Station: 1590 WWUN (WYHT/WZRX) (Defunct) Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Format: Top 40
Slogan(s): “Rock 159”, “W-One”
Featured Air Personality: Walt Grayson
Contributor: Rob Grayson (WHBQ/WKTQ/WMQM/WJDX/WMPS/WMC/WMC-FM)
Airchexx Entry: 1,478
(jingle)…That was our Singing Rubber Band, betcha didn’t know that. It took years to train him!
Comments:
Contributor Rob Grayson writes:
I’m a little biased, but I think this guy is great. He’s my brother. This is a slice of an afternoon in 1974. The station imaging is voiced by the legendary Dr. Grady Brock, who went from Jackson to WCFL, Chicago and beyond
We know next to nothing about this little station that could compete with the big boys in SOME markets, we’re sure of that! Unfortunately, 5,000 watts on 1590 kHz didn’t go very far compared to similar powered stations lower down on the dial. But it sure sounded good!
What we do know about 1590 Jackson, MS is this via Wikipedia. The station went dark on 01/01/2012 and the then current call letters were deleted from the FCC’s callsign database.
WWUN took over 1590 when WOKJ secured 1550 and 50,000 (highly directional) watts. WOKJ was the undisputed king of Jackson’s R&B stations, and a market leader. WWUN’s strategy was to play top 40, but with a heavy soul content, and it paid off immediately with huge ratings right out of the box. Crosstown rival WRBC kept the competition hot, and the alumni included Gerry Peterson/Cagle, Harry Nelson, Dr. Brock, Bob Pittman, Roz Franks, Tony Maddox and others who would become well known on the largest stages in the industry. Walt worked at both WRBC and WWUN, seguing into TV in the 80’s, where he remains.
Considering smaller market stations penchant for saving a few bucks whenever possible, I noticed a WCFL music bed on one of Dr. Brock’s liners — Great aircheck! Especially loved the scratchy records from the gold/recurrent catagories!