More MPG

Four more stickers from Portland, Maine's WMPG.

WMPG

WMPG (W Maine Portland Gorham) is a block-programmed Variety station licensed to Gorham, Maine. They broadcast from the campus of the University of Southern Maine-Portland using a combination of students and community volunteers. WMPG officially went on the air in 1973 after being a carrier current station for three years prior. 

Ernie Barnes' iconic painting The Sugar Shack features a WMPG banner hanging from the rafters.  It's a completely unrelated (and fictional) station of course.  The version of this painting seen here was used as cover art on Marvin Gaye's 1976 album I Want You so Barnes used Gaye's initials for the call letters.  The original Sugar Shack incorporated a banner from WSRC, a station from Barnes' hometown of Durham, North Carolina.

 

WHIN

WHIN is a Country station from Gallatin, Tennessee near Nashville. Anybody know what "Love That Wave" was referring to?

UPDATE:  See comments.

WBMX

WBMX (W Black Music EXperience) was an Urban Contemporary station in Chicago, Illinois from 1975 to 1988. They also carried a highly influential Saturday night dance show hosted by the Hot Mix 5 which led directly to the creation of House Music. The city of Chicago even named a downtown street after them.

WBMX became Urban Adult Contemporary WVAZ "V103" in October, 1988.

KSTO

KSTO is an Adult Contemporary station from Agana, Guam.

KMHK

KMHK "95.5 The Hawk" was a Classic Hits station from Hardin, Montana. 95.5 FM is currently "News Radio 95" KCHH while the KMHK calls, mascot and format have moved to 103.7 FM licensed to Billings, MT.

KDHN

KDHN is a Country station licensed to Dimmitt, Texas. This sticker dates from around 1982 according to this list of Coca-Cola slogans.

CFAR

CFAR is an Adult Contemporary station from the wonderfully named Flin Flon, Manitoba.

Flin Flon is split by the border of two provinces, with about 6,000 residents living in Manitoba and a few hundred living in Saskatchewan. The city was named for Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin, a character in the book The Sunless City who piloted a submarine through a bottomless lake then passed through a hole lined with gold and entered into a mysterious world. A prospector discovered a rich vein of copper in the area and named it Flin Flon's Mine and the town that grew around the mine adopted the name.

A statue of Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin stands in the city overlooking the perimeter of the Flin Flon Tourist Park. "Flinty" even had his own $3.00 coin which was considered legal tender within the city during its first year of issue.

Spreeradio 105.5

Spreeradio 105.5 started out with an Easy Listening format but now would be considered something like a Classic Hits station. They broadcast from Berlin, Germany.

Sticker Board #1

I started collecting radio station bumper stickers in the mid 1980s, but it wasn't until 1997 that the amount of decals in the collection really started to grow significantly. That year I got internet access which made contacting radio stations cheap and easy. Up until then I was blindly sending out self-addressed stamped envelopes and hoping I got something back. Now I could email the station to see if a sticker was available and usually they mailed it right to me if I asked nicely (sometimes with other station goodies as well.) Around this time, my feeble mind decided it would be a good idea to stick a bunch of decals to large sheets of poster board. I filled up 26 of these boards which, at an average of 55 stickers per board, means I "wasted" 1,430 radio station bumper stickers. I even went so far as to get a sheet of plexiglass to display window and static stickers but then thought better of it. While I still technically own these stickers, and the boards look pretty cool, I wish I had them in their intact form. Like a giant puzzle, it was a real challenge finding and placing the stickers to fit the board perfectly. Here's the first sheet of stickers--click it for a closer view. I'll post the other 25 boards in the coming months/years.

Here's the station listing for this board from left to right, top to bottom.

KPRZ - San Diego, California WBAP - Fort Worth, Texas “Magic 105” KMJX - Little Rock, Arkansas “FM 102” KNOE - Monroe, Louisiana “106.5 The Buzz” KBZU - Richmond, Virginia “Z Rock 106.7 FM” KRQR - Orland, California KSFM - Woodland, California KOGT - Orange, Texas Rev 105 KREV/WREV - Minneapolis, Minnesota “Colors 92.7” KLRS - Chico, California KFKF - Kansas City, Kansas “KQ98” KQYB - Spring Grove, Minnesota “Hot 103” - Kansas City, Missouri WVUD - Newark, Delaware KIIM - Tucson, Arizona KOOP - Hornsby, Texas “103.7 The Planet” KPLN - San Diego, California KJLS - Hays, Kansas KQXY - Nederland, Texas WHSA - Brule, Wisconsin KPRO - Riverside, California 92,2 Radio Toulouse - Toulouse, France “Jazz FM 98” KIFM - San Diego, California KFWB - Los Angeles, California Radio Nostalgie 101.4 - France Energie 101,5 - Lyon, France “The River 93.5” WCTB - Waterville, Maine KFMW - Waterloo, Iowa KRNA - Iowa City, Iowa KKUA - Wailuku, Hawaii KHUM - Ferndale, California KGON - Portland, Oregon KIPO - Honolulu, Hawaii Radio Toulouse - Toulouse, France “93 Rock” KRXQ - Roseville, CA KLAW - Lawton, Oklahoma KONA - Kennewick, Washington KQKI - Morgan City, Louisiana “KRock 101.5” KMKF - Manhattan, Kansas KQRS - Golden Valley, Minnesota KRBE - Houston, Texas “Kiss 97.3” KKSS - Albuquerque, New Mexico KPCC - Pasadena, California KMLB - Monroe, Louisiana “The Boss 93.9” KOYN - Paris, Texas “B100” KBDR - Mirando City, Texas “Mix 96.3” KHMX - Houston, Texas KABF - Little Rock, Arkansas KRCC - Colorado Springs, Colorado WVBR - Ithaca, New York KPLX - Fort Worth, Texas KLJC - Kansas City, Missouri WRKY - Steubenville, Ohio Radio Pori - Pori, Finland

Coral Coast Radio

4BCR "Coral Coast Radio" is a community broadcaster from Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia. They have a variety of block formatted programming including Rock, Jazz, Blues, Country, Easy Listening and Ethnic.

Z Rock

Z Rock was a nationally syndicated Hard Rock/Heavy Metal radio network based out of Dallas, Texas. They existed from 1986 to 1996. I remember listening to our local Z Rock affiliate, 96.5 WZRZ out of Cincinnati which went on the air in 1990. At least one station still uses the Z Rock name and logo despite the network being defunct--KRQR from Orland, California. A surprising number of Z Rock stations lived on the AM dial including these three:

KMTW - Las Vegas, Nevada. Currently Spanish as KRLV.


KKZR - Houston, Texas. Currently News/Talk KNTH.

WLPZ - Westbrook, Maine. Currently carries a Sports format as WRED.

My son displaying a vintage, shark-logoed Z Rock t-shirt along with some apparent roid rage.

WFSR

1470 WFSR was a Country station from Harlan, Kentucky circa 1982. They're currently a Gospel station located at 970 AM. Just what exactly is "Country Lovin?" I'm serious...I have no idea. (Insert sheep joke here.)

Market #1s - Philadelphia - WBEB

101.1 FM first went on the air in 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as WDVR. They became Adult Contemporary "B101.1" around 1993 and remain the only independently owned station in the market. WBEB was the highest-rated station in Philly according to the latest Arbitron ratings.

WRKO

WRKO was a powerhouse Top-40 station in Boston, Massachusetts from 1967 to 1981. They now carry a Talk format. An excellent WRKO tribute site can be found here.

WLLK

WLLK is a CHR station licensed to Somerset, Kentucky at 102.3 FM. From 2001 to 2005 WLLK lived at 93.9 FM licensed to Burnside, KY with the same format (I'm assuming.) WLLK is owned by Clear Channel Communications and this decal seems like a version of their ubiquitous Mix stickers.

WFUV

WFUV is a National Public Radio affiliate owned by Fordham University in New York, New York. They play Adult Album Alternative music along with some Folk, Pop and Jazz.

WABX

WABX was an Album Oriented Rock station from Detroit, Michigan. In the late 1960s they played freeform progressive rock but moved toward mainstream AOR in the 1970s. By the 80s WABX was the third ranked Rock station in Detroit behind WRIF and WLLZ. They flipped to Soft Rock "Class FM" WCLS in 1984. 99.5 FM currently carries a Country format as WYCD. WABX's logo was ripped-off lovingly borrowed by the current WABX in Evansville, Indiana.

WABX

WABX is a Classic Rock station from Evansville, Indiana.

KRVG

KRVG "95.5 The River" is a Classic Rock station licensed to Glenwood Springs, Colorado.