WLUP
Encyclopedia
WLUP-FM is a commercial classic rock
radio station serving the Chicago
metropolitan area. Owned and operated by Merlin Media, LLC, WLUP transmits its signal from an antenna located the top of the Willis Tower in Downtown Chicago at a height of 1390 feet (423.7 m) with an effective radiated power of 4,000 watts. WLUP can be heard as far away as Kalamazoo, Michigan
, which is 90 miles (144.8 km) from Chicago.
in the 1920s. Richard Hoffman, owner of WHFC, in the early 1930s bought out two radio stations which shared the 1420 kHz frequency of his station: WEHS and WKBI. He revived the WEHS call letters in the late 1940s for a new FM station. WEHS broadcast background music for National Tea Grocery stores in the Chicago area. When the contract with National ran out in the mid-1950s, WEHS simulcast WHFC-AM's foreign language and black programing for six hours a day, the minimum broadcast time to keep the license. When the Chess Brothers purchased WHFC-AM and changed its call letters to WVON
(We're the Voice of the Negroes), they changed the WEHS call letters to WHFC(FM). The station now simulcast WVON 24 hours a day. In the mid-1960s, the station began airing separate programming as WSDM (We're Smack Dab in the Middle of the FM dial). The format featured all female announcers (Yvonne Daniels and Dr.Cody Sweet among others) playing light jazz and instrumental music. In the 1970s, WSDM began to mix album rock music with its light jazz. Although WVON was sold to the Potter Palmer
family in the late 1960s, the Chess family held on to WSDM, which was being run by one of Chess' sons.
Owned by the Chess family of Chess
, Checker and Cadet Records fame, through their company, L & P Broadcasting. "L" stood for Leonard Chess
, who primarily ran the record labels and recording studio, while brother Phil Chess
("P") was president of the radio company. Son Terry Chess was General Manager of WSDM through much of the early and mid-1970s. The WSDM call letters acronym
stood for "Smack Dab in the Middle", "the middle" meaning the exact middle of the FM radio dial. The radio station positioned itself as "jazzed up rock" and the "station with the girls" — a reference to the all-female air talent. Its original program director was Burt Burdeen. Among the disc jockeys were Connie Szerszen
, Cindy Morgan
(who later left radio, went to Los Angeles and became an actress, her career including roles in such films as Caddyshack
and Tron
), Danae Alexander, Linda Ellerbee
, Yvonne Daniels, Dr. Cody Sweet, Kitty Loewy, Susan Payne, Janice Gears and Glorie June. There were guys on "the station with the girls", too. Announcers such as David Witz (cousin of former WCFL General Manager Lew Witz
) and Don Davis (later an air talent on WDAI/Chicago and then a Program Director for DC-101 in Washington, D.C. and WCKG-FM in Chicago) appeared on WSDM in the mid-1970s. Davis made the transition from WSDM to the WLUP airstaff when the format changed in 1977.
in Chicago
is nicknamed. WLUP programmed a low-key female-friendly AOR format (similar to today's 97.1 The Drive
). Jay Blackburn was Program Director and Tom O'Toole served as the stations first morning host and was the first Loop DJ to sign on the air. The original Loop air staff included O'Toole in mornings, Captain Billy Martin in middays, Les Tracy in afternoon drive, Greg Budell evenings, and Don Davis overnight.
Congressman Cecil Heftel
(from Hawaii
) purchased the radio station in early 1979, kept the call letters and "Loop" identifier. Lee Abrams was hired as consultant. The rock
format was kept in place, but emphasis was put on harder-edged rock
. Steve Dahl
, who had been unemployed since WDAI (94.7) went to a disco
format in December 1978, becoming the basis for one of the most infamous promotions in sports history, Disco Demolition Night
, was hired for mornings in March 1979. Overnight disc jockey Matthew "Mondo" Meier was teamed with Dahl to do news. He started using his real first name "Garry". Garry became Steve's full-time sidekick when Buzz Kilman
was hired as the newsman in 1980. Chuck Swirsky
provided sports reports. Steve and Garry were fired in 1981 for "assaulting community standards". A series of morning men including Matt Bisbee, Mark McEwen (who later gained national fame as a CBS network TV weatherman), and the team of R.J. Harris and Pat Still tried their hand until Jonathan Brandmeier was hired in April 1983. Kilman remained as newsman and Bruce Wolf replaced Swirsky when he went to WGN in 1981. Steve and Garry returned in 1986 to host afternoons.
In 1985, Heftel Broadcasting bought AM 1000 WCFL, which was once a powerful CHR (Top 40) station but now a Christian music and teaching station. In April 1987, that station became WLUP "The Loop" as well as making the FM station WLUP-FM. The religious format was dropped from 1000 WLUP and the station simulcast WLUP-FM overnights. During the day though, WLUP 1000 ran a full service rock
format while focusing on talk
. By 1990, the AM station would evolve to mostly talk
with a few rock
songs mixed in an hour.
WLUP-FM also began mixing more talk into the format by simulcasting the AM station and evolved to a Talk/Comedy format by 1993. Shortly after, the AM station became a sports station. WLUP FM became WLUP again and evolved to a talk
format with a few rock
songs mixed in per day.
WLUP was one of the first stations to have the "FM talk" (comedy/talk) format in the early 1990s. Some of the shows were Steve Dahl
and Garry Meier
, Danny Bonaduce
, Liz Wilde
, Kevin Matthews, Jonathon Brandmeier
, with News man Blues man Buzz Killman, Chicago Ed Schwartz
and Seka
.
By the early 1990s, Heftel had acquired a lot of Spanish radio stations. Its English speaking stations were sold off one by one, and WLUP FM was sold to Evergreen as a result. Evergreen kept the talk
/comedy
/rock
format. WLUP switched to a modern rock
/Hot AC format late in 1996. In 1997, Evergreen and Chancellor merged. Evergreen opted to sell WLUP to Bonneville
in July which already had a modern rock
/Hot AC outlet, and they then switched WLUP to a classic rock
format. Brandmeier left WLUP and Kilman became the morning man for a brief period before he rejoined Johnny B. at WCKG
. In June 1998, WLUP adopted the slogan, "Classic rock that really rocks". During this period, full-time on air personalities included Steve Downes
, Pete McMurray, Seaver, Sari, Cara Carriveau
, Scott Loftus, Jimmy Novak
, and Mark Zander.
Emmis Communications
traded three of their stations in Phoenix to Bonneville for WLUP-FM and $70 million in 2004. While under Emmis ownership WLUP slowly evolved into a mainstream rock
format, while continuing to lean on classic rock
with a harder edge. This prompted for former sister WDRV
to acquire the classic rock
format and for rival WZZN (now WLS-FM) to switch from active rock
to oldies
in 2005
.
In 2005, Emmis brought back Jonathon Brandmeier
to do mornings on The Loop again.
On January 15, 2007, Chicago's NBC
owned and operated station, WMAQ-TV
channel 5, began a new weekday morning show called 'Barely Today which airs from 4:30-5 a.m. The new morning show was simulcast on WLUP-FM and hosted by Bruce Wolf
, who was the former weekday morning traffic/sports anchor for WMAQ.
On September 8, 2008, Emmis announced a programming partnership with WorldBand Media
and will be using WLUP's HD-3 signal to produce programming for the South Asia
n communities in 3 major cities, including Chicago. The South Asian format, known as HumDesi Radio
, became available on the HD-2 signal of alternative-rock sister station WKQX.
By 2011, WLUP shifted completely to a Classic Hard Rock
format.
WRXP to Merlin Media, a group headed by former Tribune Company
executive Randy Michaels
. Emmis, who would retain a minority stake in Merlin Media, would grant Merlin a local marketing agreement
to operate WKQX and WLUP-FM from July 15 until the sale to Merlin officially closed on September 1.
Weekend and substitute DJs include Tom O'Toole (the first WLUP DJ to sign on), Mike Noonan, Pat Capone, Alan Daley, and Don Nelson.
Some of the theme shows include:
"Saturday Night Rock of the '80s" was originated by one-time Night and Overnight DJ Zander in 2003. He brought the show over from WCKG where he created it in 1997, and later took it to WXXY (The 80's Channel). He now is heard on "the Rockin' 80's" airing over 45 stations in North America.
Dr. Demento
was carried on WLUP from 1987 through 2010, just prior to when Dr. Demento ceased terrestrial broadcasting.
"Walk This Way". In the time span since the original commercial was aired, the footage of the dancing fat man in the commercial has been used by numerous other radio stations across the country. The original WLUP commercial was re-created in the mid-late 2000s and briefly featured Kelly the Loop Rock Girl.
On April 25, 2008, The Loop crowned its first ever Rock Girl Roadie winner, Mike Gentile, a paramedic
, from Westchester, IL, at the Loop Rock Girl Finals at Austin's Saloon in Libertyville. Gentile got to shadow the station's 2008 spokesmodel, Kelly, also known as The Loop Rock Girl, for an entire year as she went onstage for band introductions, backstage to meet musicians, or in the front row of the audience to watch the show. Gentile kept a detailed blog for The Loop's Web site about all of his experiences. Gentile gained local celebrity status when he hosted a Hometown Tour pilot with 97.9 "The Loop's" Mid-day radio personality Erin Carmen and with a highly viewed video featuring the 2008 Loop Rock Girl, Kelly, getting guitar lessons from Mike. In the video, Kelly hinted that there would be a series of videos showing her progression.
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
radio station serving the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
metropolitan area. Owned and operated by Merlin Media, LLC, WLUP transmits its signal from an antenna located the top of the Willis Tower in Downtown Chicago at a height of 1390 feet (423.7 m) with an effective radiated power of 4,000 watts. WLUP can be heard as far away as Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
, which is 90 miles (144.8 km) from Chicago.
Frequency use prior to WLUP
WLUP's first call letters in the 1950s were WEHS, which was originally owned by Evanston Township High SchoolEvanston Township High School
Evanston Township High School District 202, is a four-year, comprehensive high school occupying a campus in Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS serves the multiracial city of Evanston and a small portion of the neighboring village of Skokie, for a total...
in the 1920s. Richard Hoffman, owner of WHFC, in the early 1930s bought out two radio stations which shared the 1420 kHz frequency of his station: WEHS and WKBI. He revived the WEHS call letters in the late 1940s for a new FM station. WEHS broadcast background music for National Tea Grocery stores in the Chicago area. When the contract with National ran out in the mid-1950s, WEHS simulcast WHFC-AM's foreign language and black programing for six hours a day, the minimum broadcast time to keep the license. When the Chess Brothers purchased WHFC-AM and changed its call letters to WVON
WVON
WVON is a radio station licensed to Berwyn, Illinois, serving the greater Chicago area, airing an African-American-oriented talk format. WVON is managed by Midway Broadcasting Corporation, via a local marketing agreement with frequency owner Clear Channel Communications. Civil rights leaders the...
(We're the Voice of the Negroes), they changed the WEHS call letters to WHFC(FM). The station now simulcast WVON 24 hours a day. In the mid-1960s, the station began airing separate programming as WSDM (We're Smack Dab in the Middle of the FM dial). The format featured all female announcers (Yvonne Daniels and Dr.Cody Sweet among others) playing light jazz and instrumental music. In the 1970s, WSDM began to mix album rock music with its light jazz. Although WVON was sold to the Potter Palmer
Potter Palmer
Potter Palmer was an American businessman who was responsible for much of the development of State Street in Chicago.-Retailing career:...
family in the late 1960s, the Chess family held on to WSDM, which was being run by one of Chess' sons.
Owned by the Chess family of Chess
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
, Checker and Cadet Records fame, through their company, L & P Broadcasting. "L" stood for Leonard Chess
Leonard Chess
Leonard Chess was a record company executive and the founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues.- Early life :...
, who primarily ran the record labels and recording studio, while brother Phil Chess
Phil Chess
Philip Chess is an American record producer and company executive, the co-founder of Chess Records.He was born Fiszel Czyż in a Jewish community in Częstochowa, Poland. He and his brother Lejzor, sister Malka and mother followed their father to Chicago in 1928...
("P") was president of the radio company. Son Terry Chess was General Manager of WSDM through much of the early and mid-1970s. The WSDM call letters acronym
Acronym and initialism
Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. These components may be individual letters or parts of words . There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of the various terms , nor on written usage...
stood for "Smack Dab in the Middle", "the middle" meaning the exact middle of the FM radio dial. The radio station positioned itself as "jazzed up rock" and the "station with the girls" — a reference to the all-female air talent. Its original program director was Burt Burdeen. Among the disc jockeys were Connie Szerszen
Connie Szerszen
Connie Szerszen is an American female radio personality, currently heard on www.ChicagoRadioOnLine.com, hosting the Classic Hits Channel with legendary DJ Fred Winston. Szerszen is a native Chicagoan of Polish ancestry. While she was Talent Coordinator at WCFL, Szerszen was discovered by air...
, Cindy Morgan
Cindy Morgan
Cindy Morgan is an American actress best known for her appearances as Lora/Yori in Tron and Lacey Underall in Caddyshack.-Biography:...
(who later left radio, went to Los Angeles and became an actress, her career including roles in such films as Caddyshack
Caddyshack
Caddyshack is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis, and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, and Bill Murray...
and Tron
Tron
-Film:*Tron , a franchise that began in 1982 with the Walt Disney Pictures film Tron** Tron , a 1982 science fiction film by Disney, starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan, Dan Shor and David Warner...
), Danae Alexander, Linda Ellerbee
Linda Ellerbee
Linda Ellerbee is an American journalist who is most known for several jobs at NBC News, including Washington, DC correspondent, host of the Nickelodeon network's Nick News, and reporter and co-anchor of NBC News Overnight, which was recognized by the jurors of the duPont Columbia Awards as...
, Yvonne Daniels, Dr. Cody Sweet, Kitty Loewy, Susan Payne, Janice Gears and Glorie June. There were guys on "the station with the girls", too. Announcers such as David Witz (cousin of former WCFL General Manager Lew Witz
WCFL (AM)
WCFL was the callsign of a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor, hence its call letters. The station is now known as WMVP. Its transmitter is located in Downers Grove and is still in use by WMVP...
) and Don Davis (later an air talent on WDAI/Chicago and then a Program Director for DC-101 in Washington, D.C. and WCKG-FM in Chicago) appeared on WSDM in the mid-1970s. Davis made the transition from WSDM to the WLUP airstaff when the format changed in 1977.
WLUP
The call letters changed to WLUP in March 1977. The station called itself "The Loop" which is what the main business districtChicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
is nicknamed. WLUP programmed a low-key female-friendly AOR format (similar to today's 97.1 The Drive
WDRV
WDRV is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts on WWDV . "The Drive" programs a broad-based classic rock format called "Timeless Rock"...
). Jay Blackburn was Program Director and Tom O'Toole served as the stations first morning host and was the first Loop DJ to sign on the air. The original Loop air staff included O'Toole in mornings, Captain Billy Martin in middays, Les Tracy in afternoon drive, Greg Budell evenings, and Don Davis overnight.
Congressman Cecil Heftel
Cecil Heftel
Cecil Landau Heftel, popularly known as Cec Heftel was an American politician and businessman from Hawai'i...
(from Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
) purchased the radio station in early 1979, kept the call letters and "Loop" identifier. Lee Abrams was hired as consultant. The rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
format was kept in place, but emphasis was put on harder-edged rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. Steve Dahl
Steve Dahl
Steven Robert Dahl has been an American radio personality and humorist for more than thirty years. He is currently podcasting, and releases the podcasts for download daily from his own website as well as the iTunes store...
, who had been unemployed since WDAI (94.7) went to a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
format in December 1978, becoming the basis for one of the most infamous promotions in sports history, Disco Demolition Night
Disco Demolition Night
Disco Demolition Night was a promotional event that took place on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, during which a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field. It was held during the twi-night doubleheader baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and...
, was hired for mornings in March 1979. Overnight disc jockey Matthew "Mondo" Meier was teamed with Dahl to do news. He started using his real first name "Garry". Garry became Steve's full-time sidekick when Buzz Kilman
Buzz Kilman
-Radio career:He started in radio as the public service director for WBUS-FM, "The Magic Bus" in Miami Beach, Florida. Kilman remained there until station management discovered many of his late night interviews were spoofs. In 1974, he was at WSHE-FM in Ft...
was hired as the newsman in 1980. Chuck Swirsky
Chuck Swirsky
Chuck Swirsky is the radio play-by-play voice of the Chicago Bulls of the NBA. He was formerly the longtime play-by-play voice of the Toronto Raptors....
provided sports reports. Steve and Garry were fired in 1981 for "assaulting community standards". A series of morning men including Matt Bisbee, Mark McEwen (who later gained national fame as a CBS network TV weatherman), and the team of R.J. Harris and Pat Still tried their hand until Jonathan Brandmeier was hired in April 1983. Kilman remained as newsman and Bruce Wolf replaced Swirsky when he went to WGN in 1981. Steve and Garry returned in 1986 to host afternoons.
In 1985, Heftel Broadcasting bought AM 1000 WCFL, which was once a powerful CHR (Top 40) station but now a Christian music and teaching station. In April 1987, that station became WLUP "The Loop" as well as making the FM station WLUP-FM. The religious format was dropped from 1000 WLUP and the station simulcast WLUP-FM overnights. During the day though, WLUP 1000 ran a full service rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
format while focusing on talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
. By 1990, the AM station would evolve to mostly talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
with a few rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
songs mixed in an hour.
WLUP-FM also began mixing more talk into the format by simulcasting the AM station and evolved to a Talk/Comedy format by 1993. Shortly after, the AM station became a sports station. WLUP FM became WLUP again and evolved to a talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
format with a few rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
songs mixed in per day.
WLUP was one of the first stations to have the "FM talk" (comedy/talk) format in the early 1990s. Some of the shows were Steve Dahl
Steve Dahl
Steven Robert Dahl has been an American radio personality and humorist for more than thirty years. He is currently podcasting, and releases the podcasts for download daily from his own website as well as the iTunes store...
and Garry Meier
Garry Meier
Garry Meier is a Chicago-based radio personality and is currently the afternoon host on WGN-AM 720 in Chicago, heard weekdays 3-7 PM CT.- Beginnings :...
, Danny Bonaduce
Danny Bonaduce
Dante Daniel "Danny" Bonaduce is an American radio/television personality, comedian, professional wrestler, and former child actor...
, Liz Wilde
Liz Wilde
Liz Wilde is an American radio personality best known for her shock jock radio program, The Liz Wilde Show.-History:...
, Kevin Matthews, Jonathon Brandmeier
Jonathon Brandmeier
-Career:Born John Francis Brandmeier to a German father and a Lebanese mother, Brandmeier started his radio career in 1973 at WFON in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin...
, with News man Blues man Buzz Killman, Chicago Ed Schwartz
Ed Schwartz
Ed Schwartz was a Chicago media personality who hosted local late-night radio programs from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. He was nicknamed "Chicago Ed."-Early life and education:...
and Seka
Seka
Seka is an American pornographic actress who appeared in many pornographic films during the late 1970s and the 1980s.-Career:...
.
By the early 1990s, Heftel had acquired a lot of Spanish radio stations. Its English speaking stations were sold off one by one, and WLUP FM was sold to Evergreen as a result. Evergreen kept the talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
/comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
/rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
format. WLUP switched to a modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
/Hot AC format late in 1996. In 1997, Evergreen and Chancellor merged. Evergreen opted to sell WLUP to Bonneville
Bonneville
-People:* Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville, a French-born officer in the United States Army, fur trapper, and explorer in the American West* Hugh Bonneville, an English stage, television, and film actor* Nicholas Bonneville, a French writer-Places in the USA:...
in July which already had a modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
/Hot AC outlet, and they then switched WLUP to a classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
format. Brandmeier left WLUP and Kilman became the morning man for a brief period before he rejoined Johnny B. at WCKG
WCKG
WCFS-FM , known on-air as "WBBM Newsradio 780 & 105.9", is a radio station licensed to Elmwood Park, Illinois and serving the Chicago, Illinois market...
. In June 1998, WLUP adopted the slogan, "Classic rock that really rocks". During this period, full-time on air personalities included Steve Downes
Steve Downes
Steve Downes is an American DJ and voice actor. He is best known for his work as the voice of Master Chief in the popular Halo video game series. He worked as a disc jockey at Los Angeles, California, Album-oriented Rock radio stations KWST , KEZY-AM and KLSX , but is best remembered working...
, Pete McMurray, Seaver, Sari, Cara Carriveau
Cara Carriveau
Cara Carriveau is a radio personality, currently hosting middays at 101.9 WTMX "The MIX" in Chicago, Illinois and host of podcast.-History:Cara was born in Detroit, Michigan June 12, 1966...
, Scott Loftus, Jimmy Novak
Jimmy Novak
Jimmy Novak is an American radio personality. He the co-host of the Jimmy and Jen Morning Show on 102.3 XLC in Lake County. Prior to his XLC gig he was the afternoon host at 95 WIIL ROCK in the Chicago radio market...
, and Mark Zander.
Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications is a media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company owns radio stations and magazines in the United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.-History:...
traded three of their stations in Phoenix to Bonneville for WLUP-FM and $70 million in 2004. While under Emmis ownership WLUP slowly evolved into a mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
format, while continuing to lean on classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
with a harder edge. This prompted for former sister WDRV
WDRV
WDRV is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts on WWDV . "The Drive" programs a broad-based classic rock format called "Timeless Rock"...
to acquire the classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
format and for rival WZZN (now WLS-FM) to switch from active rock
Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:...
to oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
in 2005
2005 in radio
The year 2005 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*April 29 - KFRC 610 AM in San Francisco, switches formats as a result of ownership change. KFRC becomes KEAR, the "Sound of the New Life", a listener-supported, gospel/religious only station. It had been previously KFRC from...
.
In 2005, Emmis brought back Jonathon Brandmeier
Jonathon Brandmeier
-Career:Born John Francis Brandmeier to a German father and a Lebanese mother, Brandmeier started his radio career in 1973 at WFON in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin...
to do mornings on The Loop again.
On January 15, 2007, Chicago's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
owned and operated station, WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
channel 5, began a new weekday morning show called 'Barely Today which airs from 4:30-5 a.m. The new morning show was simulcast on WLUP-FM and hosted by Bruce Wolf
Bruce Wolf
Bruce Wolf is a veteran Chicago broadcaster and sports anchor who has been on both TV and radio for more than 20 years. He currently hosts a politics-themed talk show every weekday morning on WLS radio in Chicago and also fills in as a sportscaster on WMAQ-TV in Chicago...
, who was the former weekday morning traffic/sports anchor for WMAQ.
On September 8, 2008, Emmis announced a programming partnership with WorldBand Media
WorldBand Media
WorldBand Media Inc. is a North American media company specializing in the production and distribution of ethnic based media content. It currently owns and operates HumDesi Radio, a national South Asian radio network broadcasting in The United States and on a number of digital platforms across...
and will be using WLUP's HD-3 signal to produce programming for the South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n communities in 3 major cities, including Chicago. The South Asian format, known as HumDesi Radio
HumDesi Radio
HumDesi Radio, a division of WorldBand Media, is a South Asian national radio network that broadcasts around the clock in New York/New Jersey, Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, and in the San Francisco Bay Area...
, became available on the HD-2 signal of alternative-rock sister station WKQX.
By 2011, WLUP shifted completely to a Classic Hard Rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
format.
Sale to Merlin Media
On June 21, 2011, Emmis announced that it would sell WKQX, sister station WLUP-FM, and New York'sNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
WRXP to Merlin Media, a group headed by former Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
executive Randy Michaels
Randy Michaels
Randy Michaels is an American broadcasting executive and a member of the National Association of Broadcasters TV Board.Randy Michaels has been involved in large market radio broadcasting since the early 1970s, first in front of the mike as evening personality at adult contemporary WGR in Buffalo...
. Emmis, who would retain a minority stake in Merlin Media, would grant Merlin a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
to operate WKQX and WLUP-FM from July 15 until the sale to Merlin officially closed on September 1.
Programming
In 2009, Jonathan Brandmeier exited WLUP. Byrd, previously on middays, moved into morning drive and weekender Pat Capone took over Byrd's midday time slot. Pete McMurray also took over the 7pm to 12am shift.Weekend and substitute DJs include Tom O'Toole (the first WLUP DJ to sign on), Mike Noonan, Pat Capone, Alan Daley, and Don Nelson.
Some of the theme shows include:
- Two-Fer Tuesdays (two songs from the same artist)
- Get The Led Out (a three-song set of Led ZeppelinLed ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
songs weeknights at 8pm) - Saturday Night Rock of the '80s (an all-'80s rock music show from 7-9pm)
- LOOP On-Stage (a full hour of live rock music at 10pm on Friday nights)
"Saturday Night Rock of the '80s" was originated by one-time Night and Overnight DJ Zander in 2003. He brought the show over from WCKG where he created it in 1997, and later took it to WXXY (The 80's Channel). He now is heard on "the Rockin' 80's" airing over 45 stations in North America.
Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
was carried on WLUP from 1987 through 2010, just prior to when Dr. Demento ceased terrestrial broadcasting.
Advertising and Promotion
In the early 1990s, WLUP aired a popular television commercial featuring a fat man dubbed "Joey Bag O' Donuts" dancing to Aerosmith'sAerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
"Walk This Way". In the time span since the original commercial was aired, the footage of the dancing fat man in the commercial has been used by numerous other radio stations across the country. The original WLUP commercial was re-created in the mid-late 2000s and briefly featured Kelly the Loop Rock Girl.
On April 25, 2008, The Loop crowned its first ever Rock Girl Roadie winner, Mike Gentile, a paramedic
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
, from Westchester, IL, at the Loop Rock Girl Finals at Austin's Saloon in Libertyville. Gentile got to shadow the station's 2008 spokesmodel, Kelly, also known as The Loop Rock Girl, for an entire year as she went onstage for band introductions, backstage to meet musicians, or in the front row of the audience to watch the show. Gentile kept a detailed blog for The Loop's Web site about all of his experiences. Gentile gained local celebrity status when he hosted a Hometown Tour pilot with 97.9 "The Loop's" Mid-day radio personality Erin Carmen and with a highly viewed video featuring the 2008 Loop Rock Girl, Kelly, getting guitar lessons from Mike. In the video, Kelly hinted that there would be a series of videos showing her progression.