WSQK

The British broadcaster Global has set up a temporary online station based on the station shown on the latest season of Netflix's popular series Stranger Things.  WSKQ "The Squawk" broadcasts from Hawkins, Indiana and reminds me of the smaller market Top-40 stations I grew up listening to in rural western Ohio.  Local commercials, top of the hour news, real (but likely voicetracked) DJs, authentic jingles and a "sound" created by going through a vintage Inovonics FM250 audio processor.  Stranger Things is set in the 1980s so obviously WSKQ plays music almost entirely from that decade.  I did hear a smattering of non-80s songs--Patsy Cline, CCR and Bobby Bare--otherwise it was all-80s: Tears For Fears, T'Pau, REO Speedwagon, INXS, Human League, Madonna, Go-Go's, Duran Duran, Wham! and, not surprisingly, Kate Bush, whose song "Running Up That Hill" was made a hit again after it was a plot point in the show.

This screenshot from the series shows a few radio stickers on the studio door:

--a Bruce Springsteen decal from WRIF in Detroit.  (See it here)

--KIRL in St. Louis, Missouri

--a vintage WPLJ sticker promoting The Who.  I have a similar WPLJ/Led Zeppelin decal.  See it here.

--an unidentified lip print sticker which could be from any number of "Kiss FM" stations.

--a WFBQ/Bob & Tom sticker which they acknowledged having seen on their official X account --   x.com/bobandtom (See a similar one here.  It's the third sticker down)

--an unidentified 93FM (or 95FM) sticker at the top of the door. 

--There's also a burnt orange sticker (underneath the Pollution Stinks decal) from a Country station that I can't identify.  It's driving me crazy because I know I have the sticker, I just can't figure out where it's from...yet.

This shot from outside the studio shows a sticker from KKGO in Los Angeles, California.  They are currently a Country station but carried a Jazz format up until 1989.

The WSQK studio building was modeled after the former studios of WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina near where Stranger Things directors Matt and Ross Duffer are from.

680 AM WPTF is a News/Talk station and went on the air in the 1920s.  Their call letters stood for We Protect The Family which was the slogan of their owner the Durham Life Insurance Company. 

Listen to WSKQ while you can.  They will only exist until January 1st when the final episode airs.  I used the Global Player app to listen but it is supposedly also available on TuneIn.

WILS AM & FM

1320 AM WILS (W Ingham County LanSing) is a News/Talk station in Lansing, Michigan.  I'm not sure what year this sticker is from but they could have had a Top-40, Country or Adult Standards format at the time.

Sister station 101.7 WILS was a Rock station in the late 1970s and early 80s.  The "racetrack" shape design of their logo was surely inspired by legendary AOR outlet WRIF in nearby Detroit.

The WRIF Depository

On this date in 1971, Detroit's WRIF went on the air and became a pioneer in the Album-Oriented Rock format.  "The Riff" started printing up racetrack-shaped stickers in the late 1970s and over the years hundreds of different decals have been printed.  Most WRIF stickers feature a band or artist, while others are station catchphrases/DJs, Detroit-area sports teams or specific concerts.  I have approximately 100 in my collection, some of which have already appeared on the blog and can be seen here, here, here and here.