WDIA

AM 1070 WDIA went on the air in Memphis, Tennessee in October 1947.  The call letters reflect the first name of the daughter of one of the original owners (W DIAne).  They started out playing Country & Western songs mixed with light pop and classical music but were unsuccessful with that programming.  In an effort to avoid bancruptcy, WDIA began playing Blues records and featured the first radio show in the United States to appeal to black listeners.  They soon switched to all-black programming including shows by future musical legends BB King and Bobby "Blue" Bland.  After a power increase to 50,000 watts, WDIA's signal could reach 10% of the African-American population at the time--an area stretching from southeast Missouri to the Gulf Coast.  Today, WDIA carries an Urban Oldies/Classic Soul format and is owned by iHeart Media.

WALR

1340 AM WALR was a Talk station in Atlanta, Georgia.

KSCB

1270 AM KSCB (K Seward County Broadcasting) went on the air on July 25, 1948 and currently has a News/Talk format.

KSCB FM began broadcasting in July 1978 and carries a Hot AC format known as "B107.5"

KOZI

KOZI AM & FM broadcast a News/Talk and Adult Contemporary format respectively.  They are both licensed to Chelan, Washington.

KGMO AM & FM

1550 AM KGMO broadcast to Cape Girardeau, Missouri from 1951 until 1986.  Conservative talk show host and Cape native Rush Limbaugh got his start at this station in 1967 while he was still in high school (his father was co-owner of the station.)  His on-air name was "Rusty Sharpe."

KGMO FM went on the air in 1980 and currently carries a Classic Rock format.

Oldies 102s

 KCEZ - Los Molinos/Chico, California

 WQFE - Brownsburg/Indianapolis, Indiana

WXLY - North Charleston, South Carolina

CFLO

104.7 CFLO is a French-language station licensed to Mont-Laurier, Quebec.  They went on the air as an AM station in 1963 with call letters CKML.  Their current calls came about in 1988 and the move to FM happened in 1995.

WDRM

102.1 WDRM plays Country music in Huntsville/Decatur, Alabama.

WKOE

 106.3 WKOE started playing Country music in the mid 1990s in Ocean City, New Jersey.

By 1999, WKOE had become "106.3 The Shore" with a Modern Adult Contemporary format.

KMCX

A shirt from "Hot Country 106.5 FM" KMCX licensed to Ogallala, Nebraska.

WYBC

A sticker and magnet from Urban Adult Contemporary station WYBC (W Yale Broadcasting Company) in New Haven, Connecticut.

More Rock 106s

CJRX - Lethbridge, Alberta

CKSE - Estevan, Saskatchewan

KAAZ - Spanish Fork/Salt Lake City, Utah

KEZE - Spokane, Washington

Radio Hoogeveen

Radio Hoogeveen is a volunteer-run, local radio station in Hoogeveen, The Netherlands.

OK Radio

OK Radio went on the air in Hamburg, Germany in March, 1988.

Cuba / Habana Radio / Radio Rebelde

I recently came back from a fascinating trip to Cuba which was one of the stops on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

We hired a tour guide and driver who dropped us off somewhere in Old Havana where we walked the streets and learned about the history of the city of over 2 million people.  Our bilingual guide was very informative and unhesitatingly answered any questions we had over the 8 hour tour.  The first thing you notice are all the old 1950s-era cars that are somehow still running.  They're everywhere! 

This Plymouth was the second car we took on the tour (the first one broke down on our way to see Ernest Hemingway's home in San Francisco de Paula.)  At first it was weird being driven around in a car so old but you got used to it and after awhile barely noticed all the other vintage vehicles on the road.  There were also a lot of rarely-seen-in-America Peugeots, Renaults, Chinese-built JAC trucks and Russian Ladas.

Paseo del Prado is a beautiful, tree-lined promenade which divides Centro Habana and Old Habana.

Then we were driven to the weird, wonderful world of Fusterlandia.  The artist Jose Fuster moved to a neighborhood in northwest Havana over three decades ago and set about transforming his house and surrounding areas into his personal dreamscape.  Virtually every surface is covered in broken tile to form murals and collages.  The bizarre, dual-gender sculpture pictured above is on the roof of Fuster's house.  Google "Fusterlandia" to see more crazy pictures and learn about this unique artist.

Plaza de la Revolucion is large, paved lot where many political rallies have taken place as well as Masses by two different popes.  The square is surrounded by government buildings including the National Library, Communist Party headquarters and Ministry of Communications.  The giant face of Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara looks down on the plaza.

Behind us is a statue of Jose Marti, Cuba's national hero and acclaimed journalist and poet.

The bar at Hotel Nacional de Cuba.  The hotel and casino were opened in 1930 and operated by American managers.  After the revolution in 1959, the hotel became neglected due to a lack of tourism and was mainly used to accommodate visiting diplomats and foreign government officials.  The collapse of the Soviet Union forced the Cubans to reopen the hotel to tourists.

That night we went to the Tropicana for a two hour show of crazy costumes, balancing acts, opera and lots of singing, dancing and Cuban music.  It was so great!  The whole place seemed to be frozen in time from 60 years ago.  They give you a bottle of rum, some Coke to mix it with and a cigar and it all takes place outdoors under the stars.

Since virtually everything in Cuba is owned and run by the government, there is very little advertising to be seen anywhere.  One exception was this sign for Habana Radio which I saw just after exiting the port building where the cruise ship was docked.  Habana Radio went on the air in January 1999 and broadcasts programming dedicated to showcasing Cuban culture and heritage.

The above sticker is the only one in my collection from Cuba.
Radio Rebelde ("Radio Rebel") was founded by Che Guevara in 1958 to broadcast the aims of the revolutionary organization known as the 26th of July Movement.  This party was led by Fidel Castro and overthrew the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship in 1959.  Early broadcasts included combat reports, statements by rebel leaders and messages to the general population.  Today Radio Rebelde is heard 24 hours a day on four FM frequencies which covers 98% of the country.  They are also heard on shortwave on the 60-meter band.