WLOL-AM was a talk station before Talk Radio was cool. It was what my paternal grandparents listened to most of the time. Hosts included Bob Allard, Mary Kyle, and Paul Helm. The night show was known as “Nightline.” The midday show was called “Wifeline” which would be politically-incorrect today.
In 1972, WLOL shocked the market by dropping their long running talk format in favor of…well, I’m not really sure what you’d call it. It was too mellow to be Top 40, but they did use Top 40 jingles promising “Number One Music.” They also played most of the current hits as long as they didn’t “rock” too hard. Perhaps they were Adult Contemporary, before A/C was cool (?)
This short aircheck was recorded just a few months after the big switch. I was 8 years old at the time, dialing around and listening to everything I could find. The tape was made using a Spartan/Atlantic “shoebox” cassette recorder with built in AM radio. Source tape was an Audio Magnetics “bag” cassette which has held up amazingly well for 47 years.
Paul Helm was a conservative talk show host and probably the first conservative I heard in my young lifetime. I used to listen to him when I was in high school. It didn’t rub off, but it was interesting.
Hi Nancy,
Funny story: after Paul Helm left WLOL, he got a show on KTCR-FM. It didn’t fit their Country format at all, but FM was struggling in those days and I guess they were looking for something different to attract audience (and hopefully sponsors!) My grandma called 8-year-old me and asked “What is an FM radio and where can I get one?” A few days later, Grandma picked me up and we went to Holiday Village in Bloomington. She walked out with an AM/FM portable that ran on AC or batteries and a very nice General Electric AM/FM table radio for the living room!