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Published on Thursday, 27 May 2010 16:16
With Memorial Day happening on Monday and making this a long weekend, Chicago radio tends to do special programming for the long break. Here is a look at a few of the happenings going on in the coming days on Chicago's radio airwaves...
* * The last couple of weekends, 100.3 has experimented with a "70's & 80's Weekend." These weekends have proven to be extremely popular, so the station will now be doing a super-sized "70's & 80's Rewind" all Memorial Day weekend long. This will also be the last few days to win a key to the Mustang Convertible that 100.3 is giving away as part of their "Top Down Summer" promotion. Hmmmmm... If these 70's/80's weekends continue to be as big as they have been, how long will it be until WILV-FM stops being "Chicago's Feel Good Favorites" and becomes "Chicago's Rewind 100.3"??? Keep your eyes (and ears) on this station...
* * Perhaps scared by this sudden attention going WILV's way, WLIT will try and counter by doing a kind of copycat act. The Lite will be having a "Totally 80's Weekend." Although, all the station will be really doing is simulcasting one of Clear Channel's "iHeartRadio" streaming stations. WILV will be live & local and able to take requests. WLIT will not be.
* * WLUP is doing a countdown of the top 500 rock songs of all time as voted on by Loyal Loopers all this weekend, starting at Noon on Friday. It's being called "The USO Rock 'N' Roll 500," as the USO of Illinois is being given the spotlight by WLUP this Memorial Day weekend. As you will hear often this weekend, texting the word "Troops" to 85944 will donate $10 to the USO of IL, which they will use to help care for Illinois service members and their families.
* * WLS-FM will be having their "Memorial Day Summer Blast-Off Weekend" starting tomorrow. They claim to be featuring "the greatest party songs and memories of summers gone by." For those wondering if WLS-AM would be doing another of their classic WLS Rewind shows, the answer is no. WLS-AM has no special plans for programming this weekend.
* * WVAZ-FM will be doing something special for Memorial Day Monday. Starting at 9:00am, V103 will be "Steppin' Into Summer" with 12 straight hours of Stepper's mixes from Maurice "Ice" Culpepper, Scott "Smokin'" Silz, DJ Marco, Eric "ET" Taylor, DJ Phantom, Boolo-Master, DJ Lil' John and DJ Marlon DeShawn. (Some of those names may be familiar to longtime listeners of 102.7 from back in their WBMX days.) This radio event will be hosted by Troi Tyler, Ramonski Luv and Casper "Mr. C." the Slide Man.
* * From Friday through Monday, WGCI will be doing a "Memorial Mix Weekend." They will be playing long mixes from many of Chicago's top club DJs.
* * There is no special programming planned on Jack-FM, but the station will be giving away many tickets to see The Eagles, along with a dinner at a Lettuce Entertain You Restaurant all weekend long. The Eagles, along with the Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban, are scheduled to play Soldier Field on Saturday, June 19th, although there is a chance that date may be rescheduled as bassist/vocalist Timothy B. Schmit just recently underwent emergency surgery, causing the band to reschedule and cancel many of their May & June dates.
* * Although Sunday's Indianapolis 500 is one of the two biggest auto races of the entire year, it will not be heard on any major Chicago radio station. WUSN's HD-3 station will cover the Indy broadcast, though. Race coverage starts in the morning with the race itself beginning at 12:00pm.
* * Northwest Indiana's public radio station 89.1FM "The Lakeshore" has some special programming lined up for the holiday weekend. On Sunday, The Lakeshore is carrying the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network's live coverage of the 2010 Indianapolis 500. The broadcast begins at 11:00am with pre-race ceremonies and activities, with the the race starting at Noon. On Monday at 11:00am, WLPR digs into the archives to present a classic hour of radio from the legendary Hammond native, Jean Shepherd. The late writer, master storyteller and beloved broadcaster is best known these days for the movie "The Christmas Story," but 45 years ago Shepherd was in the prime of his career as a popular New York City radio personality. The special is drawn primarily from a broadcast recorded on Memorial Day, 1965 at WOR-AM in New York, featuring Shepherd's recollections of Memorial Day in the Midwest, and also remembers his dad's preparations for the Indy 500. For those out of the NW IN broadcast area, The Lakeshore streams on at
TheLakeshoreFM.com.
* * Even High School radio stations are getting into this! For those of you in the Norridge area, 89.7 FM WRHS, which is Ridgewood High School's radio station, will have their 4th annual "All Dead Weekend." Only music from deceased artists will be played from Friday to Tuesday.
* * Have a very happy Memorial Day everybody!
