Radio This Week Back Then #53: January 26-February 1
Last night's sign off of KLTY Dallas/Fort Worth, plus retro KHYI "Y95" and KEGL D/FW and we drop a lot of F-bombs with Metro FM and Spin FM Helsinki
What was on the radio this week…back then. This is a weekly visit of radio audio from this week in past years for those that enjoy radio history, those working in radio looking for promotional ideas, or stations looking to re-find lost audio of their heritage. If you enjoy these weekly audio rewinds, they take a lot of time to put together, so please do me a favor, subscribe, and share and pass it on. Thank you! A searchable and sortable index of all the audio is located on the Aircheck Index page.
This week features last night’s sign-off of contemporary Christian KLTY 94.9 Dallas/Fort Worth and flip to K-Love, plus:
Dallas/Fort Worth | CHR KHYI 94.9 “Y95” and KEGL 97.1 “the Eagle” (1991)
Helsinki | Hot AC Metro FM 95.2, hip hop Spin FM 105.8 (2013)
For the first time, I have to slap on the 1990s-era explicit content label, because the Finns do not mind using cuss words at all — including on their broadcast radio…even on their hot ACs. And then there is unfiltered rap music…
Happy listening and reading!
Related: Dallas/Fort Worth, KLTY, 94.9 Dallas/Fort Worth
Usually, this Substack is looking back several years ago, but this week, this first aircheck is several hours ago. At midnight, after nearly 40 years in Dallas/Fort Worth, contemporary Christian KLTY 94.9 signed off and converted to running the national K-Love contemporary Christian network feed after its sale from Salem to K-Love. KLTY’s sale was part of Salem’s agreement with K-Love to sell its remaining full power contemporary Christian FMs to K-Love. Most converted to K-Love with a few flipping to K-Love’s Air 1 network in markets where there was already a K-Love affiliate.
KLTY spent a quarter century on 94.9 in two runs — it’s original brief run in the mid-1980s and back on 94.9 since from late 2000 through yesterday. Between then, it ran for about a decade on 94.1 (now regional Mexican KLNO) and for a year on rimshot 100.7 (now religious KWRD-FM “100.7 the Word”).
On the 94.1 run: The owners of regional Mexican then-KESS-FM 94.1 quickly bought the KLTY library as well as the KLTY promotional materials (jingle cartridges, etc.) after KLTY was sold in 1986. 94.1 did bring back the contemporary Christian format the following year, but the KLTY calls had been long been picked up by 106.5 in the Kansas City market for its AC “K-Lite” format. So, the new contemporary Christian format on 94.1 launched with the KOJO calls. The KLTY calls got reclaimed and put on 94.1 in 1989. With the sign-off this week, KLTY touted “40 years in North Texas,” with that number of years including the KOJO days.
This aircheck captures the last 70 minutes of the KLTY’s local programming. Before the switch to K-Love at midnight, there is a nice montage from KLTY DJs over the years saying goodbye. Contemporary Christian is not my usual format of choice, but there is no denying there was a strong connection with the DJs and listeners as well as artists as part of a radio station that felt like a community. And that is great radio, regardless of the format.
I do like they retrofitted the calls in the current brand to “Keep Love In Texas Y’all.”
Related: Dallas/Fort Worth, KHYI, 94.9 Dallas/Fort Worth
KLTY’s run on 94.9 ended the first time in 1986 when new owners flipped it to top 40 KHYI “Y95.” KHYI had about a 5 year run before flipping to oldies KODZ “Oldies 94.9” in 1991.
Coincidentally to KLTY’s flip last night, I had a back-then aircheck of KHYI from this week. This aircheck is from morning drive near the end of the “Y95” branding as KHYI rebranded to “Power 95” three months later and temporarily shifted to a dance-leaning CHR approach.
Related: Dallas/Fort Worth, KEGL, 97.1 Dallas/Fort Worth
From the same morning as the KHYI aircheck above comes this aircheck of rival KEGL. The late 1989 through June 1992 period of KEGL still sounds like an alternate universe version of KEGL. Since its birth, KEGL had been rock-leaning, so this wimpy pop era of the “New and Improved 97.1 KEGL” sounds odd for what the brand had been. It returned to a rock-leaning top 40 on 15 June 1992 (audio here) and then moved to AOR in 1993.
This week back in 2013, I spent the week in Helsinki on a work trip visiting co-workers. If I was not leaving in the US, Finland would be on the short of countries I would want to live in. The people are awesome — lovers of all things saunas, ice hockey, beer, and the outdoors. They are often ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world, and it is a beautiful country.
Much like some of the other foreign radio markets visited so far on this Substack, radio is often interesting in hearing the hits that scored overseas, but didn’t get much, if at all, airplay in the US. Then, there is also the difference in regulations of broadcast radio and TV. In the US, the FCC will fine a station for airing profanity or showing nudity, but generally allowing a lot of violence. It is often the inverse outside the US. On this aircheck, for example, Green Day’s “Kill The DJ” is totally unedited with the oft-repeated "shoot the fuckin' DJ" and "shoot that fucker down” lines broadcast over the air, which would never happen on a US radio station under FCC regulations.
Metro FM runs the equivalent of hot AC. Most of the songs are English-language pop hits, with some Finnish pop tracks intermixed. Of the Finnish-language tracks:
Happoradio is a Finnish rock band, whose name translates to “Acid Radio” in English.
Pariisin Kevät is a Finnish indie rock band, whose names translates to “Paris Spring.”
Anssi Kela is a Finnish rock performer and the song on the aircheck ended up being the most played song on Finnish radio in 2013.
“Mitä Tänne Jää” (“What’s Left Here”) is actually a remake of a 2009 version by Finnish rapper Cheek. This version actually outperformed the 2009 version on the Finnish charts.
Jenni Vartiainen is a Finnish pop singer; her song “Missä Muruseni On” ("Where My Sweatheart Is") spent 11 non-concurrent weeks at #1 in Finland.
Sturm Und Drang is a Finnish heavy metal/hard rock band
If the language of “Kill The DJ” broadcast over the air shocks or offends you, do not click play on the Spin FM aircheck. In the unscoped aircheck, it was rare to go more than a minute without a F-bomb, use of the N-word, “pussy,” or some other profanity not allowed on US radio. There is still a good deal of it on the scoped version below. Spin FM is hardcore rap, mostly from the US, but most of it never airing on US radio, save for 50 Cent’s “My Life.”
As always, the logos and other intellectual property belong to the stations. The recordings were made from over the air broadcasts. Similarly, other data (charts, ratings, etc.) belong to their owners.