Hello everyone. It’s been a while since I wrote a story on my blog. In the past few weeks, I have been dealing with prostate surgery and gradual recovery. I am getting better each day. Now, its time for some fun!
Today I will be writing about my memories of listening to the radio station, WLS-AM 890 in the 1970s. On May 2, 1960, WLS-AM 890 debuted its rock and roll-top 40 formats that lasted for years on this local radio station. I started listening to WLS-AM when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I listened to it on my Panasonic Toot-A-Loop Radio, which I wrote a previous story about that particular radio which I owned as a child.
The first person I heard on WLS-AM was Bob Sirott. Him and John “Records” Landecker were my absolute favorites. Larry Lujack was wonderful as well. I also remembered Yvonne Daniels on the air too. Her voice was absolutely beautiful. WLS-AM had one of the most talented on-air personalities at that time. They were perfect.
I have quite a list of pleasant memories of listening to the radio station that was unforgettable. The promos on the air, the contests, the announcement of upcoming concerts, classic commercials, and looking forward to the disc jockeys to play which song is coming up. The commercials that I remembered were Pepsi-Cola, Chicken Unlimited, Stri-Dex Medicated Acne Pads, Clearasil, Nestle 100,000 Chocolate Bars, K-Tel Albums, bubble gum brands, school supplies, and many more.
I remembered the contest where you would send in a postcard to the radio station and one of the DJs would randomly select a postcard and telephone that person at home. The first thing you hear is the landline phone ringing, and the song, On The Run by Pink Floyd, would be playing. The DJ would ask the person to correctly identify him or herself and if they say yes, they would win a huge prize The last thing asked the winner was,” What is your favorite radio station?”And they would say, “WLS Music Radio 890”! Some of the prizes were very expensive at the time. John Records Landecker which his trademark was, records truly is my middle name, would do the classic Boogie Check. Boogie Check was a humorous feature; it was the last thing Landecker did each night on his show for about two minutes. A string of brief telephone calls was put on the air in rapid succession. They were hilarious. Another classic slogan for Landecker which I heard all the time was, Don’t be nervous, don’t be rocky, You’re our teenage guest disc jockey, now.
I remembered the T-shirts, bumper stickers, Frisbees, and book covers that were present during that time. The merchandise was very successful, and I saw most of it while I was growing up. I loved the music surveys that they put out every week. The songs that played were adult contemporary, disco, love songs, soul, and some hard rock. It was very diverse. The surveys showed the top-charting albums and songs. It also showed a photo of the Jock of the Week and upcoming concerts in Chicago.
There was also a feature called Animal Stories with Larry Lujack and Tommy Edwards. I didn’t listen to those at the time, because I thought they were boring and I wasn’t the least bit interested in them. But, as I got older and was more open-minded, I started listening to them online on YouTube and boy was I wrong. They are so funny now, They are classics! I regretted not listening to them back in the day. The other thing that was memorable was the WLS-AM Magic Bus. I would hear about its upcoming schedules on the radio where the Magic Bus will be in the Chicagoland area. I would hear the song, Magic Bus by The Who while the DJ who was on duty would make the announcements. That was another classic.
WLS-AM 890 went into an all-talk format in August 1989. It was kind of sad that it no longer plays music. At least, we have WLS-FM 94.7. That station has such a rich history that I will write another story in the near future. WLS-AM 890 will be in our memories forever. From the 1960s to the 1980s, it was a pleasant radio station to listen to. When I was a teenager, I listened to a variety of radio stations on the air. WMET-FM, WLUP-FM, WDAI-FM, WBBM-FM, WXRT-FM, WEFM, WRCK, WFYR, and others. Those were the best. The only radio stations I listen to in the car are WLS-FM and METV FM. Listening to the classic jingles from WLS-AM 890 on YouTube makes me smile all the time. It’s beautiful! Thank you Pete Kastanes, Admin for Vanished Chicagoland Facebook Page.