HFS Returns

Long-time Washington DC/Baltimore Alternative station WHFS (W High Fidelity Stereo) will return to the airwaves at 97.5 FM on August 1. In the 1960s and '70s WHFS was a Freeform Rock station located at 102.3 FM and had been a Modern Rock station until 1983 when they moved to 99.1 FM.  HFS flipped abruptly to Tropical Latin "El Zol" WLZL in 2005. WHFS is officially the HD-2 feed of WWMX at 106.5 FM and translated on W248AO at 97.5 FM licensed to Baltimore, Maryland.

EDIT:  I just finished watching a documentary titled "Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3".  This excellent feature-length doc focuses on WHFS' years as a Freeform Rock station with tons of interviews from station employees and performers who were heard on--and were fans of--the beloved station.  As of this edit in October 2024, it's available to stream for free on the PBS app.

Monsters of Rock / WRIF

The 1988 Monsters of Rock was a festival tour featuring Metallica, Dokken, Scorpions, Kingdom Come and headlined by Van Halen. This WRIF sticker was released to coincide with the June 16th and 17th stop of the tour at the Pontiac Silverdome near Detroit, Michigan. WRIF has been giving out various bumper stickers in the classic "racetrack" shape for much of its 40 year history. Most feature a band's name or logo but some have included sports teams, DJs, and station slogans. The station's website has a section with many of their decals over the years. There are probably hundreds (maybe thousands?) of different WRIF stickers out there. Some people have even made a hobby out of collecting WRIF stix.

KKRS

KKRS is a Christian station licensed to Davenport, Washington. They are one of a zillion stations and translators in the Calvary Satellite Network.

Bridges

Earlier this month we went white water rafting in West Virginia. It was something I'd never done before and was a total blast (that's me in back left of the picture....I let my son take the brunt of the rapids sitting front left.)

Near the end of the six hour journey we passed under the spectacular, 876 foot high New River Gorge Bridge. It's the longest steel span in the western hemisphere and the second highest vehicular bridge in the United States. The 1977 completion of the bridge reduced a winding, 40 minute drive to less than a minute.



KTBG "90.9 The Bridge" is an Adult Album Alternative station owned by the University of Central Missouri and licensed to Warrensburg, MO. They also carry some programming from National Public Radio including All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

KCWN is a Christian Contemporary station licensed to New Sharon, Iowa.

CKBD became Canada's first Contemporary Christian station in 1994. The 600 AM frequency went dark in 2008, having been used in Vancouver, British Columbia under various call letters since 1933.

KBSO

KBSO carried a "Texas Mix" format consisting of outlaw/progressive/classic country along with some rock from artists like ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Van Morrison. They were on the air from 2001 to 2006. After switching to Tejano they have since returned for one more go at the Texas Country format as "Badlands FM." KBSO is licensed to Corpus Christi, Texas.

KEGG

1560 AM KEGG was a Country station (at least when this sticker was printed) from Daingerfield, Texas. After reading the little bit of history I could find on this station, it seems they've had quite a few formats over the years and a fair amount of poor ownership. If this bulletin board post can be believed, in 1994 they switched to Urban yet, amazingly, carried Rush Limbaugh in the afternoon. 1560 AM is currently a Country Gospel station, "King Country Radio" KNGR.
This jumbo sticker measures a whopping 15" across.

Radio in the Movies #6 - "A.M. Mayhem"

"A.M. Mayhem" is a documentary about Tucson, Arizona's first Hip-Hop station "Power 1490" KJYK. I haven't seen the film myself because the only public showing was last night at the Fox Theatre in Tucson although it is also available on DVD.

"Power 1490" played Hip-Hop and Rap from 1991 to 1995. They then switched to Modern Rock KKND "The End"--an abrupt format flip that remained a mystery but is apparently explained in the movie. Watch the trailer below:

Anheuser-Busch / KMOX

While in St. Louis we took a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery.

The tour was very interesting. Anheuser-Busch was formed in 1869 and became the largest brewer in the United States in 1957. Three buildings on its site are listed as National Historic Landmarks. Afterwards we got two free glasses of beer. I chose a Shock Top and a Stella Artois. I had no idea that A-B brewed, imported or distributed so many brands besides Budweiser: Beck's, Michelob, Natural Light, Bass Ale, Rolling Rock and Bacardi Silver among many others.

The best part of the tour might have been seeing the famous Budweiser Clydesdales. There are five "hitches" or teams of horses that travel the country for promotional purposes and one hitch that stays at the brewery in a historic brick stable. To become a Budweiser Clydesdale the horse must have a reddish-brown coat, four white stocking feet and a blaze of white on their face. If not, then it's off to the glue factory they probably stay at Anheuser-Busch-owned Grant's Farm or their breeding facility Warm Springs Ranch.

I knew these horses were massive but you really have no idea until you're right up next to one (I'm 5'11".)

I also saw two beer wagon dalmatians scamper through the stable but they ran off before I could get a picture.

KMOX is a News/Talk station from St. Louis, Missouri. Anheuser-Busch owned the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team from 1953 to 1996. The Cardinals home of Busch Stadium was originally going to be called Budweiser Stadium but was prevented from doing so by Major League Baseball. A-B went ahead and named it Busch Stadium and then slyly introduced a new brew called Busch Bavarian Beer.

KMOX

While walking to our eventual dinner destination one evening, I spotted the home of the legendary KMOX, "The Voice of St. Louis."

1120 AM is a 50,000-watt clear-channel News/Talk station that first broadcast on Christmas Eve 1925. They carried St. Louis Cardinal baseball games from 1954 until 2005 when they lost the rights to KTRS. The 2011 season marks the return of KMOX as the flagship station of the Redbirds.

Eagles

I saw this beautiful eagle at Grant's Farm in St. Louis. It was just perched out in the open...a sign said that it had been injured and was unable to fly anymore.

WEGK was a Classic Rock station licensed to Starview, Pennsylvania. 92.7 FM is currently Smooth Jazz WSJW.

WEGW is an Active Rock station from Wheeling, West Virginia.


"Eagle 106.3 KYGL" is a Classic Rock station licensed to Texarkana, Arkansas.

Actual Sticker Sighting #12 - KRMS

I saw this sticker in the parking lot at Grant's Farm in St. Louis. KRMS (K Robert M. Smith-the original owner) is a News/Talk station licensed to Osage Beach, Missouri.

Gateway Arch / WARH

Today we spent a few hours in and around the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. The Arch stands 630 feet tall (as well as wide) and is the tallest man-made monument in the United States. It was built as a structural expression of westward expansion of the US and was completed in 1965.

To get to the top you have to crawl inside this bizarre little "egg pod."

Here's the view looking west into downtown St. Louis. The Mississippi River and Illinois is directly behind. On the left you can see part of Busch Stadium where U2 had played a few nights before. They were in the process of replacing 110,000 square feet of grass which was removed for the concert. The new sod had to be replaced and in playable condition for the St. Louis Cardinals return from a road trip in one week. Earlier, we watched an excellent and dead-on U2 tribute band at a plaza downtown.


At the north base of the Arch.

"106.5 The Arch" WARH is an Adult Hits station licensed to Granite City, Illinois, just outside St. Louis.

Another Arch-related radio sticker can be seen here.

Actual Sticker Sighting #11 - WDRT

I saw the above bumper sticker while driving to St. Louis on I-70 in Effingham, Illinois. WDRT ( W DRifTless Community Radio) is a non-commercial, volunteer run station licensed to Viroqua, Wisconsin. The Driftless Area is located primarily in southwestern Wisconsin but also includes parts of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. The term driftless refers to a lack of glacial drift, the material left behind by retreating glaciers.

Mystery Sticker #20

There was a KSJM "Power FM 97.5" in Tucson, Arizona circa the mid-1990s but I can't prove that this sticker is from there. Anybody? Anybody?

UPDATE:  See comments.

Radio Arabella

Radio Arabella is a network of pop music stations in Austria and Germany. The 94,0 frequency broadcast in Salzburg, Austria from 1998 to 2004 but has since been taken over by KroneHit. Here's a commercial for their main station in Vienna: