For his Masters Thesis on the history of WDGY, Jerry Verne Haines interviewed WDGY announcer Leonard D. Bart on June 15, 1970. KUXL hosted the Impressions at the Marigold Ballroom on January 22, 1967. I guess. One was a big man about 64 tall, the other much shorter and wearing a white Stetson hat, white boots and a red and white country-western outfit that was so loaded with rhinestones that he literally shimmered when he walked. WDGY-AM (1130): 1/6/1958 Bill Diehl Show - 9 MB (provided by Helen Diehl and Tom Oszman of TCMediaNow) Includes commercials for Hi-Spot Lemon Soda from Canada Dry, Dodge Dealers and Red Devil Soot Remover. At every Provident Drug Store (not the real name) was a giant stack of tiny boxes beneath a huge sign saying, Free Samples of Formula 63. [1] Contents The new owner of KUXL, Universal Broadcasting, had its headquarters in Shreveport, Louisiana. What Storz did was apply the Top 40 concept to rock n roll. This is borne out by the number of Grand Ole Opry touring shows that came through in those days. On other pages of this site I also have some airchecks (in addition to tape from my personal collection)I obtained directly from others. Today, the station is KTLK, News/Talk 1130, and uses a transmitter site in Credit River Township. Fairchild subsequently dismissed the entire staff and overhauled both stations. Packhorse/Pecos Paul Denault -There was also a Packhorse Paul and/or a Pecos Paul same guy? He was program director from 1968-1971. An interesting headline in the March 11, 1973, Minneapolis Tribune was Automated Radio: Nobody is there by Irv Letofsky. Alonzo himself was to do the afternoon drive. Published in the Star Tribune on 3/30/2008. Finally, in the late 50s Sam Cooke broke the color barrier in the Midwest with You Send Me and black artists began to appear regularly on Top 40 charts. in Golden Valley was approved. Super U100, the Twin Cities powerhouse was the original catch phrase, used on-air and in promotion and advertising beginning on August 26, 1974. Radio and Records magazine, March 18, 1977, courtesy Todd Mitchell, Only reference to Y-11 that came up in a search of the Strib. Frequency. (Minneapolis Star, April 30, 1975), During the show, black broadcast community news, and an educational series called Red, White and Blue in Black. The program also kept in touch with other black media programs like the black TV show, Harambee. He started the black show because whatever black programming there was was scattered a half hour on one station and 15 minutes on another. In a blurb in the Minneapolis Star (September 1, 1977), station manager Dale Webber was quoted as saying the reason for the change was getting out of the ridiculous Top 40 market. There were three other country stations on AM in the market at the time. Rick B. Although we think of WDGY as the Twin Cities first rock n roll station, it was not at all clear at the time. He broadcast over the radio that there was a fire at KDWB, no joke, and that someone should call the fire department. "WDGY Means the Most Music and the Most Money." There is a promo of Jim Dandy announcing he was returning to WDGY (to fill the shift left by Rob Sherwood when he went to KDWB). Heres a group shot of the Country WDGY airstaff from late 1978 or early 1979, taken at a Conway Twitty concert at the Minneapolis Auditorium. By the 1960s, the station didn't use the name itself, but the name stuck among people in the radio industry for many years to come. In November 1957 Jerry Cunning did Night Watch, Twin Cities first all-night record party Top 40 and then some from 11 pm to 6 am. The material was from the then-unpublished autobiography that appeared as Okay, Okay, I Wrote the Book in 2012. This shot was taken around 1969 one weekend when Gene allowed some of my fellow pirate radio friends and me to visit him on the air. The ad below boasts of their KUXL award for excellence in musical instruction. J. Warren Burke was brought in as general manager to revamp the station. Ft. 7013 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90042. 1 Pick Revealed: Report Feb 27, 2023. Nicked named Wildman, he has an internet polka show. WDGY 40 STAR SURVEY Week *Ending* May 7, 1966 1. (Minneapolis Star, March 17, 1978). An October 1949 ad in the Trib called it The Northwest Empire Station and morning shows featured Irene and Lou, hillbilly favorites; Sschunemans Red Rooster Hour; and Johnny Aarthun, popular singer of old-country songs. Jack Nugent said they went from 13th in the market to 2nd in 105 days. The most interesting thing about working there at the time was feeling the surge of relevance the station had regained on since taking on the Country format. At that time the station was also playing show tunes, Lawrence Welk, and shows like Dragnet, Bob Hope, The Great Gildersleeve, and biographies. I did it several times before Scott discovered it was actually me, and that's what started me doing character bits for his show. Oh so many levels. It was Storzs fourth station. Click here for the story of a strange radio show that was sponsored by Daytons and aired on KDWB for four months in 1968. The Future is Now (bbzztt) The Future is Y-11, At 3 pm, September 2, 1977, the station changed its format again, this time to country. The quality is not great on this recording, but you can still hear everything. Jimmy and his agent were out visiting stations that played country-western music and promoting his latest record. As it stood, it was then peppered with public service announcements rather than the preferred commercials. Although authorized for only 500 watts from midnight to 4am, it had been broadcasting at full 5,000 watt strength since Crowell-Collier Broadcasting bought the station in late 1959. WCOW was renamed WISK in May 1956, and affiliated with the Mutual network, late of WDGY. Early disc jockeys were July 1, 1965 to November 14, 1966: Tom Kaye and Bob Lulline (1965 to 1966), Denny Long (1966 to 1967), Jay Daniels, Phil LaManne (1966 to 1968), Dick Daniels, Ed Lowell, Harvey Moss (1968 to 1969), and Doug White, Tony Young, Dee Carr, and Tom ONeal (1969 to 1970). WDGY (740 AM, " The True Oldies Channel ") is a daytime-only oldies radio station serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. Hes still sick of The Wayward Wind., As for where the lists came from, Ramsburg explains, Juke box operators depended on Cash Box, which was a few weeks faster with sales figures than Billboard. Without their help, the site would have many less pages of radio history. Every sixth song was current. The switch to talk was gradual over two years. Photo dated February 23, 1950 courtesy Minnesota Historical Society. In 1974 the Wolfman was into many projects, including a weekly syndicated show that was broadcast here on KDWB. The station had a country format at the time and was owned by Benita Soho of Los Angeles, doing business as Newport Broadcasting. It provided music and information for and about black people in this city and around the world. Black, age 28, was a graduate of Brown Institute, and had been working at WCCO. The music played was from Kammans own encyclopedic library of records, domestic and foreign. WLOL first went on the air on June 6, 1940. The best of what youre about to give up on WWTC is what we play all the time on KEEY. WWTC Stationery from 1979 (scoped!). Unlike in 2017, C-QUAM AM stereo did not return. In 1980 KDAN was airing the syndicated Wolfman Jack Show. Two days before, Will Jones reported: Solomon Burke, who has taken to wearing kingly robes and calling himself King Solomon, is booked for a Friday night bash at the Pick-Nicollet Hotel, promoted by a young married folks group called The Weekenders. (Storz died in 1964 at age 39.) K You Excel. In 1954 the call sign for 1400 AM briefly changed to WMNS, reflecting a change to a full service format of music, news and sports. I continued on Highway 12 to Radio Drive. Below is a listing of stations available in the metro area. All promos, commercials and music have been left in. Since it was the only bid submitted, they were handed a building worth $35,000, complete with air conditioning, transmitting equipment, control board, and paneled studios and offices. For $7,000 they moved the entire concrete block structure 25 miles across town. On May 27, 1965, Will Jones noted that with Daylight Savings Time and sundown getting later Billy G would be able to wail with the records from Cassius Bar until 9 pm. MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA Format: T40. . Billboards? It was an overnight smash. Bob Allards call-in show nearly caused a riot on July 14, 1978, when he hosted Nazi Steven Martinson. Mon 13.02 Tue 14.02 Wed 15.02 Thu 16.02 Fri 17.02 Sat 18.02 Sun 19.02 Show by radio station time ( now in Minneapolis 16:44) Unfortunately, the radio station did not provide a playlist for this day. Relieve Ennui today! Inside the box was a piece of paper on which there was a beautiful color picture of the Twin-Cities Radio Dial with a large arrow pointing to the left end of it and an invitation toCome on down. The cops busted four men and three women for selling liquor without a license (and on a Sunday!). If it doesnt do, Ill be back in the rat race.. As you commented in Scott's Guest bookthey don't seem to do radio like that anymore. An historical archive of surveys and nostalgia from radio station WDGY 1130 AM, Minneapolis / St. Paul. Bobby Freeman, who did Lets Do the Swim, came to the Marigold on Sunday, September 27, 1964. WDGY - The Original Rock and Roll Station. The Centennial Rhythm & Blues Show was the brainchild of Lamar Adams, who shared his collection of more than 4,000 recordings starting in May 1976. WDGY Jocks teamed up with professionals Ed Kalafat, Bobby Cox, Jim Springer, and Corky Devlin, possibly former Minneapolis Lakers. U100 Studio. See Top 30 and Top 40 countdowns from 1966 on Robb Henrys blog. The studio and transmitter were located at 158 N. White Bear Ave., St. Paul. Roof rebuilt. And, those cops took $350 in cash. That beam was so strong that the GROUNDWAVE signal made it at night in addition to the skywave signal. Jeff Lonto: KDAN was depicted as an FM underground rock station, the complete opposite of what it actually was. Below is a photo of at least part of the family and shows how close the staffs of the two competitors were. Record album issued by WWTC in 1981 image courtesy Jeff Lonto. It is imperative that this unit be installed as soon as possible when received.. There was the terrible smell of burnt paper and charred wood. Some of the airchecks are off reel to reel tapesthat were recorded off the air by the web site creator. But Glover was probably the most popular and well-known. In an article in the February 1972 Insider, Tom Murtha noted that Glover was the prime mover in bringing more diversified programming to local radio. 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