Ohio 60s/70s Top 40 roll call

[kirkiefan]

Celina-WMER (94.3). Automated with Hit Parade from 1968 through about 1971, then self-automated with a couple of live shifts, including a request show on Thursday nights. I remember them broacasting live from the Mercer County fair, bringing turntables, cart machines and even the phone).

Hey gr8

Who owned WMER back then? (1972-74) Remember some person named Scott Hildebrand (Scott Bradley I think) who was a personality there. Was that his father who I think was a Piqua vetrenarian who owned it then?

So how did it end up being in receiveship before being sold? Weak signal(which it had back then)weak management or no sales or what?

Who bought it and switched the format to adult standards before it became WKKI?

[gr8oldies]

Brief history of WMER...it was Celina's first radio station (a stand-alone FM in 1960) owned by the owner of the Celina Music Store (the studios of now WKKI are there to this day). WMER was sold to guys named Lee Rutherford and Ron Rumley who later bought WDRK in Greenville. For awhile the automation equipment was located in the very back of the Music Store..my first peek at broadcast automation.  They ran Drake-Chenault's Hit Parade (68, 69 and 70). I'm not clear who owned WMER during it's brief CHR era, the Scott you were thinking of went by Scott Allen on the air (whenever he acually did his 7-9am morning show.) The late Ralph Guineri also did middays and later afternoon drive (4-6pm). The homebrew automation reels sounded terrible. The recievership could have been any number of factors from low sales to bad management, and 740 watts ERP on a very low tower. I'm sure FM penetration wasn't 100% then. After WMER Inc. went bankrupt, former WCSM personalities Keith and Jackie Balfour bought the station and tried to rebuild the WCSM of the late 60s, complete with big bands from the stuttering Lonesome Ralph (NOT Guaneri). Mid-America Radio, which had stations in Michigan were the next owners, changing the calls to WKKI and flipping to Country, later a mix of A/C days and AOR nights, then straight up chainsaw rock, before Chris Cage bought it and promptly installed Transtar.

There's a little building on Rt. 703 right in front of the WSU Lake Campus that was to have been the new home of WMER in the 70s but that didn't materialize.

[kirkiefan]

I met Keith Balfour when I was just out of high school having just back from getting my license w/bc endorsement and started looking for a job. He was very rude to me claiming he was a professional yet still running the haphazard "automation" reels at logger speed....and yes the sound quality was horrible.... Heard he was just as arrogant and mean to work for as was meeting him. Was glad that WKKI came around and took over and moved to the taller tower near the lake.  I remember that vacant building near the lake....it later became a doctor's office. It was going to be WGLB (Grand Lake Broadcasting) before the Balfours got their hands on it....that according to the fellow who babysat (and lived) at the studios before the Balfour takeover..I think he came back briefly as the WKKI morning man in 79/80 during the split formats.Great fellow who showed me around and remember that monaural Sparta board and the Pepper/Tanner jingles played after every two songs. "Reaching Out Touching You...WMER"

[gr8oldies]

Never met the guy (Balfour)...another topic might be early radio job hunting experiences. I remember being told by Mr. Triplett that I wasn't ready for WTOO (maybe I wasn't!) in 1976.

I remember the name Grand Lake Broadcasting. Would you be referencing Gary Clayton? He seemed to be sleeping there overnight and if by about 7:25am Scott Allen hadn't shown up he did the morning show as I recall (though I've slept since then). And yes, I do remember the "Reaching Out" package "WMER, Celina..Reaching Out, Touching You". WHUT in Anderson IN used that package as well. The split format was a trip..got up at 5am one Saturday morning and hear some screaming heavy metal song, into "Rockin' Easy 94-3, WKKI, Celina" into "You Decorated My Life" by Kenny Rogers.

[kirkiefan]

That may have been Gary Clayton...it's a familiar name. Had a similar experience with 'ol man Triplett as well..since I was a newcomer with a nasal voice at the time he also gave the the 'ol "you're not cut out for this biz " line among countless others.

WHUT 1470 used a TM package siimilar to WOWO's but shorter....you were probably referring to WHBU 1240 with an adult contemporary format when they still had that tower on top of the Citizens Bank Building. I remember those jingles on that station when I worked at W-bump in the 70s.

WHUT is now WGNR-AM airing Moody Broadcasting network.

Thanks for the info and feedback gr8

[Channel Surf]

Iquote]

Gr8t:

     I'm not taking you to task here, but WONE changed format from top 40 in 1967...they went "MOR" until around 1969, when they went country. 

Thanks for clarifying the date of the demise of WONE as a Top 40 station. I left Cincinnati just weeks before WCPO went under, so WONE still existed at that time. They put a pretty decent signal into Cincinnati as I recall too...definitely better than WING. In any case, when I paid attention to Ohio radio back in 1964 and 1965, here's what I recall listening to:

In Cincinnati, of course, I spent way too many hours listening to WSAI and WCPO. But I would also listen to the nearby markets, that were audible by day, which included WING and WONE as well as WAKY, out of Louisville, Ky. Also,
WMOH-Hamilton was at least part time Top 40, by that time, as was 1090-WMWM from Wilmington as I recall. Other than that, during trips through Ohio in those days I would regularly check out WCOL, WHLO, KYW/WKYC and WHK....

[Flying-Dutchman]

There was some great radio in Dayton. My favorite was 1410 WING!  How about Don Robertson and Steve Kirk!!!!!
Just to name a few!

[kirkiefan]

I grew up with WING!
Not only Gene "By Golly" Barry,but also The Duke ...or "duck''  of Dayton(Ritchie Allen) Big D (Jerry Dennis) Bob Harper(who worked there all to breifly before moving on to WSAI and eventualy Atlanta) night jock Dan Clover,Bob Holiday (who did afternoons and had his very own "daily" survey in 1964)Gordy Price did graveyard shift on weekends there in the mid 70s. Kim Faris for a while did late night shift in the mid 80s between Stacy Taylor's talk program and Larry King. Terry Lafferty(Dayton's answer to Byron McGregor)along with Jim Briggs and Reetha Phillips in the news department.

Would have loved to have seen and toured the studios on West First St. downtown and met the whole airstaff....was never meant to be.(sigh!)

Would have also loved to have met John Hall at sister station WIZE.

[nightfly61]

WKXA-Findlay
WRQN-Bowling Green
WZZP-Zip 106-Cleveland
92.5 WMHE, Toledo
WRKG 1380 AM-Lorain
"The Great 98"-WGCL-Cleveland

[FredRichards]

Speaking of top-40, I just posted a message in the "Programming" area of the forum.

I'm looking to put together a list for a news story on Bill Drake.

I'm trying to think of all the stations that ran his format(s). 

For example, when I grew up in Toledo, CKLW was the Drake station.  WUBE-1230 in Cincinnati was as well for a while.  I know of no others in the state of Ohio or Michigan.

And Hit Parade was on WSPD-FM in 1969 and 1970.

If anyone knows of more, please post something on my thread in Programming as I would like to get a good list together.