Scott,
What a flood of memories came back as I paged through your history of WLS.
I remember listening to WLS as a kid washing my dad’s car growing up in Kokomo, IN and then catching the Big ’89 after sundown while going to college in Arkansas. Then, staying an avid listener all through my career years in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and still today – as I’m about to retire.
WLS has been a great companion. It was a pleasure growing old together.
– Chuck Barrington
When I returned from Vietnam, I was sent to Chanute AFB, south of Chicago. I attended a Tech School and my wife and I would often listen to the soothing sounds of WLS, late at night.
I live in Alaska now and in the evening I search the web hoping to find radio stations in areas I once lived that have a live stream I can listen to. Been a long time, Chicago.
– Steve Knutson
Listening to the sound clips here of the station back in the late 60s, 70s, and early 80s sure brings back great memories of listening to it as a kid growing up.
I will always remember Uncle Lar, Little Tommy, Fred, and all the great DJs of the past. Thank you for great memories.
– Dennis Eveland
My earliest memories of WLS are from Christmas Eve 1973 or 1974. As a three or four-year old, I distinctly remember listening to a wonderful program that WLS would run from about 3:00 p.m. Xmas Eve afternoon all the way through early Christmas Day.
The typical Top 40 format was suspended and replaced with a variety of classic and contemporary Christmas music, interspersed with vignettes about various Christmas topics (e.g., the origins of the song Silent Night, mistletoe, etc.). It was truly a magical experience listening to that program in the car as the family would drive to Midnight Mass and various family get-togethers.
-Jim Powers
Scott,
I really appreciate your efforts at recapturing the memories of WLS. It really is a small world through the medium of radio. Growing up in the small town of Phil Campbell, Ala., with a population of about 1,ooo in those days, I used to be my homework, as a high school student every night while listening to WLS every evening. I started the evening with Dex Card’s “Silver Dollar Survey’, followed up by Ron Riley (“shooo-by-doo-bop–it’s been nice”), and then rounded it out with Art Roberts. He came on at 9 PM my time. After that, my folks would usually “shoo” me off to bed. After a day at school, those programs were always refreshing. Nothing like growing up in the good ole fifties and sixties!
-Mickey Davis
Scott,
I grew up in a small town at the top of Lake Superior called Nipigon, On., Ca. In 1968 I discovered this power house of a radio station called WLS.
In the winter we could listen to WLS from about 3pm till about 9 am the next morning. The summer hours were a little shorter. In 1975 we moved to the city of Thunder Bay, On.,Ca. 60 miles down the lake shore and still always listen to “The Big 89”.
Now through the magic of the internet I get to relive some fantastic memories of growing up with WLS. Thanks for this web site, and a special thanks to a good friend Tom Konard from the Aircheck Factory who was able to privide me with alot of old WLS air checks.
– Ken Kelly
Hello Scott,
Love your site on the history of WLS, so informative and really very interesting, love the photographs and memorabilia.
In 1984 I commissioned and operated a radio station in Galway in the west of Ireland with a project working name of the West Local Station. The station was the first to introduce an FM stereo music based service in the west with a high powered FM transmitter, and the first 24 hour stereo station.
Just before official launch date of the station and while we were arranging to take on Casey Kasem’s AT40 from Watermark, my contact suggested that our name was a bit of a mouthful for Casey, why not abbreviate the name to WLS and go forward that way, but make sure ABC was cool with that. I was given a contact number and the ABC person I dealt with were happy for us to use the name, not only that, they sent various ID jingles to us later that month which we used.
When American Top Forty launched on our station, Casey Kasem only had to announce the new Irish member of the AT 40 family as ‘WLS Music Radio Galway Ireland’, a great day for us.
We created a logo and image for the station, and after test transmissions had proved effective we switched into our new music radio programming in February 1985. From the beginning, WLS Music Radio in Galway was the market leader and dominant throughout its region, even the national outlet, RTE, was way behind in surveys. Our success was driven as much by our image as our air sound, our FM signal being heavily processed to give us a ‘solid’ impact when a listener tuned past our spot at 102.7 FM, and on our 846 am outlet we used an Orban Optimod to firm the output.
As WLS in Chicago went talk in 1989, so too did WLS in Galway change, becoming, in 1988, Coast 103 after a change of ownership which proved to be fatal and the whole station ceased in 1989.
If you would like some images and items of this funky little ‘homage’ station to the great WLS Chicago I would be more than happy to send you these.
Once again, the site is great Scott and I’ll get Hans Knot to mention it in Radio Report from The Netherlands. Please find a photo of the WLS HQ in Galway plus a studio shot.
Peace and Long Life,
-Don Stevens
Scott:
Your passion and interest in the history of WLS is appreciated — and shared!
And your website is clearly an example of art as living history. You are indeed a member of the ‘extended family’!!!
THANKS…both as a fan and as a former coach!
-Kipper McGee
Former WLS Program Director
Hi Scott,
I lived in the Fox Valley burbs my whole life. I recently moved to Tyler, Texas and occasionally look at the area newspaper web sites to see what’s happening around my old home.
I used to listen to WLS-89 while growing up, too. I loved the same DJ’s that you mentioned and was even interested in becoming a DJ. But, it never happened.
I even met Jeff Davis at Oktoberfest in Aurora when I was about 11 years old (my friend and I won 2nd place in a dance contest that WLS was sponsoring).
I took a Communications course at WCC in Sugar Grove, but never made anything out of it (except a short internship at WFXW in Geneva).
Take care and happy holidays!
-Shelly Cruz
Scott,
I just found this site and have enjoyed it. I grew up on WLS and WOKY in the late 50’s.
I happened to work with Gary Gears in Vietnam radio. I would like to know if
you have any recording of a parody song”Me and my doggie named Leroy”. I’m sure I only heard it on WLS so assume it was a gag song. It goes on to say, ‘we can beat your dog, any ole time, me and my doggie named Leroy, were just 2 of a kind.” I did see the picture of Gary, probably after 1969.
Thanks much
-David Gale
Always been a broadcast engineer..