I stopped and visited him one morning, and he lowered a Bob Dylan album for me. One 20-year-old was arrested. The license for that station expired in 1938, partly because mechanical television development was heavily discouraged by that point. One was a big man about 64 tall, the other much shorter and wearing a white Stetson hat, white boots and a red and white country-western outfit that was so loaded with rhinestones that he literally shimmered when he walked. Ill always be grateful for the little station in the funky building on Military Road in Newport. Guaranteed to make life more fun. 2 Beds. The Tams made an appearance on Sunday, August 23, 1964. In August 1962 the station was identifying itself as Time-Life Broadcasting Inc. At that time an ad appeared with the following text: What happened to wtcn 1280? To protect stations also on 1130 to the south and east, most of the power was directed north. This is a list of AM radio stations in the United States having call signs beginning with the letters WA to WF. I found no other advertising in the Minneapolis papers, but the St. Paul papers are not online. The following is from an email dated September 19, 2007, from Chuck Blore to Rick Burnett describing the Formula 63 and 63 Thats Easy to Remember promotions that Blore devised when KDWB first went on the air. Commercial from a 1988 Beta recording of the TV movie Leap of Faith on Minneapolis, Minnesota channel 4 WCCO-TV More great stuff is on http://twincitiesradioairchecks.com/wdgy1130tapes.html. The stations music survey was Top 15 Teen Tunes, and included 5 Top Comers selected by a High School Panel of Experts. To this day I am still impressed that a major country western and Grand Ole Opry star would drive all the way out to Anoka just to visit with someone who played country-western music for only 55 minutes a day. Right on Super U became a catch phrase on the station and among its fans. For his Masters Thesis on the history of WDGY, Jerry Verne Haines interviewed WDGY announcer Leonard D. Bart on June 15, 1970. 11/22/1973 Meanwhile, they borrowed a little trailer studio from someone and that was our production room for the next month or so. Phone : (651) 436-4000. . Radio Stations in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN Radio stations sorted by popularity Twin Cities News Talk KTLK 1130 AM News/Talk KFAN 100.3 FM KFXN-FM 100.3 FM Sports K-LOVE Radio Contemporary Christian K102 KEEY-FM 102.1 FM Country Music 94.9 El Rey WREY 630 FM Regional Mexican CBS Sports Radio Sports AM 1280 The Patriot WWTC 1280 AM News/Talk In 1967, winning a Honda might have meant just a motorbike. The photo below, provided by Jim Ramsburg to the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, shows Jack Thayer holding the ball. Station manager Jim Peterson said the change, effective January 1, 1973, will involve afternoon programming only, with religious programs to stay on the stations schedule until 1 pm daily. Doing the research for this page has taken all of my resources, from the all-important Facebook, Star Tribune, and Wikipedia, broken links, bad info and all. People walking by the facility at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds would comment, what is this? U100 the twin cites powerhouse playing top 40 and album rock from the speakers with no one in the booth! 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 will feature top cuts from current albums along with a selection of singles, with no jingle package and segued sets. A memo to the staff from Todd Storz dated May 28, 1956 singles out the gang at WDGY for a job well done. In 1959, WDGY gained a formidable challenger when KDWB launched. According to the April 13, 1968, issue of Billboard, Chess Records artist Jack Harris is now doing a show on the R&B station Jack Harris, the proprietor of Black & Proud records, became Daddy Soul. The Insider said that he was on-air just an hour a day during the week and from 1 to 3:30 on Saturdays. Harry Zimmerman was playing the Sweetest Music in Town., Something happened on January 14, 1957, but the ads werent clear. Schedules and staff were changing that winter of 1965, with Preacher Paul slipping into semi-retirement, working only Saturdays from 1 to 5:30, remotely from the Ebony Lounge. Follow the link to read the story of this long-running radio show. Other short subjects would include Can You Explain It? a feature dealing with supernatural occurrences, and Curiosity Corner, a show touching on nature and science. Photo courtesy Pavek Museum of Broadcasting. 1 WCPR; 2 WKYY; In late 1976/early 1977, the station rebranded itself as Y-11 (never losing its WDGY call letters) and switched to a progressive rock, album-oriented format. Photo courtesy Jeff Neuberger. Jack Nugent said they went from 13th in the market to 2nd in 105 days. Each one of these selections was especially chosen by the WDGY All-Americans, and is performed by the original recording artists. We do know that the station was playing rock n roll from the WMIN Top 40 dated August 4, 1958. (Helicopters had to be replaced by limos when things got too dangerous.) In August 1927, WDGYs transmitter was moved to Superior Blvd. Those songs were not rock n roll. The music played was from Kammans own encyclopedic library of records, domestic and foreign. The station was fined $10,000 in March 1961 for exceeding its authorized power in nighttime operations. So., Minneapolis, 5, MN. CLICK TO ENLARGE, Donald K. Martin at The Pavek Hall of Fame Dinner, October 2006. 1130 AM; Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. Paul Johnson recalls the remote surroundings of the transmitter and other memories of the tiny station: To make a once-per-day required base current reading at the bottom of the center tower meant you had to trudge through chest-deep snow in the winter. Below is a photo of at least part of the family and shows how close the staffs of the two competitors were. Haines wrote: Rock and roll had a difficult entry into the Twin Cities market. In early 1976, Fairchild Industries decided to put both stations on the market. The station began broadcasting on July 1, 1965, as WMKT. Hagman had previously worked for WLOL, whose owner, Ralph Atlass, had adopted the Top Forty format during Hagmans time there from 1947 to 1952. WDGY News Room Shot from DJ Control Room - 1969. What are we gonna do? Interestingly enough, in my KUXL file I found an article from the Minneapolis Spokesman, the black communitys weekly newspaper, dated December 26, 1958. 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. Reported the Minneapolis Star, The new station will go on the air in early May with a music format, said Herman, and not all that yakety-yak you hear on some stations. 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. After the war, Kamman produced We Call it Jazz concerts at the Calhoun Beach Hotel and hosted The Swing Club on WLOL. Rob and Hartman decided to use U100 because of the dial position on an FM tuner you barely had to turn the dial to fine-tune between 980 AM and 101.3 FM they were within a couple millimeters of being in line on a 1970s-style AM/FM stereo tuner. Alan Freed: Al Alonzo still owes many of us our final paychecks. I took this from a flight I took in 1977. The station even gave trading stamps three and a half million every week to listeners who called in at the right times. Presumably the shows Cannonball Express and Cannon Fodder were his. The station signed on with a cowbell. The show, Pharoah Blacks Soul Til Sundown, began on May 1, 1975, and ran from 7 pm until sundown. See the new transmitter here courtesy www.radiotapes.com, Aerial shot of the 9-tower array courtesy Tom Gavaras. Wonderful WeeGee, home of the boss jocks like Johnny Canton, hit its stride in the 60s, competing neck and neck with KDWB. The station was the first to put in the companys prepackaged Great American Country service. The womens format bombed. 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. In the September 1965 issue of Twin City a-Go Go magazine, Preacher Paul had a column called Heres Hip Happenings. At the end he talked about the concerts, and said that as he was writing the article, the most recent one was the Ike and Tina Turner concert on August 1. So maybe well never know. The article in the Star Tribune outlined the new program: Drew Durigan: I DID hear them very well in 1988 as KMAP. He's So Fine - Chiffons 9 5. Staff included Gary (The Deacon) Johnson, a blind disc jockey. A newspaper schedule dated December 19, 1972, shows the same preacher tapes, as Ray Moss called them, from 6 am to 1 pm. WDGY - The Original Rock and Roll Station. KQRS was close to adopting the SuperStars format, making them a major player. He didnt plan to start his new programming until he got a power increase from 500kw to 1,000kw. On the March 20, 1974 tape, we hear the jingle declaring "the music and money is on us" Mark Anderson does the news and informs us the CPI index was much higher, the US will spell out it position on the Panama Canal treaty and England is moving more troops into Belfast. This aircheck in two parts is presented un-scoped. And as many times I tried to get Jim Jennings to talk to me, he ducked me every time. Dandy informs us that if we do not listen, he will tear our heads off. Bo Diddley got the Marigold going on August 19, 1964. Will Jones reported in his column on March 12, 1964: Of all the new for-women-only features on KUXL, the station reports the ladies are most interested in a feature called The Unbelievable, Yet it Happened. Its about the supernatural. After that theyve changed calls as often as formats and thats pretty frequent.. The agency negotiated non-cancellable contracts with all eight of the Twin City Stations. I purchased some of the WDGY airchecks from collector Arron Mintz in Maine. So what if a top forty am radio station in Minneapolis/St. NIS ended in May 1977 but WWTC continued the all-news format with its own staff. Kamman left for New York in 1950. Then they would have to schlep the transmitter in a big box (about the size of a single hole outhouse) back to Minnesota. Shot of Johnny Canton's desk area at WDGY-AM when he was the music director. By 1977, FM radio had arrived big-time in MSP. Joe then took it a step further and booked the St. Paul Auditorium for a rhythm and blues show with great locals such as Augie Garcia. On December 1, 1964, KEVE was changed to KQRS Quality Radio Station, still playing classical music. Image courtesy Jeff Lonto. On August 22, 1978, a construction permit was approved to increase the stations power to 2.5 kw. My DJ page tells me that Ronn the Rajah of Rhythm & Bluess real name was Ron Samuels the one who married Wonder Woman? Bad news from Wikipedia: Despite receiving positive reviews in some mainstream publishings, Purple Haze was a flop. Another genre could be nascent Rhythm & Blues. Some not so happily as others, he admits. A 1972 article in the Echo opined that KDWB played new songs that were just released, while WDGY only played nationally-established music. But in Minneapolis-St. Paul a good part of the year was snowbound and it was really hard to see the billboards through all that sleet. No audio, but the wires would vibrate in time to the modulation. Fairchild subsequently dismissed the entire staff and overhauled both stations. Youll LOVE IT!!!!! A construction permit was granted to install a new transmitter and a permit was granted to increase power to 1kw on October 1, 1963. It was great to have lunch with Donald K. Martinand talk about his career in broadcasting, which includes several stations in the Twin Cities. Funny thing, it turned out that Bob Reed didnt have a pilots license. Think of all the bad karma we collected every time we played Puppy Love by Donny Osmond. Photo by Steve Raymer. WDGY Jocks teamed up with professionals Ed Kalafat, Bobby Cox, Jim Springer, and Corky Devlin, possibly former Minneapolis Lakers. Later they would admit that the Todd Storz they often disparaged very well may have saved radio at a time when television was stealing its audience. The small 1000 watt daytime station was located at 1470 on the AM Dial. Bob Short bought the station from Buckley Broadcasting in early (in or before March) 1978. WDGY/Minneapolis has modified its Top 40 format to an AOR-slanted approach. Thought I would share. Minneapolis black population had been consistently at or below 1 percent from 1870 to 1940. Kammans show, called KUXL Jazz Club, began on Monday, June 22, and aired Monday through Friday 4 pm to sundown and at 5 pm on Saturdays following Herb Schoenbaums Jazz Festival.. It was then owned by Todd Storz, one of the pioneers in programming to the baby boom generation with music that theretofor had been rarely heard on "white" radio stations. Storzs company, Mid-Continent Broadcasting, purchased WDGY on February 6, 1956 for $212,000. It was payback time. 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. See www.radiotapes.com/WDGY.html for airchecks and much more, including the very entertaining history of the station written by Haines. The station was also still playing Fibber McGee and Molly and The Lone Ranger.. MONDAY, MONDAY - Mama's & Papa's. Tonight's Top 20 as heard on WeeGee Wayback Wonders! The mother of all remotes was when several people from the station took over the Ebony Lounge, which was located in St. Paul over Roadbuddys Barbeque. By 1981 it was back to Country, testified by Chris McKay: In 1981 I had just graduated from Brown Institute, and was the CHIEF ENGINEER at KDAN AM 1370! Dr. Young cycled through the names WHAT, WGWY ("W-George W. Young"), and finally WDGY ("W-Dr. George Young") in the next two years until being chastised by the government for changing too frequently. WWTC started out as WTCN radio, 1280 kc AM. Paul caught on fire and was off the air? WCOW was a precursor to KDWB, so it must have been another station. For a short-lived, rather obscure radio station, a lot of activity was logged. The turning point came one night around Christmas 1955 when we turned in the Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey Show on TV and they had on Elvis Presley, Stewart remembered. They broke through one of the doors, and then the police decided to keep them back by lobbing teargas into the crowd. Were starting a couple of weekend rhythm-and-blues shows as soon as we can get the records. Last mention in news listings was on September 13, 1983. I had to park on the highway and walk up the hill to the studios. Kamman produced live broadcasts from Mitchs Roadhouse in Mendota and hung out at the Club Casino in the Hotel St. Paul where the big bands played. WDGY (630 kHz AM, "Radio Rey") is a small Spanish-language radio station with studios located on Lake Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Leigh Kamman left to join KEVE, which became KQRS. He spoke about the dangers of ennui, tedium and boredom and how these things could absolutely dull your life. There are some quality problems, different recorder. 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