If you lived in Southern California during the 1980s, you no doubt remember ‘The Mighty 690’ as the place to tune for the hottest hits! This station was one of America’s last big Top 40 AM outlets, ruling the airwaves with the latest tunes, exciting contests, and strong air personalities.
Technically, ‘The Mighty 690’ was XETRA-AM 690 from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. As a Mexican station, it was licensed to run 50,000 watts both day and night. This high power output coupled with it’s low dial position and highly-conductive signal path across the salty waters of the Pacific Ocean allowed ‘The Mighty 690’ to cover not only San Diego but also Los Angeles with the signal strength of a local station! The station’s jingles identified as “The Mighty 690, Southern California” or “The Mighty 690, Los Angeles.” Yolanda Salas voiced the Mexican Legal ID which was announced once per hour in Spanish, as required. But the programming was in English, as were the leasees of the station. (Mexican law prohibits non-citizens from owning radio stations.)
As contemporary music listeners gravitated to FM, ‘The Mighty 690’ saw it’s audience gradually drop off. The format segued to Oldies as “69 XTRA Gold”, then “XTRA Sports.” Today, this station is known as XEWW-AM 690 with the moniker “W Radio.” Everyone assumed ‘The Mighty 690’ was buried and gone forever.
Enter Chris Torrick. Chris worked as an intern at ‘The Mighty 690.” He had a dream to bring back this legendary station via the Internet. Chris’ dream has become reality as TheMighty690.com. This is not just another soulless 80s music jukebox, the likes of which are littered all across the Internet. Rather, TheMighty690.com is an authentic recreation of XETRA as it was during it’s existence as a high-energy contemporary hit radio station in Southern California. The music, the imaging, the Spanish Legal ID, even some of the original ‘Mighty 690’ DJs are all part of the presentation. Give it a listen online when you have the chance and let Chris know what you think.
The geeks here at Drew’s Radio Site give TheMighty690.com a big thumbs-up for bringing back FUN RADIO the way it used to be…the way it should be!
“Clutter free, The Mighty 690…dot com!”