WKNR RECALLED ON MOTOR CITY RADIO FLASHBACKS
WKNR-FM 100.3 * 1966 * J. MICHAEL WILSON
NEW! J. MICHAEL WILSON WKNR aircheck date: *September (12?) 1966
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* THE GARY HUNT COLLECTION *
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ABOUT THIS RECORDING
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This is one interesting J. Michael Wilson aircheck find which Motor City Radio Flashbacks contributor Gary Hunt recently donated for our airchecks archives.
In listening in, this is not the best audio insofar as quality, as you will note. But it is the 10 p.m. night time hour. And you’re listening to the J. Michael Wilson Show in Detroit on WKNR in August 1966.
At first listen, I thought this aircheck probably had been recorded by someone who resided somewhere possibly east of the Detroit map at the time. As we know, the 1310 transmitted signal was deficient during the night time hours after sundown east of the city.
So I wrote back to Gary in regards, and here was his response, “the J. Michael Wilson aircheck was recorded at my best friend’s (Bob Becker) house on Covell Road N.W. Grand Rapids, MI via his TV antenna two stories high on the roof. This was from WKNR FM.”
Amazing. So there you have it. Another rare, but a classic J. Michael Wilson aircheck found, as was aired on the #1 radio station in the Motor City in 1966.
THANK YOU!
A special THANK YOU to Gary Hunt for sharing this special J. Michael Wilson memory with Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
(Next week! Another NEW Gary Hunt WXYZ Jim Hampton aircheck from August 1966)
A MCRFB Note: Motor City Radio Flashbacks pulled up the WKNR Music Guide for the week of *September 12, 1966. And it appears the numbered song hits on this one WKNR JMW aircheck verifies it was recorded sometime during that particular week, as noted, for this aircheck presentation.
I listened to him every night with Bertha Badbreath on KOMA 1520 from Glasgow Montana.I had no idea he was working in Billings!
I listened to Mike almost every evening on KOMA in Moore OK. We often spoke on the phone. As I rennet it, we were talking on the phone one night when the station lost power. After getting back ack on the air he said Rodney Rodent chewed through the wires and often spoke of Rodney Rodents.
I almost went to Elkins DJ school because of J Michael Wilson.
I hope he is doing well.
As for the source “WKNR-FM”, I can attest to that’s exactly how I listened to J. Michael Wilson in Williamston, Michigan (outside Lansing). The FM signal was received off the TV’s roto-scope mast atop the farm house. Couldn’t wait to hear, even when CKLW began the Big 8 challenge to Top 40 in Detroit.