Month: January 2013

This mysterious aircheck is chock full of similarities and opposites. First off, compare the music playlist to another aircheck we have here from WKBW, from January 28, 1979. Nearly identical, except for the fact that KHJ is REALLY rockin’! Second, August 26, 1977, we have an aircheck of the Unknown DJ on WNBC… That guy was the one and only Jackson Armstrong. Compare that with this one. Now, is the Unknown DJ on KHJ the same guy as the Unknown DJ on WNBC? Compare the voices, because the approach is completely different. Now that we’ve said all that, a few notes about KHJ. 93 KHJ would eventually change formats from Top 40 to Country, a format that would last a few years until it was flipped first, to Smokin’ Oldies, then as a Top 40 / Recurrent format featuring main...

Courtesy of Big Apple Airchecks… There’s not that many people who remember this AM-Top 40-styled FM hit music station. However, some may look back fondly at the station which has been Country 92.5 WXTU since August 1, 1983. 92.5 in Philadelphia started out as W57PH. The first incarnation of this station was on the old FM band, at 45.7 MHZ. The first broadcast date of this station was October 5, 1942. The station was owned by Westinghouse along with sister station KYW. After FM radio was moved to it’s present 88.1-107.9 band, the station moved to its present 92.5 position and obtained the KYW-FM call letters. Then, inexplicably, the station simply signed off the air on August 18, 1958. With that background, we move forward to 1958. The station re-launched, this time with t...

Big Ron O’Brien (October 24, 1951 – April 27, 2008) was well known for his talent, quick wit and warm personality. He is fondly remembered by friends and listeners alike. Recorded just over two years before his passing, here’s Big Ron in a new, scoped aircheck highlighting the voice that listeners became familiar with over the six year period O’Brien was on the air at WOGL. As was his way, Ron O’Brien was upbeat and so easy to listen to. Here he’s playing the best of the 60s and 70s – the Oldies format that so many loved at WOGL and elsewhere, before the format was mostly retired in favor of 70s/80s music. In addition to WOGL, Big Ron O’Brien was on the air all over the United States. He started his career at KUDL Kansas City in 1969. After t...

Upon receiving this aircheck from Contributor Jeffrey Holland, I wondered to myself, was there REALLY a Country music station in the Los Angeles area called KIK-FM? Indeed, there was. Not only that, but there’s actually an information page online written by someone who was there. Most stations not considered ‘legendary’, its hard to find any info. This aircheck was scoped by the contributor, although we did made a few edits to the original to fix the spot where the tape ended on side one and continued on side two. Fans of what was, in the 80s, known as ‘New Country’ will note, 1982 was a VERY long time ago! Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker and other 60s & 70s staple artists are getting plenty of airplay. And while it SEEMS older than dirt, c...

Courtesy of Big Apple Airchecks… Listen to this fairly short scope of Evening guy Bill O’Brien and decide for yourself, is this AC or Top 40? The music is Adult Contemporary, but some fits into the emerging CHR format. But, one persistent fact keeps going around my head, despite all I read about WIFI 92 going AC: The jock keeps talking between EVERY record! That’s totally against the rules of AC formatted stations. Ok, the perceived rules. Perhaps WIFI was in the process of moving towards Adult Contemporary. We could over think this to death, along with the Liz Kiley aircheck recorded a few hours prior to this one. Dispensing with much of the commentary written about other WIFI 92 airchecks, let the listener discern this aircheck for his or herself, remembering that 1981 ...

Big Apple Airchecks sent the original of this mono, but high-fidelity (and we refuse to say ‘HD’) recording of the Adult Contemporary version of WIFI 92! By this time, WIFI had morphed into a more Adult station, but was by no means a sleepy AC. You’ll even hear Eddie Money’s “Baby Hold On” about halfway through this, but this is SOLID AC, starting with the first song, Barry Manilow’s “The Old Songs”, and continuing with scoped portions of songs from Sheena Easton, Air Supply and Darryl Hall & John Oates. Man, there was some really GOOD music in 1981! Remember Joey Scarbury’s “Believe It Or Not”? Aka, theme from the TV show “The Greatest American Hero” – where the ‘hero’ puts on a red s...

Courtesy of Contributor and Featured Jock Allen Beebe… Jingle freaks, this is as close to heaven as one can get! Starting with the first Top 40 jingle package, An Anita Kerr package, if I recall correctly, this blows through many of the major jingles heard on WLS from 1960 through the talkradio years! Whether you liked the old “Eight-Nine-Oh, Chicago” melody, “The Rock Of Chicago” or just “89 WLS”, you’ll hear all melodies represented here. These somehow came right from the original reels, all are in ultra-high quality, and some even from the 70s are in STEREO! But beware, this moves along really fast, and while it runs about 7 and a half minutes, it isn’t all-inclusive, as WLS, like it’s sister station WABC, aired hundreds of jin...

Contributor Allen Beebe (WNBC/KNFX/KODE/KGBC/KNOE/KMJC) sent this in on the occasion of the passing of legendary KHJ Los Angeles producer Bill Mouzis, who passed away on January 12, 2013 at the age of 90. The L.A. Observed posted a wonderful obituary for Mouzis which you can read HERE. Sometimes the road to Airchexx is long and twisted. The originator of this file was Sam Harrell, who sent it to Scott Seagraves (WCFL), who, in turn, sent it to our Contributor. Allen Beebe is a site friend who asked that it be shared here, on Airchexx. This starts with a STEREO KHJ jingle, then a Beach Boys cover about BOSS RADIO IN L.A. KHJ called “The New KHJ. It featured all the KHJ jocks, and I believe, the Beach Boys themselves singing the actual song. Listen for Batman & Robin – was a ...

Bill Rock was well known in New York prior to the Country version of WYNY, having been part of WNBC for many years. Here’s Bill on Y103.5 in its country incarnation. We might call it the fourth incarnation of WYNY, counting in the 70s “All News” format, AC as “New York 97” on 97.1, Country 97 and then the frequency switch to 103.5. There’s a lot of history here, in this two plus minutes of Country Radio gold, recorded sometime around 1993 or 94. There’s really not enough here to pinpoint an actual date, so let the listener make his or her own best guess. Courtesy of Big Apple Airchecks. Click HERE for more audio from WYNY. Click HERE for more from Big Apple Airchecks.