Your favorite radio stations, past and present

WFMU

WDOX

L i n k s P l e a s e

There's a station in Palm Springs called, yes, KGAY!

G105 out of Raleigh, NC was great in the 80's when I was growing up there.

I love Chilltrax

When I was growing up / coming of age in San Diego we, at one time, had THREE alternative/indie music stations. There was 91X, which had been around since the 80s and ALT 94/9 (which I think went through a few name changes) which emerged sometime in the late 90s or early 2000s and, somehow, a third commercial alternative station whose name I forget which emerged in the early/mid 2000s. In the pre-Spotify/Pandora days, it was kind of cool to have "sleepy" San Diego be such an epicenter for alternative music.

I think 91X is still going. I imagine, partly, because of its long history and partly because it was the most mainstream and least adventurous in programming than all three.

KCRW

I used to love WHFS I the early 90s when I lived in the DC area.

Recently I stream En Lefko out of Athens, Greece since the music is great and can I can listen to it for hours without hearing something I want to switch off. I have no idea what the DJs are saying though.

For a brief shining moment 1986-1988 WXXP in Pittsburgh, which played alternative rock and supported local bands as well like The Affordable Floors and the Clarks. When they went off air the played R.E.M.’s Its the End of the World As We Know It and it did feel like that. I never loved a radio station again like I did that one.

WPRB

WKDU

WXPN

WRTI

FM 105.9 WAMO!

WFMU

(the only station that isn’t local)

WHFS

Listened to this station when I was in high school & junior high.

R10 R15 Loved both of those stations!

WAMO was amazing in the 80s. And XX - yes, I loved it too.

I also loved WYDD, which was the pre XX station that would play some indie stuff.

XX was back on the air for a while playing classic shows but they ran out of money.

This one. Great new music as well as obscure and a few oldies.

Oh yeah, CHIRP is great! I used to listen to Tony Breed's show on there.

British vote here....Steve Wright in the Afternoon on BBC Radio 2.

BBC6 is pretty good....used to be really great a few years ago

r20, Breed's show is pretty good and he'll play anything!

As a fan of radio, as an art form and maker of social change:

Early progressive rock stations like KPPC Pasadena, KCAC and KDKB in Phoenix, and KSAN San Francisco made album rock mainstream.

The original Roq of the 80's on KROQ in LA was a music breakthrough at the time, with some amazing, entertaining jocks.

Currently, Progressive Voices Network online, and over the air stations like WCPT Chicago and KTRC Santa Fe are a few stations that have revived liberal/progressive talk as a successful format.

The legendary WLIR - broadcasting from beautiful hempstead Long Island (RIP) such amazing 80s new wave/alternative while it lasted.

And WLIR was the original station where that owner/manager did that programming - WXXP in Pittsburgh was their second station.

R23 Yes! And I think he's kinda cute, too. He posts little segments on his Twitter of him dancing.

From SF---historic community radio station, commercial free, pre-covid was mostly live programming (except the middle of the night) and with a wide variety of music and public interest shows. 89.5 fm if you are in the city.

From NOLA---WWOZ---great jazz and local music. ***Commercial free bonus!***

Riviera Radio in Monte Carlo.

I listen online a lot in the week.

Gaydio used to be good too.

KCRW Los Angeles is probably the best radio station in the US.

When I lived back east I liked WCBS FM

KCRW

The Chicago AM powerhouses of the 60’s and into the 70s weee from my early childhood. Then WEFM for Top 40 in the disco era. WLUP and WMET in high school. WFNX in Boston for most of the 80sand 90s. Back in Chicago it was the Alternative station whose call letters escape me at the moment. Still listen to baseball on AM stations from far away at night on my vintage Grundig console.

106.7, KROQ in the 80s, plus 9.23 in the same era.

The 80s were fantastic for fun, frivolous music, and some really cool and intelligent NuWave music, too.

No point to my linking, as Talk replaced Music.

WAEB, Allentown, PA.---All RW now.

WABC, NYC, back in the Beatles--Cousin Brucie days.

I had a few as a kid but none now. I grew up in the 90s but always loved radio especially am. I just loved hearing really old music like from the 30s or earlier and interested in hearing something different.

When I was a teen, KLOS, KMET, KROQ, KDAY.

WFNX Boston, fantastic alternative rock in the late ‘80s.

XRT 93.1 in Chicago (eaten by a conglomerate) played B sides and would focus on specific artists. They also played R&B at a time when other stations focused on big-hair bands and shock jocks. They also had a DJ named Terry (Emert?) who did awesome interviews - it was understood that Sunday mornings were hers for highlighting the Beatles.

On the AM side, around 1995 - 1997 we had a queer station that broadcast for maybe two hours right as the cocktail was offering hope for HIV.

R40 Terri Hemmert! Fabulous old lesbian (well, we think she is).

All Sirius XM channels:

Sirius XMU

Alt-Nation

Chill

80's on 8

Another vote for KCRW.

The late KPRI 102.1 in San Diego was a good listen, but I don't think it's the one R7 was thinking of, it was too tame.

These days I like WMVY on the Vineyard. Yes, I am an old.

I like 88.5 WXPN FM out of Philadelphia, the Universithy of Pennsylvania. I also listen to 101.5 in New Jersey, but now get pissed off with some of the radio hosts...especially in the morning. I don't listen as much now...very trumpian. In my youth, I loved WABC AM out of NYC...Cousin Brucie. That was in the 60s, when I had a transistor radio and would lay on the beach, listening to all the hits. Good memories. In the late 60s, there was an underground station, playing all the alternative hippie rock music, not played on the AM stations. That was WNEW FM. Really great music to listen to stoned. The radio hosts were "heads"...hip for the time, and stoned or tripping, too.

*University^^

R7 91X is or was a border blaster based in Mexico. The signal reached LA. They were required to play the Mexican national anthem at midnight.

KROQ

WDRE/WLIR (available on TuneIn as DARE FM)

Album 88 Atlanta - Georgia Tech (now digital only)

Triple J Australia

That Brown U station had a good run

Radio Paradise

StuBru Studio Brussels

In my opinion the two best stations that ever came out of New York City were

WABC AM and WNEW FM.

WABC AM was in the 1960s

WNEW FM was in the 1970s, and into the 1980s.

These stations were legendary.

Now, I do not even listen to radio of any kind anymore.

I'm starting to listen to NPR . There are some good discussions, but it can be a little dry at times.

It skews older and unhip, but BBC Radio 2 had some good long-established DJs late at night before they fired them a few years back due to budget cuts and replaced them with personality-free nobodies. They still have some good programs though. West End star Elaine Paige (AKA the Poison Dwarf) has her own show on Sundays.

I love Sirius Channel 53 Chill. Amazing music hour after hour. I wish I could just get that channel - without paying for the rest of Sirius. And that I could play in my home.

If you have 10 minutes to spare and want an inside look at a major market radio station in the late 60s, this is worth a look.

I discovered the SOMA FM channels when iTunes was still around and had Internet radio....however their channels are still available on their own site.

They have a lot of great channels but my three favorites are:

Lush - sort of chill to medium tempo music of the last 20 ish years, sung mostly by female voices

West Coast 70s - late 70s "yacht rock" music - lots of great stuff on here, not always the radio hits, often the B sides or artists you may not know

Underground 80s - Similar to the 70s channel - 80s new wave/indie hits mixed in with things you may not know or never heard. Emphasis on synth driven stuff. As it says on their site: "Centered around the UK Synthpop style of the early 80s with a bit of new wave splashed in, you'll hear music from Human League, Depeche Mode, Thompson Twins, A Flock of Seagulls, New Order and Ultravox, as well as lesser-known but critically acclaimed artists from the time such as New Musik, Comsat Angels, Lene Lovich, Fad Gadget and Robert Hazard."

There's also Bagel Radio, sort of the cafe style mellow folk stuff.

AM 740 Zoomer Radio am out of Toronto Canada.

95 bFM

WAAF—the only station that rocks!

WZWZ Z93 in Kokomo, Indiana during the 80's. That station got me through my teen years along with their Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" broadcasts. So much good music!

Today, it's Z92.5 and a hollow rotting corpse of its former self.

Another vote for WWOZ, the sound of New Orleans.

Excellent archives, too.

Lovely thread, people!

WLIR was the bomb back on the 80s. It was based on Long Island so it was almost impossible to get the signal in Manhattan.

The station still sort of lives on - as someone noted above you can get it as DARE FM, I get it through the iHeart app. It's a pretty decent mix of the new wave they played back in the day plus some new bands.

+1 for WFMU! My band played live in their studios in 2016 I think. I live in Melbourne [Australia] now and our local community station PBS is quite good - especially the Jamaican music show on Friday mornings (Thursday nights in the northern hemi)

WWXP is online too, though they seem to pop up and then disappear.

A few years back they were playing recordings of actual old shows, which was amazing.

1970s Boston WBCN was the best alternative station with Charles Laquidara in the morning Runners up included WAAF out of Worcester and WEEI was great for easy-listening rock.

Like r44 and r47, I listened to 77 WABC-AM in the '60s until WNEW-FM became the hip alternative in 1967 (and an uncle gave me an FM tuner I could attach to my amplifier). I also listened to WBAI-FM to hear gay host Charles Pitts. He was literally the first person I ever heard acknowledge being gay out loud. I believe he was only on Saturday nights, though my memory is cloudy on that.

[quote] WNEW-FM became the hip alternative in 1967

wtf I’m sobbing was this actually true??? at one point in time??? literally can’t imagine

Along with NYC station WABC AM for the rock n' roll hits, there was another station...WMCA AM, also in New York...known as the "Good Guys". They played rock hits, too. I listened to them too, but couldn't remember the station, then I googled it. Good radio back then in the 1960s, 70s into the 80s.

WNEW FM back in the 60s and 70s was the best station! I remember Alison Steele, the Nightbird, who was a DJ at night...with a sultry, mellow voice. The DJs were very cool back then.

R66 R63 r44 and r47 will remember this Beatles instrumental/vocalization as Alison Steele's Nightbird nightly end theme:

Yes R67! Thank you! Bringing back memories...

In addition to WAMO I also loved the R&B stations in Cleveland (92, I think) and Chicago (Z103) - they played an awesome mix of contemporary and "dusties" aka oldies.

SiriusXM. No commercials unless you’re listening to live broadcasts of CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, etc... my favorite channel is the 80s classic alternative channel and specifically a shows that Richard Blade, Billy Idol, Marky Ramone host. Tons of other channels to choose from, channels devoted to health, mental health, musical genres, NPR, BBC. Check out their special annual deals when signing up because you can then lock in the deals subsequently every year if it’s a good one.

LA stations KKDJ for the top hiys and KWOW for the oldies.

KIMN, Denver.

Was THE station to listen to in the 70s.

In Telluride and Ouray Colorado, Mountain Chill from 95.5 KRKQ. The music is carefully dialed in to a more energetic sound days and relaxing grooves evenings.

Radio man of mystery 'Cal Lockwood' streams an eclectic mix of extreme classics, including many 78 RPM shellacs and ancient jazz that's so good he's received considerable viral buzz and a mention on Alton Brown's pandemic cooking show. Arctic Outpost Radio is a tiny AM station located at 77° latitude in Longyearbyen, Norway. That's the northernmost populated place of significant size on Earth (just a few miles from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault).

As a retired radio guy, I think this station is pretty wonderful. 'Cal' really knows his music history, plus he's got the grooviest antique broadcast stuff on display in the station's pictures, like a retro-futuristic looking 50 year old Sparta audio console and even older RCA mic. The AM transmitter may actually be a pirate station, since Norway is now exclusively DAB digital broadcast and I can't find his station in any of the official databases. At the end of the world, probably the authorities don't care.

It's on TuneIn as 'Arctic Outpost AM1270'. Just like his AM station, the streaming sound is strictly monophonic.

i came in to say 91x as well. soundtrack of my high school years.

This is where earned about pop music late at night on AM radio in the 80s.

WSM 650

Home station of the Grand Ole Opry. Live every Friday and Saturday night, along with classic broadcasts from the Opry Archives.

They play a great mix of country that you can't find on most stations, current hits, classics, alt-country and Americana. Also, they will play album cuts and live recorded performances from the Opry, you almost NEVER hear anywhere else.

Ha, r76 - forgot about that one. famous also for re-playing the same song 3 hours later. great if you wanted to "record" a song you loved on your "cassette machine" to create a mix tape.

WIXY 1260 baby! Pronounced Wiksy.

WERE AM People Power

WTAM became WKYC became WWWE became WTAM. 50,000 watt clear channel with an identity crisis.

KEXP and NPR.

In Dallas-Fort Worth:

Late 70s: KFJZ (Z-97) and KZEW (The Zoo)

Early 80s: KEGL (The Eagle) and KTXQ (Q102)

Early 90s: KDGE (The Edge)

Super Q, “la discoteca del aire,” WQBA FM 107.5

In the Maryland/DC metro there was 99.1 WHFS in the late 80s through the early 2000s. It was a great alternative/indie rock station that also sponsored a lot of concerts. Then in their infinite wisdom they turned it into Afro-Caribbean music or some shit. That station got me through high school.

Havana's Radio Reloj is all time, all the time!

I've discovered Book Radio on Radio Garden.

It's everything an eldergay would want in a radio station!

In the 80s I listened to CBS-FM which was the oldies channel in New York.

But I seem to remember they had a limited playlist so you'd hear the same songs a lot - WHY? Ridiculous when there were a billion brilliant oldies to hear.

They'd also play old TOP 30s of this day in an earlier year and that was fantastic because it introduced me lots of 60s music I'd never heard before. I still love 60s pop music and still find new (to me) great '60s songs I've never heard...a goldmine that keeps giving.

I find a lot listening to old radio shows on Mixcloud.

Sorry R86 should read BOOM Radio.

US: WZAK Cleveland (that was the station R69), WBMX Chicago (in the mix), CKLW Windsor (roadtrips), WDRE LI, KCRW LA, Island 107 Key West (reggae Sunday), WVUM Miami, WFNX Boston, WLRN Miami (favorite NPR because of Andy Wagner's nice voice and great local shows)

Global: FIP, Ibiza Global and Ibiza Sonica, Radio FG Paris, Studio Brussel, BBC 6, only Greg James on BBC1, RNE Radio 3. I have one of these on every day.

I like the cut of your jib, R89. Will have to check out some of those stations!