WDGY Jocks teamed up with professionals Ed Kalafat, Bobby Cox, Jim Springer, and Corky Devlin, possibly former Minneapolis Lakers. We hired an advertising agency which represented a large local chain of drug stores where free samples of Formula 63 where to be made available. Once again, the small black population in Minneapolis was cited as a reason not to sponsor the program, although white people were clearly listening as well. Relieve Ennui today! Inside the box was a piece of paper on which there was a beautiful color picture of the Twin-Cities Radio Dial with a large arrow pointing to the left end of it and an invitation toCome on down. After 64 years of dormancy, an amateur radio group in the area acquired the W9XAT call sign in 2002 with the intention of using it for mechanical and narrow-bandwidth TV experiments. Heres the story from Jim Stokes: KRSI originated Red Owl Stores storecast from their transmitter on what is called subcarrier. You can look it up. Almost everybody in the country who had anything at all ailing them, bought into the pitch. In 1967, winning a Honda might have meant just a motorbike. In May 2006 the recordings started to beconverted to MP3 andsharedhere. ' (April 13, 1965). And, as we all know, anything that is natures own is good for what ails you. In a blurb in the Minneapolis Star (September 1, 1977), station manager Dale Webber was quoted as saying the reason for the change was getting out of the ridiculous Top 40 market. There were three other country stations on AM in the market at the time. KDWB went on the air on September 16, 1959, as a top 40 station. Don was probably one of the first newscasters to experience terrorism while at KDWB, and shares this story with us. Shows like Record Reville, Melody Mart, Platter Previews, The TNT Club, and mid-1955s Hot Corner dont give us much to go on as to their format. Don and I had both been part of the KTSA deejay team in San Antonio a couple of years earlier. Donald K. Martin and Rick Burnett, July 7th, 2008, Mike Cunningham (Left) andJim du Bois (Richt) in the studio with Donald K. Martin, WDGY December 1972 Survey Contributed by Donald K. Martin, WDGY December 1972 Survey Back Cover (page 4), WDGY - Don Martin in undated photo he contributed. The Yearbook also gives the personnel as: Regardless, it went bankrupt by 1983 and left the air. I asked a black friend of mine how her father heard his music in the 40s and 50s, and he said that Pullman porter friends of his would bring them in on the train from Chicago. With a couple of partners he bought a radio station in Cincinnati and turned it around, selling it at a profit. Save peace in the world. Although the records say that KUXL was granted the license to increase its power to 1000 watts on October 1, 1963, Will Jones of the Tribune did not announce the approval until February 17, 1964. Below is a listing of stations available in the metro area. WLOLs Swing Club had Dan Anderson on Saturdays from noon to 6 pm., also Top 40 and then some.. We have a contract and youll be billed for 2 spots an hour for 2 days. He taped the call, didn't know it was me, and used it on the air. As a promotional gimmick, Skotch planned to distribute 100,000 happiness charts, which supposedly predicts the days when a person will feel cheerful or grumpy. They continued to run the spots. Preacher Paul reported that the show drew an audience of 5,000 people! Im going to try Minnesota to the bust before I try and move on someplace, because I feel that black programming is needed here more than anyplace else. (Minneapolis Star, August 3, 1976). While newspaper listings are not 100 percent reliable, the Tribunes listings of Monday, November 11, 1963, reflect the old format, with Jim Eckert from 6 to 11 am, Mort Garren from 11 to 3, and Jack Hyatt at 3. Bob tries to give away $1,428 in WeeGee Fortune Phone Cash, but is unsucessful. As disasters go, this one wasnt even on the radar screen. The tap starts at 1:30 PM and goes about one hour with music in. The reaction to the music I played overnights was very favorable and the format expanded to evening hours and then into days and [by 1968] KQ became full time rock. In May 2016, WDGY began simulcasting on FM translator W279DD 103.7 in Hudson, Wisconsin. The photo below, provided by Jim Ramsburg to the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, shows Jack Thayer holding the ball. This get together included Jim du Bois, currently CEO and President of the Minnesota Broadcasters Association & formerly of KTCR-FM, WDGY, & K102, Mike Cunningham, former KTCR-FM Operations Manager, and myself, Rick Burnett (also formerly of KTCR-FM).Don talks about his early days in Iowa and tells how very disappointed his mother was when Don failed to get a job at country station KTCR-AM in 1963; instead he got a job at KDWB. At night (with 25,000 watts) you could hardly pick up the station 5 miles to the south of the site, but the signal had an effective radiated power of 300,000 watts to the north and went right over the North Pole into the Soviet Union. The station had a conglomeration of programs, ranging from waltzes, classical, show tunes, Tin Pan Alley, Hawaiian, religious, cowboy, and novelty. One was the Uncle Elmer Show. A rural comedy production? The Star Tribune article also reported that Al Alonzo reported to Newport. He sold me (for the cost of materials and production time) the following: Dick Driscoll, The January '73 Charlie Van Dyke, George Young, Perry St. John, Tom Wynn, Hal Raymond, Dan Daniels, and the Various WDGY DJ (composite) clip. Because the two signals arrived out of phase, they cancelled each other out. WDGY "The Original Rock and Roll Station" . So, our problem was not only to be the best station on the air there, we first had to let them know there was a there there. What Storz did was apply the Top 40 concept to rock n roll. Jim Dandy, Perry St. John, Scott Burton, George Young, B. Mason Dean. Its MODERN but MILD! (Were they ahead of their time?) As for our own radio stations, there were about nine to choose from the mighty WCCO (which had nothing remotely like rock n roll) and those listed below. The call letters of WTCN radio were changed to WWTC on October 2, 1964, after Time Life sold the station to Buckley-Jaeger Broadcasting. In 1956 or 57 Zingale went to New York as an account executive and, with two others, bought a White Plains radio station. Photo courtesy St. Paul Police Historical Society. Legendary Call Letters and an incredible heritage. Record album issued by WWTC in 1981 image courtesy Jeff Lonto. Vineland Place and Oak Grove Street meet in front of WLOL with the Basilica of St. Mary visible in the background. WDGY - The Original Rock and Roll Station. Rhythm. Here was a country station, WCOW, and on Saturday afternoon and evening, along came Mr. This has been the only transmitter location for the station since it signed on the air. In 1969, WDGY's production room was located in the basement. The request line was started in February 1968, with oldies and not just the same old ones being their mainstay. (Minneapolis Tribune, January 27, 1966). Police said the wood snow fence frame beneath the paper had ignited at several points.. K-COW said, Uh uh! WeeGee tended to be a little more conservative than KDWB reportedly even their staff wore suits and ties, but that has been disputed. It also provided local-oriented public service information on groups like Y.E.S., Pharm House, Red Door, Womens Counseling Service, and more. Oh, sure, was my response. Never would have believed this if I hadnt seen it with my own eyes!. Well, at least with the progressive announcers on KRSI. The turntables (pre-historic CD players) are out of the shot to his left side. Happy to find and post it prior to Johnny induction into the Pavek'sMuseum of Radio Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Croix Valley area on December 14, 1983. See the new transmitter here courtesy www.radiotapes.com, Aerial shot of the 9-tower array courtesy Tom Gavaras. Well, I found no evidence whatsoever of the Four Tops show, but I did find this: On August 23, 1965, a fracas broke out involving 400-500 young people throwing eggs and rocks at cars, about a block from the Marigold Ballroom. 1936 ad below courtesy Jeff Lonto. Who had the key? On October 3, 1955, an ad boasted that the station would play more music and had a new record library. It was sold to Park Broadcasting [Roy H. Park]. And as many times I tried to get Jim Jennings to talk to me, he ducked me every time. In the meantime, it was Zingale who arranged for Augie Garcia to open for Elvis when the King came to town in May 1956. In July the McGuire Sisters were back with a song called Rhythm and Blues Somehow even they heard about it. (Only eight stations in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Photo dated February 23, 1950 courtesy Minnesota Historical Society. When WDGY began to play it, WDGY salesmen found an amazing reluctance on the part of advertisers to buy time on a station that was rated number two in the market. You can view more history by clicking the following web address:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFAN_%28AM%29 And also at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDGY. Hes still sick of The Wayward Wind., As for where the lists came from, Ramsburg explains, Juke box operators depended on Cash Box, which was a few weeks faster with sales figures than Billboard. It faded into obscurity shortly after its release.. cookies . As an example when your unpredictable Carson Rennie of 6-10 spins a yarn about Aunt Julias first trip to the Twin Cities. Because AM 740 is a Canadian clear channel frequency, WDGY is a daytime-only station. It was great to have lunch with Donald K. Martinand talk about his career in broadcasting, which includes several stations in the Twin Cities. Cream City purchased the station from Franklin Broadcasting of New York. In late 1935 a new non-directional 226 Truscan Steel Vertical Radiator (tower) was erected at the site. On about September 1, 1962, the AM station expanded to 24 hours. No doubt the Random Ranch show was similar. Format was Urban and they were targeting inner city Minneapolis. Don Betzold recalled, It wasnt really a flagpole. Inside of Formula 63 package, courtesy Sam Sherwood. WWTC AM Radio is something of an oasis in the local radio market. Nick came up with WCOW, which was deemed somehow more dignified. It was also appropriate: their records were labeled either O for Old Time or W for Western. The competition, sometimes friendly, sometimes not, resulted in memorable merchandising promotions and concerts. I encourage you to check back from time to time. A memo to the staff from Todd Storz dated May 28, 1956 singles out the gang at WDGY for a job well done. They also reported that people were buying tickets for 50 cents entitling them to buy drinks. The owner of easy listening FM station WAYL was interested in the AM operation, to simulcast WAYLs signal and expand coverage in parts of the metro area. My wife and I had long discussions late into the evening. Sources are cited, if known. Most of them were from me. Beatles Concert Photos of the Fab Four in 1966 with local radio talend from Cleveland's WIXY radio - Note a young Johnny Canton and Jerry Brooke who both went on to work at WDGY. Jeff Lonto explains: To plan a schedule of programming consisting of things women supposedly would like, the station hired male psychologist Dr. Jacob Berg, whom management said would provide psychoanalyzed programming. In addition, the new format included horoscopes, James Aldens advice to the anguished and lovelorn, two-minute newscasts and editorials slanted toward the womans point of view, and 60-second lectures on sex, marriage and family problems. Those songs were not rock n roll. The Gavins sold their mimeographed service to one station per market and it was kind of a co-op into which we all poured our tips. One more testament to the sheer effective radiated power in WDGYs nighttime lobe. (Kamman left for New York in 1950 but came back to the station in 1956-58.). And, I can confirm that the man was everything his name implied: he was Little (411 tall), Jimmy (for James Cecil), and he admittedly was full of the Dickens. But thats another story. As part of the anniversary celebration, listeners were urged to send the station a birthday card with a favorite song from the last year, and if it was drawn the listener could win the Yesterhits Souvenir Album and a chance of winning one of six Hondas. Seriously, who thought progressive rock on AM was a good idea? Oops! My DJ page tells me that Ronn the Rajah of Rhythm & Bluess real name was Ron Samuels the one who married Wonder Woman? Download Our Free iHeartRadio App! 11/22/1973 The WMIN call sign was used from 1936 until 1972 by the predecessor to today's 1400 KMNV, and the call sign was also briefly used for a shared-time television station on channel 11. Owned and operated by WRPX. Bad luck was cited, as it was the Twin Cities 13th radio station, and Lanphier pointed out that if you added up 1570 it came to 13. Did they bring Imogene the horse inside Jennings? Always a different color of Twin Cities life. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE, This photo was taken as the car pulls into the driveway on a Richfield winter day. WDGY-AM 1130 Perry St. John All Night Shift 5/12/63 The quality is not great on this recording, but you can still hear everything. The Colonel loved the whole idea and agreed to do it. in 1330s exciting sportscasts and weather reports. This is WWTC Spectrum. This was on the grounds of the U.S. Silver Fox Farm, at the very northern border of the Village.The document below is the application to move the transmitter in 1927. ! Sam also remembered that the President of station owner Crowell-Collier was pretty mad, and annoyed when the guys on the golf course started calling him Cookie, but when he got to become a celebrity as the story went national, everyone job was safe. In a column dated January 24, 1954, Will Jones of the Trib called Cannon a Hep Talking radio disk jockey.. Bill Hartman, as promotion director, convinced Rob and Mike that it was very important to launch the new station at the Minnesota State Fair, exposing the new format to 1.3 million people that attended the fair for 12 days at the end of August to Labor Day every year. Rufus Thomas appeared with local group the Amazers on June 24, 1966. WDGY, - , , OnlineRadioBox.com . SOLD JUN 13, 2022. Mort Garren left but stayed on at KMSP-TV, so apparently he was working at both places. The WLOL staff believes that FM radio provides better reception and clearer tones than the AM frequencies. JoJo Gunne was the last jock. The January 1973 tape is poor quality. Thanks again for the responseand thanks for the great website! It is believed that the first transmission of the 120- or 125-line systemprobably the first telecast in Minnesotaoccurred on August 4 of that year, featuring a handshake between WDGY station personality Clellan Card and Minneapolis mayor William Kunze. So., Minneapolis, 5, MN. . The most interesting thing about working there at the time was feeling the surge of relevance the station had regained on since taking on the Country format. Feb 28, 2023. Look Younger is on twice. Packhorse/Pecos Paul Denault -There was also a Packhorse Paul and/or a Pecos Paul same guy? He came with no radio training at all in fact, he was a bartender but the station executives were impressed with his verbal fluency and vast knowledge of music. They could hear WDGY all across the AM dial, at points on the FM dial, on their CB radio base station, on their telephone, on their electronic organ, and(drum roll please)on their TOASTER! A huge booklet issued in 1949 provides pictures of everyone involved in the station and all the reasons why America is better than any other country. was WeeGee getting ready for the country format switch? Program Director Sam Sherwood: I so remember how Don French was on the hot seat for getting hit by such a large prizehe and I argued: Ill take the hitno I willno no, I will and thats the way it went until the cookie picture hit the front pages of news papers across the country.THEN.we became heroes, both Don and I. Suddenly it was true, 63 thats easy to remember. Middle row: Steve Hatley, Cosmic Cowboy a/k/a Terry Roberts, Chuck Knapp & Charlie Bush. Police shut down Nicollet Ave. and were heckled by the crowd. Download Our Free iHeartRadio App! The production room was a wreck and there was no heat in the building. For his Masters Thesis on the history of WDGY, Jerry Verne Haines interviewed WDGY announcer Leonard D. Bart on June 15, 1970. Other Facebook stories of the strength of the transmission: In 1952 the station was sold to a group of four local businessmen, one of which was Clarence T. Hagman. The concerts were advertised in the Minneapolis Spokesman, the citys African-American newspaper, but rarely in the mainstream dailies. SOLD JUN 14, 2022. The program was one half hour long and started on October 17, 1964. Breams article explained: KQRS made the format change, explains Dick Poe, station vice-president and general manager, because of impending competition from four FM stations that will be increasing their signal power and potential audience this winter with new antennas atop the IDS Center. By 1977, FM radio had arrived big-time in MSP. The first song was Bad Blood by Neil Sedaka. The new owners immediately requested permission from the FCC to change the call letters back to WMIN. While some of us labored shoveling and wives and girlfriends scrubbed the residue gunk off everything, KDWB, like a phoenix, was about to arise from the ashes. After the news, you will hear the Charlie and Don jingle into the music. The show was to start at 8 pm and take place at both the Minneapolis and St. Paul Auditoriums at the same time, with the stars shuttled by helicopter between them. In February 1963, familiar names Stanley Mack and Lou House were on the air. the second line is pretty shocking: Skotchs research concluded that the suburban housewife was a lonely person was too busy to hear her troubles and who tied herself in knots over small problems. There is a promo of Jim Dandy announcing he was returning to WDGY (to fill the shift left by Rob Sherwood when he went to KDWB). Front row John Hines and Larry Carolla. By 1956 WLOL was squarely in the rock n roll camp and stayed there until at least 1959, although WLOL-FM featured classical music. No lights. King, right? Soon they added Monday Night Sports Talk with Reusse and Soucheray but continued to play music until news and talk completely took over in August 1981. The station was located at 8th and Wabasha in South St. Paul, conveniently adjacent to the stockyards. We ought to get him to tell people about how good things are when you reach 63. It is owned by WRPX, inc. and airs a Classic Hits / Oldies radio format. Each one of these selections was especially chosen by the WDGY All-Americans, and is performed by the original recording artists. KTLK (1130 kHz) - branded News/Talk AM 1130 - is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The paper called the new WMINs format variety.. 1130 AM: News/Talk: Clear Channel: KLBB: 1220 AM: American standards: Endurance Broadcasting, LLC . CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE, WDGY Guide, Atkinson, 1982. First, the story of the building. Long hours! U.S. Patent . KRSI personalities in this second Request Radio stint included Don Thompson, Jerry Anderson, Mike Records Ryan, Ray Walby and Bill Hutchinson., Urban Adult Contemporary (SMN Heart and Soul) 1988, Hard Rock (Satellite Music Networks Z-Rock) as KZOW (1988-1990), Business Radio Network (as KJJO), 1990-1992, R&B Oldies as KSGS (ABC Solid Gold Soul) with local AM Drive) (9-5-0 Solid Gold Soul), 1995-1999, Urban Adult Contemporary (ABC The Touch) with local AM Drive), 1999-2001, Business Radio as KDOW, then KCCO (Business 9-5-0), 2001-2004, KRSI-FM (104.1) went on the air for the first time on about September 1, 1962. The station kept the name WDGY until 1991. From Midnight to 6 am they would broadcast The Quiet Storm, a syndicated program of laid-back music. After he left WDGY, he actually called me a few times from his new position in Washington DC to have me do some bits for him over the phone. Stephen B. Labunski was made General Manager. Johnny does a live Tastee Bread "Baked While You Sleep" spot, but the tape run out before he gets to finish. WMIN was still resisting the rock n roll bandwagon in January 1957, when it was playing Easy Listening. When even a little pimple of a disaster like this strikes, people rise to the occasion. . In fact, all were in their 20s. KUXLs broadcast license was voluntarily assigned from Edward D. Skotch to Greater Happiness, Inc. (presumably his company) on October 7, 1963. Hagman had previously worked for WLOL, whose owner, Ralph Atlass, had adopted the Top Forty format during Hagmans time there from 1947 to 1952. They shied away from the likes of Elvis Presley and most early rock and roll music, which they described as junky music with morally degrading lyrics. Their philosophy extended to commercials as well, to the point that they rejected advertising from beer and tobacco companies. KQRS 92.5 FM started out as KEVE-AM on September 1, 1963. I actually have a WRCR pinback button that says IM A TEN-TEN TUNER WRCR 10-10 ST. PAUL, MINN.'. At night, WDGY was very strong, but could never be received clearly. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE. The format changed from full-time Country & Western to a combination of Lombardo/Welk/etc. Those seven people included Mr. and Mrs. Bowman image sent to me by John Pratt, formerly of WDGY. I purchased some of the WDGY airchecks from collector Arron Mintz in Maine. The first tape was recorded off the air on February 21, 1973 and is a good quality recording. Many thanks to Jeff Lonto, who is one of the Cities experts on radio history, for much of the information cited here. He also mentions his concern about working around a transmitter that could light up light bulbs without putting them in an electrical socket. To celebrate its first anniversary, WDGY is happy to present this album of YESTERHITS FROM YESTERDAY. It includes a collection of twelve of the greatest hits from the last year. Jay Philpott was the only holdover from the old format they had me doing 7 to Midnight until I left for WLOL in July 1980., Country music (SMN County Coast To Coast) (1982-1984), Contemporary Hit Radio (SMN Rock America) Hot Rock 950 KRSI (1984-1985), The last KRSI logo, 1985, courtesy Jeff Lonto, Simulcast with KRSI-FM as KJJO (1986-1988). They used KUOM AM instead of WLOL AM because they did not want to scare away their AM Top 40 listeners by playing even only one hour of the FMs classical music. One of the big sponsors was the Celebrity Lounge, where you could hang out with the owners, Minnesota Twin Earl Battey and former Gopher quarterback Sandy Stephens. On August 30, 1968, a concert and dance was held at Stem Hall at the St. Paul Auditorium, emceed by Jack Harris, a/k/a KUXL disc jockey Daddy Soul. Never would have believed this if I hadnt seen it with my own eyes!. Jim Ramsburg says that in 1956 we pulled our own music from the big record library with no rules or restrictions. Paul?) The music ranges from the swingtime of the late thirties to the jazz of today. Im going to jump back a little into the chronology of events at the station after listing all of the concerts I could find. and an occasional Top 10 tune. Advertised performers were: Unfortunately, the staff was so busy working out the show and the logistics that they forgot to promote the concerts, and they were poorly attended, Sherwood reported. KLBB Building in 2014, courtesy Reed Hagen, For airchecks from WMIN, see http://twincitiesradioairchecks.com/wmin.html. But that was overnights (considered a throwaway daypart by management) on a 50,000 watt station that reached from Canada to Cuba. Following this change, the WDGY call letters were ironically adopted by KDWB for the 630 kHz frequency. You will hear Johnny's brief Art Fern imitation and at 5:30 he will say hi to the Twin Cities in a slightly similar fashion as a competing DJ did. Please enable JavaScript on your browser to best view this site. The format of the station is actually kind of ambiguous in this ad from the Minneapolis Daily Herald from September 13, 1962: Hear it Yourself Tune up to 1570 on your radio dial where you are never more than 2 minutes away from the Hi-Fi sound of good music, Associated Press news on the hour and half hour, latest in sports on the quarter hour. Tom did the best impression of Muhammad Ali I have ever heard. 2 Baths. After becoming VP and General Manager, I made sales calls in all the major markets and it never failed.Sam Sherwood?!!! KANO was started in 1956 by Jack Lemme, who owned a radio station in Little Falls. Ed replaced Machine Gun Kelly when he split for KHJ. Paul airchecks dating back to 1924 including WDGY and other Twin Cities radio stations, Oldiesloon.com, featuring information about former Twin Cities Top 40 stations, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WDGY&oldid=1134539013, This page was last edited on 19 January 2023, at 05:18. Jim Dandy, Perry St. John, Scott Burton, George Young, B. Mason Dean. The ever-blessed Will Jones announced on June 5, 1964: KUXL is airing jazz. Todd Mitchell found this article in the March 18, 1977, issue of Radio and Records, an industry newspaper.
Nie Funeral Home Obituaries,
7326 E Sligh Ave, Tampa, Fl 33610,
Mr Kipling Victoria Mini Classics Discontinued,
Articles W
