49 years ago today, the greatest radio station in Twin Cities history was born. Now of course, that’s my personal opinion and many will disagree. But in my mind, U100 aka “The Supah Yeww” will always be the ultimate radio station to ever grace the Minneapolis/St. Paul airwaves. U100 was actually two stations simulcasting as… Read More »
Leave it to Allan Sniffen to come up with another great Rewound Radio special for Labor Day weekend! As you may recall, Rewound Radio brought us a full July 4th weekend of Dan Ingram airchecks. Not to mention the WABC Memorial Day weekend special! For Labor Day, Allan is presenting the glory days of WOR… Read More »
I wanted to give a shoutout to my friend Jeanne Andersen and her most excellent Twin Cities Music Highlights website. Jeanne covers the history of live music acts and venues in Minneapolis/St. Paul up to 1974. Special emphasis is given to her hometown of St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Of particular interest to Drew’s Radio Site… Read More »
What are you listening to this 4th of July Weekend? If you’re surfing the streams (the modern day equivalent of “scanning the dial”), don’t forget about the Dan Ingram Electric Radio Theater on Allen Sniffen’s Rewound Radio. Dan is probably the greatest DJ that I never got to hear live. Because I grew up in… Read More »
Back in the day, if you had a cabin in central or northern Minnesota, KCMT and KNMT were what you watched. Before the advent of satellite TV, you could receive just one channel. Actually, if you happened to be located between the two transmitters, you could receive two channels, but both aired identical programming. Channel… Read More »
1. If you know who did his show “stone blind and out of my mind”, you may have worked in Twin Cities radio. 2. If you knew “The Catman” before he became one of the premier morning and voice talents in the nation, you may have worked in Twin Cities radio. 3. If you were… Read More »
Looking for something to listen to this holiday weekend? Check out Rewound Radio’s “WABC Rewound 2019”, now through Memorial Day. Enjoy original Musicradio 77 WABC Shows with everything that was included when they aired the first time: the DJ’s, the commercials, the jingles, AND the music! Allan Sniffen and his friends did a GREAT job… Read More »
Happy New Year’s, radio friends! Every New Year’s Eve, WLS in Chicago would count down the Top 89 songs of the year. At midnight, #1 would be played. Then, they would launch into a montage of the biggest hits from previous years. Each year, song snippets from the current year would be added. Eventually, it… Read More »
I was talking to a long time radio buddy yesterday. As it often does, the conversation turned to owners, program directors, and general managers whom we had worked for back in the day. There was a small station in our area who had a notorious GM. This guy really loved the bottle. His drinking escapades… Read More »
If you haven’t yet seen this, Scott Childers gives us an excellent timeline of Chicago’s WMAQ. Scott starts at the beginning: 1922, when it first signed on as WGU. The big 670’s days as a legendary country outlet and flagship station of the Chicago White Sox are covered. “WMAQ’s gonna make me rich!” The short-lived… Read More »
Time again for Drew to put on his “Old Radio Guy” hat and wax nostalgically about something we all knew and loved back in the day. The “Opportunities” section of Radio & Records magazine was where all the job openings were posted. As my friend Rob Walker said, “it was always the first page you… Read More »
Two days ago, I celebrated my 50th birthday. It’s true, kids: your author is as old as the Ford Mustang! By the way, I’ve been thinking it would be great to commemorate this occasion by purchasing a new 2014 Mustang GT. If you’d like to contribute to the fund for my indulgence, please let me… Read More »
Usually, when a radio station “goes dark”, all the equipment is removed from the location. The building is either sold to a new business. If it’s in extremely bad condition, the site is bulldozed to make way for new construction. Sometimes, however, the facility is simply abandoned. Years later, it still exists as it was… Read More »
Did you happen to catch Radio Shack’s commercial during the Big Game this past weekend? It was a great flashback to Radio Shack stores of the 1980s. The spot began with a Radio Shack employee talking on the phone. When the call was finished, he tells his co-worker “The 80s called. They want their store… Read More »
I’ve always been a big fan of Bismarck, North Dakota’s KFYR. Since my maternal grandparents lived near Devils Lake, I became familiar with this station at an early age. With the largest daytime coverage in the United States, KFYR’s massive signal footprint covered parts of 6 states and 2 Canadian provinces. The station boasted of… Read More »
Another piece of radio history came crashing down today (literally.) The legendary KHJ towers in Los Angeles were demolished on February 27, 2013. Although only one tower is pictured here, there were actually two. The second tower was used to pull in the signal during nighttime directional operation. Tower #2 was taken down a short… Read More »
De La Hunt Broadcasting has just updated their website. There are some GREAT additions on here including a photo gallery of KPRM AM-1240 in Park Rapids, Minnesota throughout the years. Also, Ed and Carol De La Hunt’s 2006 induction to the Pavek Museum Hall of Fame. Featured are an audio montage of the early days… Read More »
As I write this, I am listening to the Beaker Street radio program, hosted by Clyde Clifford. Younger readers are probably wondering “Who?” Those of us in our 40s and beyond are asking “Didn’t that show go off the air YEARS ago?” But the true Radio Geeks among us know that Beaker Street has been… Read More »