WWL in New Orleans

Coldshooter

Coldshooter

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The Bob Wills thread got me wondering if WWL was still 50,000 watt clear channel and is there still a classic country program brought to us by Enrie's Record store. First heard Jimmy Rogers there. There was a late night program for trucker's "Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down" was the DJ's catch line. Every Friday after work at 10:00 pm I would pile into my 69 Road Runner and drive 160 miles to see the girl friend for the weekend.
 
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As far as I know it still is a clear channel 50,000 watts. I remember Charlie Douglas and the road gang but have not listened to WWL after midnight in years. I so listen to it in the daytime though can pick it up just fine.
 
I can tell you that WWL booms into Birmingham, Alabama area just like a local station after dark. A big advantage they have is having a directional antenna to make all their power go north, because there's no reason to broadcast south into the Gulf of Mexico. I listen to it during football season to see what the enemy camp (LSU) is saying. I like the Cajun sports guy, Bobby Hebert.
 
Bobby Hebert is an idiot-in a long line of idiots that brodcast from WWL including the late Buddy Diliberto and the late Hap Glaudi. That being said-I absolutely love listening to them!!! The best time is after a Saints loss on Sunday afternoon when they would usually have a snoot full, were angry and the tongues were loose. What a hoot!!! I remember driving through Alabama during football season and hit the channel with the Alabama version of Bobby Hebert on-he was just as entertaining. Everybody has one!
 
WWL, WOWO, WLS, KDKA, WCKY, WHO, WSB, KMOX, these are a few of the clear channel stations that I can remember from my days of SWL'ing. WWL had a program that was broadcast from the as they said "Beautiful Blue Room in in The Fountain Hotel" or something like that and I always loved to listen to it. Bot does stuff like this bring back memories.
 
If I remember correctly the FCC did away with clear channels. However the former clear channel stations still run 50000 watts. The other stations that are licensed for the same frequencies are much lower power.
 
I remember hearing WWL once in a while up here late at night. IIRC, "Big John" Trimble did a trucking show on WWL, before he moved to WRVA in Richmond, and broadcast from Jarrels Truckstop near Ashland.

"Big John Trimble, pulling for the American and Canadian Trucker." I also believe he used the "Keep the shiney side up and the rubber side down" line.
 
Charlie Douglas and the Road Gang is what I didn't remenber. In central Indiana WLS( which was owned by Montgomery Wards WLS=world's largest store) listened to alot. The classic C&W on WWL couldn't be heard elsewhere in the early 70s. I remember the Ernie's Show had music which was a real treat. That station is why I still like the classic 30s-40s-50s C&W. BTW the trips were worth it that girlfriend and I have been married since 1975.
 
In the 70s when I worked midnights I listened to Charlie Douglas up here in Wisconsin. Can't get them anymore. Also can't get WBZ out of Boston. Larry Gick was great company when you worked alone on the mid shift.

Ted
 
Ogandydancer said:
WWL, WOWO, WLS, KDKA, WCKY, WHO, WSB, KMOX, these are a few of the clear channel stations that I can remember from my days of SWL'ing. WWL had a program that was broadcast from the as they said "Beautiful Blue Room in in The Fountain Hotel" or something like that and I always loved to listen to it. Bot does stuff like this bring back memories.
Click to expand...

Remember it well. I believe it went, "From the Beautiful Blue Room in the Roosevelt Hotel, Leon Kelner and his orchestra."

Also used to listen to the Charlie Douglas Road Gang while on patrol on the midnight shift. Liked the Cummins Diesel commercial with Loretta Lynn singing "Cummins' got the muscle, Cummins got the hustle, Cummins got the heart to get you home."
 
As a young lad in WNC I had a transistor radio, High tech baby! I would lay in bed at night with it playing low so my parents wouldn't hear and this is one of the stations I listened to. You couldn't always get it but most of the time it was loud and clear.

You guys sure bring up a lot of old memories.:rolleyes:
Mike
 
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mball said:
As a young lad in WNC I had a transistor radio, High tech baby! I would lay in bed at night with it playing low so my parents wouldn't hear and this is one of the stations I listened to. You couldn't always get it but most of the time it was loud and clear.

You guys sure bring up a lot of old memories.:rolleyes:
Mike
Click to expand...

Yep, as a kid in Manistee, Michigan, these 50K clear channel AM stations were a connection to a wider world. I had a ten-transistor radio I'd hang by its leather case carrying strap from a bedpost, hidden from the sight of my tyrannical parents who dictated an unreasonably early bedtime, with a wire and earbud snaked up under my pillow case, and listen to great music that wasn't available elsewhere --- WWL, WBZ, WLS, WABC, and oddly, the most "local" station, CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, across the DEE-troit River from DEE-troit, broadcasting omnidirectionally into the American midwest, and the vast Ontario wilderness. CKLW's then shrewd and ruthless program director, Rosalie Trombley, was memorialized in an early Bob Seger hit single, Rosalie, the refrain of which was, "she's got the tower, she's got the power..."

Had it not been for the morally and ethically corrupting influence of this decadent music, I might have turned out OK...
 
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When I listened to WWL (on US 31, not very far South of Manistee) they played Jazz at night, sort of fitting from N O I always thought. I think the station was in the basement of the Roosevelt Hotel. I also remember broadcasts from the Ballroom.
I also remember cranking the old Ford when the battery went flat in the middle of the night.
 
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Bert Man said:
Remember it well. I believe it went, "From the Beautiful Blue Room in the Roosevelt Hotel, Leon Kelner and his orchestra."

Also used to listen to the Charlie Douglas Road Gang while on patrol on the midnight shift. Liked the Cummins Diesel commercial with Loretta Lynn singing "Cummins' got the muscle, Cummins got the hustle, Cummins got the heart to get you home."
Click to expand...

Yes you are correct.
 
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