Scott-

What a great site!  It was a nostalic trip down memory lane.  I was an avid listener of ‘LS during the 60’s.  Loved Ron Riley; hated Clark Weber.  Of course, it had to be during the Beatles era. (I did meet Clark years later at a reading of “A Cup of Christmas Tea”.  What a sweet man.)  My friends and I would take the Archer bus and walk over to Michigan and Wacker to the Stone Container Building and see the DJ’s live during their radio time slots.

– Jeanne Godowski

Scott:

I came upon this site today, and couldn’t help but read the entire story of WLS. I grew up with it, being from Chicago, and found your history of the station fascinating! You did a real bang up job on it; lots of research! Sincerely,

– Larry Ravenswood
KFAI Fresh Air Radio

Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota

Scott,

I enjoyed the article you did on Art Roberts. Likewise, I met Art [a few] years ago and was just blown away by his still quick wit and intelligence and dedication to this medium. It was Art that got me into radio in the first place…my real inspiration. I look at his passing as a great loss, and the personality of great radio is being lost as these true pioneers pass away. I appreciate your effort to keep alive the memory of WLS in its heyday.

– Mike Elder
Former WLS Program Director

Great website Scott!

I just ran across your WLS website and it blew me away. I grew up listening to WLS in the 70’s and have fond memories of the music and DJ’s. I also remember that they used to play a specially edited music countdown every New Years Eve. It was really unique because it only played a few seconds of each song, but I remember it being very well done.

Once again excellent work on the website!

Best Regards,

– Mike Steiner

Mike, the WLS Musicradio Montage is remembered by many! It spanned 1955 – 1986. Listen to a fresh copy that I put together here. – Scott

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-UmPZNAiSw

Hi there,

I enjoyed the info on the Barn Dance. I used to listen to it on Saturday nights with my Dad when we could tune it in on the radio. My family also went to the Barn Dance when we visited my Aunts and Uncles. My Uncle Dolph Hewitt is pictured on your web page. Also My Uncle Jim Hutchinson played in the Band, I have quite a few photos of them and recordings of Uncle Dolph. We have a video recording of the Barn Dance too. Two of my Aunts are still alive in Florida. I have some old pictures of the whole group at the Barn Dance.

It was cool to find your site.

Thanks,

-Terri

You have a great site! I was born and raised in Chicago, but work moved me East in 1977. Your website is very nostalgic for me. Although I have lived in many places, and loved them all, I will always be a Chicagoan at heart. Thanks for the great website and keep up the great job!

– George Sereikas
Orlando, Florida

Received a fwd. today from my sister, Kathy Quinn of Glen Ellyn, IL, to whom you had forwarded a picture from around 1950 of our father, Chuck Ostler, who worked for WLS for 37 years, retiring in 1971. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated getting that photo. I’ve been viewing the website for the past hour or so, and thoroughly enjoying it.

Thanks for all the effort you must have put into its making. I am in possession of several copies of the old Prairie Farmer magazine, one of which features my dad on the cover. He loved his days at WLS, and all eight of us always loved his old WLS stories. He died shortly after retiring at the young age of 58. So, literally most of his life was spent working at the station. He traveled to Springfield for the old broadcasts from the stockyards and enjoyed that venture as well. Thanks so much for all your hard work. I recalled seeing previously some of the photos of the old Barn Dance…those were his favorite days, I believe and so many of the names were familiar ones. Appreciate the effort!

– Noreen (Ostler) Hyslopt

From left: Corny Peeples, Mrs. Wetzler, Larry Alexander and Rita Ascot. In control booth, Chuck Ostler, engineer and Bill Nelson, producer. (Richsamuels.com)

Scott-

Absolutely fabulous! I just sat for 3.5 hours reading the entire WLS History site. Accuracy, presentation, and respect for one of America’s greatest radio stations are all as good as it gets. This is the best such site I have seen!

I cannot believe that this spring marks forty one years since I bought my Silver Dollar Survey album and began listening to Dick Biondi and Art Roberts. I was about 700 miles from their transmitter, in Columbus, GA. The signal was superb, killing WCBS on 880 and surviving WWL in nearby New Orleans on 870. Not one of the other Chicago clears came close to WLS, in signal strength and fidelity. On several very cold winter days in 1962/63, we were able to listen to WLS around the clock! That fall, at 15, I started driving. For the next 20+ years, every vehicle I owned had a pushbutton set on 890. I’ll never forget that deep bass, rattling the speakers in my ’65 Impala fastback.

Since 1964, I have enjoyed a 35 year career in broadcasting, including engineering the design and construction of some 65 radio and 15 TV stations. I have managed, programmed, done air work, co-owned – everything but sales. I went to my first NAB in Chicago in 1967, and was able to “sneak” into the Stone Container Building for a brief view of the studios.

Now, after being injured in a fatal car wreck in 1998, I design and build tube-type audio processors that are used in recording studios in London, Japan, Australia, and (of course) the US.

WLS’ air sound was always an inspiration for me, and my biggest stations were always set up for (as one PD called it) The Hi-Fi Sound. I truly believe that explains how WLS (and many of my own AM’s) survived well into the ’80’s. I am a lifelong student of compression, EQ and processing, and am very appreciative of the unique sound of stations like WQAM, CKLW, KHJ, etc, but I always gravitated back to the “long-term listening” sound of WLS and the mighty General Electric 50kw.

After WLS and WABC switched to the Harris MW-50’s in the mid ’70’s, things just weren’t the same. I always thought, but have never been able to prove, that the GE 50’s delivered the best possible combination of modulation density, fidelity, soft clipping, etc for clear channel operation. Some transmitters just had that ability! I have worked with three of the GE’s, but only one in a dominant situation: 1020KHz on Grand Turk island. 40 years after that transmitter first saw service at CKNW, it became the loudest, best-sounding rig audible in the islands and over much of the SE USA.

Referring to one portion of your site, I personally believe that WLS’ signal stayed every bit as good as it ever was. What was lacking was what I mention above, plus there was also more and more natural and man-made noise on AM, and many more stations (all of whom were in a constant loudness and modulation battle.) I do remember when, on early Monday mornings in the late 60’s, WLS would switch down to their 10kw auxiliary. The signal was slightly less than half, which it should have been, but the modulation was nothing close to the GE. And the fidelity wasn’t there. I heard that this was an ITA (or early CCA) transmitter, but never knew for sure.

You probably are too swamped with mail to possibly answer this, but I have several questions in case you do get around to it. First, in 1965 when WLS was dominating both of our local rockers, WDAK and WCLS, I remember reading and hearing it mentioned on-air that their Chief Engineer had died. I would like any info on this gentleman. This occurred at the absolute peak of their signal penetration and quality…about August, 1965, since they were playing It Ain’t Me, Babe by The Turtles and my alltime favorite WLS turntable hit, Roseanna by The Capreez.

Also, I’d like to know if there are any technical websites (like the ones for WABC) showing the 50’s and 60’s transmitter and studio set-ups.

Again, thanks VERY much for a most-enjoyable labor of love! It shows!

– Charles McHan
Jacksonville Beach, FL

Hello!

Thank you for your wonderful site on the History of WLS Radio, and top 89 countdown. Maybe I just like the fact that someone else knows what a “Fantastic Plastic” card is. I cherished mine as a child.

– Kimmy Salvinski-Garcia

Scott-

I love your site, but I have to say that I especially was impressed with the years of jingles. Some were before my time, but there was a point in the montage when everything started sounding familiar and was like going through a 30+ year time warp. (I am 39 now in 2006) All of us kids used to always listen to WLS (Music radio) on the school bus. To and from school. No FM stereo available. (thank heavens) It had to be the only decent station on back then, or now.

– Ryan P. Waldron

Ryan – grab more info on the WLS Jingles here! – Scott