Happy Thanksgiving!

The Voice of Turkey is the external radio service of TRT--Turkish Radio and Television. They've been broadcasting internationally via shortwave since the 1930s. Cultural, music and news programming are heard in over 25 different languages.

Listening live while making this post the voice of turkey was heard to say "Gobble gobble. I'm delicious with cranberry sauce. Gobble gobble." I'm just guessing, though. The static was pretty heavy.

Crossroads of America

The Interstate 70/I-75 interchange was officially completed this week. The massive $145 million project took seven years to finish. 70 and 75 are two of the longest interstates in the United States; I-75 runs from Michigan to Florida and I-70 from Maryland to Utah. They meet just north of Dayton, Ohio about 6 miles from my house. The old interchange was a 1950s-style cloverleaf where the merging of exiting and entering traffic in the same short lane was a dangerous pain in the ass. This picture isn't the actual interchange but gives you a good idea what it used to look like:


Here's a south-facing view of what it looks like now:

The project also included 16 new bridges, a railroad overpass, and the rebuilding of eight ramps. For the most part, traffic never stopped flowing regularly. There was only one time I got caught up in the construction; coming back from the Ohio State Fair around midnight they shut westbound I-70 down completely for 15 minutes. We just turned off the truck and waited it out.

This 1960s(?)-era WING AM sticker shows you just how proud we are of being "The Crossroads of America." Referring to Dayton as a "Megacity" seems like a bit of an overstatement though.

Dayton's first radio station, 1410 WING AM began as WXAX in 1921. They were a legendary Top-40 station in the 50s, 60s and 70s known as "High Flying WING AM." They are currently an ESPN radio affiliate. The WING call letters are a reference to Dayton's most famous citizens Wilbur and Orville Wright, the inventors of the world's first successful airplane.

WHFC

WHFC is the student and community volunteer-run station from Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland. Their signal reaches the Baltimore area as well as central Maryland and part of Pennsylvania. WHFC carries a Variety/block programming format including Jazz, Classical, Blues, Celtic, Folk and "Golden Age" radio shows like The Lone Ranger and Dragnet.

WKFR

WKFR (W Kalamazoo FM Radio) is a Contemporary Hit Radio station licensed to Battle Creek, Michigan. They began in 1963 at 96.5 FM as WELL-FM. A year later they moved to 103.3 FM with a Beautiful Music format but by the late 1970s switched to Adult Contemporary. In 1981 they flipped to their current CHR format.

Sunday Sticker - KHCB AM

KHCB AM is a Religious Teaching station in Houston, Texas. The AM side of KHCB broadcasts programming in Spanish, Chinese and, as you can see by this sticker, Vietnamese. Houston is home to the third largest Vietnamese-American population in the United States after Los Angeles and San Francisco. KHCB AM is licensed to League City, TX. Anybody know what the wording translates to? Stickers from KHCB FM and a translator can be seen here.

KMYZ

KMYZ is a Modern Rock station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They went on the air in 1985 as a Classic Rock station, flipped to CHR then back to straight-ahead Rock before going Alternative in 1995. "Z104.5 The Edge" is licensed to Pryor, Oklahoma.

WMNI

WMNI (after founder William R MNIch) is an Adult Standards station in Columbus, Ohio. They went on the air in 1958 and carried a Country format for many years.

CILK

CILK is an Adult Contemporary station from Kelowna, British Columbia. This sticker dates back to 1985 when Silk FM's format leaned more to Soft AC. 

WNIU / WNIJ

WNIU is a Classical music station licensed to Rockford, Illinois. They are a public service of (W) Northern Illinois University and began broadcasting in 1954. WNIU is currently located at 90.5 FM having moved from 89.5 FM in 1998.

Sister station WNIJ is licensed to Dekalb, IL and makes up one fifth of the Northern Public Radio network.  They carry News/Talk programming from NPR along with some music shows.

Radio in the Movies #1 - "Pirate Radio"

I watched the movie "Pirate Radio" this afternoon. It's directed by Richard Curtis who also wrote "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill." British radio in the 1960s was completely controlled by the government which refused to air rock music. This spawned a group of illegal ship-based broadcasters programming popular music from international waters, the most famous of which was Radio Caroline (generically named Radio Rock in the movie.) The ensemble cast was underwhelming even with Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the lone American DJ called The Count. Kenneth Branaugh's performance as a government suit bent on outlawing pirate radio is absurdly over-the-top and a subplot about a character named Carl finding his father is just lame. Sometimes it seemed like Curtis wrote the screenplay based on songs used on the soundtrack (Leonard Cohen's "So Long Marianne" fit just a little too perfectly into the script.) Given the subject matter I really wanted to like this film but didn't. Apparently "Pirate Radio" came out in Britain last spring under the title "The Boat That Rocked" and totally bombed at the box office. They trimmed 20 minutes for the American release but no amount of cutting can save this turkey.

KQLZ "Pirate Radio 100.3 FM" was a "Rock 40" station in Los Angeles, California from 1989 to 1993. They aired a mix of pop hits and rock songs claiming to play everything from Madonna to Metallica to Milli Vanilli. The station was masterminded by Scott Shannon who found great success in the 1980s with Z100 WHTZ in New York City. Unfortunately, the ratings never materialized, Shannon was fired in 1991 and KQLZ is now known as one of the most high profile failures in the history of radio.

Here's a t-shirt I received from Radio Caroline who were, amazingly, still broadcasting in 1998.

Amusing Call Letters #4 - WLSD

On this date in 1938 Albert Hofmann first synthesized the drug LSD at his lab in Switzerland. Hofmann discovered LSD's psychedelic properties when he accidentally ingested some in 1943. In the 1950s the Central Intelligence Agency began a research program which studied the effects of LSD (commonly known as acid) on their own employees, the military, the mentally ill and other members of the general public usually without their knowledge. Code named Project MKULTRA, the experiments weren't publically known until the mid-1970s. Possession of LSD was banned in 1968 which didn't stop the hippies from tripping on the brown acid a year later at Woodstock.

WLSD FM hit the air in 1975 with a Beautiful Music format. 93.5 is currently the Country music station WAXM. WLSD (Where Love Sounds Different) AM went on the air in 1953 and currently carries a Sothern Gospel Religious format. Both stations are licensed to Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

The Big Apple

We flew into New York City yesterday for a surprise visit to my stepson who's off-Broadway show opened Friday night. We saw last night's performance and it was hysterical. If you like comedy, improv and a little audience participation then this show is for you. Great stuff. Reid, we are SO proud of you.


This morning we strolled around a flea market and then had breakfast at a place called Hell's Kitchen. I ordered the pancakes but they brought what I think was French toast instead. Good thing though because those doughy slabs of cinnamony goodness were unbelievably awesome. After that we took the subway down to Battery Park and hopped a ferry to the Statue of Liberty. The green lady is much larger and majestic in person and up close. We weren't able to go up into the crown but just walking around the base was impressive enough.

Next we walked around Wall Street and Ground Zero. They appear to be conducting some preliminary construction on something but no one can agree what should be built. Lots of cranes and workers but not much rising up into the sky. The 9-11 families want a memorial and businessmen want a replacement structure. Surely there's a way to do both.


Next was dinner at a dumpy yet delicious Mexican joint called La Paloma. We then gathered up Reid after his matinee show and headed towards Times Square. This place was like being inside a television set; massive building-sized billboards and gigantic, multi-story TV screens lit up the night. An overload of advertising and people watching that we've all seen on New Year's Eve but it's something else to experience in person.


Then it was a short stroll to a place that I still can't believe exists--The NHL Store on the Avenue of the Americas. I love hockey and this store is an orgy of jerseys, shirts, hats, skates...anything you can think of from all 30 National Hockey League teams (as well as some that don't exist anymore.) Saw some very cool throwback Buffalo Sabres gear that I somehow resisted purchasing.
Off we went, this time to Magnolia's Bakery for a slice of Snicker's pie and chunky banana pudding which we ate while watching the skaters at Rockefeller Center.


After a quick stop at the hotel it was back to the subway for a ride to the East Village. Had a couple Brooklyn Winter Ales and watched the Colts/Patriots game. Our 5:30 wake up call was fast approaching so we called it a night. All in all, a brief yet busy first-time visit to The Big Apple.

Radio logo-wise I saw a handful of WHTZ "Z100" stickers on a few cars as well as a Radio Lausitz button pinned to a German tourist's backpack (which I could have easily stolen as I was standing right behind him in line for Statue of Liberty tickets.) I also saw this sticker slapped on the side of a hot dog cart.

New York does indeed rock. Thanks for showing us the city Reid and Jason!!

KEYE AM & FM

KEYE FM is a Classic Hits station licensed to Perryton, Texas. They've dropped the "Mix" identification and are now known as "96-1 My FM."

KEYE AM is a Country station also licensed to Perryton, TX. They run the Classic Country-leaning "Real Country" satellite service owned by Citadel broadcasting.

Mystery Sticker #10

Any idea what station this "C100" sticker is/was from? The first person with correct station identification will receive a $50 Amazon.com gift card and a case of Pepsi.*

*Don't count on it, buddy.

The Beats

KQIZ - Amarillo, Texas

WSSP - Goose Creek, South Carolina. Currently News/Talk WSCC.

WBTS - Licensed to Athens, Georgia at the time of receiving this sticker. Currently licensed to Doraville, GA.

Veteran's Day

WLUX was an Adult Standards station licensed to Islip, New York. This format ran from 1995 until 2002 and they were an affiliate of the satellite-fed Music Of Your Life service. 540 AM is currently WLIE, a brokered Ethnic station.

WATD

95.9 WATD is an Adult Contemporary/Classic Hits station licensed to Marshfield, Massachusetts. Their full-service, community-centered programming includes local and regional news, live high school sports and their own weatherman. WATD's transmitter site is located next to a landfill (the only place where local officials would allow the towers to be built.) The owner then asked for and received the WATD call letters which stand for We're At The Dump.

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.