They were "The Good Guys" or "The Air Force" or ""
They had names like Bwana Johnny, Wolfman Jack and Dr. Demento.
They had slogans like "The Rock of Chicago" and "Boss Radio" and "The Groovy QV."
In his introduction to Jim Ladd's book, Radio Waves, Don Henley wrote, "Music changed my life. Radio, the vehicle for that music, was my connection to the world that lay outside my small hometown. [I]t was a friend in the dark; a messenger to a lover; a magic carpet; a ticket out."
And this is our tribute to rock radio of the 60s and 70s, and the people who made it what it was.
Boston
Courtesy radiotimeline.com
"The Big 68" rocked Beantown from 1967 to 1981.
Today the station has a talk format, but it pioneered the fast paced, high energy sound that mirrored much of rock music in the 70s.
Among the on-air alumni of this era is Shadoe Stevens, best known today as the announcer on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Buffalo
Courtesy wkbwradio.com
When WKBW went on the air in 1926, the call letters stood for "Well Known Bible Witness" but in the 60s and 70s "KB" listeners worshiped at the altar of rock 'n' roll.
With 50,000 watts of power, the station's signal could be heard at night throughout most of the eastern part of the country.
Among the notable personalities during KB's rock era was Big Jack Armstrong, who was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1971 as The World's Fastest Talking Human.
Charleston SC
Courtesy arpstudio.com
During rock radio's Golden Age, "Mighty TMA" was listened to by more people than any other station in the Southeast, including those in larger markets like Atlanta.
From the late 60s through the 70s one of most popular TMA DJs was Booby Nash, whose name lent itself to a variety of memorable promotions that included lapel pins that proudly proclaimed "I'm a Booby lover!"
Today, WTMA is a news/talk station.
Chicago
It was the Sears-Roebuck department store that put WLS on the air in the early 1920s, so the call letters originally stood for World's Largest Store.
By the early 70s, "MusicRadio 89" was making household names of personalities like GAry Gears, Larry Lujak (who later defected to WCFL) and John "Records" Landecker.
Today WLS is a talk station.
WLS had the rock audience all to itself until 1965 when "Super CFL" adopted the format and countered with memorable personalities like Barney Pip, Dick Biondi (who had defected from WLS) and Big Ron O'Brien.
WCFL rocked until 1976.
