For the past four years Rewound Radio has been celebrating Chicago's two 50,000 watt powerhouse AM radio stations, WLS and WCFL, devoting Labor Day Weekend to airchecks from both stations dating back to the 1960's and 1970's.
Well, next month Rewound will devote TWO consecutive weekends to Super 'CFL as part of their weekly DJ Hall Of Fame feature.
Ted Gorden Smucker, who quarterbacks these special events, fills us in on some of the details.
This coming March, we will be saluting Chicago Radio Station WCFL on the Rewound Radio DJ Hall of Fame. While this station began playing contemporary music in the mid 60s, it surprisingly switched its format to Beautiful Music on March 15, 1976. It was a great run … while it lasted!
This station has been recognized by many as being one of the most innovative personality stations of its time. Just this past year, the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 inducted WCFL into their Radio Station Hall of Fame, a recognition that is well deserved and long overdue.
WCFL signed on as a listener supported station by the Chicago Federation of Labor in 1926, but it was in 1965 when WCFL began to make its mark as a Rock and Roll powerhouse. The station broke the ice for many Chicagoland bands, giving early airplay to The Buckinghams, The Cryan’ Shames, New Colony Six, The Ides of March, The Shadows Of Knight, Styx and Chicago.
WCFL’s 50,000 watts of power covered most of eastern America and parts of Canada at night, and their commitment to music and news gave ‘The Big 89’ WLS, some very strong competition for over a decade. By the mid-70s, AM radio had made its mark and it was time to yield to their arch rival WLS, and of course, their FM counterparts, as listeners began migrating to those stations playing rock music in static-free stereo.
In Week One of our two-part profile on March 7th, Rewound Radio will feature the early personalities who called ‘The Voice of Labor’ their home. We’ll hear shows from 1966 to 1972 from the talents of Barney Pip, Jim Stagg, ‘King B’ Ron Britain, Joel Sebastian, Bob Dearborn, and of course, ‘The Wild I-tralion’ Dick Biondi. We’ll also be treated to slices of history by many of the people just mentioned, along with a brief look into the genius of Dick Orkin, a man who was no chicken when it came to comedy. Orkin created Chickenman for WCFL, but due to popular demand, it was eventually syndicated throughout the U.S., and in a number of countries abroad.
Then, the following week, the WCFL salute continues, airing just one day before the 50th Anniversary of their infamous format change. On March 14th, we begin with a program produced in 2009 by Jim Hampton from the USA Radio Museum. ‘Radio Recall’ will dig deep into the behind the scenes events of building WCFL, as Jim interviews legendary program director Ken Draper on how he put this innovative station on the air in the mid-60s.
Following that, we transport to March 15th, 1976, where we will hear Bob Dearborn’s final words and Larry Lujack's last show as a top 40, rock and roll dee jay. They are featured on WCFL’s last day of Rock and Roll, just before they switched to Beautiful Music later that night. It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 50 years when all of this radio history happened.
Finally we complete this two-part salute with a DJ montage of virtually all the air personalities who left their mark on WCFL from the mid-60s to the mid-70s. You will need to listen with both ears as it goes fast.
Be sure to join RewoundRadio.com for the DJ Hall of Fame on March 7th and March 14th from Noon to 3 pm Eastern Time, as we pay tribute to ‘Big Ten WCFL’, or as it later became known as ‘Super CFL’ on the DJ Hall of Fame.
Here’s how you can listen.
1. Go to ‘www.rewoundradio.com’ and click on the Cell Phone Icon
2. Go to I-Heart Radio and search ‘Rewound Radio’
3. Go to Tune-In and search ‘Rewound Radio’
4. Ask your Alexa device to play ‘Rewound Radio’
Or just save this link: rewoundradio.com/instantonicecast.html and paste it into your browser when it's time to listen.
Ted Gorden Smucker
More here ...
https://usaradiomuseum.com/tribute/rewound-radio-salutes-wcfl-march-7-14/
