Radio Stations
These summaries focus on the 1950s through the 1970s, with an emphasis on trying to figure out which stations might have played rhythm & blues, rockabilly, or straight-on rock ‘n’ roll before WDGY, the first full-time rock ‘n’ roll station, hit the airwaves in February 1956. The Pavek Museum of Broadcasting has radio station ratings books that list programs from 1953 to 1955. At that time, the Twin Cities had only about nine stations, all AM, of course, with WCCO being the powerhouse. Let us assume that the mighty ‘CCO did not dabble in such vulgar music and focus on the others. Many thanks to Jeff Lonto, who is one of the Cities’ experts on radio history, for much of the information cited here.
Also see:
- A Brief History of Twin Cities Radio
- Twin Cities’ First Rock ‘n’ Roll
- The 1956 Radio Contest Craze
- Casey Kasem’s American Top 40
RADIO AIRCHECKS
Airchecks are samples of old radio recordings, with the music cut out. The first two sites below focus of Twin Cities radio stations, while the third is mostly national.
- http://radiotapes.com/ (Tom Gavaras)
- http://www.twincitiesradioairchecks.com/ (Rick Burnett)
- http://reelradio.com/
Click on a station below for history, photos, etc.
WWTC
WWTC started out as WTCN radio, 1280 kc AM. The call letters were changed to WWTC on October 2,
KDAN-WMKT-KMAP
1370 AM went through more ups and downs than probably any other local radio station. Doing the research for this
WDGY
An invaluable source of information about the history of WDGY comes from a Masters Thesis written by Jerry Verne Haines
WYOO/U100
WYOO/U100 – 980 kc980 AM was originally staid WPBC from 1949 to 1972. Apparently WPBC was trying to hang on:
WTCN
WTCN – 1280 kcMuch of the following information about this ever-changing station comes from Jeff Lonto’s book Fiasco at 1280,
WRCR
WRCR – 1010 kcThe Twin City a’ Go Go January 1966 issue mentioned this station and its DJs: Dean Alexander,
WPBC
WPBC – 980 kcWPBC (People’s Broadcasting Co.) was owned and operated by Bill and Becky Ann Stewart and went on
WMIN
WMIN – 1400kcThis venerable station was around for a long time, and occasionally tried on new names, including:WMNSKTWNKEEYKLBB (1981)This page,
WLOL
WLOL – 1330 KCWLOL first went on the air on June 6, 1940. Its first owners were John Devaney (Minnesota
WISK
For a short-lived, rather obscure radio station, a lot of activity was logged. The studio and transmitter were located at
WCOW
WCOWThe precursor to KDWB was founded in 1951 by Nick, Vic and Al Tedesco, sons of Italian immigrants from the
KUXL
KUXL – 1570 KC Unlike most metropolitan areas, the Twin Cities did not have a black radio station in the
KTCR
KTCR signed on on April 5, 1962, as a Country station. The transmitter and three-tower antenna array are located in
KANO
KANO was started in 1956 by Jack Lemme, who owned a radio station in Little Falls. KANO was located in
KSTP
KSTP- AM – 1500 KC1953It’s unclear when KSTP started playing rock ‘n’ roll. In late 1953 there were shows called
KRSI
KRSI – 950 KCFor airchecks and photos, a great site is:http://twincitiesradioairchecks.com/krsiandkfmx.htmlKRSI Radio was located at 4500 Excelsior Blvd. in St.
KQRS
KQRSKQRS 92.5 FM started out as KEVE-AM on September 1, 1963. For awhile they called the AM station KEVE and
KEYD
KEYDKQRS-AM first signed on as KEYD, billed as Family Broadcasting, 1948. A huge booklet issued in 1949 provides pictures of
KEVE
KEVEIn June 1956 KEYD was sold, changed its call letters to KEVE, and played full time Country and Western –