Q98FM was “Always Rockin” in the summer of 1988. Back then, it was the only Rock station in the market. Mark Nicholls was the program director. I spoke to him a few times on the phone while I was doing nights at Sioux City’s KG95.
The audio quality of this aircheck is fair at best. I grabbed this from Apple Valley, Minnesota, over 200 miles to the southeast. Due to their short tower height, Q98FM wasn’t as strong as some of the other stations I was able to receive from this distance. It’s a short clip, but it’s all I have.
Reception was made using a Pioneer SX-3900 receiver, Winegard 10 element FM yagi antenna, Alliance U-100 Tenna Rotor, and Belden ultra low loss RG59 coaxial cable. The recording was made to a Sears stereo cassette deck with a BASF 60 minute normal bias tape.
Very cool to find this! I knew Mark Nichols as my father was the general manager at that time. Listening to these radio checks really take you back to a great time. Thanks
The mid-to-late 1980s was a great time in Fargo radio. Basically, there were 3 “big” stations in the market: Q98, Y94 (WDAY-FM), and KFGO. Froggy 99.9 hadn’t really happened yet since Garth Brooks and the big country explosion was still a few years away.
Mark was great about responding to job applicants like me and keeping in touch. I almost went to work for him once. Somewhere, I have a box of old letters from program directors and general managers. I know some of his are in there. I can still see the logo on the envelope: Q98 Always Rockin.’