This is a sample of WIOQ during its Dance-leaning CHR days in the mid to late 90’s. The station was a favorite among U.S. dance radio enthusiasts (such as yours truly) at this time.
NOTE: The first half of this aircheck can be found HERE.
The post WIOQ (Q102) – Philadelphia – June 1996 – Chio (Part 2 of 2) appeared first on FM Airchecks.
Jacor (now iHeartMedia) debuted KSLZ in October 1997 and filled a huge hole in the St. Louis market for a true CHR/Top 40 station. This is a sample of the station from the summer that followed.
The post KSLZ (Z107.7) – St. Louis – 6/17/98 – Boomer appeared first on FM Airchecks.
In 1993, the NBA’s Phoenix Suns had a magical season that captivated their hometown fans, featuring run to the Finals round against the defending champion Chicago Bulls. In this aircheck, CHR Y95 (95.5 KOY-FM) was giving away courtside tickets to the 6th game of the series (contigent upon the Suns winning the 5th game, which took place a few hours following the aircheck). Listeners were asked to keep track of songs for several hours. Throughout the day, the station would start taking callers (beginning with #95) and the first person to correctly recite the titles of the songs in the correct order would win the tickets. All three times that this occurred throughout the day are featured on the aircheck.
Included are Suns/NBA/sports-themed songs that were in rotation on Y95, along with a snippet of that 5th game from the Suns’ flagship radio station, KTAR 620 AM. The Suns’ legendary play-by-play voice, Al McCoy, enthusiastically shouts his trademark “SHAZAM!” as someone on the team (most likely shooting guard Dan Majerle) hits a 3-pointer. Following that is reaction to the Suns’ victory in the game, back on Y95, hosted by a personality who called himself “George Jetson”.
According to air personality Steve Douglas (who is part of this aircheck), the courtside tickets belonged to Y95 station owner Gary Edens.
Featured near the beginning of the aircheck is Elvis Medina, who later moved onto do mornings at KYLD (Wild 94.9) in San Francisco, along with Jamie White, who eventually spent nearly a decade hosting mornings at KYSR (Star 98.7) in Los Angeles.
The post KOY-FM (Y95) – June 18, 1993 – Phoenix – Steve Douglas, Elvis Medina, Bo Reynolds, Jamie White appeared first on FM Airchecks.
At the start of the 90’s, as mainstream pop music became much more fragmented, many formerly “Mainstream” CHRs chose to lean towards Rhythmic/Dance music, while others (such as WPST as heard on this aircheck) moved towards Hot Adult Contemporary.
However, by the end of 1991, WPST had evolved into something perhaps best described as “Rock 40”, similar to some of its neighbors in the Philadelphia region, such as WRFY “Y102” in Reading and WSTW 93.7 in Wilmington.
The post WPST 97.5 – Trenton, NJ – 6/20/91 – Barbara Spencer & Mel Toxic appeared first on FM Airchecks.
One of America’s heritage CHRs (the longest with the same calls/nickname according to Wikipedia) is Miami’s Y-100 (100.7 WHYI). At the peak of the boy-band/girl-band era, here’s a segment from the summer before the start of the new millennium. This features host Rich Rodriguez telling hopeful contest winners that he’s looking for caller #1007.
The post WHYI (Y100) – Miami – 6/24/99 – Rich Rodriguez appeared first on FM Airchecks.
106.3 WHTG-FM Eatontown, NJ was one of first Alternative Rock stations in the nation, branded as “FM 106.3” from its debut in 1984 until it was sold to Press Communications in 2000. At that time the station was rebranded as “G106.3” as a new staff was brought in and a more mainstream sound. G106.3 would eventually add a simulcast on 98.5 and later 106.5 in Ocean County, NJ rebranding as “G-Rock Radio” in the process. The format would meet its demise in January 2009 for a short lived CHR format as “Hit 106” before finding success following its flip to Country “Thunder 106” in September 2010.
This aircheck features the station’s late-night show in June 2002 hosted by Dave Wetmore. The music mix is fairly broad at this time featuring lighter stuff like John Mayer to harder currents from Papa Roach with lots of 90’s songs and a few 80’s.
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“It’s 7 O’Clock on the West Coast at KIIS…K-I-I-S, FM & AM, Los Angeles”. Voiced by the late and great Brian James, that’s one of my all-time favorite legal IDs, and many variations of it are heard on this compilation from the Summer of 1993.
At this time, in celebration of Independence Day, KIIS had a very amusing “Red, White and Balls Weekend” promotion that included liners such as “dangle your balls from your rearview mirror” and “just make sure your balls are visible.”
At a time when many CHRs struggled to find success with the increasingly polarized nature of the format, KIIS elected to mix in a number of hits from years past – the station’s slogan at the time was “The Best Hits of the 80′s and 90′s.”
The post 102.7 KIIS-FM – L.A. – July ’93 – Whitney Allen, John Murphy, Rick Dees appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is one of a handful of airchecks in my collection from the United Kingdom. 97.4 Rock FM sounds quite different from any U.S. station I’m aware of that calls or brands itself as “Rock”!
Per info supplied by Neal Bowden when this aircheck originally appeared on this site in 2011: There is an urban myth the name Rock FM comes from Blackpool rock, which is a very hard stick of candy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_(confectionery) Blackpool is in the heart of the stations coverage area and a lot of people take vacation there every year. It never has been and never will be a rock station!
Thanks to Ryan Bishop for finding and supplying the logo.
The post 97.4 Rock FM – Lancashire, UK – 7/1/97 – Jamie Moore appeared first on FM Airchecks.
U-92.7 hit the airwaves sometime in the mid to late 90’s. Initially, as demonstrated on this aircheck, the station offered a rather unfocused but entertaining Rhythmic CHR format. Over time, the playlist was tightened so that it had a focus on hip-hop and R&B.
The post KKUU (U-92.7) – Indio/Palm Springs, CA – 7/10/98 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
“Of all of life’s experiences…you must at one time or another encounter…RAVE”.
Voiced by the legendary Mitch Craig, this is a sample of Orlando’s longtime CHR during progressive underground dance mix programming.
The post WXXL (XL-106.7 FM) – Orlando – July 1992 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
“More Music, More Fun…Q101”
101.1 FM in Chicago has been synonymous with the Modern Rock format for most of the last 25 years, and so it’s easy to forget that the station didn’t always have that format. In this montage, you’ll hear Q101 near the end of its days as an Adult Top 40/Hot AC. According to this Wikipedia page, it evolved into more of a Modern AC direction later in the year and then full-fledged Modern Rock by 1992.
Left intact is a commercial promoting the grand opening of the Gurnee Mills mall – which I believe was one of the first of its kind. (I spent the best years of my childhood in Gurnee and couldn’t resist including this.)
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This is a sample of Albuquerque’s heritage Rhythmic CHR from the mid-90’s, when it offered a relatively balanced Rhythmic CHR format and a high-energy presentation. The station has survived many competitors over the years. (The logo shown above is not from the era when this aircheck was recorded.)
Please note: at some point (perhaps the original recording), the pitch of the audio on this aircheck became too high (hope that’s the right term?) – everything sounds “faster” than it should be.
Note the similarities between this station and Chattanooga’s WKXJ “Hot Jammin’ Kicks FM” from 1998. Besides their nearly identical names, both were/are on 97.3 FM and employed the phrase “one half hour total music jam”. There had to be some sort of connection between the two – does anyone know what it was? (EDIT: Per the comments section of this post – Cadillac Jack was the common denominator.)
The post KKSS (Hot Jammin’ 97.3 Kiss-FM) – Albuquerque – 7/18/95 – Chico Banana appeared first on FM Airchecks.
** NOTE: If you are attempting to listen to this aircheck from an iPhone, you may find that the audio abruptly ends after a few seconds. After much trial and error, we unfortunately have not yet been able to identify why this is occurring. The same should not happen when listening from a computer web browser, so please go down that route if necessary. We apologize for the inconvenience.**
Much of the information shown below was taken from the now-defunct Q106 tribute site, which may still be accessible through this archive.org link.
In the late 80’s and early 90’s, San Diego’s Q106 was one of the top stations in America, offering a Rhythmic-leaning Mainstream CHR format that fit the San Diego market perfectly. Q106 enjoyed a run of at least 12 straight Arbitron books (the site linked above claims 16) as the #1-rated station in America’s Finest City. It was owned by Edens Broadcasting, making it a sister to Y95 (KOY-FM) Phoenix, Q105 (WRBQ) Tampa Bay, and Q94 (WRVQ) Richmond, VA.
However, by the early to mid 90’s, due to a combination of competition from newcomer Jammin’ Z90 (XHTZ), format changes, and ownership changes, the station went into decline. In the mid-90’s, Q106 was sold again to Jacor (now Clear Channel) and then to a company who flipped it to a Spanish-language format in August 1998.
A few days before Q106 signed off, it aired the farewell programming highlighted on this aircheck. This is one of the best tributes I’ve ever heard, as it highlights some of the best air talent (including their top memories of the station), jingles, sweepers, promotions, and music from the station’s 11-year run.
Included are promos redirecting listeners to Channel 933 (KHTS), which had become Q106’s sister station (and presumably one of the final reasons for its demise). As heard on the promos, Channel 933 had begun adding rock-oriented selections to its Rhythmic-heavy playlist; an aircheck from Channel 933’s Dance-leaning early days can be heard here.
EDIT: THIS article from LA Times, dated 10/7/88, implies that it (meaning the Summer ’88 book) was the first time Q106 finished #1 in the ratings.
The post KKLQ (Q106) – San Diego – 7/29/98 – Various Personalities (Farewell Tribute) appeared first on FM Airchecks.
K-Live 105 was a relatively interesting small market Midwestern Mainstream CHR. The station is now known as Y105 (still with the KLYV calls.)
The post KLYV (K-Live 105) – Dubuque, IA – 8/6/98 – Scott Thomas appeared first on FM Airchecks.
By the late 80’s, it seemed that many CHRs in the United States began leaning towards either hairband or rhythmic music. Power 102 was an exception – as this aircheck suggests, the station was more of an AC/Classic Rock/CHR hybrid.
According to Wikipedia, along with Robyn Watts (who contributed this aircheck), the station held the KPXR call letters from 1986 to 1994. However, the station did not adopt a CHR format until sometime in 1988. The station is now KDBZ “Oldies 102.1”.
The post KPXR (Power 102) – Anchorage, AK – 8/8/88 – Jason Hall appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is a sample of 106.1 FM in Tallahassee during its run as a Rhythmic-leaning Mainstream CHR. The exact date of the aircheck is unknown, but per comments made by the air personality, it was apparently recorded on a weekday holiday.
The WWLD call letters were in place from 3/29/96 to 10/15/96. At that point, they became WUTL. However, it is unclear whether a format change took place at the same time. The station definitely flipped to Rhythmic Oldies in March 1999.
The post WWLD 106.1 (Wild 106) – Tallahassee, FL – 1996 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
WSNX was one of the best CHRs of the mid/late 90’s, offering an upbeat music mix and outstanding jingles & sweepers, voiced by the late and great Brian James. This was very impressive for a medium-sized market.
The post WSNX 104.5 – Grand Rapids, MI – 8/15/97 – Keith Curry appeared first on FM Airchecks.
During the mid-90’s, KIDR (740 AM) in Phoenix was one of several radio stations across the U.S. affiliated with the childrens’-targetted “Radio AAHS” network. Ten of these stations were owned by Radio AAHS.
By January 1998, with Radio Disney having launched its own competing network, Radio AAHS ceased operations. They put the ten stations up for sale (KIDR had joined this group not long before the sale was announced). Until a buyer was found, the affiliates (both the AAHS-owned and non-owned stations) aired a mix of random music and paid programming for 12 hours (4am-4pm PT), and all-dance “Beat Radio” for the remaining 12 hours (4pm-4am PT).
In May of that year, KIDR program director Matt Miller elected to begin airing an hour of locally originated programming during the 2pm-3pm hour, three days a week. With the lack of a Mainstream CHR station in Phoenix at the time, and with some help from yours truly, Matt constructed a playlist that consisted primarily of contemporary dance and pop/rock hits — along with a few Rhythmic classics. This aircheck represents the final installment of this program.
For more information on Radio AAHS and Beat Radio, visit these Wikipedia pages:
The post KIDR 740 – Phoenix – 8/18/98 – Matt Miller & Brotha Fred appeared first on FM Airchecks.
“So hot, it’s cool…Thunder 107” — This aircheck represents a great example of small market Mainstream CHR in the early 90’s. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of a period of multi-year struggle for the CHR format as a whole.
During the first ~15 seconds, there is some static that drowns out some of the audio.
The post WTHT (Thunder 107) – Portland, ME – 8/23/91 – Hal Stevens appeared first on FM Airchecks.
