Are there songs that specifically bring back memories of DXing?

I heard the old song 'Jack and Jill' by Raydio today and whenever I hear that, it only makes me think of the time my parents and I flew from Philly to see friends in Clemson, South Carolina back in 1978. When we got to their place in the evening, the first thing I did was take out my radio to see what I could get on AM and that song was playing on 77 WABC which had a strong signal too.

'Raydio' is the perfect name for an artist of a song that brings back DXing memories, huh?


Another example from around the beginning of that same year is the song 'I Go Crazy' by Paul Davis which will always remind me of the time I finally heard KFI in New Jersey.

That was the song playing before I heard the "64 KFI" ID.


'Earache My Eye' by Cheech and Chong is another one that comes to mind and that reminds me of the late summer 1974 when I would listen to CKLW at night.

They played that a lot and I didn't hear it on the local stations.


So are there old songs that remind you of DXing above all else when you hear them now?

I guess for me it is Season of the Witch by Donovan. Back in the early 70's, I was just getting into FM DX'ing. I was living in Midland, TX at the time. A friend had clued me in that a Lubbock station, KLBK, was playing rock music. Midland at the time was home to an easy listening station, a few other random stations, none of which were anything worth listening to. So I abandoned an old tube AM FM tuner that had a good AM section, and somehow ended up with a car FM radio on a 12V power supply. Nothing special by today's standards, but sensitive and selective enough to do the job. Lubbock came in very well with a decent antenna. But - I heard that a new station was coming on in San Angelo - but I didn't know the frequency. New stations were a big deal, there were so few. So I swung my home made antenna towards the SE, and started hunting. I came across a station I hadn't heard before, and they were playing Donovan's Season of the Witch. That is a deep album cut - not normally heard on the radio. I knew it was unlikely that a station in conservative West Texas would even play it. So I listened for an ID - I didn't have long to wait. The station identified "KTFM". I had some publications - and looked it up. To my astonishment, it was listed as San Antonio, at least 300 miles away! I was used to TV station range on antennas, and had never considered that 300 miles was even possible on FM. The wheels started turning - and I started looking for other stations. I didn't find much but KASE, which was in Austin. Another easy listening, but very strong compared to KTFM. My thoughts turned North - to Dallas - which I knew had several very good stations. But my home brew attic antenna couldn't turn to that angle. Within a few months I had a good outdoor FM yagi up 30 feet, aimed at Dallas, and a new tuner - a Heathkit AJ-15. And I was getting dependable 24/7 reception of Dallas FM stations, about 330 miles distant!

Back in 1964 when the Beatles landed in America I remember listening to WABC and hearing mostly Beatles records & Beatles promos. It seemed as though WABC was all Beatles at that time.

I recall sitting in my bedroom in eastern NC one afternoon in the late 60s, listening to WABC on a pocket radio and hearing them play "Hair" by the Cowsills.

Early 60s - Freddy Cannon- 'Transistor Sister'
Much more recently, but it takes me back- Tommy Castro- 'Big Sister's Radio' - give that ne a listen- it's a great song.

Wow. So many songs and stations.

'Fun Fun Fun' -- off WOWO for the first time
'I'd Be So Good For You', Joanie Sommers -- off WJDY 1470 from MD one sunset
'Rockin' Robin', Bobby Day -- an oldie to me growing up, played on KUDL 1380 Kansas City, faintly
'California Sun' and 'Louie Louie' -- segued (!) on WHWH 1350 NJ one dusk. No station segued then
'Wiggle Wobble' -- WICC 600 Bridgeport, first song I ever taped off the radio
'Starlit Night', the Emotions. Great, greasy song that never charted. Heard once -- on WGLI L.I.
'Maybe Your Baby', Stevie Wonder -- off WRXB St Pete 1590, cruising in my Folks' FL car one day

So many, many songs and forever-linked-to stations. Neat post, Gar !

"Reflections of My Life" -- Marmalade. Playing on the first pirate station I ever heard, Radio North Sea International, off the English coast, on shortwave around 1970-71.

1965-ish...

One of my targets was KIMN Denver on 950. One night, all of my attempts finally paid off. The song? "Don't Think Twice, It's Allright" by the Wonder Who (AKA, the Four Seasons). Frankie Valli's falsetto was what able to break through the clutter on the channel. Followed immediately by a positive ID.

cyberdad said:

1965-ish...

One of my targets was KIMN Denver on 950. One night, all of my attempts finally paid off. The song? "Don't Think Twice, It's Allright" by the Wonder Who (AKA, the Four Seasons). Frankie Valli's falsetto was what able to break through the clutter on the channel. Followed immediately by a positive ID.

Click to expand...

You should have heard Stevie Wonder singing along with "Don't Think Twice" with that Frankie Valli recording on WAMM in 1965 with Jim Taylor Hampton (later of WLS fame) interviewing him before a Concert. Within a year, Stevie had a hit with "Blowin' In The Wind" with a similar style to the Four Seasons Album with many Dylan songs. Not all falsetto, some very credible remakes were on it. Interview avalable online, unscoped is best. Berry Gordy is a huge Four Seasons fan, and Motown signed them in the early 1970s, but no one else at Motown was as committed to the project.

"Heartbeat, It's A Lovebeat" by the DeFranco Family, and "I'd Wait A Million Years" by the Grass Roots on WCFL. Sign on one morning and pattern change one evening.

No songs in particular -- just the sound of Pete Franklin's toilet flushing.

Thanks for these interesting replies!

Even as a local station, WIBG 'Wibbage 99' had a noticeably weaker signal at night than during the day.

So one time around sunset during the summer in 1973, I decided to listen to hear what the exact moment of the power change from 50 kw to 10 kw (with directional change as well) was like.

The song Feelin Stronger Every Day by Chicago was playing and the station went off the air for about two seconds and came back having the weaker signal.

I remember riding past the WIND 560 towers near Merrillville, IN with my Sony with a signal strength meter while they were playing "Feeling Stronger Every Day" while the meter was near peaking in the car. Also hearing WIND in SE Michigan between WHND sign off and WIND pattern change and hearing "Bungle In The Jungle". First time I heard WIND because of an image from local WKMF 1470. Car radios used a different IF frequency.

I started DXing in the 80's when I started to get into music. My mum had given me the old AM clock radio that had entertained the family throughout the 70's. It was a very selective tuner and quite sensitive. Certain songs remind me of certain far away stations. I lived in Calgary, so when I hear songs from 82 to 85 and 88 to 91, I associate most of them with Edmonton's 630 CHED. Any Urban/soul music from 86 or 87 I associate with a Seattle station known then a KKFX (KFOX 1250). Alternative/goth bands like the Sisters Of Mercy, The Smiths, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees remind me of Seattle's KJET. When I lived in Vancouver from 86 to 87, a terrible dance record called Boom Boom Boom by Paul Lekakis reminds me of Calgary's AM 106, who was playing the 12 inch version 6 months before the Vancouver and Seattle stations got hold of it. Back then, AM 106 was 6 months ahead of everyone else with music.

This has become such a blob of songs for me (since I've heard over 600 FMs) that deciding specific songs is a bit difficult...
One example would be hearing 'I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues' Elton John on KLIQ/94.5 Hastings NE several years ago via Es. I still prominently remember hearing KABQ/104.7 Albuquerque via Es with Randy Travis' 'On the Other Hand', back in 2011. Both were logged in the Seattle area.
Very recently, KYOY/92.3 Hillsdale WY (near Cheyenne) on Es running 'I'll Be Alright Without You' by Journey. Very rare to hear on FM nowadays! Most stations play 'Don't Stop Believin' until it's worn out, but not that 1986 hit.

I sure hear you about the worn out songs thing.

There are artists with many top 40 hits but the oldies/classic hits stations stick to only one or two songs they think we like to hear all the time.

Songs like 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police, 'What A fool Believes' by the Doobie Brothers, 'Modern Love' by David Bowie, 'Hotel California' by The Eagles, etc.

All good songs in their day but you can only take so much of the same thing over and over again.

I can't believe lack of variety is what the public seems to want.

I remember timing pauses in songs like Badfingers "No Matter What, Young Rascals "Good Lovin'" etc to pattern/ power change so the carrier would drop during the pause....I know, only radio geeks would get it.

"Magic Bus" by The Who on KAZY from Denver. I heard them in Ohio back in 1981 via E-Skip. Still have the cassette I made.

Speaking of pattern changes; I was listening to KOMA 1520 up in Ohio and they were playing "I Fought the Law"; almost on cue, I heard the lyrics "I Fought the Law"... and gone; the pattern change won.

I first started DXing from Tulsa, Oklahoma back in the 1970's. Three songs remind me of DX experiences from those days. "Up the Ladder to the Roof" by the Supremes from 1970 was big on WLS when I first started. I listened to WLS religiously, sounded so exotic to me at the time. "Love Her Madly" by the Doors reminds me of the one time I heard KTNQ 1020 in LA when KDKA was off the air on a Monday morning. Last was Paul Simon's "Kodachrome". The local stations cut the "cr*p" from the first line of the song, but I could hear the "uncensored" version on stations elsewhere (probably WLS, KXOK).