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WLS Chicago

The time frame of the playlist was opened up a little toward the end, and I believe the hourly Sinatra cut was dropped. (I always thought it was a bit odd and ironic to hear "Old Blue Eyes" blended so frequently with music he basically disliked).

But whatever tweaking they did was too little too late...and secondary to the signal problems. Disadvantages of running a music format on a.m. notwithstanding, I often wonder "what might have been" if CC owned had 560 signal, and thus been able put the format on there. To my view, that would have been a more suitable place to try their "expiriment"....especially if using the legendary WIND call letters to go with the primo dial position.

And finally, there's always the stream. Still going and sounding pretty decent. (I have it on right now) Odd to hear the "1690" and legal IDs, however!!!
 
cyberdad said:
The time frame of the playlist was opened up a little toward the end, and I believe the hourly Sinatra cut was dropped. (I always thought it was a bit odd and ironic to hear "Old Blue Eyes" blended so frequently with music he basically disliked).
Click to expand...

It wasn't all that odd to those of us who remember Top 40 radio in the '50s. Frank Sinatra and Perry Como were on the charts right along with Elvis, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis. And Bing Crosby (True Love) and Jimmy Dorsey (So Rare) had Top 5 hits in the '50s rock & roll era.
 
I remember Twine Time as contemporary, but didn't have it pegged at '65... I was 4.
A note in this week's Chicago Reader about Andre Williams, a Chicago South Side music phenom, with hits such as
"Jailbait" (1958) and "Agile, Mobile and Hostile" (year?), the title applied to a new film about him being featured at
the "South by Southwest" film festival.

This is an example of what I mean..and why not step outside the 1963 cutoff to play something great almost never heard because
it was "only" a regional hit in Chicago, which back then HAD the listeners in 38 states.
What Chicago station DID play such songs before 'JJD, LS, and CFL? None?

I'm only saying that while their playlist was wider in a different area, it was still the exact prescribed 3.7 inches in depth.
OK for people with little recall, but not much fun those who enjoy "new-old" music.
 
Tom Wells said:
I remember Twine Time as contemporary, but didn't have it pegged at '65... I was 4.
A note in this week's Chicago Reader about Andre Williams, a Chicago South Side music phenom, with hits such as
"Jailbait" (1958) and "Agile, Mobile and Hostile" (year?), the title applied to a new film about him being featured at
the "South by Southwest" film festival.

This is an example of what I mean..and why not step outside the 1963 cutoff to play something great almost never heard because
it was "only" a regional hit in Chicago, which back then HAD the listeners in 38 states.
What Chicago station DID play such songs before 'JJD, LS, and CFL? None?

I'm only saying that while their playlist was wider in a different area, it was still the exact prescribed 3.7 inches in depth.
OK for people with little recall, but not much fun those who enjoy "new-old" music.
Click to expand...


I'm not sure that Williams had any songs that made the Pop charts, although "Bacon Fat" may have come close. WRLL did play songs from local labels such as Chess/Checker/Argo and Vee Jay, even though they didn't make the charts. As for regional hits, they played a song called "Underwater" by The Frogmen. It's a surf instrumental that only those who listened to Top 40 radio in the early '60s would remember. The song barely cracked the Top 50 nationally. I e-mailed WRLL's PD and told him I was surprised to hear it. He replied that he played it because it made the Top 10 in Chicago. What a great station..........................
 
Underwater? That's good. I run ALL these songs in my pt 15 playlists.

I think Andre Williams was a little bit too much for airplay in the day...
 
Fonz....

I agree it wasn't odd to hear the older-genre pop stuff mixed in with the early rock-dominated top 40 playlists. A "mandatory" Sinatra every hour is what struck me as odd. Patti Page, Perry Como, The Four Lads, etc. blended with Sinatra here and there would have been more reflective of the era. And yes, I know WRLL did some of that. Still do on their stream (or CC's generic stream with WRLL jingles inserted).

I was beginning grade school in the latter half of the 50s. My mom & dad had the home & car radios tuned to music all the time....either WIND or WJJD. An assortment pop artists blended in with rock is essentially what I remember.
 
There was a lot of variety in top 40 back then.... I don't remember much if any Dean Martin on WRLL.

Returning to WLS, I am working in Green Bay this week and ground and skywave were in perfect null for WLS here this pm.
Barely detectable at 240 miles from Tinley park. Steady-state cancellation with no flutter, very unusual.
WCBS booming in like a local at 880.
 
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