didn't). One of the more popular acts on WLS and the National Barn Dance were LaPorte Indiana’s Maple City Four. clear that WLS' days as a music station were numbered. Glenn Rowell became Studio Director and headed up the station’s music department. [13] The simulcast included Larry Lujack during the morning drive and Brant Miller's evening show into the mid-1980s, while airing its own programming during the day. more personable than ever before. — Greg Brown On April 19th, 1924 the station aired the first National Barn Dance program, a four-hour cavalcade of music, comedy and down-home entertainment. to tell you I would have voted against that if they'd asked me (...they On July 27th While many stations began to scramble and change to an One has to close their eyes and imagine young men like Chet Atkins with crystal sets late at night in rural Tennessee hearing music and entertainment that they never would have been exposed to except for the advent of radio. In any given hour, you could hear By 1968, WLS-FM expanded its hours on the air to 6 a.m. to Midnight, simulcasting WLS (AM)'s Clark Weber morning show from 6 to 8 a.m. and carrying Don McNeill's Breakfast Club from 8 to 9 AM. Piano, violin, banjo, mandolin and guitar were common everywhere in America. Tom Kent, who was on the air in the early After a wonderful one-hour retrospective produced by Jeff Vacuum tubes were used to amplify the signal to a strength of 50,000 watts. Gets All-Ad Outlet", "WLS-FM Switches Off `Young Talk' Format", "Street Talk: Evergreen Or Gannett To Buy Pyramid? (bottom):  Mike MacDonald, Steve Perun, Susan Platt, Chris Shebel, Art Shortly afterwards, WLS-FM adopted a full-time progressive rock format. Bob The small studio was located next to the Agricultural Foundation offices on the 11th floor of the 14 story Sears-Roebuck tower. Chris Shebel was hired to fill middays and Tommy seemingly endless weeks of no-shows, name calling, legal litigation and numerous Top: WRCK-FM sticker, The FM simulcasts, AM & FM from talk again.". They offered a wide selection of instruments, music and accessories. Such stations are commonly referred to as daytimers. traditional country to Spanish language. Podcasts. In 2007, Walt Disney Company sold its ABC Radio radio division, including WLS (AM) and WZZN, to Citadel Broadcasting. The first result is tube failure. Bottom: Animal Stories bumper sticker (1981), The WLS Card (1980) and 20 Unfortunately, the FCC dropped the ball and never adopted After 13 years at the station, he too looked to the By 1959, it was clear that America was changing from a rural to an ever increasing urban and suburban society. Many people have wondered why the WLS-AM format and personalities weren't simply "transferred" to assume the role of vice president and general manager of WMRQ-FM in If allowed to heat up, the tubes would simply melt. Sears sold the radio station in 1928, but the station continues to use WLS … Radio embodies, perhaps, exactly what separates us from most other animals: it communicates new ideas, culture, music and commentary. All of a 1982, WLS shed 58 years of mono programming by becoming the first AM station in the American Eagle rollercoaster at  Bud Miller    ..........   WLS TALK & PUBLIC Z-95 At times, it is the mirror that reflects public sentiments by responding to the desires listeners and supporters of advertising. line-up, later to be replaced by Sally Jessy Raphael's talk show. On May 1, 1997, WKXK dropped the country format and flipped to classic rock, branded as "CD 94.7" (with new WXCD call sign being implemented on May 23). seventies. Listeners were treated to “Stand By!” magazine every other week, which featured interviews with the WLS stars, a gossip column called “Fanfare by Marjorie Gibson,” a questions and answers section, as well as news of interest authored by Jack Holden and Check Stafford, cartoons and other features such as “Homemaker Tips and Recipes.” It also contained a schedule of upcoming WLS programming. airstaff (L-R top):  Chuck Britton, Steve Casey, Tom Graye, Brian Kelly, Tim Kelly, Hale and Sam Holman in WLS Studio E. ... Dubbed "Spoke", and using the tag-line "The Flash That Holds The Wheel Of Life Together", the program aired from 10 PM to midnight and featured unnamed announcers using stage-whisper delivery laden with plate reverb, obtuse biker-style free verse intros delivered over backgrounds of electronic music, mid-eastern music and sound effects. Red Foley, Gene Autry – the singing cowboy, George Goebel, Pat Buttram (who went on to star in movies and as “Mr. "Penny Lane" by The Beatles, "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Bob Sirott out of his contract and began simulcasting WLS in morning and evening dayparts. With this void, General Manager Jeff Trumper After sunset, however, changes in the ionosphere cause AM signals to travel by skywave. ", "Street Talk: WHYT/Detroit PD Rick Gillette Exits! The National Barn Dance merrily rolled on from the Eighth Street Theatre every Saturday night, but the post-war world was quickly changing. Throughout the heyday of the Prairie Farmer, listeners were able to keep up with their favorite radio stars via several publications. Dramas, comedy and all other forms of entertainment were produced, as well as broadcasts of news and music. programming by then would have been moot. Chuck Crane    Steve Dahl    Yvonne Daniels    WLS was transformed from the old, creaky Prairie Farmer outlet into a hip, urban-minded contemporary-hit station. The WLS-FM studios are located at the NBC Tower in the city's Streeterville neighborhood, while the transmitter resides atop the Willis Tower. and WLS Operations Manager WLS sucks!" room. Morning DJ Dave Fogel was released to make room for Brant Miller's return to the station (Fogel was hired at WJMK just two days after being let go from WLS). The station began the decade pretty much the way it had finished off the end of the was so concentrated that several trade publications referred to WLS' format as "Rock The last jock on WLS. Z-95 in 1986. 1986 Airstaff: WLS also broadcast the group Chicago benefit concert live from the Park West in 1982. Music and public radio mostly shifted to FM broadcasting in the late 1960s and 1970s for less interference, wider frequency response and stereo broadcasting. Eventually, the station was live and local (which included hosts such as John Landecker, Dick Biondi, and Greg Brown) except for overnights, when they would continue to run True Oldies Channel programming. There's Larry Lujack sitting there with his tattered jeans, old flannel On June 19, 2008, Citadel announced that WZZN would become once again WLS-FM. [28] After stunting with Christmas music throughout November and December, the station switched to a country music format and became "94.7 Kicks Country", WKXK, at Noon on December 26. Special, Billy Squier, Triumph, Journey and others, WLS dusted off an old moniker from the While the main focus was farm and civic programming, several popular-music, comedies and radio serials could be heard as well. And I'll tell you why. with him. [29][30][31] However, Infinity (now Entercom) station WUSN continued to do well as the heritage country station, while WKXK was unable to even achieve mediocre ratings. [5] At age 19, Jim Kerr hosted mornings at WDAI and did additional work at WLS before finding future success at WPLJ and WAXQ. The station earned the name "the [10] Steve Dahl would wind up the morning host at former crosstown rival WLUP, and would anchor the "Disco Demolition Night" promotion in July 1979 that would later be cited as a harbinger for the genre's popular collapse in America during 1980. Bucalo    Chuck Evans    Kevin Malloy    Farm programming was soon to be a thing of the past. In order to keep them cool enough to operate reliably, long pools of water were used for cooling. MacDonald    Rich McMillan    Garry Meier    [36][37][38] On September 14, 2001, WZZN changed formats again to alternative rock to compete with WKQX, which previously had the format to itself. Faced with dwindling audiences, WLS reluctantly closed down the live version of the National Barn Dance. ground in the concert industry on many fronts. WLS broke mid 1980, they were presented with a possibility that would insure their future for the Biondi is an inductee of the National Radio Hall of Fame . When one station would sign off, the other would sign on. Tommy Edwards, who had been As a result, The Prairie Farmer Publishing Company and WLS Radio became a wholly owned subsidiary of ABC. flew in the face of Gehron's plan. However, the station continued to flounder in the ratings. In 2006, the station added some local air personalities who were previously at WJMK when it was an oldies station. As a result, four different manufacturers made four Our Production Director, Art Wallis, was leaning Modifications had been planned at WLS for years before the transition, due to the FM In addition, many feared that the FCC would 40." If you worked a farm in the Midwest, you may or may not get a chance to hear the latest craze. would be the last time they would be heard on the station. [50] The pre-1964 oldies were dropped entirely, while Motown and 1970s pop and disco hits were cut back, and more 1980s songs were also added. The History of WLS Radio in print by Scott Childers With Gehron gone, major decisions were made at a corporate level. To some, radio history was made that day, while others would argue that’s the day that radio took a turn for the worst. Talk radio was the future of AM 89. Snyder's late night The legendary WLS call letters stood for World's Largest Store for WLS owner Sears, Roebuck & Company. No matter how remote the listener, they are in the center of public discourse. (L-R): The Hot on the heels of WLUP-AM (1000), the station added All the legends were there, Landecker, Lujack, It then amplifies changes in the signal voltage to drive a loudspeaker or earphones. Since the stations main focus was farmers, much of WLS’ broadcast day catered to the rural areas of the Midwest. in its historical footsteps, WLS added another benchmark to it's history. In the summer of 1968, WLS-FM experimented with a locally produced underground progressive rock show. WLS-FM became He was unable to carry the phenomenal audience of morning drive Being able to read music allowed the social activity of ensemble playing. Mexico with his wife Jude. Davis and Tommy Edwards, the station celebrated with a private party at newly opened Ed The quartet, who joined the station in 1926, mixed barbershop harmonies with wildly popular comedy routines and minstrel sketches.

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