WJBK

Casey Kasem 1957

WJBK-AM settled on its permanent dial position, 1500 AM, in 1954 and boosted its power to 10,000 watts. Two years later, Storer turned WJBK-AM into Detroit’s first Top 40 station. A young Casey Kasem was one of the voices on “Radio 15” as its mix of pop and R&B music attracted young listeners. Rival WXYZ-AM flipped to Top 40 in 1958, calling itself “Channel 1270” and “Wixie” - creating a ratings war in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with WXYZ and WJBK dominating the Top 40 ratings.

A parade of personalities wore the Bellboy's cap at WJBK, including Tom Clay, Harvey Kaye, Dave Shafer, Terry Knight and Robin Walker.

For years the Bellboys occupied the 7 p.m.-midnight shift at WJBK (these were the days when "house names" were popular in radio). [ LISTEN ]

In 1962, WJBK-AM improved its coverage, boosting its power to 50,000 watts in the day and 5,000 watts at night. But any advantage WJBK had over its competitors disappeared in the next couple of years.

WKMH-AM flipped to Top 40 in late 1963. It became WKNR, known on the air as “Keener 13,” and featured a shorter playlist and more energetic sound than its competitors.

Here's Marc Avery playing records and reading some news on Monday, March 25, 1963.
[ LISTEN ] (29:10)

Bob (on the musical) Layne on Saturday, January 11, 1964. [ LISTEN ] (20:44)

The date is December 7, 1969 and the jock is the banty Jim Hampton.
[ LISTEN ] (17:41)

Playlist includes Give Me One More Chance, Theme from Midnight Cowboy, Hey Little Girl, I Hear A Symphony, and more. Was Bobby Sherman drafted?

March, 1964

WJBK-AM withdrew from the battle in 1964, adopting an easy listening format. It added more soft pop hits in 1966 before making another run at the Top 40 format in 1969. The format lasted only a few months.

WJBK dropped Top 40 late in 1969 and became WDEE, airing a country format. It used a Top 40-style to present country, driving old-style country competitor WEXL out of the format. WDEE also aired a racy program called “Fem Forum,” in which female listeners called in to share their sexual frustrations.

Dave Milan during his 6-hour shift on March 24, 1963 (This aircheck is scoped). [ LISTEN ] (30:03)

Combined Communications purchased WDEE in the early 1970s. WDEE-FM became news/talk WDRQ-FM. Charter Broadcasting purchased WDRQ-FM and flipped it to Top 40 in 1972. Several formats later, WDRQ-FM carries Cumulus Media’s “Nash FM” country format as of 2014. Cumulus owns the station. WDEE-AM dropped country in 1977 and became WCZY-AM, airing a more contemporary version of sister station WCZY-FM’s easy listening format. In 1978, the station flipped to a religious format as WLQV-AM.

It made one last run at Top 40 in 1985 as WCZY-AM. Satellite Radio Network purchased the station in 1987, flipping it back to religion-formatted WLQV.

Midwest Broadcasting Corporation purchased WLQV in 1993, carrying a Christian talk format. Salem Communications purchased WLQV in 2006. As of 2014, the station still carries Christian talk programming.

Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Faded Signals, Motor City Radio Flashbacks, Rock Radio Scrapbook.