Tommy C, “Arizona Country” 102.5 KNIX Phoenix | December 20, 1996

Showcasing what, in your webmaster’s opinion, was the best year for Country radio in terms of both the music and how the format sounded, here’s Tommy C on Phoenix’s KNIX. I especially like how the jingles sounded that year. In a format where the jingles seem to always have a similar sound no matter what station you listen to, something about this period in time… stations really did try to be unique in sound and thats one thing I remember, having worked in the format for a decade. There was a sense of creativity, here at the height of modern Country’s popularity.

Note the incredible number of spots… KNIX was VERY sold out! Course, one would expect this, just days before the Christmas holiday. One somewhat negative observation is similar to the one I made of the KLUC Las Vegas aircheck, the format hasn’t evolved much past this particular year, other than to become more generic in every market since 1996.

If you’re a Country radio fan, I think you’ll very much enjoy this recording… one where the music and the format were at the very top of its popularity and creativity.

Craig Cooper / Kevin Kincaid on 103.3 WKDF Nashville | June 1, 2003

There aren’t many cities that can claim FOUR major Country stations in the station lineup. Well, this is Nashville, and on one end of the scale lies 650 AM WSM – the heritage Country station that plays mainly gold and hosts the Grand Ole Opry. In between, WSM-FM, which really hasn’t been able to maintain decent numbers for a few years now, WSIX which has been a market leader, and then THIS station, WKDF.

WKDF, a former album rock station, flipped to Country a few years ago and really took the Nashville market by storm. On this 16 minute scope, we get to hear Craig Cooper and Kevin Kincaid, a couple of high energy Country jocks. While Country is a hotter format than a decade ago, most stations are pretty tame. WKDF, while targeting an AC audience, formats itself more like a CHR station playing Country. After having heard all four stations in Nashville recently, one has to really wonder what it is that makes one station top the ratings and the others not, since there is a similar approach and level of talent… but this station in particular has been on top of its demo for much of its existence as a Country station. Maybe its the relative newness or something else. Well… listen for yourself and decide.

Hoss Burns on the Big 98 (97.9) WSIX Nashville | April 2000

We’re in a Country state of mind as we head down to the Mid-South region and one of the nation’s TOP Country stations, then AND now. Courtesy of Karl Phillips, we head back to the turn of the century for this tightly scoped recording of Hoss Burns. This guy’s voice sounds a little like Ray Dunaway who does mornings on WTIC AM Hartford (and your webmaster remembers odd little details like that), only deeper. Could be the processing.

The pace of this Country station is lightning fast. Country has it’s own variations of the format, some stations use an AC approach… this station sounds more CHR, in your webmaster’s humble opinion, this uptempo approach sounds better with Hot Country, but I digress.

WHN Billboard Station Composite | May 30, 1977

Apparently released as a promotional tool to radio stations (seems to me Radio and Records and/or some other publications did these back in the day), Billboard Magazine made this composite of Country station 1050 WHN New York.

I originally guessed the date of this as Memorial Day 1976, but as visitor Joe Crain comments below, one reported news item specifically dates this as 1977. Read his comments (and others) below this post.

This starts out with Larry Kenny (whom we just featured doing his first morning show on WYNY “New York 97″ back when it was on 97.1 long before there was a WQHT, or a country version of WYNY) playing the Big Apple’s Country music, then moves on to Lee Arnold, Del Demontreau and Ed Baer. WHN would last well into the 80s as a Country station, before Emmis would flip the format and calls to Sportsradio 1050 WFAN, then move the whole thing to 660 when WNBC expired. The audio quality on this is superb and comes from the original source cassette, so enjoy this scoped 9 minutes of 1050 WHN.