Jacor (now Clear Channel) 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 following May during Saturday night mixshow programming.
The post KSLZ (Z107.7) – St. Louis – 5/29/98 – Rich Stevens, Danny Wright appeared first on FM Airchecks.
“We’re in the tune in your head…Lexington’s new 104.5 the Kat.”
In the early to mid 90’s, as the CHR format disappeared across the U.S., the idea of a single station offering multiple genres of music had become foreign in many areas. This is presumably why WLKT heavily employed the slogan “Music for All People” on this aircheck (which I believe was recorded not long after the sign-on) — and you will hear, they did a great job of living up to that promise.
Note that this aircheck consists of several segments recorded on two separate days (not a single continous recording), so certain songs are heard twice.
The post WLKT (104.5 the Cat) – Lexington, KY – 6/8 & 6/10/96 – Shane Collins appeared first on FM Airchecks.
“Broadcasting from Chicago to the world…”
Cyber Radio 92-7 was a brokered Dance CHR format that aired on weekends from approximately May to September 1997 on the suburban WCBR signal. According to this message board posting, it was the first radio station in the Chicago area to broadcast on the Internet.
Cyber Radio debuted around the same time that longtime heritage Rhythmic CHR WBBM 96.3 FM “B96” shifted its focus from Dance music to a more traditional Rhythmic CHR approach, yet continued to position itself as “Chicago’s Dance Beat”. Cyber Radio poked fun at its competitor, featuring liners such as “This is a dance beat…(insert dance song)…this is not (insert R&B song)” and “We’ve Got the Beat”.
Also from the aforementioned message board posting, legal issues took Cyber Radio off 92.7 FM. It returned to the airwaves for a brief period the following year, airing Friday nights on WCKG 105.9 FM. It later became Cyberradio2000.com.
WCBR became Mainstream CHR “92.7 Kiss-FM” near the end of the following year, and (ironically) back to Dance CHR as “Energy 92.7 & 5” in early 2001. Dance music is still heard nightly on this frequency via Dance Factory Radio.
The post WCBR (Cyber Radio 92-7) – Arlington Heights/Chicago, IL – 6/13 & 6/14/97 – Tony Ortega, Magic Juan (Part 1 of 2) appeared first on FM Airchecks.
According to Wikipedia, KCDD has been known as Power 103 since 1987, making it one of the longest-running CHR stations in the United States. This is a sample of the station about ten years into its existence.
The post KCDD (Power 103) – Abilene, TX – 6/28/97 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is a sample of Z90, serving America’s Finest City, recorded on Independence Day 1994. At this time, Z90 was seemingly one of the most unique-sounding Rhythmic CHRs around; I personally do not recall hearing most of the songs featured on this aircheck anywhere else.
The post XHITZ (Jammin’ Z90) – San Diego – 7/4/94 – Nick Monroe appeared first on FM Airchecks.
Recorded on Good Friday 1991, this is a sample of the dominant CHR station in Phoenix for most of the 1990’s, at the start of that decade.
Specifically, this is a montage of the “Power Morning Zoo”. One of the co-hosts was Danny Partridge a.k.a. Danny Bonaduce, who became a TV star via “The Partridge Family” in the 1970’s. He joined KKFR around September 1990. Two days after this aircheck was recorded, Bonaduce was involved in an incident with a prostitute. The next day, he was placed on administrative leave.
Many thanks to Beau Duran of WBBM NewsRadio for providing this aircheck.
The post KKFR (Power 92) – Phoenix – 3/29/91 – Scott Thrower, Danny Partridge, Kelly Boom appeared first on FM Airchecks.
In the late 80’s, and the very early 90’s, Phoenix was one of the best markets for fans of the CHR format. Nationwide Communications’ heritage KZZP found itself in a heated battle with The Broadcast Group’s Power 92 (KKFR) and Edens Broadcasting’s Y95 (KOY-FM).
KZZP dominated for most of the 80′s. But with changes in management, personalities, and pop music tastes — ratings dropped significantly in the early 90’s, leading to a format and name change in April 1991.
Y95, capitalizing on the changes and later demise of KZZP, enjoyed ratings success at the start of the decade. But by 1993, ratings had fallen well below those of Power 92, which had begun to establish itself as the market’s preferred CHR (a title which it held through the 90’s). On September 2, 1993, Y95 ceased to exist and became KYOT.
This aircheck represents a sample of Y95’s Bo and Jamie morning show (hosted by Bo Reynolds and Jamie White). It was recorded over a couple of days in either July or August 1993.
Please note: This montage was compiled from a series of my own personal “mix tapes” – not professional unscoped airchecks.
The post KOY-FM (Y95) – Phoenix – Summer ’93 – Bo and Jamie appeared first on FM Airchecks.
“From Baja to the North Shore, from Pine Valley to Arizona’s Door”. Q96 was one of the best-sounding CHRs I’ve ever heard, and it’s more impressive upon realizing that the area it served (the Imperial Valley in far Southern California) was/is not even rated by Arbitron. It offered great music, air talent, and production values. This aircheck was recorded sometime in 2000 (presumably in the Summer or Fall, judging by the mention of the 100+ degree temperatures). Please note that this montage represents two separate segments (one at the end of morning drive, and the other in late afternoon drive), so certain songs are heard twice.
Sadly, in an effort to garner more advertising dollars, the owners of Q96 made an attempt to move the station’s signal closer to the San Diego market. This was an ill-fated decision; the station was sold to the Educational Media Foundation and switched to the “Air 1” Christian-rock leaning format at the end of 2013.
The post KSIQ (Q96) – Brawley/El Centro, CA – 2000 – Bill Stewart, Mary Jesse appeared first on FM Airchecks.
In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, 103.9 FM — which targeted the Phoenix area from rural/suburban signals – held a number of different formats.
It began in the Spring of 1996 with a six-month Rhythmic Oldies stunt format named “S-T-E-V-E”.
On October 30th of that year, it officially signed on as “The New 103.9, Arizona’s Party Station”, with a hip-hop-oriented Rhythmic CHR format and enjoyed impressive ratings (especially considering the signal limitations). Its target, the more dance/pop/R&B-oriented KKFR “Power 92”, took notice and transformed itself into a pure hip-hop/R&B station within 9 months.
A year later, 103.9 FM (whose calls had become KPTY) went in a completely different direction, offering a mix of alternative/modern rock and hip-hop in a format unofficially known as “Extreme CHR”, under the name “Party Radio @ 103.9”. (It eventually evolved to 100% alternative/modern rock.)
Ratings continued to tumble, and so on the first day of the new millennium, the station relaunched with a 100% boy-band/girl-band format that was the antithesis of the previous format. Yet, it inexplicably hung on to the “Party Radio @ 103.9” name for a while longer.
At some point in 2000, KPTY altered its name to “103-9 the Party” and, ironically, evolved into the type of station that it initially set out to destroy: a dance/pop/R&B-friendly Rhythmic CHR. KPTY attempted to sandwich itself between KZZP 104.7 FM (which had become a Mainstream CHR the year before) and KKFR. This aircheck of “103-9 the Party” was recorded in early August 2000.
Exactly five years after it began, the Party finally ended — the station became the new home of Modern Rock KEDJ “The Edge” on October 30, 2001.
The post KPTY (103-9 the Party) – Gilbert/Phoenix, AZ – 8/3/00 – Rudeboy appeared first on FM Airchecks.
The post WBBM-FM (B96) – Chicago – 8/13/97 – Terry Foxx appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is a sample of Friday night “Club 107.5” mixshow programming on Chicago’s heritage Urban Contemporary station, WGCI. It was hosted by Armando Rivera with mixes provided by Scott Smokin’ Silz – both of whom worked at the legendary WBMX (102.7) during the 1980’s.
At this time, the station (or at least the Club 107.5 mixshow) employed an outstanding high-energy voice talent in Pat Garrett.
More information about the history of WBMX (specifically, the “Hot Mix 5” of which Scott Smokin’ Silz was a member) can be found HERE.
The post WGCI (107.5) – Chicago – 8/21/98 – Armando Rivera & Scott Smokin’ Silz appeared first on FM Airchecks.
Following the “worst-to-first” success of New York’s WKTU in 1996, a number of stations around the U.S. attempted similar formats (essentially Rhythmic AC) in their markets. B100 was one example – but the station never came close to achieving KTU-like numbers. This aircheck features B100’s “All about the 80’s Weekend”, from Labor Day Weekend 1997, hosted by longtime Southern California air personality Benny Martinez.
About 2 months later, B100 flipped to Rhythmic Oldies as Mega 100. With its instant (but ultimately short-lived) success, the station became the “KTU” for its own format — numerous clones popped up nationwide as part of the “Jammin Oldies” fad.
A decade later, Emmis jumped on the “Movin” bandwagon, bringing an updated version of the Rhythmic AC format back to Los Angeles (Movin 93.9 – KMVN) – but once again, it failed.
The post KIBB (B100) – Los Angeles – 8/31/97 (LABOR DAY WKND ’97) – Benny Martinez appeared first on FM Airchecks.
In 1986, 94.7 WLS-FM in Chicago changed its call letters to WYTZ and began referring to itself as “Z95”. This new approach, along with a long list of personnel changes, made the station became a serious competitor to the market’s heritage CHR, WBBM-FM (B96).
The post WYTZ (Z95) – Chicago – 9/10/86 – Peter B appeared first on FM Airchecks.
For more than 40 years, KNHC – owned by Seattle Public Schools and operated out of Nathan Hale High School – has been one of the best examples of non-commercial, student-run radio done right. For the majority of that time, it has focused on dance music, making it the longest-running (and one of the very few) stations of that format in the United States.
This is a sample of the station from September 1997, when it was transitioning from “C89” to “C89.5”.
The post KNHC (C89.5) – Seattle – 9/17/97 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
107.3 FM in Washington, D.C. has been Hot AC as “Mix 107.3” since 1990. But in the 12 years prior, it was CHR/Top 40 as “Q107”. This sample from October 1988 – recorded during the station’s “Top 10 at 10” countdown – demonstrates the dominance of hairband acts on the pop charts at the time. Thanks to Robyn Watts for contributing this aircheck.
Our sister site, Airchexx.com, also features a pair of Q107 samples:
Uncle Johnny, 12/26/83
Celeste Clark, 12/26/85
The post WRQX (Q107) – Washington, D.C. – 10/1/88 – Uncle Johnny Walker appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is a montage of WKDD from its days on 96.5 FM and a Hot AC format.
In July 2001, 96.5 FM became Mainstream CHR as “96.5 Kiss-FM”; WKDD moved to 98.1 FM.
The post WKDD (96.5) – Akron, OH – 10/17/99 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
On October 30, 1996, at 3:30pm, following more than six months of stunting, KBZR officially launched as “The New 103.9, Arizona’s Party Station”. Shown here are the following:
(1) YouTube video: A news story about the debut that aired on the 10pm newscast of local Phoenix TV station KTVK (Channel 3).
(2) Aircheck (below the video): the actual sign-on along with a mix show that immediately followed. Please visit Formatchange.com for more details about the history of the station.
The post KBZR (The New 103.9) – Coolidge/Phoenix, AZ – 10/30/96 – Krazy Kid Stevens (DEBUT/FIRST DAY) appeared first on FM Airchecks.
In November 1998, pure Mainstream CHR was heard on Chicagoland airwaves (for the first time in many years) with the arrival of “92 Kiss-FM” on a pair of suburban signals. You can hear the station’s launch (along with the stunting that preceded it) at our sister site, Formatchange.com. Posted here is a montage of the 30 minutes or so that followed.
More information on the history of this station can be found at Wikipedia.
The post WCBR/WBRO (92.7 Kiss-FM) – suburban Chicago – 11/14/98 (FIRST DAY) appeared first on FM Airchecks.
“Club Jam” was a Friday night 8-hour dance music program that made its debut on Loyola University’s WLUW (Energy 88.7) in 1993. Please visit the archived JamTraxx Media Website for more information about the history of this program.
The post WLUW (Energy 88.7) – Chicago – 11/22/96 – Jammin’Down JD & DJ Revel appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is a sample of an apparent pirate radio station with its signal on 106.7 FM in southwest Philadelphia. It identified itself with the call letters WLDW, which were used (legally) by 96.5 FM ten years prior, albeit for only a short period of time, much to the chagrin of then-owner Beasley, as demonstrated in this amusing announcement voiced by-then consultant Jerry Clifton.
The programming heard on the aircheck was of the syndicated “Open House Party”. Given the station’s illegal status, it’s unclear how they were able to air this content.
It’s unknown whether this operation still exists with an on-air signal. This aircheck was recorded from its online stream, which continues to this day via its website.
Thanks for Ryan Bishop for contributing.
The post “WLDW” (Wild 106.7) – southwest Philadelphia – 11/24/13 (OPEN HOUSE PARTY w/Kannon) appeared first on FM Airchecks.