Friday, June 5, 2015

New Airchecks - June 6, 2015

The first two airchecks from Atlanta are now online and ready for download. The first is from WQXI 790 Atlanta, GA, recorded in September 1988. It was shortly after the station dropped its Oldies format for a Gold-based AC format, simulcasting WQXI-FM 94.1 (now WSTR, "Star 94") Smyrna. This is the first clip of a station broadcasting in AM Stereo on this archive.

The second one is from a station that adopted a Christian Adult Contemporary format shortly after I moved from the St. Louis area, WFTD 1080 Marietta, GA was owned by Pneuma Foundation, Inc. ("Pneuma" is Greek for "spirit", as in the Holy Spirit) from 1988 to 1998. The format was fed from Skylight Radio Network in Minneapolis, MN. I worked at WFTD from April 1989 to April 1992.

Two more St. Louis area airchecks have been added. I apologize for the terrible condition of the tape I re-dubbed it from back in 2000, but the aircheck of WJBM-FM 104.1 Jerseyville, IL features the tail end of the Bluegrass show (some of the tunes could also qualify for Classic Country) and the start of "Ed and Alice's Oldies Show". This was originally recorded in 1985, before the station became WKKX. In 1994, the station was involved in a frequency swap with WKBQ 106.5 Granite City, moving WKBQ's Top 40 format to 104.1 and WKKX's Country format to 106.5. It's a Hip-Hop station today as WHHL ("Hot 104").

The other one is KCFV 89.5 Ferguson, MO, recorded in the summer of 1985. The disc jockey on this clip, Kevin Vetter, grew up two doors from my original QTH in Hazelwood. I worked with Kevin at KCFV from 1985 to 1988, followed by a second tour of duty from 1992 to 1995. The station was experimenting with a CHR format under the direction of Joe Sonderman, before the station slowly reverted back to a College Rock format by the fall of 1986. KCFV returned to a CHR format in 2004.

In addition, there's one aircheck from Pittsburgh, the Steel City in the archive, that being WLTJ 92.9, obtained in an aircheck trade with DXer Chris Cuomo. Markets that will be featured soon: Chattanooga, TN (my listening posts on the Cobb-Cherokee County line in Georgia were 75 miles from there), Portland, OR (from trips in 1985 and 1988) and Chicago, IL (most obtained through aircheck trades with promo collector Mark Strickert).

As we all say...more to come!

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

New Airchecks from Eric's Airchecks - June 3, 2014

Four rare airchecks are now available for download from my aircheck archive on Box. The first one is a 1984 aircheck from KRSH 90.1 Overland, MO, which includes play-by-play of a basketball game between the Huskies of Ritenour High School and the Stars of McCluer North High School. The halftime entertainment? Two songs from Van Halen; one of the songs going out to listeners near Hazelwood West High School. When the station signed on the air in the early 1970s, the calls stood for Ritenour Senior High. The station is now KRHS, for Ritenour High School, and is part of the media setup at the school, located along St. Charles Rock Road. It's a 10-watt FM that now broadcasts 24 hours a day during the academic year.

Another rarity is this 1985 aircheck from KWMU 90.7 St. Louis, MO. This was at a time when the studios were on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and they were running Classical music during the day and Jazz at night. The Jazz featured on the station in this recording were releases from the early 1980s. The station now only runs a few hours of Jazz a week; otherwise, it broadcasts a News/Talk format on its main channel, confining Classical music to its coverage-limited HD2 channel.

One very rare station was the St. Louis FM pirate that was on the air in the early 1980s, KKLO on 99.7 MHz. The frequency was eventually assigned to Hillsboro, IL, where it's today's WXAJ with CHR as "99-7 Kiss FM". KKLO had a playlist of hits from the 1960s and early 1970s on this recording; the station DID NOT identify during the time I recorded them. Pirate KKLO also ran some comedy cuts, including the infamous "And now, a message from the Swedish Prime Minister" followed by applause and nothing else. The recording had to be split into two parts, with Part One on one file and Part Two on another MP3 file. KKLO was busted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1985. The calls were eventually assigned to an AM radio station on 1410 kHz in Leavenworth, KS.

More to come in the coming weeks! The St. Louis airchecks can be accessed here.