Best Tenn. stations of all time

[kd4rnc1964]

WIMZ hasn't been great since Phil Williams & Commander Dave. You forgot WOKI in its heydey, which of course is now NewsTalk 100. WOKI was a great top 40 from 1978 to about 1993. Phil Williams is gray and getting old and trying to become a talker. Sounds like E Tennessee. No one knows where Bro. John is from WOKI. WSM has always been great and to me the best classic country.

[AlbumOldies]

This one is hard to answer since few of us can hear all that's available (or was available in the past) in the state, but I'd say WSM Nashville would have to be at the top.  I still enjoy listening to it today.  WMC FM100 Memphis was hard to beat in its late 60's/early 70's album rock days, a true trendsetter.  I never got to hear WKDF, the album rock station in Nashville, but I understand it was also an excellent station. WMC AM 79 Memphis in its "Constant Country" days on the 70's with DJ's like Les Acree and Jackie Strickland was a top notch country station.  WHBQ Memphis in its RKO Boss Top 40 days in the 60's and 70's was as good as Top 40 got with the possible exception of WLS in Chicago.  And as was the case in other areas of the country, WLS was a popular station in the Memphis nighttime when I was in high school (early 70's). 

[Brian Scott]

There has been a few mentions of WXBQ in Bristol, which got me to thinking...before WXBQ was around, the heritage station in Bristol and the Tri-Cities was WFHG-AM 980...mornings there was done by a legendary local air talent, Don Wilburn...aka Dr. Don, Charlie B in the middays, the late Gary Allen Meadows in PM Drive, and the late AND legendary The Animal on 7 til midnight. Was known for a long time as "Real Rock 98" and for a few years as "The Rhythym of the Tri-Cities". I got a job there in 1982 when I was a sophmore in high school....I thought I had made it in the radio world. It was the stuff back then. Thanks for letting me re-live those memories for a few minutes.

[musicman44]

1. woki i-100
2  95.3 wtnz
3. wmyu - u102
4. 104.5 the bone wbon
5. wkxj 98.1
6. wskz kz 106.5 back in the 1980's
 this my list. 

[HadYourPhil]

My favorites: WLAC, WNOX and WFLI (all back in the day) and the one and only WSM!

[TennStud]

15Q Knoxville.....Like a shooting star in the night with many shooting stars passing thru its doors. Among them Ron Baptist,Bob Kaghan,Steve West,George Patrick Dooley,Chuck "Boo-Boo" Barron,Kid Curry,Mike Beach,Michael Henry Martin,Suitcase Simpson,Charlie Fox,Bill"Birdman"Thomas,"The Trashman" Barry Hodge. All in less than 10 months but a glorious 10 months it was. East Tennessee has never seen another station like the Q..if onlythey only 49000 more watts!!!!Even 9000 more would have helped!!! Legends!!!!

[firepoint525]

After reading this thread, and the "worst stations" thread, one inevitable fact comes to light:  mediocre radio rules!  Many of the "best" stations mentioned here are no longer around, but at the same time, at least most of the "worst" stations are also gone, too, or at least are now under new owners, formats, etc.

[Tennessee Cowboy]

Just found this thread.  VERY good mentions here.  Some repeats, but:

WKGN in the early 70's
15Q in the mid 70's
WRJZ in the late 70's
WNOX for the five minutes Bob Savage programmed it
WOKI when the real talent was going through live
WIMZ when Lambert had it up and running
U-102 for hitting the right niche at the right time in the early 80's
WIVK for Claude's morning show
95.3 WTNZ for the we-know-we're-going-belly-up-so-let's-say-whatever-we-want attitude in the late 80's.

I used to DX WLAC in the 70's, and it was awesome
Same with WQUT.  The Midnight Rambler ruled.

These days smaller stations can't afford real talent and larger stations are too afraid of their cash flow to make the risky growth moves.  There are exceptions, but not many.

[amfmxm]

Reading through this two-year thread has been enjoyable and fascinating. Yeah, I remember how great WHBQ sounded during Dees' days... and the incredible staff WMAK had with Spooner & Shannon and the rest. Like everyone in the central U.S., I listened to WLAC as a kid (I'm 62 now, with 45 years in the biz and 55+ years as a radio fan) and was introduced to Country by 650--though shocked to hear that WSM was actually a full-service AC when I first came to Nashville in the early seventies.

But I'm equally shocked that no one has yet cited the 10-year stretch when WSIX-FM dominated Nashville with the entire radio industry's greatest one-two personality punch: Gerry House in mornings and Carl P. Mayfield in afternoons. During that period of the 80s-90s, the Big 98 wasn't just Tennessee's best radio station. IMHO, it was America's best radio station. And, again, in my humble opinion, WSIX during that decade was among the handful of the nation's best radio stations of all time.

What others are in the handful? WLS, sure--and its twin, WCFL (they swapped jocks so often you really needed a scorecard). CKLW (physically in Dearborn, MI back then), sure. Omaha's KOWH--America's first Top 40 station? It deserves a place. Indy's WIBC during its full-service heyday. Mmmmm... small-market WZYQ in Frederick, MD during the seventies--spun off a Hall-of-Fame roster of jocks. KFRC. WFIL. Raleigh's 850/KIX. San Diego's KFMB-FM. Tampa's Q105. Seattle's KJR--great jock staff. Same with WAKY. WLW, at various times on all fronts--news, sports, personalities.

But none of them could have whipped WSIX with Gerry and Carl P. Not just Tennesse's best station ever. The best radio I've ever heard, anywhere, anytime.

[firepoint525]

What others are in the handful? WLS, sure--and its twin, WCFL (they swapped jocks so often you really needed a scorecard). CKLW (physically in Dearborn, MI back then), sure. Omaha's KOWH--America's first Top 40 station? It deserves a place. Indy's WIBC during its full-service heyday. Mmmmm... small-market WZYQ in Frederick, MD during the seventies--spun off a Hall-of-Fame roster of jocks. KFRC. WFIL. Raleigh's 850/KIX. San Diego's KFMB-FM. Tampa's Q105. Seattle's KJR--great jock staff. Same with WAKY. WLW, at various times on all fronts--news, sports, personalities.

Interesting thoughts, but I wouldn't list out-of-state stations here, unless you could actually pick them up here in Tennessee.  I believe WLS got a mention here earlier, and I did indeed listen to them "back in the day" from my home in rural west Tennessee.  They were definitely a player here in the volunteer state back then, even if they didn't know it or weren't aware of it.  (But I'm sure that that was also true for dozens of other states (and provinces!) back then, too!)  It was also cool to be able to travel to East Tennessee and STILL be able to pick them up!  (I remember being almost annoyed whenever the weather was bad at night, and I couldn't receive WLS!  )

I remember seeing KMOX of St. Louis showing up in the listener ratings for Dickson County.  I remember questioning that (especially since this was sometime in the '90s), but I was told that apparently, they had enough listenership in Dickson County to make a showing in the ratings there.