Favorite radio station of all time?
 

Radio sure isn't what it once was - at least in the US - but there was a time when it was so entertaining that many of us were willing to put big $$$$ into buying a really good tuner.

So what was your favorite radio station that may have spurred that purchase?

I can probably whittle it down to two: WNCN and WNEW-FM, both in New York. Although one was classical and the other a rock station, they had more in common (back in the '70s and '80s) than might have been immediately obvious. They both had wide and deep playlists. They both had very clean, clear signals with minimal processing. (Of course, as a rocker, WNEW had more processing than WNCN. But by rock standards, NEW's sound was relatively unspoiled. It even used Dolby FM for a while.) And they both had personalities that were obviously familiar with the music, and spoke to the audience with a friendly, one-on-one style that's almost gone from radio today.

I still have and enjoy my McIntosh MR-80, but sometimes I wonder if I'd be willing to part with that much coin for a tuner if the only choices were today's offerings.

Please tell us about your favorite station, even if it's from the past.

KMET Los Angeles. The “Mighty Met”. Early 1970’s. Now, it’s KUSC - classical

KMET! A Metromedia station, as was WNEW. And KMET had Tom Donahue (and Rachel), B. Mitchell Reed and Jim Ladd. A great station, for sure!

KUT, Austin, Texas in the early 80s. God, I loved that station.

For a while, AM-1690 here in Atlanta was awesome. Crappy AM signal, but awesome content. Went belly up last year.

For a generation or so here in Atlanta, WRFG - entirely community run and operated. Pretty good, but not great sound quality, but awesome content. I am particularly fond of bluegrass and Americana and they play lots of it, with a very refined content selection.

I really miss good radio. I was dumb enough to invest big bucks in a great tuner just a few years ago (magnum Dynalab, MD108T SE). I love it and listen to it several nights a week, but admit that it is wretched excess and an investment in a fading medium.

WRIF - Detroit

CJRT-FM

Jazz 91.1 Toronto

and of course

CILQ-FM

Rock 107.1 Toronto.

:thumbsup:

WBCN - “The Rock of Boston,” “Radio Free Boston”

I am the morning DJ at WOLD ............

I'll go back even earlier. WXYZ (am) in Detroit in the mid 60's.
What a line-up with Joel Sebastian, Lee Alan and Don Z.

Why ZRDD of course. "Zeta Reticuli Daily Digest" :D

Beaker Street on KAAY out of Little Rock in 1967. Changed my life.

Well, a couple of you good folks beat me to it but my favorite by far was The Might Met, KMET 94.7 FM in LA.

I liked that KMET had a true 'underground' feel to it and B. Mitchell Reed had the best and coolest radio voice of any DJ I've ever heard.

WNEW NY with such DJ's as Scott Mooney Jonathans Swartz Dick Neer Alison Steel the Night Bird Zachary and Roscoe Not sure about any of the spelling. This was in the 60's They had no play lists, they could play for 20min without a commercial. If you anybody of greatness and performing at the Garden, you were on the Scott Mooney Show
Some of these DL's are now hosting on Sirius Radio's Classic Vinyl from the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame

WBT 1110 AM Charlotte. Loved their late night jazz in the late 50s and 60s. It was a 50,000 watt clear channel station at the time, started 1922. I believe it was the third radio station in the country. When I drove to the west coast for business school I listened to it all the way into New Mexico before it became unlistenable.

Now that's going back a few years:yes: BCN was definitely one of my favorites to out of the many good ones we had to choose from in that time period.

Talking radio huh? Now your in my province. BBC Radio 1 and Capital radio when I was a kid, both top twenty/40 of the current then hit parade, later a charming pirate station called Galaxy fm which played pre and a bit of Roots reggae on the weekends with totally amateur DJ's, and my current fave is BBC Radio 6, which does everything but the current top 20/40 and also covers current World music, Radio 3 when I'm in the mood for classical and Jazz on Sat afternoon/midnight, and Radio 1X when I want to dip in to dem urban yout' and has the occasional reggae hour and a jolly powerful transmitter. Radio 4 has some good plays and foreign correspondent type stuff and comedy, and Radio 4X which has good old/newish comedy/plays. Football and cricket are catered for as well on two or three other stations. Heavy rock/metal as well. We don't really have a great Jazz station; Jazz FM is a bit bland, but you can get everything else; 60's/70's /80's /90's and 00's stations too. On DAB that is, I can't get FM reception in London. We take radio very seriously indeed in blighty. We rarely get doo wop which is a shame. I miss the Flamingo's etc.

+1.

This was radio at its best.

Current is WXRT Chicago but in the old days it was KFMH, Muscatine IA

+1

WMMR Philadelphia. Been a rock station since 1968. Pierre Robert is my all time favorite DJ. Been at the station since 1981. Still gets interviews with all the big rockers coming to Philly. Still has part of his daily 4 hour show dedicated to playing vinyl.

Hearts of Space

Used to listen to WMMR for a few decades, mostly commuting. :yes: With the satellite radios in cars I typically don't listen to FM anymore...

Brings back memories...then out here was KISW

Ah yes, that was where Bob Rivers and Spike were, right?

YES! Let's hear it for WNCN. Back then for pop I was a WABC-FM/WPLJ fan.

I was surprised to hear another person mentioning WNCN 104.3FM. I was so angry when WNCN-FM 104.3 went off the air in the fall of 1974 because that left only WQXR (and WNYC a minor player) which played more romantic music and I preferred the classical and baroque of WNCN.To make matters worse, when WNCN went off the air, WQXR started playing shorter pieces and lots of jingle jangle commercials which I hated. I wrote Bob Sherman who was the program director at the time and station manager later a very firm letter telling of my extreme displeasure with their changes in commercials and flippant nature of Duncan Purney who I couldn't stand. Bob Sherman wrote back and said he agreed with me about Duncan Purney but he couldn't do anything about it because Duncan was there longer than he was. The rotten commercial persisted. I really enjoyed listening to Harry Fleetwood overnight. He had the perfect radio voice and played great music.

WSRD in Youngstown Ohio. I'm sure you never heard of it!

Mix of old/new. We lived in SF Bay area, moved to Boston, and have a summer spot in NJ. So:

KFOG - San Fransisco
WERS - Boston - student run. Check it out. Online too.
WQXR - New York. Outstanding classical.

OK back in the day in Los Angles it was all about KMET 94.7 on the dial, especially on the nights with the master of the best Jim Ladd!

Does not get any better, serious rock man, knowledge to the nth degree. great times! :)

Welcome to the ol’ Mighty Met club.

Wolfman Jack on XERB - heard all over the Midwest during the 60s

Loved ABC am with Cousin Brucie and Scottso in the 60s. Then to FM - WNEW late 60s and 70s. Then CD 101.9 smooth jazz. Played a lot from the GRP label.

CD 101.9 was late 80s and early 90s.

Wow, some really great stations have been named in this thread! If we include AM stations to this list, I'd add Roger Ashby and Duke Roberts on 1050 CHUM; 680 CFTR; Dave Shafer on CKLW; Fred Winston on WLS; and Larry Lujack ("The World's Greatest Disc Jockey") on WLS and WCFL.

Without a doubt--CKLW, "The Motor City!". Commercial Top 40 for sure, but eclectic. Andy Williams one moment, Cream the next. Elvis, Dylan, Aretha, Sinatra--heard them all there first.

Fellow Chicagoans may remember 103.5 The Blaze from the 90's, a great rock station. I also loved 94.7 with Dick Biondi.

Growing up in Athens Ga I had to struggle to receive my favorite station from Atlanta but most nights I could get it with the Antenna I had setup. WKLS96 Rock. I remember that line like it was yesterday. Classic rock from the 60's and early 70s. Station is no longer around sadly enough.

George

I grew up in Jefferson, ga right next to Athens but moved out to Seattle...96rock is no longer there!!!!!??? When did that happen?

Without question, WRTI, 90.1 out of Temple University in Philadelphia. Classical from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Jazz the other 12hr. Knowledgeable hosts and programs like opera, Latin jazz and live broadcasts and interviews with various artists. Only drawback is that it is public and spend too much time begging. WXPN, 88.5 is the student-run station from my alma mater, Univ of Pennsylvania. As with any student run org, runs hot & cold, but does have good blues and other programming.

As for tuner expense, one can purchase pieces from the "great tuner era" of the '70s-80s' for very little. Spend $200-500 for a recap and alignment by a 'known good' tuner tech and have an excellent piece of gear that is as good or better than the best offered today, with the possible exception of the TOTL tuners from Accuphase or Dynalab (for many $$thou).

For tuner folks, this is probably the best information website and their Yahoo forum is very good.
http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/

Indeed' KMET in LA. Classic rock, classic dj,s Jim Ladd and there was a female dj as well but her name eludes me as well has a few other dj,s of that era at the mighty met.

Used to listen to jim ladd at his 10pm show as a kid growing up in those days. Gone but not forgotten.

KGON-FM, KOPB-FM & KINK-FM are the three stations in my area that prompted me to purchase and erect a high quality antenna.

I wanted the best stations with the best reception I could afford. I still listen to those stations some 30+ years later.