We might set a new record here for the number of posts under a single topic! As we have migrated away from 300 letter cars I’ll weave that back in to meet the listserver rules.
All of our letter cars up until mid-63 were only available from the factory with AM radios. Starting in January of 1963, in theory, one could equip the 300J with the new AM-FM radio. I have never seen a J with the AM-FM from the factory, although they may have existed, and we could find out if Mark wants to waste a day going through the last 100 or so 300J build cards. The K and L are far more likely to have the AM-FM, although it was still a rare option.
Hence, for most of us who actually drove a letter car as a daily (or semi-daily) driver up into the 1980s, we had to be content with the AM radio (unless an aftermarket FM converter was added – readily available from Radio Shack). I did use my G, albeit briefly, as a “daily driver” in the summer of 1983. And in the Chicago area, as Noel mentioned, we had two rock ‘n roll stations that were highly competitive. We had locally famous jocks, some of whom were shuffled back and forth between the two stations, such as Larry Lujack, Dick Biondi, Larry “Records” Landecker and others.
WLS on 890 was 50KW clear channel and transmitted omnidirectionally; so it had a huge Midwestern coverage area even during the day, and could be routinely received in at least 38 states and Canada at night. It switched to “top 40” in 1960 and remained that way until the mid-80’s.
WCFL on 1000 was known as “Big 10 WCFL The Voice of Labor” as its call letters stood for the Chicago Federation of Labor. It was 50kw also but transmitted with a highly directional pattern, During the day it favored a north-south orientation, and at night it switched to radiate mostly in an easterly direction. As such, it could be well received all over the eastern US at night and eastern Canada. At night it would not transmit very far west at all. WCFL was later to the party and switched to ‘top 40” in 1965. They would also carry the Bears games in the 70’s, and the Indy 500.
Driving my ’64 Imperial daily driver in 1982 with only an AM radio I remember the last day that WCFL aired the top 40 format. By this time every “young person” listened to FM. So by the time I got the G, WLS was the only “rock” station left on AM. And that didn’t last long.
Carl
Yes, WLS stood for 'World's Largest Store' - referring to the mail order behemoth Sears Roebuck & Co. WLS, 890 AM, 1 of 2 great Rock & Roll stations here in Chicago. WCFL was the other. Dick Biondi is the DJ you're remembering. His off-color jokes and comments got him tossed from the air, but he'd show up at events throughout our Chicagoland area. Just a few days ago, Sears closed its final Illinois store. Sears is a history lesson in itself, from its early days selling its Sears automobile (1908-1912), its Allstate automobile (1952-1953 - really a rebadged Henry J - saw an Allstate at a show this summer), Sears homes (1908-1940 - some of these still standing proudly only a few minutes from me), Craftsman tools (my toolbox is still full of these 60-yr old gems), Allstate Insurance, and so much more.
WCFL, 1000 AM, also broadcast our Chicago White Sox in the late '50s, and I'd stay up late in bed, listening to the games on an old transistor radio. Treat for me was pulling in WTMJ in Milwaukee, listening to Milwaukee Braves games, with Henry Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette and their other stars. Once in a while I'd also pull in WSM from Nashville. Among other Chicago stations, we also had/have WGN - World's Greatest Newspaper, the Chicago Tribune.
On 11/22/2021 2:36 PM Lindsey Fuller <lindsey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
WLS in Chicago with Dick Viande (spelling?) was my go to from here in Winnipeg. Must have had a good bounce off lake Superior! Don't recall any from Minneapolis which is much closer. Definitely was fun scrolling the bands after dark. Got lots of others but WLS was most consistent.
wwva was every
where !
CHU canada too must be a million watts time signal . ..
Sent from my iPhone not by choice
Also, in Toronto, we used to get WOWO from Fort Wayne Indiana late at night.
We were also getting WUFO from Buffalo, the Iconic Wolf Man Jack was always a favorite for us musicians.
Sent from my Bell Samsung device over Canada's largest network.
-------- Original message --------
From: 'CAROLL RIPLEY' via Chrysler 300 Club International <chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 2021-11-22 1:49 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: ronbo97@xxxxxxxxxxx, jsnowosacki@xxxxxxxxx, chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Dan300f <dan300f@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: {Chrysler 300} Antenna
When cruising around late at night, we often listened to WWVA Wheeling, WV . Also WCKY Cincinnati, OH and sometimes clear channel WSM (Grand Old Opry).
Back in the early 60's while I was attending college in the Los Angeles area, I would leave my part-time job at about midnight. I generally could pick up a station out of Wheeling, WVA. Don't recall the call letters. Never thought about trying it recently as at the age of 84 I am dead to the world at midnight.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In a message dated 11/22/2021 6:59:49 AM Pacific Standard Time, ronbo97@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
We could get WCFL in NJ. I also remember WKBW ("KB Radio 15") and CKLW, which would identify as 'CKLW Detroit', even though they were in Windsor, Ontario and had Canadian call letters. These stations were designated as 1A Clear Channel, which meant that no other station in the US occupied that frequency. 1B Clear Channel meant that there could be another station on the other side of the country that used the same clear channel frequency. All 50,000 watts.
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