WDGY 1130 Rate Card From 1970
Back from the time tunnel. WDGY was pulling down some good rates in 1970. Click on the images to enlarge. You may also need to magnify these a bit to read.
Contributed by Mike Cunningham, Lacrosse, WI, former Operations Manager of KTCR-FM in the mid 1970's. To see more of Mike's contributions, go to the Cunningham Contributions Page on this site.
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| 1970 WDGY Rate Card |
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| WDGY 1970 Rate Card Pt 2 |
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KUXL 1570 Soul Radio Music Survey From 1970
Some may not remember this station, but it was the only soul music station at the time. Although it was not an exclusively music format. The station made most of it revenue from playing taped religious programs. The survey is from July 1, 1970 and can be enlarged by clicking on the image.
Contributed by Mike Cunningham, Lacrosse WI, formerly of KUXL in the early 1970's, and former KTCR-FM operations manager in the mid 1970s. You can see more of Mike's contributions on the Cunningham Contributions Page on this site.
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| KUXL 1570 AM Golding Valley July 1970 Music Survey |
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KDWB Jingles From Around 1969
One of the KDWB DJ's dubbed me a copy of the jingles used around 1969. The quality on some is lacking due to deteriorated tape. Just pulled this one out of storage and feel lucky I got this much quality from it. After Posting these, I received an email from Deane Johnson. Deane hired Rob Sherwood away from WDGY. His email below is posted with his permission, including his email address. Deane shares the following with us:
From: Deane Johnson [mailto:deanej@cox.net]
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 9:50 AM
To: rick1031@hotmail.com
Subject: Visited your site Rick:
Stumbled into your site this morning. It was interesting to see and hear some of the historical materials you've assembled. If only we had saved more.
As I type this, I am listening to the KDWB jingle package from 1969. It was from TM, who, at the time was almost unheard of. The package was named Charisma. I flew to Dallas to record it with Jim Long. They were just getting started at the time. I credit the jingles with setting the stage for our sound in that era that eventually took WDGY, a tough battle.
The pictures of Adam North by a tree and by the pickup are ones I took with my Hasselblad.
I'm glad to see some of this stuff preserved on your site. It was a great era.
I have posted a few things from the Twin Cities on my archives site. There might be something new you haven't seen or heard. I used Adobe Audition to restore all of the audio to as close to the original sound as I could.
http://www.deanejohnson.net/audio/
Deane Johnson
Thanks for writing Deane. I am sure he has a lot of stories he could share with us. Maybe he will send more comments about this radio era in the future.
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KDWB Jingles 1969-70 |
WDGY Mid 1960's
Promotional Photos
Judy Dibble sent these photos from a promotional piece. Judy states:
"These were promotional pieces used by the sales department. These and other pieces were created to introduce the various components of WDGY to prospective clients."
Press the play button to start the slide show.
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20/20 News - CKLW Style
Although this station does not fit the Twin Cities profile of this site, I thought you my want to see the video on the creator of this format used locally by WDGY in the mid to late 60's. The WDGY version was not as hard hitting.
Click on the YouTube link to see an interesting story on this CKLW news format that was copied.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDCdbmwy9l8
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Rare WLOL-AM Jingles from the Early 1960's - Classics
You may not remember these old 'LOL jingles. I was in grade school when they were playing.
Contributed by Mike Cunningham of Lacrosse Wisconsin, former Operations Manager of KTCR-FM. See more of his contributions on Mike's page
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WLOL-AM Jingles From Early 1960 |
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Joe Pyne 1966 on KQRS Radio
Joe interviews a 23 year old Nazi and tears him a new one.
Contributed by Mike Cunningham of Lacrosse, former KTCR-FM Operations Manager. See his other contributions on the Cunningham page
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Joe Pyne On KQRS in 1966 |
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U of M's WMMR Station ID by Mark Durenberger - 60's | University of Minnesota's WMMR Station ID from the 1960's
Recordings of WMMR, the U of M's carrier current station fed to the dorms, are difficult to find. Mike Cunningham did on air work at WMMR while attending the U of M. This station ID is the voice of Mark Durenberger, who later went on to work at WCCO as an engineer.
Contributed by Mike Cunningham of Lacrosse Wisconsin, form Operations Manager of KTCR-FM.
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Memorabilia Slide Show
Various Promo Pieces
Various Stations
Contributed by Dick Sigurdson, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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| The Old Mutual Radio Network Studios/Office in Washington DC 1977
The Mutual Broadcasting system was heard on KTCR in the Twin Cities in 1977. These photos were taken by Mick Cunningham.
ON the first photo to the left, notice the prehistoric word processors (typewriters) in the news room at the desks. This is 1977 and the typewriters still look ancient.
Contributed by Mike Cunningham, Lacrosse Wisconsin, formerly KTCR-FM Operations Manager
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Sampler of Site Airchecks - Played during Rick Burnett's guest visit on WCCO's Al Malmberg show on September 21st, 2007
On September 21, very early Friday morning, Rick Burnett was an invited guest on Al Malmber's over night show on 50,000 watt WCCO Radio 830 in Minneapolis. A sample of some of the airchecks accessable on this site were played.
Click Here to be taken to Part One Click Here to be taken to Part Two
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| Chuck Ingle in the KTCR-FM (former KWFM-FM) control room. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| KWFM-FM A Bit of Historical Perspective from Chuck Ingle - Former Engineer/Announcer KWFM-FM & KTCR-FM
Chuck took some time to write down his perspectives on KWFM-FM, where he worked as an engineer and on-air announcer. Chuck also worked eventually at the Chief Engineer at KTCR-FM during its ownership by Tedesco. To the left is a letter of reference from Jim Hubbard, then of KWFM-FM.
Chuck writes the following:
"Hello Rick,
The amount of work and time spent, to create your website, boggles the mind. So I thought I'd add something of my own, to give you more to do.
I'm finding the references to KWFM very interesting, as that station was my first job, on-the-air, in April 1967. As memory serves, the station was owned by Bob Smith (not one-in-the-same with Buffalo Bob). Bob had one of those melodic radio deliveries, such that when he recorded a voice-only spot, you'd swear you were listening in color. He ran the station on a shoestring, and in the months leading up to the sale, he was his only salesman, while pulling a weekday morning shift. Jim Hubbard, who in addition to managing the office, also wrote copy, did some production, on-air, and control operator duties.
Bob also had additional revenue from a dwindling list of Storecasting clients. Telco dedicated loops were cheep, in those days, and I think that was how he delivered the audio, rather than licensing an SCA channel. The service delivered MOR Instrumentals, reproduced from a cabinet containing two alternating, 10-inch tape transports. The system relied on silence sensing, between cuts, in order to switch to the alternate deck. In this way, reels were rotated randomly, which helped to somewhat minimize song predictability. To obtain fresh tapes, Bob wanted the announcers to start and stop a recorder, to capture instrumentals that were played on-air, during their shift, while attempting to preserve the 2-second deadroll between cuts. This seemed to be a bit much for a new guy. The system for the most part, was considered an out-of-site, out-of-mind distraction from the more important, on-air production. Much ado for 1, maybe 2 remaining clients.
If there was one thing that Bob was a stickler on, it was the infamous Record Wiping Rag! At one time, this piece of cloth was a new record duster with anti-static properties. It soon became a used and reused rag that was supposed to be kept on the damp side, by visits to the drinking fountain. He mandated that all operators wipe every LP, prior to cuing. Heaven help you, if you were caught with your rag dry. Bob would make occasional passes, through the control room, to feel your rag, while you were on-mic. So, a few announcers would do the rag-dampening regimen, whether they used it, or not.
Ed Oldsgard was our Classical Music Director, the resident highbrow. A college student somewhere, Ed's view of the typical "Disc Jockey" was: a man of diminished integrity, doomed to a life of minimal achievement. And I was determined to reach that level, as fast as I could. Taking nothing away from Ed, he had the Classical Library meticulously cataloged. And when recording his tracks, made sure to pronounce every movement, composer, and conductor, with that slightly exaggerated Oldsgard flourish. Yes, classical announcers, after carefully compiling their programs, recorded their comments on reel, for later airing by one of us MOR or Jazz announcers, with an adjacent shift. It was either too inconvenient for them to be in the chair at air time, or Bob wasn't about to pay them what they wanted, perhaps both.
We had a bear for a Chief Engineer, whose name might have been Tom. Back then, the FCC required extensive logging, 30-minute intervals on transmitters and sub-carrier devices, and a Chief Engineer on staff. In the case of KWFM, part-time was sufficient. Tom took it upon himself to dictate certain operational techniques. He would all but whack your knuckles, if you operated your mic controls incorrectly. He wanted the mic "potted", and the mixer key, switched only while the pot was down. Many of the old consoles put out pops or clicks, if the mic was switched with the pot up. And for mic-off, the pot must be down with the key off. This made Tom confident that there would never be an unintentional open mic.
I also had the privilege of being the announcer/producer of the daily Central Livestock Association Radio Network. This was a broadcast-hop network, relayed from one market to another, around the state, by just the air-signal itself. You can imagine the reduced reliability and fidelity you might encounter, if you were at the last hop in the chain, given the number of badly tuned receivers, consoles and transmitters handling the program, by the time it reached the far end. Yet, this was the best it ever got. A few second before 12:30 each weekday; I would fade the program, as would the affiliates, who then joined the dead network, waiting for me to roll the opening theme (Our Director March, recorded by some local college pep band). I would do the live opening and closing credits, and insert the breaks. The live reports came in via a direct program loop, from a studio, in the offices of the CLA in South Saint Paul. From his microphone, following my scripted introduction, came the gravelly voice of "Central's own market reporter and broadcaster, Lyle Lamphere bringing you today's markets". Other reporters came later, but none matched his persona.
On weekends we produced a German show, hosted by Norbert Kosack. Norbert was the owner of Kosack Interiors, which I think was located on one of the more obscure blocks, south of Lake, on Nicollet. One of the novelties, he liked to feature, was German made Folding Bicycles. You could carry them in the trunk, instead of on a roof rack. From the studio, Norbert would walk back and forth to the control room, carrying his Bavarian LP's, a couple at a time, for me to play. He spoke mostly in German, with an occasional brief translation to English, for the "nicht verstehe", who he was also glad to have listening, which included myself.
And so it went, until the new owner/format of 1968.
I've attached an example of the KWFM letterhead, on which is a letter of reference, prepared by J.D. Hubbard.
Regards,
Chuck Ingle"
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| KWFM-FM Letter of Reference for Chuck Ingle. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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Pirate Radio at the U of M John Pratt's KIFI-FM (Arround 105.9 MHZ)
John started in pirate radio and at the U of M's carrier current station, WMMR. and then went on to a career in commercial radio, including stints at WDGY and KOMA. John sent the photos of the KIFI studio and an article that appeared in the University's Minnesota Daily newspaper. John also writes:
"I'd first moved my FM basement station from home to my room at Frontier Hall in the Fall of 1969. It was great fun, but not from an academic standpoint, so the setup stayed at home the following school year.
I joined WMMR in the Summer of 1971, and Chi Phi fraternity at the beginning of Fall Quarter. Over the winter, I moved my record collection and station to the frat, and it became KIFI, pronounced just like the name of the fraternity. The transmitter was a $3.50 Cordover model FMP-1 FM phono transmitter module, about three-quarters of an inch thick, and no bigger around than a quarter. It was installed up in the attic, connected to a section of walkie-talkie antenna mounted with clothespins (!) in a flower pot (!!) on a specially-constructed shelf. The flower pot arrangement later gave way to a more stable cigar box mounting. KIFI obviously spared nothing for its state-of-the-art engineering!
The frequency was determined by a combination of the length of the antenna and the precise placement of a penny underneath the bottom of the module. It was not a crystal controlled device (as if anything selling for $3.50 would have been!) so anyone walking within a few feet of the antenna would cause the frequency to change (one more reason it was located in the attic.) The frequency remained stable over the winter, but when the attic would warm up in the springtime sun, the frequency would change with the temperature, hence KIFI's '105.9 or thereabouts' slogan. One disadvantage of the attic antenna location was that nearby KEEY-FM was always audible underneath KIFI's audio.
Wires were strung out from a roof vent, leading down to my room for the audio and power. A DC power supply was used to keep the station on the air around the clock. While KIFI's signal was strongest from its location on 19th Avenue SE (across from Williams Arena) to Dinkytown, requests came from as far away as Alpha Phi sorority, near 10th and University. As much as my budget would allow, I did my best to replicate what was being played on WMMR. The folks at the Muiscland store on 7th Street in downtown Minneapolis would have a stack of special order blanks waiting for me on the counter upon seeing me walk through the door. It was surprisingly difficult to buy many of the 45s that WMMR played. While even the most obscure current singles could be obtained on the biggest labels like Columbia, Capitol and Decca/MCA, those on most other labels could not, and those special orders would be returned as 'not available.' I was able to obtain service from A & M through WMMR's Mike Wild, who was also A & M's campus rep for the area. We also received recorded programs from the US government.
A couple of my fraternity brothers took it upon themselves to build record shelving and the control board for KIFI. We used two turntables, two cassette decks and one of the microphones from my Ampex cassette recorder, using a Panasonic reel-to-reel deck as the mic preamp. My Radio Shack STA-120 receiver (which still works!) was used to simulcast KRSI-FM whenever KIFI wasn't originating its own programming.
While the majority of KIFI's in-house programming came from its radio-obsessed owner, several of my fraternity brothers and a few WMMR staffers took turns as well. I hadn't thought about its impact until one of my fraternity brothers told me that KIFI had given our fellow brothers a chance to be 'on the radio' that they never would have otherwise had. THAT is what pirate radio was really all about. None of us ever used our real names, so KIFI was blessed (?) with such stars (??) as Gary Grooveout, Jolly Roger, Jack Daniels, Cush, and so on.
In the Spring of 1973, I got a call from Gary Jacobson, a reporter for the Minnesota Daily student newspaper. He wanted to do a story on KIFI, so we set up a time for him to visit. At the time, we had a roomer at Chi Phi who also worked at the Daily, so I had assumed that he had told Gary about the station. During the course of Gary's visit, I asked him how he had heard about KIFI, and his answer left me speechless. He indicated that there was a group of blind students over on the West Bank who would take their radios and ride on the bus on weekends, trying to see how far away they could pick up KIFI's signal!
KIFI remained on the air until the end of the summer of 1974, when I moved out of the fraternity, and into an apartment near Ralph & Jerry's Market on SE 4th Street. The new location was not well-suited for broadcasting, and with classes, a job and having become WMMR's Music Director vying for my time, KIFI went off the air for good.
In the late '70s, I stopped in at the Chi Phi house for a visit. They were still receiving the recorded shows from Uncle Sam, and after telling those present about KIFI's history, one of the brothers said, 'we always wondered what that shelf in the attic was for.'
By 1978, I was working at WJON in St. Cloud. While chewing the fat with WWJO PD Dean Spratt one day, the subject turned to pirate radio. I mentioned KIFI and the bus-riding DXers on the bus. Dean said, "That was YOU?!" Dean had been one of those bus-riding KIFI listeners. Small World!"
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| John Pratt at the KIFI control board in 1969. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| Page One of Dalily News Article. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| Page Two of Daily News Article. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| Cordover FM Tranmitter Module - Front Cover of Package. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| Back of FM Transmitter Package. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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John Pratt Working at a Commercial Radio Station - WKY in Oklahoma City
John Started in priate radio and did go on to work in real radio. He work at WDGY 1130 during its country radio days and WKY was his third commercial radio job. John writes:
"During its top-40 heyday, KOMA was legendary in the western U.S., but Gaylord rival WKY/930 dominated in Oklahoma City proper. Whereas Storz was very tight with the bucks, Gaylord gave WKY the tools to win, and then some. I left KOMA soon after Storz sold the station, and moving across town to WKY was a real eye opener. Gaylord had owned WKY since 1929, and by 1984, also owned the Grand Ole Opry, Opryland, WSM-AM & FM, and the Oklahoma City newspapers. Because it had controlled such a huge chunk of the market's advertising revenue, the company had been forced by the FCC to divest of WKY-TV/Channel 4 in the '70s. Gaylord then built spacious new studios next door for WKY. Each jock had his own office in the building, there was a jock lounge with recliner, a huge, but rarely used recording studio with grand piano, cart dubbing facilities in the music director's office, and the largest radio news staff in town. WKY's 5,000-watt signal was fed into a Franklin antenna, yielding the equivalent of a roughly 13,000-watt signal that, when combined with the area's excellent ground conductivity, easily blanketed central Oklahoma day and night. WKY also had a huge mobile studio that ran off of its own generator, used primarily for broadcasting from the Oklahoma State Fair. The unit was fully-equipped, with six cart machines, reel-to-reel decks, mobile phone and the works. The mobile studio was housed in an enormous garage at the station.
The only thing that WKY lacked by 1984 was an audience. Barred from owning an FM signal in town because of the newspaper, WKY had soldiered on by switching to an AC format that by the early '80s sounded dead on the vine. In the summer of 1984, Gaylord had decided to switch WKY to country, and did so under Gregg Lindahl, former KOMA PD and then-current WSM AM-FM PD. I came on board to do afternoon drive. Someone came up with the idea of putting WKY's mobile unit (repainted and dubbed 'Cimarron Sam') to better use in order to build awareness for the station's new format. Why not do something completely different: a rolling remote? It would be quite expensive to operate the mobile studio while in motion, but Gaylord was definitely up to the task. A test run was done within a few miles of the station, and the Marti unit and everything else worked great. It was time to turn some heads.
I had the honor of hitting the road for the inaugural remote. We contacted the KTVY/Channel 4 news folks next door, and they sent crews out to follow us from both inside and outside. Jay Perkey, WKY's chief engineer, drove the unit, and off we went.
Man, what a trip! It wasn't an ideal setup because the studio had been designed for standup use, so I had to stand in order to see over the board. That was easier said than done while moving in stop and go traffic! A rope was tied in place to keep the chair from rolling from one end of the room to the other. Crossing railroad tracks was pretty interesting. The generator managed to keep the cart machines up to speed, which was a good thing because I WAS playing the music on the road, too.
As you might expect, the reactions from drivers were worth every penny. After all, when was the last time you've driven home while both listening to AND watching your radio station? The story was featured prominently on Channel 4's news that night. We did a second run on the road during my show before Cimarron Sam was relegated back to its more typical minimal use. I do have the Channel 4 story somewhere on video, but I don't have a WKY aircheck of either show. I never heard whether or not the rollin' remote was attempted again, as I left WKY after only seven months for greener pastures back home at WDGY. Although the new country format couldn't compete over the long haul against multiple FM country signals in town, WKY's legacy continues today. What were once the WKY studios are now home to Renda's Oklahoma City cluster, which includes top-rated heritage oldies KOMA-FM, the on-air home of several of the very same jocks who had propelled WKY to the top back in the late '50s and '60s.
Photos:
WKY mobile unit: From A WKY promotional "Introducing 'The Sales Maker'" postcard; year and jock unknown. I don't recall whether or not the moving signs were folded down for the rollin' remote... probably down. The Marti antenna mast was extended just high enough to safely make it under the overhead obstructions on the carefully-planned route. By 1984, the mobile unit had been repainted in a yellow-gold with the sleeker WKY logo seen in the other photos.
WKY Rollin' Remote (1) : "On The Road Again," anyone? The cart machines are off to the left, and reel-to-reels are on the right. Note the rope in the lower right corner to keep me from rollin', rollin', rollin'. The board with the overly-large profile was made by Dyma in Taos, New Mexico, as was the control room board back at the station. The control room board had an unusual configuration that allowed you to hear the monitors with the mic hot, without any feedback. If you could get used to that, you didn't need to wear headphones while on the air.
WKY Rollin' Remote (2) : Ask me if I was having fun!"
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| WKY mobile unit: From A WKY promotional "Introducing 'The Sales Maker'" postcard; year and jock unknown. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| WKY Rollin' Remote (1) : "On The Road Again," anyone? John Pratt doing a remote. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| WKY Rollin' Remote (2) : John Pratt says: "Ask me if I was having fun!" CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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WYOO 980 AM - Partial Day in the Life of a Radio Station - May 31st, 1973
Site contributor, Al Arneson, went to his storage locker again. Al has one of the larger collection of Twin Cities airchecks and has been a generous contributor to this site. Al has provided some great WYOO recordings from this trip to the storage locker They were recorded all from the same day; May 31st, 1973. This was a day before voice tracking. This was a day when the DJ was actually in the room plying records and talking to you live. This was a day when a listener felt they had a companion while they listened to the music.
Bob Chase
This day start with Bob Chase in the morning drive starting at 7:09 and going to about 8:12 AM. Bob has some banter on the story line of the song "Tell Laura I love her." He steps on the vocal on the into patter and discusses story after the song. You will also hear a promo for Art Snow. In this segment there are kid put on the air singing songs for the 1 minute talent spots. Bob does a live spot for "Try Me Dolls" This is hosiery, to the blow-up dolls. You will also hear the Weather jingles for the Twin Cities Suburbs, Anoka and Bloomington. There is also a discussion during the sports segment on breaking the 200 mile speed barrier and cars using wings.
Tall Robert Hall
Robert states this is the "New YOO, the Station that plays the good old songs." His show starts with the Tonight Show theme. You will hear the Radio 98 Listening Post. There is a little dead air before the Elvis song. Not a big deal today; more common whe voice tracking computer have a bad day. Robert has a discussion on the Airport Head Tax news. During his culture segment, Roberts reads the lyrics from the Isley Brothers song and then plays it. At 3PM WYOO-AM an WRAH-FM simulcast the sports and news with Bob Schuman doing sports and news and Ron Fraiser doing the inside story segment.
Sweet Michael O'Shea
Did not do a commentary on this aircheck. You do not need me to ramble on this one, just listen.
These airchecks were contribute by Al Arneson, former basement pirate FM operator with talent, who went on to work in commercial radio at KSTP-AM, and at WYOO's successor, U-100.
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WYOO 980 AM Bob Chase May 31st, 1973 |
WYOO 980 AM The Tall Robert Hall May 31st, 1973 |
WYOO 980 AM Sweet Michael O'Shea May 31st, 1973 |
KSTP-AM Machine Gun Kelly
This Mahine Gun Kelly aircheck was record by Al Arneson. Machine Gun Kelly is woring on the top 150 countdown on this Newsyears recording
Contribued by Al Arneson, Minneapolis. Formerley of KSTP-AM and U-100
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KSTP-AM Machine Gun Kelly Deceber 31, 1973 |
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| KUXL AM Soul Station Richard E. Nelson News and J. J. Barnes as the DJ - 1967 | KUXL Golden Valley MN Soul Radio Mid-1960's - Richard E. Nelson - News - J. J. Barnes, DJ
Richard Nelson does the news on this clip of KXUL. In addition, J. J. Barnes is the DJ doing the record show, Encore 66. This is the first aircheck of KXUL that I have come across. I think this is rare and I have not seen any others yet.
KFMC-AM 1550 Pirate Radio in Minneapolis
You will also hear Richard as a DJ on his pirate station in Sount Minneapolis. He broadcasted on 1550 AM and called KFMC "Minnesotas Last Radio Station."
Contributed by Dick Sigurdson, Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Posted 1-13-08)
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KFMC Pirate Station - Richard E. Nelson Mid 1960's |
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| KDWB Coverage Map 1988-89. The 6 towers are gone are long gone from Radio Drive. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| KDWB Coverage Map 1988-89
John Pratt sent this map. This is a reduced size scan of the map that hung in the KDWB transmitter room in Woodbury at the time I was the AM PD in 1988-89.
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The University of Minnesota's WMMR Radio
John Pratt, who got his start at WMMR among others (such as Garrison Keillor) who went on to career in broadcasting, sent the photos below. Click on the photos to enlarge them.
John writes the following descriptions of the photos he contributed:
"1) WMMR, December, 1971....... If you can get over the shock of the Hair From Hell, this is a surprise photo that Larry Davenport took while I was on the air from studio 2, which by then was the main on-air studio, with studio 4 used for production. Not too long after I left in 1977, studio 4 once again became the on-air studio. The control board was an old Altec PA board that I think had been previously used either at Cooke Hall or Memorial stadium. It was rewired for stereo, even though stereo programming could only be heard through the control room monitors. Two QRK turntables sat behind me to the right, controlled by the two pots on the far left, making slip-cueing records a literal stretch. The orange pot in the middle was for the mic. VU metering, left to right: air monitor, left and right channels. Mounted at an angle in the lower left corner is one of the two RCA cart machines. The angled configuration caused excessive wear on the decks' bearings, so when they were rebuilt, they were stacked flat instead. The World War II surplus headphones were both highly uncomfortable and very durable. They were still being used when I left.
2) WMMR MN Daily 'Bandstand' story....... Music Director Mike Wild was interviewed after he came up with the idea of a sock hop rather than the usual band dance. Typical for the Daily, his name was misspelled 'Wilde' throughout the entire article, so I edited the story to correct the spelling. The photo was taken from studio 3, looking into studio 2 and beyond into studio 1. The Telex reel-to-reel was pretty new and worked great. The two RCA cart machines are repostioned behind Mike. I don't have the exact date of the story, but it was from just before the first Bandstand in the Fall of 1972. It was so successful that another one was held on January 5, 1973. I have several photos of that second dance from an issue of WMMR's Off Mike II newsletter, which I'll scan at a later time.
3) WMMR Spring Qtr. sign-on, 3-28-73...... Larry Davenport prepares to cue me to play an actuality during his newscast. The biggest drawback to studio 2 was that the only access was through studio 1... not good if a newscast was airing during shift changes. On the plus side, the record library was right next to the turntables.
(Sometime around 1975, WMMR was given a couple of old cart machines, the ones where you had to manually lock the pinch roller into position after inserting the cart. At the same time, KDWB switched brands of carts, and donated the old Fidelipac ones to WMMR. This enabled us to both cart up currents and do full remote broadcasts with music, on-site from each of the dorms during Welcome Week.)
4. WMMR Pacestter, Feb. 23, 1974...... Mike Wild published the station's chart every other week. It was composed and printed at the University's Central Duplicating, and distributed to the dorms and record promoters.
5. WMMR Pacesetter backside, Feb. 24, 1974...... The only Pacestter with a photo on back featured the AM 74 morning show staff."
Click on the photos to enlarge them. You can see an article on WMMR on the Mike Cunningham Contribution Page and some comments on WMMR from Mark Durenberger. Clicl Here
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| WMMR, December, 1971 - John Pratt went on to work at WDGY & KOMA |
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| WMMR Spring Qtr. sign-on, 3-28-73...... Larry Davenport cues John Pratt. |
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| WMMR MN Daily 'Bandstand' story....... Music Director Mike Wild |
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| WMMR Pacestter, Feb. 23, 1974...... Mike Wild published the station's chart every other week. |
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| WMMR Pacesetter backside, Feb. 24, 1974 |
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| WMMR News Booth - Mike Cunningham is reading news into a classic RCA 44 microphone in 1970. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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More on the University of Minnesota's WMMR
A number of young U of M students pass through the WMMR studios and went on to career in commercial radio. Mike Cunningham share some more photos in this section. Mike writes:
"I left the U in 1970 so these pics are between fall of 1966 and spring of 1970 and was in Mankato (KYSM) in the Fall of 1970.
There is a picture of Altec control board newly installed at WMMR, ( We didn't need an orange knob!!!) Also came across a picture (dorky) of me with a classic RCA 44 microphone I used at WMMR doing some news looks like. Sorry, the pics are poor quality.
Great Stuff you've posted on the site, maybe we can shake some more out of some of the WMMR alumni if word of your website work gets spread around."
You can see more on WMMR on Mike Cunningham's Contributions Page on this site. Click Here.
Photos contributed by Mike Cunningham, formerly of KTCR-FM and WLCX-AM/WLXR-FM (La Crosse). WMMR ID contributed by John Pratt.
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John Pratt found this WMMR ID with Mike Cunning's voice and sent it in. |
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| Altec control board newly installed at WMMR in 1970. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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WWTC - Ray Eric (Currently at KQ) and The Magical Mystery Tour Show 1988
From Fiasco at 1280 Author Jeff Lonto's Collection Page
Back when Ray Eric was at WWTC 1280, (now at KQRS-FM), he did a Sunday evening show called the Magical Mystery Tour. Although Ray did not stay and the show did not last, Jeff Lonto kept some recordings of a few of the shows. They were recorded off the air and you will hear some minor AM interference on occasion, but still very "listenable."
Jeff Lonto joins Ray and Mike about 22 minutes into the August 21st, 1988 recording as Dr. Timothy Treeman. He got into the mood be taking some Excedrine PM, burning incense and turning the lights down low. On the Augest 28th, 1988 recording you will hear Ray ask Randy Steele also of WWTC (a/k/a Randy Randall, formerly of KTCR-FM) if he ever smoked a Houka. You will also hear the singer Donavan, do a promo for the Magical Mystery Tour show.
Take some Excedrine PM and turn the lights down, burn some incense and sit back and take the journey with Ray, Mike and Dr. Timothy Treeman.
Although the August 21st recording has been posted November 2007, the additional two airchecks have been posted 12-25-07.
Contributed by author Jeff Lonto, who wrote "Fiasco at 1280" and "It Happened on the Air" His Web site is www.studioz7.com
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WWTC - Ray Erick & Mike Velin - August 21st, 1988 |
WWTC Ray Eric Magical Mystery Tour Sunday Night September 28th, 1988 |
WWTC Ray Eric Magical Mystery Tour Show September 11, 1988 |
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| KTCR-FM in 1977
John Sandri sitting the the board.
WWTC-KSNE 1280 in 1987
John Sandri sitting the the board.
WLKX in 1985
Photos contributed by John Sandri, of Minneapolis, Formerly of KTCR, WWTC-KSNE, and WLKX.
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| KSNE John Sandri. Control room KSNE 1987 (now back to WWTC) after it's Weather Radio incarnation. Programmed from Satellite Music Network. Production studio with monitor from one of the first computers geared for a radio station. It would hold 60 min worth of material, mainly commercials and was synced with the automated system when it called for a commercial set. On the left multi-channel tape recorders so we could easily mix multi tracks through the computer as a final process. |
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| WLKX. This was the control room of WLKX-FM Forest Lake, Mn. I worked part time and fill in from 1984-1986. Adult Contemporary format with local news and high school sports. Now the station is automated "Spirit Radio" |
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WYOO - U-100 Gary Marshall August 8th 1976
Short Two + minute clip of Gary doing overnights at U-100. The recording ends just before he turns over the controls to Rob Sherwood and Michael J. Douglas (Donuts).
Acquired from Aircheck collector and contributor Matt Seinberg of Big Apple Airchecks www.BigAppleAirchecks.com
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WYOO U-100 Gary Marshall August 8th, 1976 |
KSTP-AM Tom Jones - Steve Shannon Early 1974 - Greg Borrell August 8th, 1976
This is the whole Tom Jones (Jim Channell) show. Tom (Jim) was the PD and responsible for playing better music than the consultant from afar wanted him to program. However, the music and the DJ's took the station to number 2 in 100 days.
The recording of Tom Jones stat with a brief intro from Chuck Knapp. After Jones is done, Steve Shannon takes over at 12 Noon on this Tuesday.
Greg Borrell did over nights in 1976.
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KSTP-AM Tom Jones Entire Show (Music Edited) followed by Steve Shannon Early 1974 |
KSTP-AM Greg Borrell August 8th 1976 |
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WDGY Promo Stuff - John Prat Scan (12-6-07)
John Pratt worked for two Storz stations as well as others during his radio career. John sent some promo items from his collection and provided the following comments:
KOMA Guide, Lindahl '81 - Pratt '83." Gregg Lindahl and I worked together at WMMR. He landed at WDGY in early 1977, when they were still rock, and became MD after the change to country under Dan Halyburton. Storz tapped him to take KOMA/Oklahoma City country on September 12, 1980, and he did so as the station's new PD. He hired me in April, 1981 from WJON, and shortly afterwards, I settled into the PM drive shift. Gregg left to program Gaylord's WSM AM-FM/Nashville in early 1983. Shortly after Storz sold KOMA in 1984, I crossed town to Gaylord's WKY/930 Oklahoma City, where I was research director and did PM drive until leaving for WDGY seven months later. As you can see from the layout, Gregg borrowed the Music Guide idea from WDGY for KOMA. Gregg is currently the head of Cox's Interactive division in Atlanta.
"WDGY, KOMA stickers, mid-'70s." Storz must have done a similar printing for each of its six stations; here are the Twin Cities and Oklahoma City versions.
"WDGY Airstaff, 1986." This set of photos graced the bottom of a poster-sized handout of the "Top 86 of '86" country hits. Charlie Bush did news on the morning show with Rick Stephenson. Rick was doing mornings in Peoria the last I'd heard. Russ Bohaty was, um, what was he, exactly? :) Sports, remotes, promotions... WeeGee's jack-of-all-trades. PM driver Barry had been at KDWB as Barry McKinna and at WTCN-TV before his stint at WDGY, and he has been doing weekends at KOOL 108 for years now. Bill Davis did evenings, and overnights were handled by Eric West, K102/WDGY's former production director. Bill Allard did afternoon news, and Jim du Bois kept the station out of legal trouble on a part-time basis. :) That Pratt character did middays.
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| KOMA Guide. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| WDGY and KOMA Bumber Stickers. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| WDGY Air Staff 1986. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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WDGY Promo Stuff - John Pratt Scan (12-7-07)
John provides the following descriptions:
"WDGY Guide, Atkinson, 1982 with '67 45." Andrea Jo Atkinson did evenings at WDGY (the schedule was shown on the back flap.) In 1967, under the name "Andrea Forrest," she recorded this 45 A-side with producer Warren Kendrick, who had earlier produced such notable regional hits as "Dirty Ol' Man" by The Electras / 'Twas Brillig, and "Action Woman" by The Litter. The single's flipside was billed as by "The Plastic Ice Cube," an alias for area rockers Marcia & The Lynchmen.
"WDGY Guides, Bohaty-Douglas-Olson, 1982." These Music Guides were sent to KOMA, otherwise, I wouldn't have them at all. These were all during the Storz era.
"WDGY Top 15, 11-9-87." This is one of the last music surveys published by WDGY, as far as I know.
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| WDGY Guide, Atkinson, 1982. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| WDGY Guides, Bohaty-Douglas-Olson, 1982. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| One of the last music surveys published by WDGY. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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KRSI Promo Material - John Pratt Scan (12-6-07)
John Pratt provies the following descriptions:
"KRSI Airstaff, early 1969." This photo is taken from the KRSI Request Album, a 1969 double-LP compilation of oldies. Anthony Gee is Tony Coloff. Tony left KRSI in 1970 for KQAD/Luverne, and he eventually established and operated his own station in Forest City, Iowa, where he has been for years. Jimmy Reed left KRSI for WDGY in September, 1969. Denny "All Night" Long did evenings at KRSI before joining WCCO in 1971. Rick Easton was the overnighter before heading to KFYR/Bismarck in 1970 for a daylight-hours shift. Dale Weber of course left in 1969 for WDGY, where he convinced Jimmy Reed to join him. And Tac had been at WEBC/Duluth and KDWB before joining KRSI, eventually leaving for KQRS and WLOL.
"KRSI 'Insider' ad, Feb 1972." Ad featured in Connie Hechter's "Insider" magazine, showing how KRSI had evolved from the oldies-but-goodies days of Request Radio. I corrected some of the mispellings.
"KRSI Request Radio sticker, 1968." Jim Larkin ("Bob Christie") gave me a handful of these bumper stickers, one of which had been slapped on the studio fire extinguisher at 4500 Excelsior Blvd."
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| KRSI Staff Photos with General Manager. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| KRSI Request Radio Promo. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| KRSI Bumper Sticker. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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KRSI-AM Production Room Out-Takes with Tom Wynn and Ralph Jon Fritz
The Famous J. A. Gerber Jeweler Spot Out-Takes
Tom hired Ralph Jon Fritz at KRSI and on this production room tape they try had to complete a J. A. Gerber spot prior to taking off for lunch. They realize how ridicules it sound to be portraying a teenager in need of J. A. Gerber's Teen Credit Program. After many attempts, they finally get it done. I understand this tape has been floating around Brown Institute (College) for a number o years. Tom Wynn sent me this tape some time ago and I finally now have a audio program that can insert tones to partially cover up some colorful words.
Contributed by Tom Wynn, of KFGO in Fargo ND., formerly of WDGY, KRSI, WLOL and others. (Posted 12-23-07)
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KRSI Production Room Tape - Tom Wynn and Ralph Jon Fritz - J A Gerber Jeweler Spot Out-Takes 1963 |
KFMX Bumper Sticker - John Pratt Scan
John Pratt states:
"KFMX sticker, circa 1974." I'd forgotten that I even had this one, which probably came from a visit in 1974."
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| KFMX Bumper Sticker From the '70's. Contributed by John Pratt 12-06-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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KDWB - John Pratt Scans (12-6-07)
John provides the following descriptions:
"KDWB 'Thanks..' sticker, mid-'70s." I believe that this bumper sticker was from about 1974 or 75.
"KDWB Reed flagpole fire, Star, 1966." I clipped this article from the July 11, 1966 Mpls. Star. Jimmy had been attempting to break the record for flagpole-sitting.
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| KDWB Bumper Sticker 1970's Contributed by John Pratt. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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| KDWB - Soty on Jimmy Reed's Flag Pole Fire. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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U-100 Promo Piece - John Pratt scan (12-6-07)
John provides the following description:
"U100 Boogie sticker." Marsh Walzer, U100's promotion director, was my college roommate, fellow Baskin-Robbins scooper and WMMR co-conspirator. He has sold successfully in radio for years, and is currently at Hubbard's WFMP/107.1."
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| U100 Boogie sticker. Contributed by John Pratt 12-6-07. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE |
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KSTP-AM Hines + Bush in the Morning - John Hines & Charlie Bush August 1975
This one starts with Hines and Bush discussing the weather. later Charlie Bush does his famous rhyming News leading off with the story about the "Pope Pickers' the day Pope Paul VI died. In a later newscast Charlie tell us about a guy who is selling plans to build coffins for the "do-it-yourself" people. Plans are sold for $2.75.
Contributed by Mike Cunningham of La Crosse, former KTCR-FM Operations Manager. (Posted 12-15-07)
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KSTP-AM Hines + Bush in the Morning August 1975 |
KTCR-FM Pat Devaney - Last Show - December 1974
Pat came to KTCR-FM a few week after I (Rick Burnett) was hired in July 1973. Be the end of 1974 Pat decided to take a job at a Cedar Rapids country Iowa station. This December 1974 tape of him on a Saturday morning was recorded by Mike Cunningham during Pat's last half hour on the air. There is also a short clip of Jim du Bois following Pat's goodbye speech. Jim says goodbye to Pat.
The tape has the music edited out with the commercials left in. There are two classic Schaak Electronics commercials with an unusual character named Uncle Allie talking to his nephew Timmy. Pat also does a live Walgreens commercial and plays the Walgreens tag jingle "Where in the world but Walgreens"
Contributed by Mike Cunningham of La Crosse, former KTCR-FM Operations Manager. (Posted 12-15-07)
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KTCR-FM Pat Devaney's Last Show - December 1974 Followed By Jim du Bois |
WCCO-AM Bill Diehl & The World of Jack Benny - January 2, 1975
Bill plays old Jack Benny radio show on this January 1975 Sunday. Bill previously worked at WDGY in the early to mid-1960's. Bill also reviewed movies for the St. Paul Dispatch & Pioneer Press newspaper. I thought I heard that Bill died in the late 1990's. Not true. Tom at RadioTapes.com tells me he just received a holiday card from Bill and his wife , who are enjoying a lot of traveling in retirement.
The Benny show portions are edited out. However a news clip of Benny's reaction to Fred Allen's death on 3-17-56 is left in this recording.
Recorded off the air and contributed by Mike Cunningham of La Crosse, former KTCR-FM Operations Manager. (posted 12-15-07)
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WCCO Bill Diehl and The World of Jack Benny 1-2-75 |
All Arneson Cleans Out His Storage Locker
The Twin City Radio composites are posted. Collector Al Arneson has swept out his storage locker and sent me a number of his 1979 (1973, 74 & 77 too) composite tapes he recorded off the air. You can spend a day in the life of a Twin Cities station at the Al Arneson Collection Page on this site CLICK HERE. Hear KQRS and life before Tom Bernard. Al Recorded all the DJ's in all time slots on many of these recordings.
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