[IainJohnston]

The call letters WLUP-FM Chicago won’t be recognisable to most JMers, but for those of
“a certain age”, the original AM channel that WLUP (The Loop, as in the Chicago Transit
Authority” light railway system that circled the city centre) evolved from was….

… “Big Ten” WCFL 1000 kHz, owned & operated by the CFL, Chicago Federation of Labor
(US spelling…), and “pilot station” for many of the Tom Merriman Top 40 jingle packages
of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

http://www.musicradio77.com/wwwboard/messages/441488.html

[IainJohnston]

And on this side of the Pond, here in Scotland 290 metres 1035 kHz in Aberdeen “goes dark”
as the Cousins would say…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-43345758

NorthSound’s medium wave signal used to be a favourite right down the east coast of England
as it blasted down across the North Sea.

Jingles-wise – a LOT of TM-derived jingles via Muff Murfin in the 1980s, as well as JAM after
AM/FM split, and in the earlier days some of the “stranger” Highland Studios / David Balfe
MAde in Scotland material.

[bobgreenradioMember]

wcfl ran circles around wls. it was a much hotter format. and! the home of ‘chickenman’ (a spoof of ‘batman’). u-tube it and watch a few. dated, but still funny in a stupid way

[nleibo]

–BUT WLS managed to “stick around” & play music well into the late 1980’s–whereas “SuperCFL” “gave up the ghost” in 1976 & has evolved into a myriad of formats–none as longstanding as “SuperCFL”…

[Jeffrey T. MasonMember]

While the sentiment is lovely, there’s some misinformation in this post that needs clarification. WLUP did not “evolve from” AM1000. The Loop first signed on 97.9 FM in 1977. There was no affiliation with AM1000 until Loop owner Heftel purchased WCFL in 1985.

As for the “myriad of formats” on AM1000, not only has one been as longstanding as Super CFL, it’s far outlasted it. WCFL was top 40 for only 11 years. They were “Super CFL” just for the final 4 years or so until the beautiful music flip in 1976. AM1000 has been using the call letters WMVP for nearly 25 years now with a sports format most of those years.

[IainJohnston]

Thanks for the clarification Jeffrey.

My info was based upon some VERY old copies of WRTH, the World Radio TV Handbook, that I used
to buy annually (and which was NEVER quite up-to-date even at the best of times).

I wasn’t aware that WCFL hadn’t been associated with WLUP until much later.

In the mid-1970s I still had an aircheck of “Super CFL” on reel-to-reel, and it WAS very “dry” sounding
at that time to put it mildly!

“Somewhere” I have/did have audio of the changeover, of the one remaining ‘CFL DJ explaining
the new “beautiful music” format to follow, and him being the only air-voice that would “continue”
after the changeover.

This “profile” of the history of WCFL may be of interest to a few JMers – there’s a lot of the CRC then
TM jingles throughout, and even one of the “beautiful music” cuts (TM) which I’ve never heard before.
https://soundcloud.com/allthebestjingles04a/track-3

[Jeffrey T. MasonMember]

That DJ was the infamous Larry Lujack. He was one of Chicago’s most famous personalities ever. Larry stuck around for a short time to do the BM format and ended up back at WLS exactly six months to the day after that flip.

[JAM / PAMSMember]

there’s a lot of the CRC then TM jingles throughout

Not CRC. Those early CFL jingles which were used in the mid-60s were produced by Chuck Blore in Los Angeles.

[IainJohnston]

Thanks for the clarification Jon, my apologies!
[ I’m making a bit of an ar*e of myself on the “history” of WCFL clearly! ]

Many of us on this side of the Pond “got” our WCFL material back then via the legendary
Tom Konard at WCFL. And all those “Big 10” Chart paper “flyers” often in slightly lurid colours
that helped fill the jiffy bags…

Today, I’m fortunate enough to have digital recovered/restored dubs of various WCFL
packages (and others) from the Blore and TM eras, from collectors all over the place.

Whatever one might say, “they don’t make ’em like that any more!”

[StarbrelzMember]

I don’t believe CFL ran circles around WLS. John Rook built LS into a powerhouse in the late 60’s, later helping CFL come on strong. But when John Gehron arrived at WLS in 1974, the Big 89 never looked back.

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