I remember picking up the Mighty 690 west of Fresno, while my parents were driving me to UCLA in September 1980. I was amazed you could hear a station that far away in the daytime. And wow, what a tight playlist. It seemed like they only played "Whip It," "Fame" and "I'm Turning Japanese" 😄
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Mighty 690 Novel
- Thread starter xkxrx
- Start date
It covers almost the entire West. Subject to interference from CBU Vancouver. Otherwise known as CBC British Columbia.
Last edited:
It was probably closer to five.
Essentially, The Mighty 690 was just a homebrewed version of Mike Joseph's Hot Hits format---no oldies, just currents and just the stuff that was selling, no turntable hits.
It sounded different from KITS in San Francisco because one of the alterations XETRA made to the Joseph formula was to not be as jingle-heavy and to mix cuts from the TM Fusion package (which Joseph used) and the TM Rhythm of the Southland package (especially the TOH).
By the way, Michael Boss, one of the original Mighty 690 jocks and Production Director, wrote a great three-piece article that goes into a lot of detail about the station:
Two other 690 top 40s with incredible daytime signals were WTIX in New Orleans and WAPE in Jacksonville
The TIX jingle always reminds me of walking the beach in Panama City, FL (300 miles away) and hearing WTIX coming out of so many radios.
I’ve also read that the top 40 for Myrtle Beach, SC in the 1960s was WAPE, also 300 miles away
The TIX jingle always reminds me of walking the beach in Panama City, FL (300 miles away) and hearing WTIX coming out of so many radios.
I’ve also read that the top 40 for Myrtle Beach, SC in the 1960s was WAPE, also 300 miles away
Great article! Michael also was part of another interview with different sound files. I actually spoke with him, he was incredible! I think they only sped up the songs by about 3%, and discontinued that policy along with the 100% liner presentation in 1984. They had an Office/ Studio in Burbank for years, I wonder what it did. I would always see the Mighty 690 Van around North Hollywood, and parked in front of 6430 Sunset. Loved that both KHJ & the Mighty 690 used the same jingle package, known as the Rhythm of the Southland on KHJ.By the way, Michael Boss, one of the original Mighty 690 jocks and Production Director, wrote a great three-piece article that goes into a lot of detail about the station:
Two things. The de facto speed-up percentage for a 45 is 3.5%. We did that at WQRK in Norfolk and it worked on most records. Not so much on the Bee Gees or Elton John! And when I lived in Va. Beach, you could just barely hear the Big Ape while lying on the sand. Further south in Wrightsville Beach, NC, WAPE came in loud and clear during the day.
That may have been "de facto" at WQRK. But at various AM stations I programmed in the 70's, we stayed around 2.5% to 2.7% if we sped up a song at all. It gave a tiny bit of "sparkle" to AM. I never used sped up songs on an FM.
Huff
Administrator
And going back even further, in its beautiful music days, XETRA pulled a 3.4 in Jan/Feb 1968... just barely missing the overall Top 10 in that survey.
Last edited:
The Mighty Six-Ninety was a special station that happened at a special time that unfortunately will never return. I lived up and down California and 690 during that time was a constant, whether I was in Merced, Visalia, Palmdale, Las Vegas or Bakersfield. The further North I was, 690 warbled a bit as it faded in and out at night but it was always dependably there even through the AM noise.
Yeah, here in the Seattle area, it was a mix at night between the Mighty 690 and CBU, with the dominant station depending on conditions. I had non DXer friends who were aware of the station, so there were people who tuned in. I remember hearing Billy Jean and Let's Dance a lot when I'd tune in. When I was in San Diego in August 1984, they played Bananarama and Sheila E's Glamourous Life a lot.
The +3.5% was supposedly the most "musical" speed, e.g. not on non-existent keys. I wanted to try just time compressing the songs but leaving them in the correct key but that technology at the time was pricey. Would've loved to have an Eventide box...
As far as why we did it, we were new and wanted to attract attention.
Regarding 690... It's gone now, right?
Just looked up CBU...looks like they're listed at 25 kW directional full time. It seems to me that they were 50 kW in the past?
690 is still on the air as XEWW. 77kW D 50 kW N DA-2, with most of the night power going to the Southeast.
They were. Then about 8-9 years ago they had a transmitter fire. It took the SW relay out permanently (CKZU 6160) because the CBC determined it was not worth rebuilding, and then when they fixed CBU they lowered the power. CBU used to come in a lot better here in the Seattle area during the daylight hours. I used to listen to them every morning. Now it's ultra weak. Comes in a bit weaker at night, but at night the difference is not so pronounced.
I just heard them on 690 last night. They were fairly clear, with CBU underneath -- they're Spanish language talk. They were Chinese for a while. Brokered Spanish language programming before that, I think, with Mexican and US Spanish language preachers. And they also may have played regional Mexican music -- can't recall exactly, though.