Your "Go To" Nighttime Station

In a couple of threads here we've been touching on long-distance nighttime reception in the 1960s heyday of top 40 on AM radio. So it got me thinking. Assuming there was one, what was your favorite non-local nighttime station that you used regularly listen to? Top 40 or otherwise.

For me in high school here in northwest suburban Chicago, it was top 40 on WBZ and KAAY. Two usually reliable signals. If I was a little was away from home, and out from under WBBM's splatter, I could add WABC to the list.

Later in college in Iowa. it was usually KOMA at night. WLS and KIOA (Des Moines) were both more than 100 miles away, but prone to frequent fading. KAAY had the best top 40 night signal. But as I posted in the other thread, when I got to my school, KAAY had paid religion starting at 9 or 10 pm followed by Clyde Clifford's Beaker Street. I liked Beaker Street, but I liked top 40 better. Secondary "go-tos" were WABC and Wolfman Jack on XERF.

Sidebar point. Also in the other thread, someone made a good observation regarding "KOMA vs. WLS". The point was that WLS sounded like the big city, KOMA was more typical top 40 that you could hear anywhere. Fair enough. But KOMA struck me has having less clutter and a more energetic presentation. They also had some excellent talent going through there....Charlie Tuna and Larry Lujack being a couple of examples. I also liked KOMA's weekend format of alternating currents and oldies. So despite WLS being my hometown connection, I personally liked KOMA. Not to say that one was better than the other. Both achieved "legendary" status. Just a matter of individual taste.

Back in the 70's, I'd put my transistor radio under my pillow and tune in:

WLS
WCFL
WOWO
WGAR
WKBW
WBZ

After I discovered WABC in late 62 they were my go to station at night. I remember in 62 & 63 switching between Dick Biondi on WLS & Cousin Brucie on WABC. "juicy Brucie" Bradley on WBZ was also frequently on my list. I usually listened to KAAY on Sunday nights while the others had their public service programming KAAY was usually the only one Rockin. I would check out WOWO sometimes during the day hours. At my location in the north Chicago suburbs I could null WBBM enough on most nights to hear WABC well unless propagation was really bad.
If I had bad reception I would use WBZ, WWL, and KOA to hear which direction the signals were best on a given night.

BTW Cyberdad my memory may be faulty, but I don't think Lujack ever worked at KOMA. What I remember from his book "Superjock" he said he had left Seattle and was driving across country to Boston and he heard Charlie Tuna on KOMA.
When he got to Boston he recommended Tuna to the owner of WMEX and they worked together there for a short time.
I think that's what Lujack said. I'll have to try to find his book and re read that part.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that WCFL had a skywave that was a good 5-6 dB stronger than WLS much of the time in Eastern Michigan at night, between the directional antenna favoring this direction and the shorter towers of WCFL having a higher vertical radiation characteristic. As I recall, I measured the peaks of WMVP, WOWO, and WCKY at around 10 mV/m, which corresponds closely to the theoretical 6% skywave curves in the 1960 NAB Handbook. I usually listened to WCFL in Eastern Michigan at night while traveling, and secondarily to WLS. In the 1960s and 1970s, I did listen to WBZ, WOWO, WKYC, WABC, and WLAC somewhat. I listened to CKLW, but it didn't have a commanding or interference free signal at night, especially when PJB was 500000 watts.

In the Class III-A category, I did listen to WING 1410 and WAKR 1590, which once covered much of Michigan with relatively clear signals. Remember that 1590 and 1600 were new Regional Channels in 1941, and remained relatively uncluttered until the late 1970s or so. With the 5 kW limitation and the NIF coverage restriction of stations in the major lobes of such older stations as WING and WAKR, it was difficult to negotiate nighttime service.

The Mighty 690 for pop, KGO 810 for talk. I listened to them more than most local AM stations (except KJET 1590).

More recently (1990's >) KFBK 1530 & KEX 1190 to hear Coast to Coast AM, and sometimes KPNW 1120, too.

I'm from a different era but I got lucky being a Canadian in the 80's. We still hat great AM. In Calgary when I first started listening to the radio it was Vancouver's CFUN. When I moved to Vancouver, it was Calgary's AM 106, or Seattle's KJET. When I moved back to Calgary in the late 80's it was Vancouver's 1040 CKXY or KJET until they dropped the alternative....then it was just CKXY. I stuck with 1040 when they became CKST (Coast 1040) picking up right where KJET left off format wise.

I used to listen to the combination of WHBQ in Memphis in the daytime and WLS at night. I had the radio on them all night. I'd also tune in occasionally to WLAC in Nashville.

Some '60s regulars here San Diego....KOMA; WLS; KDKA ; and even WBZ during winter. Add WHAS, WCAU, and WING !
Used an original GE Long Distance or Zenith Royal 280.

I'm in San Diego too, but I post-date most of you. My go-to night stations have included (some still current maybe)...
The 1400 in Santa Maria (forget the calls)
1580 KMIK
840 KXNT for Dave Ramsey until they recently moved him to midday, now it's 1180 KERN
And several others (but none of the "legendary" ones except maybe the late KOMA) but I can't remember right now.

I'll limit things to the thread topic...pre-teen and teen years in Indianapolis
Late 50's
1160/WJJD - Chicago - Rock & Roll till sundown in Salt Lake.
1070/WIBC - Indianapolis - My first experience with Top 40 and a personality dick jockey. Dick Summer handled evenings sitting in a studio atop Merrill's High Decker, a local drive-in restaurant.
1510/WLAC - Nashville - Their signal boomed into Indy. Listened almost every night, but only to "John R".

Early 60's
1570/XERF - Wolfman Jack
WJJD, WLS, WABC, WBZ, KIOA/Des Moines, WSAI/Cincinnati (terrible signal, but we loved Ron Britain), WOWO/Fort Wayne.

Mid 60's
1570/XERF - Wolfman Jack
WCFL, WLS, WABC

In the late sixties, I began my migration to FM and then to underground rock.

In no special order, my favorite disc jockeys and where I heard them during my Top 40 listening years.

Dick Biondi - WLS/WCFL
Bruce Bradley - WBZ
Barney Pip - WISH/WCFL
Stan Major - WJJD
Ron Britain - WSAI/WCFL
Dick Summer - WIBC/WISH
Bill Baker - WIBC
Jack Armstrong - WKYC
Wolfman Jack - XERF
Dick "Wilde Childe" Kemp - No idea where I heard him.

I guess this will show my age to some extent. I mainly remember John Landecker and Yvonne Daniels on WLS and Spider Harrison on WLAC.

Dick Kemp had a high profile at the short lived WYNR 1390 Chicago. They had a strong skywave signal in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and other parts of Michigan. He was also at WCFL as I recall.

Back in the mid-1970s, when I discovered AM skywave, I would listen to WSM a lot, as well as WNBC, WABC and WOWO.
Later on, delivering newspapers, I would carry a pocket radio with me to listen to WWL, with its mix of country, news, and comedy records (I really miss their TOH ID jingle), also, on rare occasion, CMQ, for their bolero son music (this being before 640 became a graveyard channel in the East).
After that, it seems that anything I liked by skywave disappeared soon after I discovered it. WNBC with its oldies In Kahn stereo, Ray Donovan with oldies on WHAS, and WSAI 1530 both when standards and when oldies.

Schordinger's Cat: You mentioned WCFL/WMVP. When the Chicago Bulls were really hot (circa 1990, IIRC), They actually bought billboards along Detroit freeways, with the Bulls' logo and "Entire season AIRing on AM 1000" !

Schroedingers Cat said:

Dick Kemp had a high profile at the short lived WYNR 1390 Chicago. They had a strong skywave signal in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and other parts of Michigan. He was at WCFL

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Maybe I was asleep, but I don't remember Dick Kemp ever being on WCFL.

radioman148 said:

Maybe I was asleep, but I don't remember Dick Kemp ever being on WCFL.

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No one ever slept while Kemp was on the radio. Loud. Fast talking. Louder still. One of a kind.

Icangelp said:

No one ever slept while Kemp was on the radio. Loud. Fast talking. Louder still. One of a kind.

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Yes, I remember him well on WYNR and WIXY Cleveland, but I'm pretty sure he never worked at WCFL.

radioman148 said:

Yes, I remember him well on WYNR and WIXY Cleveland, but I'm pretty sure he never worked at WCFL.

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You are my Chicago radio guru. I never doubt you.

I forgot to add 1100/KYW/WKYC to my list of night time stations. Westinghouse did a great job in Cleveland.

In Connecticut I would listen faithfully to WKBW... Tommy Shannon, Joey Renolds. The 7pm hand-offs from from Danny Neavreth to Joey were not to be missed.