PAT O'NEILL and TERRI DAVIS. WLTE staffer Beth Kidd snapped this picture. Photo sent to me by Pat O'Neill, formerly of WCCO-FM
Pat O'Neill with Terri Davis and Tom Ambrose. Photo submitted by Pat O'Neill
Johnny Canton at WCCO
WCCO-FM
WCCO-FM
Johnny Canton on the air at WCCO-FM
Johnny Canton at the Mic on WCCO-FM
Entrance to WCCO-FM
Johnny Canton and Engineer at WCCO-FM
Engineer running control board for Johnny Canton on WCCO-FM
WCCO-FM Christmas Theatre 1973 with Mark Durenberger
John Meyer recorded a few of the WCCO-FM Christmas Theatre segments in 1973 and has shared them here. Mark Durenberger hosted these shows back then. There were old-time radios shows with the likes of Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Red Skelton and others. These old shows are still available should you want to hear them in their entirety. Mark provided some historical perspective on some of the shows. John Meyer recorded two parts of the Christmas Theatre off the air.
John Meyer writes in an email to me:
"As for comments, you might mention that Mark Durenberger's programs, both on WLOL and WCCO-FM were the main and perhaps only reason I got re-involved in what came to be known as OTR (Old Time Radio). As a child of the 40's and 50's my family did not join the television crowd until 1956 or 57. So my early memories are of kids shows on the radio rather than Howdy Doody or various cartoon shows. Mark's late weekend re-runs of radio shows during the very early 1970's sent me off on a collecting binge that has lasted nearly 40 years and continues to this day. Thanks Mark, it was, and is, appreciated."
John Meyer also had two short recordings of Mark on WLOL-FM as Mark Dee. There were recording quality problems, and Mark Durenberger send me another high quality recording to use. This file is from the last hour of his last show and is undated. It may be from the early 1970's.
I remember listening to a jazz show on WLOL-FM, but did not recall it was Mark on the air. The first time I listened, he played Maynard Ferguson's version of "The Theme From Shaft." I bought the record the next day. It is interesting that the first song on this recording is from Ferguson's MF Horn 2 album.
Contributed by John Meyer of Shell Lake Wisconsin. Posted 1/2/2011.
WCCO Radio Building at 7th Street and 2nd Avenue in Downtown Minneapolis July 21st 2007
WCCO Radio Building
WCCO-FM 102.9 1972 & 1973 - The Early Days - Predecessor to WLTE-FM
I need some more time to put the rest of the recordings contributed by Al Arneson. Here are a few of them. More to come soon.
To the right are two WCCO-FM Sign-Off recordings. It now seem strange to think a station of WCCO's size would not be on 24 hours per day. This was when the studios were located at the Pic-Nicollet Hotel.
The recording of Tim Russell starts with the 6 AM sign-On and is a good example of the voice impersonation Tim could do. However, this is before he invented the character of "Buzz Studley" the air-traffic reporter. The music is out and news left in. Unfortunately, the tape ends just prior to the 7 AM newscast of Rick Olsen, a former Brown Institute instructor of mine (Rick Burnett-Mason)
More recordings from contributor Al Arneson. To the right is a recording of Denny Long of early WCCO-FM. Additionally, there is a recorded interview of former Vice President, Hubert Humphrey. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the signal and it appears the FM Frequency lock on the radio used to record this was not on and it drifted off channel a bit, but you can still here it well. The interview was a part of the WCCO-FM Grand Opening Broadcast on August 27, 1973 to celebrate the switch to the Shoreview 1,200 foot antenna and increase in power to 100,000 watts. The station transmitted at lower power from an antenna on the Foshay Tower prior to this. I am not sure what the transmitting power was from Foshay Let me know if you do: Rick1031@Hotmail.com
Dave Teller - Recorded on the Grand Opening Day - August 27th 1973 This was a time when the DJ's had wide discretion on music selection and announcing style. This was a more talk, less music format. Dave plays Peter Nero then Carly Simon, then The Looking glass and other MOR Contemporary songs. Lost of weather info is also provided. Does anyone know what happen to Dave?
WCCO-FM Early 1970's - Two Recordings From Grand Opening Broadcast August 27, 1973
The two recording to the left are from the day WCCO-FM had a ribbon cutting ceremony atop the Pic Nicollet Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Al Arneson provided the recordings. WCCO-FM was celebrating the switch in transmitter location to the new 1,200 foot tower in Shoreview and an increase in power to 100,000 watts. It is ironic that although CCO-FM increased it power, these recording suffer from some FM static. I believe this is due to the frequency lock on the radio not working or being turned on, allowing the frequency to drift. Remember when FM radios had a frequency lock button?
Paul Stagg During the Afternoon Paul starts off by mentioning the station has received numerous phone calls on how the new 100,000 watt signal is getting out, including calls from Rochester. Later, Paul talks about how Dave Teller, who just got off the air, is now enjoying his cheeseburger that was delivered by Alice, a local waitress with a man sounding voice. Paul also informs us the grand opening ceremony will be replayed after 6 PM, primarily because the station owners wanted to hear themselves. At about 14 minutes into this tape, the frequency starts to drift and a little static can be heard.
Hugh Phillips at 6 PM Hugh worked at Brown Institute and was the placement director when I (Rick Burnett) attended the school in 1972. He also worked one time at WWTC. I remember at Brown he told a class a WWTC story about announcing the title of a song by Connie Francis and then saying..... "Let's flip her over and try the other side" naturally meaning the 45 record and not Connie. In this broadcast, he mentions the new higher power 'CCO-FM is now broadcasting at, but later keeps saying 1,000 watts, rather than 100,000 watts and does not realize the error. The 10 AM grand opening ceremony is replayed and later the Paul Stagg interview with Hubert Humphrey is also replayed. This tape only has a portion of the Humphrey interview. A missing portion is also on this page with another group of recordings. Again, it seems the FM radio's frequency lock is not working or turned on as the FM static is on parts of this recording. Even with the static, you can hear the broadcast ok.
This is rare early WCCO-FM material. DJ Dave Teller and the newscaster on this tape, Bill Henderson, may have been here prior to the likes of Tom Ambrose, Tim Russell, and newsman Rick Olsen (Rick Olsen was my first instructor at Brown Institute of Broadcasting). Dave Teller has a laid back style that is easy to listen to and he surprises us near the end of the tape with his impersonation of Ed Sullivan. Teller plays a mix of music on this day.
When WCCO-FM was first on the air, it broadcasted minimal hours of programming. I am not sure it was full time yet in 1974. This tape was recorded in Bloomington in an apartment building I was living that had occasional electric interference. If I have the story wrong, please email me a correction at : Rick1031@hotmail.com
This interference wreaked havoc on my recording of AM stations and was strong enough to even affect my FM reception. There are a couple of places on this recording you will hear the interference briefly.
(The above Dave Teller aircheck was recoreded off the air by Rick Burnett)
WCCO-FM - Carl Lensgraf & Tim Russell - April 1982 - The Rude Awakening
This aircheck begins just before 8 AM in the morning. The guys are sitting with the winner of the WCCO-FM Secretary of the Day contest, Kay Orner. She works two jobs and promotes both of her firms in her on mic discussion with Carl and Tim. Bill Fink joins with the latest news of the day including a story on pre-war actions by the Brits for the Faulklin Islands. Bill turn the weather over to Dan Carlson (big staff at this station). Carl and Tim then turn the show over to Art Nuevo, the film critic, with Tim doing the voice. Art discusses TV's 2nd season shows and this then leads into the Water Bedroom Man commercial.
After a discussion with Kay Orner, who stays through the show, about how she has already got a couple of order for the firm she works for, Carl and Tim turn to mic over to Bill Fink again. Before going into the news, he try to talk about the shoes he is selling on the side, but is stopped and starts the newscast. At this point, the tuner goes slightly off frequency but comes back. You will then hear commercials for St. Anthony Main and Builderama. You will also hear a 1982 vintage WCCO-FM 102 commercial.
Finally the Rude Awakening breakfast promised to the Secretary of the Day winner arrives at the studio. Shortly after, Howard Hot Shot does his take on sports, with Tim Russell impersonating Howard Cosell. Radio is not quite like this anymore.
Acquired from Aircheck collector and cotributor Matt Seinberg of Big Apple Airchecks www.BigAppleAirchecks.com
WCCO-FM's Ken Mills. One of the original 'CCO-FM on-air team members.
Ken Mills - WCCO-FM '70's
Ken offered to share some scans of the WCCO-FM newsletters from 1973-74 (below). Ken was on the air in the evenings
For the past ten years Ken has been operating his own company -- the Ken Mills Agency (kenmillsagency.com). Ken specializes in national programming for the noncom and NPR market, primarily news, talk and Triple A music.
Thanks for sharing Ken!
WCCO-FM Listenere Newsletter for Christmas 1973. According to Ken Mills, this is the WCCO-FM's original on air crew. Scan provided by Ken Mills, former WCCO-FM evening personality.
WCCO-FM Listener News Letter for Feb March 1974. This one shows the cast members of the WCCO-FM Radio Theatre. Newsman Rick Olson appers to be reserved among his fellow cast members. Scan provided by Ken Mills, former WCCO-FM evening personality
WCCO_FM Listener Newsletter for for May 1974. This one show many of the station on-air and staff members. Unfortunately the newsletters are cropped on the edges. Scan provided by Ken Mills, former WCCO-FM evening personality.
WCCO-FM Listener Newsletter from December 1973. This page has photos of Tim Russell and PD Paul Staff at the mic, Dave Teller and Tom Ambrose. Scan provided by Ken Mills, former WCCO-FM evening personality
KMGK 108 FM Jason Williams January 16-1984 KSTP-FM Jim Brunette January 3, 1981 WCCO-FM Pat O'Neill Early 980
I received this in the mail from Phillip Wagner. Phil writes in an email (which explanins the short times on the clip):
"I recorded LPs onto tape in the early 80's so I could listen in the car. So that I didn't have dead space on the tapes, I connected to the FM radio and filled in the rest of the tapes with usually top 40 music. That is where I got the airchecks."
Check out the WCCO aircheck. At the beginning, you will here the famous "That's Easy to Remember" KDWB tag when mentioning 103 FM. The "63" part is edited out but it sound like the same voice. Go to the KDWB Page on this site for the "63" story as told by Chuck Blore. CLICK HERE
Also note the IBM commercial for its new PC computer "now under $13,500." Looks like computers have come a long way since the IBM 5120 was introduced in early 1980.
Thanks for sending this Phillip. Contributed by Phillip Wagner of Minneapolis (posted 11-22-07)
Known as "The Fox That Rock" Mesa Kincaid was one of the first local female Twin Cities DJ's. The aircheck of her on the left side of this page is from a compilation tape provided by Al Arneson. The entire compilation can be heard on the Arneson Collection Page on this web site.
Mike Kkronforst of Brown College sent the following email: _________________________________________ From: Mike Kronforst To: rickburnett Date: Thu Sept 2009 Subject: Mesa Kinkaid You've probably seen this on Red 'n Nater, bet Mesa Kincaid (Cheryl Hoeft) died this past Sunday, September 6th. I just listened to one of her airchecks on your site. She was living in Pine City, MN and is survived by her husband, Donald , a daughter, Courtney Gryniewski of Pine City and a son Dustin of Pine City. There will be a visitation with reviewal on Sunday, September 13th from 4-6 PM at Swanson Funeral Chapel in Pine City. Other arrangements are pending. Mesa was 53. Her daughter says it was a massive heart attack.
Mesa was a student of mine at Brown way back when. One of the originals and she'll be missed.
Mike Kronforst Brown College Academic Advisor / Instructor
The airchecks on this not for profit web site were recorded off the air. The recordings on this site provide historical examples of Twin Cities radio and are intended for purposes of archival preservation and for research. Additionally, the recordings can be used by vision impaired visitors to get an audio perspective of radio history. These recordings are not intended to by used by others for commercial purposes.
Some of the airchecks are off reel to reel tapes that were recorded off the air by the web site creator. In May 2006 the recordings started to be converted to MP3 and shared here. In addition to this web site creator's recorded aircheck collection, there are also many airchecks that were recorded and submitted by friends and acquaintances, or contributed by other collectors. Sources are cited, if known. The contributed recordings from friends and contributors of both airchecks and other material are greatly appreciated. Without their help, the site would have many less pages of radio history. The recordings of the contributors to this web site who recorded them off the air may show up on other sites. This site does not charge any fees to listen to the posted recordings. The purpose of this site is to provide radio history and intended for purposes of archival preservation and research.
Windows Media Player works well to play these MP3 files, and depending on your internet settings, will start streaming the file once the link is clicked, Some files are large and may take time to open. Should you have any aircheck of Twin Cities radio stations, let me know and I may be able to include them at this site. Contact me at Rick(at)HotMail.com --- NOTE Replace "(at)" with @ when typing email address