Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a brief time-capsule of mid-1980s wasted youth. The made-for-public-access-TV documentary captures various heshers tailgating before a Judas Priest concert at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. It's a simple concept but hugely entertaining to watch. Tons of Chevy Camaros, shirtless dudes and drunken rambling. Ah...it was a better, simpler time. Check out this clip of a DC/101 fan doing his best Rob Halford impression featuring hair that was long out of fashion even in 1986.

You can view the entire 16 minute movie here.

WWDC "DC101" is an Active Rock station from Washington D.C. These stickers have their current logo which they've been using since at least 2004. They were a straight-ahead Album Rock station when Heavy Metal Parking Lot came out in 1986.

WCIR

103.7 FM WCIR is a CHR station licensed to Beckley, West Virginia. Until 1976 they were a Contemporary Christian station whose call letters stood for Christianity In Radio.

KQV

1410 AM KQV (King of the Quaker Valley) has been a News station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for almost 35 years. Their history dates back to 8ZAE, an amateur station which signed on in 1919. KQV became officially licensed three years later. The AM 1410 signal was a hugely successful Top 40 station from the late 1950s, through the entire 1960s and lasting until 1975 when they switched to News. One of KQV's DJs in the 1970s was "Jeff Christie," better known today as Rush Limbaugh.

WFXH

"Rock 106.1" WFXH is an Active Rock station licensed to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

WLKC

WLKC was a Country station licensed to Henderson, New York. 100.7 FM is currently a Classic Hits station WEFX known as "The Fox."

KVMX

KVMX was an Eighties station from Portland, Oregon. "Mix 107.5" was licensed to Banks, OR. The frequency is currently home to Rhythmic Top-40 KXJM "Wild 107.5"

KSCO

AM 1080 KSCO (K Santa Cruz's Own) is a Talk station from Santa Cruz, California.

Radio Val

Radio Val is?/was? a station from Koper, Slovenia on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. My guess is that they are no longer operational since their website is defunct. A pop music station named Val 202 exists which may or may not be related to Radio Val. It is one of three national radio services offered by Radiotelevizija Slovenija, Slovenia's public broadcasting organization.

WHHY

"Y102" WHHY is a CHR station from Montgomery, Alabama.

CKCE

CKCE is a Hot AC station from Calgary, Alberta. "Energy 101.5" went on the air in March, 2007.

Interstate Signs

The Interstate Highway system (official name: The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways) consists of over 46,000 miles of roadway serving nearly every major U.S. city. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) developed a detailed highway numbering system in the 1950s. West-east highways are assigned even numbers and south-north highways are given odd numbers. Numbers generally increase from west to east and south to north. There are also rules about one, two and three digit highway numbers, business routes and shared roadway between two interstates. Interstate signage consists of red, white and blue shields which AASHTO has actually copyrighted but that didn't stop these three radio stations from using the design for their stickers.

WNYN was a Country music station in Canton, Ohio. They carried that format from the 1960s through the mid 1980s. Currently 900 AM is WCER, a Religious/Syndicated Talk station.

WLWI “I-92” is a Country music station from Montgomery, Alabama.



WUSY “Wussy 101” “U.S. 101” is a Country music station from Chattanooga, Tennessee and licensed to Cleveland, TN

National Pig Day

WPGI is a Country music station licensed to Horseheads, New York. They dropped the "Piggy" branding and are now known as "100.9 Big Pig." They use the same "Big Pig" mascot as their sister station WPIG in Olean, New York.

Canada Wins Hockey Gold

Congratulations to the Canadian men's Olympic hockey team on their victory over the United States this afternoon. The US made it exciting with a tying goal with only 24.4 seconds left in regulation but then Sidney Crosby had to go and win it 3-2 in sudden death overtime. What a jerk. The Buffalo Sabre's goalie Ryan Miller was named the Olympic tournament MVP despite losing the gold medal game. This isn't the first time that Crosby beat Miller with an agonizing game-ending goal--he scored for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout to win the inaugural Winter Classic in Buffalo back in 2008. What a dick.

Oh, that reminds me...congrats as well to the Canadian women's hockey team for their gold medal winning performance.

This is an Olympic-themed sticker from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC is Canada's national public radio and television broadcaster. The sticker features the current CBC logo which has been in use since 1992.

Both sides of a CBC bookmark.

KUHF

KUHF is a public radio station in Houston, Texas which airs a Classical music format. They've been owned and operated by the University of Houston since going on the air in 1950. KUHF was originally at 91.3 FM before moving to 88.7 in 1970. In 1986 a local fine arts radio station flipped formats and donated its entire music library to KUHF with the condition that they change their format to Classical. Prior to this they carried NPR News and Jazz. KUHF is still an National Public Radio affiliate broadcasting All Things Considered, Car Talk and Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me as well as other NPR staples.

The Rivers

"FM 101 The River" KDRE was an Adult Standards station licensed to North Little Rock, Arkansas. It is currently KZTS, an Urban Contemporary station known as "Streets 101."

"93.3 The River" WQRV was a Classic Hits station licensed to Avon, New York. The frequency is currently home to "Fickle 93.3" WFKL, a Jack FM-style Variety Hits station.

"100.7 The River" WRVA is a Classic Hits station licensed to Wake Forest, North Carolina.

WXUT

WXUT is a 100-watt, student-run, Alternative station from the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. WXUT shares the 88.3 FM frequency with Jazz station WXTS which is operated by the Toledo Public School system.

KCGB

KCGB is a Hot AC station licensed to Hood River, Oregon. They also broadcast at 96.9 FM from The Dalles, OR. KCGB appears to get some or all of their programming from Citadel's syndicated "Today's Best Hits" network.

R.I.P. Doug Fieger

Doug Fieger, the lead singer of the Knack died recently. He battled cancer for several years but finally succumbed at the age of 57. The Knack is best known for My Sharona, a perfect slice of jerky, late 70s power pop from their debut album Get The Knack. My Sharona spent six weeks at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 but the band never reached those heights again. A backlash against them soon followed partly because of Feiger's perceived arrogance and partly because of some idiotic management moves (keeping the band from doing domestic press and refusing television appearances!) Because they hit it big so quickly and fell so fast, the Knack are an underappreciated band in my opinion. 1981's Pay Dirt is a great album and even 1991's Serious Fun gets an occasional spin on the old CD player.

 

"107.1 The Knack" KNKK is a uniquely-named Hot AC station licensed to Needles, California. They also broadcast at 96.7 FM from Kingman, Arizona and on 95.1 FM from Lake Havasu City, AZ.

WEZX

I was watching Season Three of The Office on DVD the other day when I saw something radio-related. In one episode Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute make an homage to the Saturday Night Live digital short Lazy Sunday called Lazy Scranton. In it, Schrute can be seen wearing a partially covered-up t-shirt from "Rock 107" WEZX.

WEZX is a Classic Rock station from, of course, Scranton, Pennsylvania. They also simulcast on WPZX in Pocono Pines, PA and WBZX in Hancock, New York as well as four signal repeaters. Dwight Schrute is apparently also a fan of Scranton's WGGY/WGGI. 

Here's my own, well-worn "Rock 107" t-shirt.

Sunday Sticker - KIRS

KIRS was a Religious station licensed to Sun Valley, Nevada circa 1996. 1590 AM is currently KQLO, a Spanish formatted station covering the Reno/Sparks/Carson City area.