Berlin Wall Falls

Twenty years ago today the East German government announced that its citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of people began climbing the Berlin Wall which had kept the city separate since 1961. Over the next few weeks almost the entire 87 mile wall was removed either by heavy machinery or euphoric citizens with sledgehammers. East and West Germany officially reunified in October 1990. The number of people who died trying to escape from Communist East Germany is disputed but ranges from 93 to well over 200. Little remains of the wall today having either been destroyed or sent to various museums and other institutions around the world. The National Museum of the US Air Force here in Dayton houses two slabs of the wall. Sections of the wall in their original locations are sometimes, ironically, protected by a wall (OK, it's a fence...but still.)

RTL Radio is a Contemporary Hit radio station in Berlin, Germany.

WYYY

WYYY was a 1970s-era Rock station licensed to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Looking at an old playlist, it's interesting to see what was played at WYYY--Roberta Flack, Seals & Crofts and Lobo might be considered too light even for today's Soft Rock stations let alone "Kalamazoo's Solid Rocker!!!"

KLEC

KLEC was a Modern Rock station from Little Rock, Arkansas. They were on the air from 1998 until 2004. Lick's frequency changed three times, starting out at 101.1, moving to 96.5 (licensed to England, AR) and ending up at 106.3 (licensed to Lonoke, AR.) Their tongue logo was apparently chosen by listeners through an online website poll. It seems like a lipless ripoff of the Rolling Stones main image but there was a studded one that updated things for Generation Y. 96.5 is currently KHTE "kHits 96.5" a Contemporary Hit Radio station. 106.3 is now KOLL "Mix 106.3" airing an Adult Contemporary format.

KYOT

November 6th is supposedly National Saxophone Day. This member of the woodwind family was invented in Paris in the 1840s by Adolphe Sax.


95.5 KYOT (from a previous format when they were known as The K[C]oYOTe) was a Smooth Jazz station from Phoenix, Arizona from 1994 until around 2010.

Yankees Win (yawn)

The Evil Empire won the World Series last night. They beat the Philadelphia Philles 7-3 in game 6 at Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers $190 million dollar payroll was named the MVP of the series.

WAXQ "Q104.3" is a Classic Rock station from New York, New York.

KF 105.4

KF 105.4 is a Contemporary Hit Music station from Kaunas, Lithuania. Listening live while making this post I heard Bon Jovi "We Weren't Born To Follow," Amy Winehouse Stefanie Heinzmann "Like A Bullet," Sophie Ellis-Bextor "Music Gets The Best Of Me" and an unidentifiable Lithuanian(?) pop song. According to Google, "Musu Miesto Radijas" tranlastes to "Our Urban Radio."

WOXY

I was driving in downtown Dayton yesterday when I pulled up behind a sport utility vehicle made by Saab. My eyes (as they always do) immediately focused on the car's bumper sticker which was a black and white, Euro-style oval that simply said "OI" for Oak Island, North Carolina. Then I noticed the model name of the Saab was "97X" which also happens to have been one of the greatest little radio stations of all time.

WOXY was an Alternative/Modern Rock station from Oxford, Ohio. They existed from 1983 until 2004 at which point they switched to an online-only radio station. 97X never had a great signal and could be a difficult catch in Dayton--even parts of their main market in Cincinnati had a tough time getting clear reception. Along with their weak signal, WOXY's playlist was huge which is probably why they continually suffered weak ratings. Back when I had access to radio trade magazines, I was always amazed at the size of their playlist which was easily 3 or 4 times larger than a traditional, commercial alternative station. Even though they broadcast from the home of Miami University, 97X wasn't a college station although their song choices mirrored what many university radio stations played. The first (and last, terrestrially) song they ever spun was "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2.

KDKA

On this date in 1920, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania's KDKA began broadcasting as the first commercial radio station in the United States. The first announcement heard were the returns from the 1920 presidential race between Warren G. Harding and James M. Cox. (Cox would later build a large newspaper and radio enterprise and died here in Dayton in 1957.)

KDKA is one of four radio stations east of the Mississippi River that use call letters beginning with K. The others are KYW in Philadelphia, KQV in Pittsburgh and KFIZ from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

What is that thing in front of the city skyline on the bottom sticker? An oil gusher? (click it to enlarge)

Sunday Sticker - More KGSG

KGSG was a Gospel music station licensed to Pasco, Washington. Sometime in the past 10 months they switched to a Rhythmic Adult Contemporary format as "Groove 93.7." A third KGSG sticker can be seen here.

WRCC

Cape Coral, Florida's 103.9 FM WRCC went on the air in 1975 with an Easy Listening format.  According to this newspaper article, they started adding talk shows to their programming as well as mixing Easy Listening "memory music" with Rock and Classical.  An ownership change took place in 1983 and by 1990 WRCC ceased to exist (at least with those call letters.)

Hold Your Wee For A Wii

Yesterday a jury awarded $16.5 million to the family of a woman who died after taking part in a radio-sponsored water drinking contest. Back in 2007, Jennifer Strange drank 2 gallons of water without urinating in a "Hold Your Wee For A Wii" contest on "107.9 The End" in Sacramento, California. After finishing in 2nd place, the mother of three vomited and complained of a headache before heading home. She later died of water intoxication. Entercom Sacramento LLC was found to be 100% at fault after a week of deliberations by a jury.

KDND is a Contemporary Hit Music station licensed to Sacramento. They're one of three Top-40 stations in that market along with KSFM and KBMB. Prior to their CHR format they were a Classic Rock station known as "Arrow 108" KXOA.

States on Stickers #3

KLAW is a Country music station in LAWton, Oklahoma. For other state-shape radio stickers click here.

KTRR

KTRR is an Adult Contemporary station licensed to Loveland, Colorado. They dropped both of the slogans used above and now proclaim to be "The Best Variety of Lite Rock Favorites."

WQNF

WQNF was a short-lived Rock station in Louisville, Kentucky circa 1994. They had an All-80s format afterwards and are currently part of the Way-FM group of Contemporary Christian stations as WRVI. WQNF was licensed to Valley Station, KY.

WRCG

WRCG is a News/Talk Radio station from Columbus, Georgia. Judging by Yosemite Sam's hat, I'm guessing they might have had a Country music format back in the 1970s.

Sunday Sticker - KGLE

KGLE is a Religious Teaching station licensed to GLEndive, Montana. They've carried a Christian-based format since going on the air in August, 1962.

The bottom sticker is yet another mirrored surface decal which is troublesome for the 'ole scanner.

National Bologna Day

I got an email from a friend yesterday which ended like this:

"PS tomorrow is National Bologna Day. How will you celebrate and can you find a radio sticker to go with it. YOU HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED!!!!!!"

Love FM is a radio station located in, wait for it.....BOLOGNA, Italy. Actually it’s one of at least 7 Love FM stations throughout the country. I listened to the one from Bologna and one from Bari while writing this and they’re pretty much an Adult Contemporary station: Madonna, REM, Tears For Fears, a song called “Music and Lights” by Imagination (which sounded an awful like Kool & the Gang) and a long-forgotten gem, “Voices” by Russ Ballard. The two stations had separate programming so I guess Love FM wouldn’t be considered a network. Didn’t hear any DJs but I did hear what I think was the news. Station IDs were in both English and Italian.

There was a bologna factory where I used to live in Palmyra, Pennsylvania. Seltzer's Smokehouse Meats specializes in Lebanon bologna, a smoky, tangy beef sausage which was a childhood food staple (along with other regional favorites like birch beer and Tastykakes.)

So there you go, Jeff. A balogna-related Radio Sticker of the Day post. Happy?

KLAM

My son is recovering from the flu and stayed home from school again today. He was feeling better so after I lost to him in a game of Life we watched Stand By Me. Somehow I had gone all these years without seeing this 1986 movie about 4 kids who make a two-day hike to find a dead body. It’s set in Oregon circa 1959 and radio plays a small role. A “Boss Jock” DJ from the fictional K-L-A-M is heard in a couple voiceovers as well as a participant in a pie eating contest. The pie scene ends in a gloriously disgusting Barf-O-Rama which will never be forgotten by anyone who’s ever seen this movie.

There exists an actual station with the call letters KLAM located in Cordova, Alaska. “1450 The Clam” first went on the air in 1954 and today airs a mix of Country, Classic Rock and Talk. Cordova was known as the “Clam Capital of the World” until an earthqauke destroyed the local clam beds in 1964.

This is a dual sticker with KLAM's sister station KCDV "100.9 FM The Eagle."

WPOC

93.1 FM WPOC (W Pride Of the Chesapeake) is a Country music station in Baltimore, Maryland.

WBDX / WJLJ

J103 is a Contemporary Christian station in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Their programming is simulcast on two stations: 102.7 FM WBDX licensed to Trenton, Georgia and 103.1 FM WJLJ licensed to Etowah, Tennessee.