WLOL – 1330 kc

WLOL first went on the air on June 6, 1940.  Its first owners were John Devaney (Minnesota Supreme Court Justice?) and briefly Fred Osanna.

 

 

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MUSIC GENRES

Apparently the station had a wide variety of programs.

One was the “Uncle Elmer Show.”  A rural comedy production?

 

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R&B

Another genre could be nascent Rhythm & Blues.  The photo below of broadcasters Kenneth Wilson (standing) and Albert Vant “Flash” Washington, dated to the 1940s, suggests that R&B was available at least part time to listeners in Minneapolis. 

 

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JAZZ

From 1946-1950 Leigh Kamman and Bob Smith hosted the “We Call it Jazz” Program, featuring live performances from the Treasure Inn, Calhoun Beach Hotel, and Radisson Hotel downtown.  Kamman also hosted the “Swing Club” Program. (Kamman left for New York in 1950 but came back to the station in 1956-58.)

CLASSICAL

In 1951 Ray Christenson was voted the “most popular classical and semi-classical disk jockey in the State of Minnesota.”  At the time, Ray was also teaching diction to the students of Helen Stefan Model and Finishing School.

 

Although it’s unclear what WLOL was playing from late 1953  to mid 1955, the names of the shows are tantalizing:

• Top Tunes
• Tunes a Poppin’
• Parade of Hits
• Mr. Music
• Roy’s Record Shop
• Record Roundup
• Music Street
• Swing Club:  David Hersk remembers Bob Bradley playing R&B in ’54 and ’55
• Melody Time
• Off the Record
• Today’s Hits
• Top Ten
• Hit Parade
• Avenue of Hits
• 18 Top Hits

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1956:  Rock ‘n’ Roll

A playlist from August 1956 shows that it was a major early rock ‘n’ roll station. The “Big 5” jocks were Bob Bradley, Leigh Kamman, Don Kelly, Steve Cannon, and Jerry Cunning.  Jack Thayer had started his career here, from 1942-1951.

 

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Radiotapes.com has airchecks from 1957 of Steve Cannon and Leigh Kamman doing what was billed as the Twin Cities first and only Double Disk Jockey Show.

The airchecks reflect a more middle-of-the-road format, but the Top 40 playlists from 1956-59 have a lot of rock ‘n’ roll (with a polka thrown in for good measure).

Jim Ramsburg says that in 1956 “we pulled our own music from the big record library with no rules or restrictions.  Our studios were at the transmitter at [Seventh and] Davern Street in St. Paul and engineers played both records and commercials.”

 

In 1956 the station also participated in the big Contest Craze that hit most of the area’s radio stations.

 

In April 1957 the station was owned by the BFR Broadcasting Corp., N.L. “Larry” Bentson, President.  Wayne “Red” Williams was Station Manager and Ray Christensen was Program Director.  Ray left in June 1957 because he was too busy with baseball and was replaced by Jim Boysen.

In July 1957 Kamman was doing the noon to 2pm show from Southdale, just off the Garden Court.  In November 1957 Jerry Cunning did Night Watch, “Twin Cities’ first all-night record party – Top 40 and then some” from 11 pm to 6 am.  WLOL’s Swing Club had Dan Anderson on Saturdays from noon to 6 pm., also “Top 40 and then some.”

The WLOL Big 5 hosted the Royal Crown Cola Teen Roller Party at the Pastime Arena in St. Louis Park, Sundays from 2-5 pm, according to October and November 1957 music surveys.

In March 1958 WLOL hosted the Royal Crown Cola Bandstand at the Marigold Ballroom, with DJs Dan Anderson and Don Dahl, Sunday afternoons from 2 to 5pm.  Admission was 50 cents and open to teens age 16 and over.  “It’s the swinginest!”

In March 1958, WLOL’s catchphrases were “The Best Sound for Miles and Miles Around” and “Bigger, Better, Brighter than Ever.”

That spring the station presented Saints baseball with Ray Christensen.

A September 21, 1958 playlist shows jocks Bob Bradley, Tom Wynn, Jim Boysen, Dan Anderson, and Sandy Singer.

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1964:  UP Radio

The ad campaign for 1964 was UP radio (imagine an arrow on the UP).  The text of the ad below, which comes courtesy of Jeff Lonto, reads:

WLOL’s catchy UP radio flavor has a way of titillating you with surprises.  As an example when your unpredictable Carson Rennie of “6-10” spins a yarn about Aunt Julia’s first trip to the Twin Cities.  Or when Bill Bennett “2-6” cuts in on Nancy Wilson’s “HOW GLAD I AM” to tell her about THE BOY FROM IMPANEMA.  such tangy extras are part of ear-tickling, toe -tapping UP radio.  Jerry Telser, “10-2” electrifying the afternoon airwaves…John Pete, “6-Midnight” seasoning your evening with top pop hits…wide-eyed George Murphy, holding sway with the “night people” from midnight to dawn.  UP radio sparkles in Rod Trangard’s newscasts…in exclusive Mutual news “remotes” . . . in 1330’s exciting sportscasts and weather reports.  That UP radio uplift – all the way.  On WLOL.

Some notes about this copy.  First, the typos are NOT mine this time.  It’s Ipanema, not Impanema.  Trongard, not Trangard.  And if I were Nancy Wilson, I’d be a little ticked to have my song interrupted.  Also, a fun fact is that in October 1964, “wide-eyed” George Murphy (something you can’t see on radio) became Dino Day and began hosting “A Date With Dino” on Channel 9 TV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1967:  Talk Radio

WLOL-AM (“We Love Our Listeners”) was out of the rock ‘n’ roll market and became the Twin Cities’ first all-talk station in 1967.

 

 

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1973:  Country

From 1973 to 1976 it was strictly Country.

 

 

 

 

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WLOL-FM

Although I don’t normally provide snapshots of FM stations, this one is pretty interesting.

WLOL-FM (99.5) (“Means Fine Music”) was up and running in 1956. Will Jones of the Trib noted on January 11, 1957, that the station suddenly decided to go to symphonic, opera and chamber music.

This is getting to be kind of a bandwagon, and a worthwhile one, even if it does come as a result of the desperate try-anything state of things in today’s radio business.  When such a strictly-top-40 station as WLOL decides to go in for the classics, it smacks of chaos rather than culture.  They promise “infrequent and low-tone commercial announcements.”

Music consultants included folks from the Minneapolis Symphony orchestra, Schmitt Music, and Leigh Kamman.  Eight Miracle Mile merchants sponsored the program.

In a June 4, 1959, article in the St. Louis Park High School Echo, it was reported that the FM station would feature dance band music on Fridays and Saturdays.  A spokesman for the station said:

We’re promoting a better brand of music because we believe that most teenagers are getting tired of rock ‘n’ roll.  The music ranges from the swingtime of the late thirties to the jazz of today.  It features the bands of Les Brown, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Sammy Kaye, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Ray Anthony and Xavier Cugat.  Although FM radio is not on many car radio dials, it is found on other radios and most of the new hi-fi and stereo sets.  The WLOL staff believes that FM radio provides better reception and clearer tones than the AM frequencies.

A history of the station prepared much later explained that:

In 1956 the owners of WLOL AM added one of the first FM stations.  The call letters were also WLOL.  In November of 1957 WLOL brought stereophonic radio to the Twin Cities.  WLOL FM and KUOM AM cooperated to create the stereophonic sound.  A listener needed an FM radio tuned to WLOL and a “standard” radio tuned to KUOM for full stereophonic effect.  The radios had to be placed at one end of a room 6-8 feet apart and the listener had to stand about 10-15 feet away.  They used KUOM AM instead of WLOL AM because they did not want to scare away their AM Top 40 listeners by playing even only one hour of the FM’s classical music.