The WIFE studios at 1440 N. Meridian Street
A little weekend fun here. I haven't posted any old radio airchecks in the past, although I have quite a few of them. Here's one from my hometown of Indianapolis.
WIFE, 1310 AM, was the top 40 giant of Indy for years. They changed their call letters to WIFE from the old WISH-AM around 1963 and were the only real rockers in town for several years. This allowed them to take a fairly conservative approach to top 40 radio, that'd capture both the kids and some adults. It seemed to work, as their numbers were huge well into the 1970's, by which time they were getting rock and roll competition from WNAP on the FM dial and, eventually, both WXLW and WNDE on AM.
Jay Reynolds, the disc jockey heard here, spent much of his career in Indianapolis. He also worked at WABC in New York during the first half of the 1970's. WIFE remained a top 40 rocker until about 1980 when they switched to an adult contemporary format and then changed call letters and formats several times over the years.
The aircheck is 55 minutes in length. The music runs the gamut, just like you'd expect from the top 40 stations of the day, from the latest pop hit by Bobby Goldsboro, to the rock and roll of the Amboy Dukes to the soul music of Sam and Dave. There's a newscast, plus some classic radio spots for Indianapolis Raceway Park, Mountain Dew, Burger Chef and our friends Sam and Dave pop up again as pitchmen for Country Club Malt Liquor.
Here it is, from August 8, 1968.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Radio Aircheck - WIFE Indianapolis 1968
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17 comments:
Very cool! Can't wait to dig in on this later!
I'm just seeing a blank bar where the player should be -
Looking forward to hearing this!
I got to listen to this and I find it interesting that there are some relatively obscure songs on this aircheck. The Sam & Dave song only got up to #54 on Billboard, while the Patti Drew cut only made it to #62. And the Jan & Dean song, which made it to #11 in 1963 would probably qualify as a Forgotten 45 if one of our oldies stations were bold enough to put it in their playlist. The oldies station we have here in Indy sure won't, that's for sure.
But if this were a better world, there would be a permanent ban on anything by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and Bobby Goldsboro. It's only fitting that "Autumn of My Life" was the follow-up to "Honey" because it's equally as sickening.
Great to hear this and thanks for posting it. In Australia, our AM stations sounded just like this aircheck. Brit pop, US surf pop and local Aussie pop between Pams radio station ID jingles. Takes me back...
I'll have to play this through one of my 1960s Japanese transistor radios for a real time warp experience!
Very cool. Love hearing these! I have a WIFE jingle on my site: http://www.radiouseonly.com/singles/indiana_singles/wife_indianapolis_indiana.htm
Lisa, thanks for checking out the blog. I like the WIFE jingle. Thanks for posting the link.
Even with the schmaltz, this is terrific. I wish there were mainstream oldies stations even remotely like this.
Todd, way cool. I remember so much of the jingles and reports, and didn't realize how many times they mentioned the time. Thanks for bringing it online. I was a WIFE listener for many, many years.
Just another great 60's station! The 60's radio was just the best!! Thanks, Clark Besch
oh, this was fantastic. Thank you so much for posting it.
wow it is nice post
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As one of the former WIFE Good Guys, I am thrilled to view this site! The Star Stations, WIFE, KOIL, and KISN were some of the greatest radio stations in America. Those of us who worked for them (I worked for all of 'em), are among the most fortunate broadcasters on the planet. Thanks for a fabulous site!
Are you THEE Roger W. Morgan? The one who was at WIFE in 1968? Welcome and I'm glad that you like the blog.
P.S. - I have a Roger W. Morgan aircheck from the very same day as the Jay Reynolds one that I posted.
As a former WIFE Good Guy Stan Warren(overnights 1974-1975) and KOIL, Omaha (middays 1974), I can hardly put into words how much fun radio was back then. Roger is so right; Star Stations were some of the best outlets in America. Although I arrived at WIFE after Roger W. Morgan, he was the best of the best and left us blazing radio stories. I had the opportunity to work with some of the best air talent in the world like Jay Reynolds, Reb Porter, Scott Wheeler, Jim Wood and Buddy Scott. I will never forget those days! Thank you for this Site!
Adding to the above, we should have a reunion at a station in Indy. When I was later at Majic 105.7 in Cleveland, we aired a great reunion for the WIXY Jocks.
i just had a chance to listen to this aircheck. It was fun hearing the music in its original context--on the radio in 1968! The commercials were a lot of fun too. Would love to hear any other airchecks you have in your collection. Thanks for sharing!
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