DrAkbar
Star Participant
It was in the April 17, 1965 issue of Billboard Magazine that WCFL GM Tom Haviland confirmed the station was going in a new direction with the hiring of PD Ken Draper and dj Jim Stagg from KYW, Cleveland. Not as a “hard rock” Top 40 against market leader WLS, but appealing to a wider audience that would include listeners from WIND, WMAQ and WGN. What evolved over the next few years was one of the most creative personality stations in the U.S. with a memorable jingle package that is still talked about today. Jim Runyon, Joel Sebastian, Dick Williamson, Jim Stagg, Ron Britain and Barney Pip were the original WCFL VIP’s, with Larry Lujack eventually replacing the all night Jazz program. And who could ever forget the adventures of the Winged Warrior, Chickenman? Draper never intended to dethrone WLS, but figured WCFL would be doing better if they could capture half the audience. 50 years later, Chicago is still a C F L of a town as you’ll hear in this hour long retrospective: http://airchexx.com/2013/08/16/the-ken-draper-wcfl-story/