WLOL-AM 1330 Minneapolis MN 1972

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.

WLOL_AM_September_1972

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