Australia Day

January 26th is Australia Day, a national holiday commemorating the arrival in 1788 of a fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain. They landed in Sydney Cove, raised the Union Jack and proclaimed British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia. Today the holiday is celebrated like our 4th of July, with parades, barbecues and a general sense of national pride (unless you're an indigenous Australian, some of whom refer to today as Invasion Day.) It wasn't until 1935 that all states and territories used the name Australia Day to mark the date. Not until 1994 did Australians consistently celebrate today as a public holiday.

4BK began broadcasting to Brisbane at 1290 AM in 1930. Five years later they moved to 1300 AM before settling at 1296 AM in 1978.



In 1990 the station became 4BBB and began broadcasting on the FM band at 105.3 as "B105."

R.I.P. Air America

By now you've probably heard about the demise of the liberal talk network Air America which filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last week. The network went on the air in 2004 but was beset by financial difficulties and an unstable talent lineup throughout its short history. At its peak, AA had over 100 affiliate stations that carried some or all of its programming but only about half of those remained by the end. I occasionally listened to Al Franken's show on 1360 WSAI from Cincinnati before he left AA to become a U.S. Senator in 2007. I remember thinking he was kinda boring and unfunny for a comedian.

San Diego, California's Air America affiliate was AM 1360 KLSD (K Liberal San Diego.) It is that city's oldest radio station dating back to 1922. They've had a variety of formats over the years including Top-40, AOR, News and Adult Standards. KLSD is currently a Fox Sports Radio affiliate known as "Xtra Sports 1360."

In 2006, a woman was allegedly fired from her job for displaying an Air America KLSD bumper sticker.

WLOW

1980's Broadcasting Yearbook lists Aiken, South Carolina's WLOW AM as Top-40 although they were probably still an MOR station when this 1970s-era sticker came out. By 1981 they had switched calls to WKTX while WLOW FM became WPBM. After that it's a complete mystery what happened to these frequencies. There are no longer any stations licensed to Aiken at either 1300 AM or 95.9 FM although there is a WLOW at 107.9 FM further downstate in Port Royal with a Soft AC format. I also wonder if there is a story behind the carousel...or whatever that thing is. Anybody know?

WHUB

WHUB AM is a Classic Country/Southern Gospel station from Cookeville, Tennessee. They went on the air in 1940 followed by WHUB FM in 1964. At some point the FM half moved up a notch to 98.5 which is currently Top-40 WGIC "MaGIC 98.5"

WLAS

WLAS was a Country station licensed to Jacksonville, North Carolina. The call letters supposedly stood for (W) Land And Sea in reference to nearby Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune which is a leader in amphibious warfare training. WLAS went on the air in 1954 and eventually went dark in 1990 before returning two years later as "Hot Talk 910." The station was sold in 1996 and most recently was airing Spanish programming with the new call letters WSRP but it appears this has gone silent as well.

WGRP

WGRP AM is currently a Classic Country station licensed to GReenville, Pennsylvania. It's unclear what their format was when this sticker came out. Various Broadcasting Yearbooks from the 1970s don't list a format except to say that they carried 15 hours of Country & Western "specialty programming" per week and that WGRP FM simulcast 65% of WGRP AM's content. In 1981's Yearbook their format was listed as MOR. Around 1985 WGRP FM changed calls to WEXC and later became a Christian CHR outlet as "Freq 107." Last year they switched their branding to "Indie 107.1"

KQWC

KQWC AM began as KJFJ (owned by the Daily Freeman Journal newspaper) when it first went on the air in 1950. In the early 1970s the new owners combined KJFJ with the recently acquired KQWC which was at 95.9 FM. Today KQWC AM carries a Nostalgia format known as "Magic 1570." KQWC FM moved down a notch to 95.7 FM and is currently "Q95," an AC Oldies station. Both are licensed to Webster City, Iowa.

WIRB

WIRB (WIRegrass Broadcasting) was an AM/FM combo broadcasting from Enterprise, Alabama. It's unclear if they simulcast the same programming or if one was "Swingin' Country Sounds" and the other was "Pops Past and Present." The FM half is now WDJR, a Country station known as "The Big Dog 96.9" while the AM side ceased to exist altogether.

KDDD

I finally began organizing my miniature radio stickers this past weekend. They would have been lost or crushed if they lived in the bins with the regular sized stickers so for years I tossed them into a cookie tin and forgot about them.

Now I’m about a third of the way through sorting them and giving each state or province their own envelope.

I’ve also found a few duplicates for trading that I didn’t know I had. One other thing I rediscovered was a series of vintage stickers that I’m guessing came out around the early 1970s for various stations around the country. Most are rectangular or square with rounded edges and brown paper backing, although a few are round or even shield shaped. They also have a feel to them similar to a patch...almost like they were made of denim (click the sticker to see the texture better.) I’ll be posting one of these classic stickers every day this week.

We’ll start with KDDD AM & FM from the panhandle city of Dundas, Texas.

The DDD comes from the song I’m a Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas which was penned by bandleader and songwriter Phil Baxter in the 1920s. Shortly after World War II, KDDD went on the air and used Ding Dong as its theme song and later commissioned an artist to create the station mascot of a cartoon cowboy with microphone. Today KDDD FM is an Oldies station with a heavy local news/sports/weather emphasis. The AM side doesn't appear to have a presence on the internet but is either Country or Spanish depending on which website you believe.

Camel Wrestling

I've heard of bull fighting, cock fighting and dog fighting but camel wrestling is a competition I'd never heard of. The largest camel wrestling festival will be held today in an ancient stadium near Selçuk in western Turkey. The sport takes place between two male Tülu camels who wrestle in response to a nearby female camel in heat. A winner is determined when one camel falls down or runs out of the arena. Even though these massive camels (some weigh almost one ton) seem like they could do some major damage, the sport is rather mild compared to other one-on-one, animal-based sports which often lead to the participants death. The camels merely buck up side-by-side or lock necks and try to trip each other.

KMLE is a long-time Country music station in the Phoenix, Arizona market and licensed to Chandler, AZ.

Appreciate A Dragon Day

January 16th is "Appreciate A Dragon Day" which was started in 2004 by author Donita K Paul to celebrate the release of one of her Dragonkeeper Chronicles books. The "holiday" has since been embraced by libraries and weirdos who still play Dungeons and Dragons.

This is a window sticker from Red Dragon Radio, a local, independent Top-40 station in Cardiff, Wales. They were originally known as the CBC (Cardiff Broadcasting Company) when they went on the air in 1980. In 1986 they merged with Gwent Broadcasting's troubled GB Radio to form Red Dragon.

WBGK

WBGK was an Adult Album Alternative station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin circa 1986. 95.7 FM is currently WRIT, a 60s & 70s Oldies station.

WKHY

WKHY (W Klassic Hits for You) is a Rock station licensed to Lafayette, Indiana. The station began in 1970 as WXUS, a Religious broadcaster at 92.7 FM. They then flipped to Adult Contemporary as "US 93" before switching to Album Oriented Rock in the mid-1980s. The late 80s saw a frequency move to 93.5 FM, a format change to Classic Hits and the new WKHY call letters. Today they're considered a Mainstream Rock station (at least according to these guys.)

WJOB

I had never heard of Jan C. Gabriel until yesterday but his trademark "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" exclamation in radio and TV commercials for drag strips and speedways are almost an American institution.

        The "echoing Sunday" bit is still used all the time, often in parodies but mostly in Monster Truck Rally voiceovers (along with another favorite, "You'll pay for the entire seat...but you'll only need the edge!") Gabriel died this past Sunday (Sunday! Sunday!....sorry) of kidney disease at the age of 69. His credits include a long list of Chicago-area media work as well as the president of an advertising agency. In the early 1960s, Gabriel was a DJ at WJOB in northwestern Indiana.

 
Here's a miniature Weatherline sticker from WJOB:
WJOB is a News/Talk/Sports station licensed to Hammond, Indiana.

Dart on Map - WNBI & WCQM

As regular RSotD readers (all six of you) know, I occasionally throw a virtual dart at a map and find the radio station closest to the landing spot that I have a sticker from. The dart this time landed in northern Wisconsin between the Flambeau River State Forest and the Chequamegon National Forest near the town of Draper (population 171.)



WNBI in nearby Park Falls is currently a Sports station affiliated with ESPN Radio. Not sure what the format was when this 1970s-era sticker came out. WNBI FM became WCQM in 1991.

WCQM is a Country music station also licensed to Park Falls, Wisconsin.

KAAY

KAAY began in the early 1960s as a clear-channel Top-40 station in Little Rock, Arkansas. The night signal of "The Mighty Ten Ninety" reached from Manitoba in the north to Cuba in the south.
In the late 1960s, at 11 PM each night, KAAY dropped the Top-40 format and aired three hours of "underground" rock music on the show Beaker Street hosted by Clyde Clifford. This show pre-dated the 1970s rise of FM album-oriented and progressive rock stations. Clifford did his program at the transmitter site rather than KAAY's downtown studios as he was also the overnight broadcast engineer. He played sound effects and instrumental music between songs to mask the noise of the transmitter. Beaker Street lived on with various hosts at various stations and continues to this day--Sunday nights at 7 on Classic Rock KKPT "The Point 94.1"
In 1985 KAAY became a Southern Gospel station and later transitioned to Contemporary Christian. Today they're the most powerful Religious station in the United States pumping out Christian Talk with 50,000 watts 24 hours a day.

Sunday Sticker - KIHM

KIHM a Religious station licensed to Reno, Nevada. They're one of a couple dozen stations in the Immaculate Heart Radio network mostly located in California and New Mexico.

Blanchard's Balloon

On this date in 1793, Frenchman Jean Pierre Blanchard made the first balloon ascent in North America. He took off in his hydrogen-filled craft from a prison yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which, at the time, was the capital of the United States. George Washington witnessed the launch and gave the non-English speaking Blanchard a letter that would introduce him wherever he landed (which ended up being Deptford Township, New Jersey.) This effectively was the first American airmail delivery. In 1809 Blanchard had a heart attack while up in a balloon in the Netherlands. He fell out and died a few weeks later from the severe injuries. His wife Sophie died 10 years later while ballooning in Paris, the victim of a combination of highly-flamable hydrogen and fireworks. Tampa, Florida’s WRBQ used this balloon sticker in the mid-1980s. Q105 had been a longtime CHR station in the Tampa Bay area and still uses the same logo to this day, although they now carry a Classic Hits format. Here's a couple more WRBQ stickers: 

circa 2017

circa 1990This looks like it might date from the early 1980s or even late 1970s, perhaps when they were still a Rock station.

WEJM

WEJM was an R&B Oldies station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1999 to 2001. "Jammin' Gold 95.7" then became "Mix 95.7" WMWX and is currently an Adult Hits outlet "Ben FM" WBEN.

BCS National Championship Game - Alabama vs Texas

Tonight is the championship game of college football's horribly flawed Bowl Championship Series. The University of Alabama Crimson Tide take on the Longhorns of the University of Texas at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. I couldn't care less who wins but I'll root for Alabama because they haven't won it all since 1992 and UT last won in 2006.

KUT is a public radio station owned and operated by the University of Texas at Austin.


WVUA is the Voice of the University of Alabama. They carry an Alternative Rock format and are now known as "90.7 The Capstone."