Historic Minneapolis St. Paul Radio Airchecks (original) (raw)

Please like us on Facebook and follow us on X. - Learn More	Welcome to RadioTapes.com For twenty years, RadioTapes has been preserving and showcasing historical airchecks of Minneapolis/St. Paul (MN) area radio stations, with recordings dating back to 1924. The website is operated by radio historian Tom Gavaras and features content contributed by a network of more than 100 collaborators. It offers more than 2,500 audio recordings from Minneapolis/St. Paul area radio stations, covering a wide variety of formats and significant events including major news broadcasts. RadioTapes is dedicated to free access for all user. Although primarily aimed at radio enthusiasts, anyone with an interest in broadcast history will find value in this site. You can click on the recordings to listen to them or download them. While some of the recordings are large, they can easily be accessed with a high-speed connection. RadioTapes is intended to be an educational resource for anyone interested in the history of Twin Cities radio and American broadcast history more broadly.	FEATURED STATIONS: KDWB, KLBB, KQRS, KSTP, WCCO, WDGY, WLOL, WWTC, WYOO (U100) and more! AIRCHECKS +: More stations and airchecks to enjoy. SPECIAL POSTINGS: Major news events as heard locally including tornado and severe weather, JFK and RFK assassinations, 35W bridge collapse, Apollo flights, Watergate and more. VIDEOS: 200 videos of Twin Cities radio station. MUSIC SURVEYS: 1,200+ surveys from 1957 to 1988. This site respects copyright rules limiting the inclusion of full songs, focusing instead on personalities, news, commercials, and more. Public reposting of airchecks and materials from this website is not permitted without the permission of RadioTapes, Inc. and the originating source. While navigating this site, if you happen to come across a bad link, please contact us.

DATE POSTED - IF A RECENTLY PROMOTED AIRCHECK DOES NOT APPEAR, PLEASE REFRESH YOUR BROWSER

**11/13/2024

TIM RUSSELL ON WCCO-FM - 50 YEARS AGO IN 1974 WCCO-FM (102.9) Tim Russell on March 2, 1974 - 46 MB Aircheck includes the station's sign-on, some of Tim's voice impersonations including Richard Nixon, John Wayne, and Howard Cosell. Plus UPI newscasts and local news with Rick Olson - this was the day before maximum speed limit was reduced nationally to 55 mph due to an oil embargo. Watergate was also in the news. Commercials included the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Morries Imports, Ridgedale Mazda, and Northwestern Bell.

**11/12/2024

	DAN DONOVAN KOOL 108 COMMERCIAL FROM 1998 KQQL-FM (107.9) KOOL 108 commercial that aired on KMSP-TV in 1998 featuring Dan Donovan. (click on the photo to view the video)

**11/11/2024

MINNESOTA GOPHER FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL HIGHLIGHTS WITH RAY CHRISTENSEN 1970 to 2001 INCLUDING HIS FINAL GAME BROADCASTS WCCO-AM (830) - More than 100 Gopher Football and Basketball game play-by-play highlights spanning from 1970 to 2001 with Ray Christensen including his final game broadcasts and more! GOPHER FOOTBALL 1970: Indiana (23-0 win) 1977: Ohio State (7-38 loss), UCLA (27-13 win) 1978: Indiana (32-31 win) 1979: Opponents not identified 1980: Illinois (21-18 win), Iowa (24-6 win), Indiana (31-7 win) 1981: Purdue (16-13 win), Northwestern (35-23 win) 1982: Northwestern (21-23 loss), Indiana (21-40 win), Iowa (16-21 loss) 1983: Nebraska (13-84 loss), Purdue (20-32 loss) 1984: Indiana (33-24 win), Wisconsin (17-14 win), Northwestern (28-31 loss) 1985: Purdue (45-15 win), Northwestern (21-10 win) 1986: Wisconsin (27-20 win), Michigan (20-17 win), Iowa (27-30 loss) 1987: Northwestern (45-33 win), Indiana (17-18 loss), Illinois (17-27 loss), Michigan (20-30 loss) 1988: Indiana (13-33 loss), Ohio State (6-13 loss) 1989: Indiana (18-28 loss), Ohio State (37-41 loss), Wisconsin (24-22 win) 1990: Iowa State (20-16 win), Nebraska (0-56 loss), Purdue (19-7 win), Northwestern (35-25 win), Ray Christensen recognized at half-time at the Iowa game for his 400th Gopher Football game broadcast. 1991: Michigan State (12-20 loss), Michigan (6-52 loss), Indiana (8-34 loss), Ohio State (6-35 loss), Wisconsin (16-19 loss) 1992: Michigan (13-63 loss), Indiana (17-24 loss), Ohio State (0-17 loss), Iowa (28-13 win) 1993: Wisconsin (28-21 win), Illinois (20-23 loss) 1994: Illinois (17-21 loss), Michigan (22-38 loss), Iowa (42-49 loss) 1995: Ohio State (21-49 loss), Wisconsin (27-34 loss), Illinois (14-48 loss) 1996: Ball State (26-23 win), Syracuse (35-33 win) 1997: Indiana (24-12 win) 1998: Michigan State (19-18 win), Wisconsin (7-26 loss), Iowa (49-7 win) 1999: Ohio State (17-20 loss), Purdue (28-33 loss), Penn State (24-23 win) 2000: Ohio State (29-17 win – the only time during Ray’s broadcast career that the Gophers won in Columbus). Plus, the Gophers and the North Carolina State at the MicronPC.com Bowl at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL (30-38 loss). This was Ray’s final football game broadcast with tributes by Dave Lee and Dave Mona. GOPHER BASKETBALL 1972: End of the Minnesota-Ohio State game on January 25 which concluded with a brawl. Athletic Director Paul Giel officially ended the game. 1978: Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue, Northwestern 1979: George Tech, Indiana, Northwestern 1980: Wisconsin, Purdue 1981: Opponents not identified 1983: Indiana State, Illinois, Purdue 1984: Ohio State, Northwestern 1985: Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin 1986: Michigan 1987: Wisconsin 1988: Northwestern, Michigan State, Wisconsin 1989: Michigan, Iowa, Purdue, and Memories of Reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 1990: NCAA Games: University of Texas El Paso, Northern Iowa, Syracuse, Georgia 1991: Ohio State and Ray Christensen recognized on December 11, 1991 for his 1,000 Gopher Basketball game broadcast. 1992: Ohio State, Illinois, Northwestern 1993: NIT Games: Florida, Oklahoma, Southern California, Providence, Georgetown 1994: Penn State, Indiana 1995: Wisconsin, Northwestern, Purdue 1996: Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State 1997: NCAA: Southwest Texas, Temple, Clemson, UCLA 1998: Big 10 Tournament: Michigan State (14+ minute recording). NIT: Colorado State, Alabama Birmingham, Fresno State, Penn State 1999: Iowa, Michigan, Indiana 2000: Wisconsin, Indiana (great rally by Gophers) 2001: Indiana Presentation to Ray, Tribute EW Ziebarth, NIT: Villanova, Tulsa. The recording ends with Ray's final broadcast after 50 years of play-by-play announcing.

**11/10/2024

	WCCO RADIO COVERAGE ON THE SINKING OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD WCCO-AM (830) - WCCO Radio and CBS Radio news coverage on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on November 11, 1975 - 3 MB The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men.

**11/8/2024

	MINNEAPOLIS LAKERS PLAY-BY-PLAY FROM 1960 WITH RAY CHRISTENSEN WLOL-AM (1330) Minneapolis Lakers vs. St. Louis Hawks playoff game at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis with Ray Christensen from March 22, 1960. Aircheck includes the last six minutes of regulation plus most of the overtime. After this season, the Lakers moved to Los Angeles. 14 MB

**8/26/2024

WCCO-AM (830) - AUGUST 26, 1966 - 5:00 AM-11:00 PM (58 YEARS AGO!) RadioTapes is winding back the aircheck time machine to 58 years ago. Here is a rare opportunity to enjoy approximately 17 hours of continuous programming as heard on WCCO-AM on August 26, 1966 from 5:00 am to 11:00 pm. You will hear Roger Erickson and Maynard Speece in the morning, Howard Viken filling in on the national Arthur Godfrey Show, Boone and Erickson, MN Vikings vs. the Washington Redskins with Ray Christensen and Paul Giel, MN Twins vs. the Chicago White Sox with Herb Carneal, Ray Scott, Halsey Hall and Sid Hartman. Plus many commercials (including lots of cigarette ads), Jergen Nash Show, an address by President Johnson and much more! These recordings were digitized off of a very slow moving "logger" reel-to-reel tape kept by 'CCO. As a result, the audio is not studio quality but more like what it would have sounded like listening with a 1960s small pocket AM transistor radio. We hope you enjoy this wonderful audio journey back in time. File sizes range between 23 MB to 30 MB. Music has been scoped. Here is a LINK to the page with all the hourly airchecks and detailed descriptions.

**8/26/2024

	THE START OF U100 ON AUGUST 26, 1974 Fifty years ago on August 26, 1974, U100 (WYOO AM/FM) began at the Minnesota State Fair. Even though the format only lasted two years, it is still fondly talked about today. Listen to the first minutes, last minutes, and many more hours of airchecks at the following LINK .

**7/18/2024

REMEMBERING BOB NEWHART Bob Newhart, legendary comedian and sitcom star, passed away on July 18, 2024 at age 94. WCCO Radio's Howard Viken was the first to give significant airtime to a comedy album by a young Bob Newhart. Thanks to Howard and WCCO Radio listeners, the album took off in this market, which attracted the attention of programmers in other markets. Soon the album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, was a big success. Newhart always gave credit to Howard for helping him get his first big break. WCCO-AM - Bob Newhart appears on the Howard Viken Show on February 18, 1983 - 16 MB

**7/15/2024

REMEMBERING RICHARD SIMMONS WITH APPEARANCES ON KDWB AND KQRS Richard Simmons, who built a mini-empire in his trademark tank tops and short shorts by urging the overweight to exercise and eat better, passed away on July 13, 2024. Below are airchecks of Richard's appearances on KDWB and KQRS. KDWB-FM Richard Simmons appearance on the Dave Ryan Morning Show - Dave Ryan's Birthday - 10-24-1996 - 8 MB KQRS-FM Richard Simmons appearance on the KQ Morning Show - approx 1996 - 3 MB (courtesy of Tom Oszman, TC Media Now) KQRS-FM Richard Simmons appearance on the KQ Morning Show - approx 1999 - 3 MB (courtesy of Tom Oszman, TC Media Now) KQRS-FM Richard Simmons appearance on the KQ Morning Show - 2003 - 8 MB (courtesy of Tom Oszman, TC Media Now)

**5/21/2024

Philpott photo from 1982 Click to Enlarge.	WLOL-FM COMPLETE SCOPED HOT HITS COUNTDOWN FROM 1982 WITH JAY PHILPOTT WLOL-FM (99.5) Complete scoped Hot Hits Countdown from October 17, 1982 with Jay Philpott. - 25 MB (provided by the family of Raymond and Muriel Harrington) Playlist provided by Jay Philpott.

**5/18/2024

	VIDEO OF MEDIA AT THE 1985 MINNESOTA STATE FAIR Video of media at the 1985 Minnesota State Fair including WCCO-AM (Howard Viken and Chuck Lilligren), WDGY-AM (John Pratt), KDWB-FM (Lisa Carr), WLOL-FM (Bob Lange) and more. Plus local television stations.

**5/15/2024

KRSI REQUEST RADIO AIRICHECK FROM 1971 WITH TAC HAMMER KRSI-AM/FM (950 / 104.1) - Aircheck of Request Radio with Tac Hammer from August 29, 1971 - 16 MB The aircheck include newscasts (ABC Radio and local), music requests, and commercials for the Burnsville Bowl, Groom & Clean Hair Spray, Team Electronics, Living Water, Guthrie Theater, McDonald's, Greenleaf Townhomes by Orrin Thompson, Charlie's Restaurant, and General Motors. Note the customized KRSI singing intro by Three Dog Night for their song Liar at 9:52 into this aircheck. Lance "Tac" Hammer started his radio career in Duluth, MN at WEBC and WAKX. This was followed by radio positions in the Twin Cities at KDWB-AM, KRSI-AM/FM, KQRS-FM, and WLOL-FM. Afterwards, Tac created Hammer Communications, a radio consulting company. Tac passed away in 1993 at age 52 due to complications from cancer.

**5/10/2024

WDGY-AM AIRCHECK FROM 65 YEARS AGO! WDGY-AM (1130) - Aircheck of Dave Reau from January 25, 1959 - 6 MB The aircheck includes a newscast, jingles, top songs, and commercials for the Pioneer Press, Greater Minneapolis Safety Council, and Hills Brothers Self Service Shoe Store. The aircheck includes the song Donna by Ritchie Valens. This aircheck was only eight day before Buddy Holly, Rit chie Valens, and The Big Bopper died in an airplane crash.

**5/3/2024

	"WHAT GOES ON AT A RADIO STATION?" BOOK FROM 1984 FEATURING WCCO RADIO PDF of a book printed in 1984 featuring WCCO Radio called "What Goes On at a Radio Station?" including photos of some station personalities and others behind the scenes. This book is presented with the permission of the author, Susan Gilmore. - 18 MB

**4/26/2024

WCCO-FM – 50 YEARS AGO – APRIL 26, 1974 – SCOPED BROADCAST DAY WCCO-FM (102.9) Almost complete scoped broadcast day from sign-on to sign-off on April 26, 1974. 1 – Sign-on / Tim Russell and Paul Stagg – 53 MB 2 – Paul Stagg – 28 MB 3 – Dave Teller – 39 MB 4 – Tom Ambrose – 46 MB 5 – Ken Mills / Sign-off – 42 MB 19.5 hours scoped to seven hours and 20 minutes. Broadcast includes music (note the transition from more popular songs during the day to deeper album cuts in the evening), limited commercials including Grain Belt Beer, Checkered Flag Imports, Morrie’s Imports, Minnesota Tourism, etc., and top and bottom of the hour newscasts with Rick Olson, Bill Henderson, Mark Johnson, Dan Carlson, and Bill Bischel. Some of the news items included Secretary of State Henry Henry Kissinger’s trip to the Middle East, Watergate tapes, military takeover of Portugal, shelling of an auditorium near Saigon, Israel begins its 27th year of independence with sporadic fighting along the Golan Heights, Mitchell-Stans conspiracy trial, General Motors sales of cars down due to the gas/energy crisis, and much more. Plus, promotion of Tim Russell’s upcoming coverage of an arm wrestling competition (claiming to be a radio first) and Dave Teller interviews Chuck Dayton with Sierra Club Northstar Chapter.

**4/25/2024

REMEMBERING AL SHAVER, THE PLAY-BY-PLAY VOICE OF THE MINNESOTA NORTH STARS Al Shaver, the play-by-play radio announcer for the entirety of the Minnesota North Stars, died on April 22, 2024. He was 96 years old. Al Shaver reflects on the first 25 years of the Minnesota North Stars with interviews and highlights (1992) - 15 MB WCCO-AM - North Stars playoffs audio clip with Al Shaver and Larry Jagoe. This audio is from playoff game (No. 4) of the 1967-68 season between Minnesota and St Louis. It took place on April 27, 1968. Unfortunately, the North Stars lost the game in OT and lost the series 4-3 in OT in game 7. That was the first season for the North Stars. - 1 MB

**4/21/2024

	WLOL-AM 1946 DANCE JAMBOREE BROADCAST WITH LEIGH KAMMAN FROM THE ST. PAUL AUDITORIUM WLOL-AM (1330) - Dance Jamboree with Leigh Kamman broadcast in September 1946 from the St. Paul Auditorium that also aired on the Mutual Radio Network. - 14 MB

**4/1/2024

TWIN CITIES RADIO AIRCHECKS PROFILE FROM 1977 Enjoy an audio profile of Twin Cities radio stations from 1977 - CLICK HERE - 25 MB (produced by the Aircheck Factory) KSTP-AM - John Hines and Charlie Bush / Rob Sherwood (rock) KSTP-FM - Mesa Kincaid (soft rock) KDWB-AM/FM - Dave Thomson / Smokin' Joe (rock) WDGY-AM (Y11) - Jeff Berger (album cuts/soft rock) KFMX-FM - (automated rock) WWTC-AM - (newsradio) KQRS-AM/FM - Jim Larkin (progressive music) KUXL-AM - (talk, religious, jazz and soul) WAYL-AM/FM - (beautiful music) WLOL-FM - (beautiful music) KEEY-AM - (beautiful music) KEEY-FM - (beautiful music) WCTS-FM - (religious) KNOF-FM - (religious) KANO-AM/KTWN-FM - (MOR) KUOM-AM - (public radio) KSJN-FM - (classical) WCAL-FM - (classical/talk) KTCR-AM - (country) KTCR-FM - (country) WLOL-AM - Michael O'Shea (country) KRSI-AM - (country) WMIN-AM - (polka) WCCO-AM - Charlie Boone and Roger Erickson (talk, news, sports) WCCO-FM - Tom Ambrose (soft rock)

**2/18/2024

	KDWB-AM "TRUE" DON BLEU DOING SUPERVISED ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND BREATHALYZER TESTS KDWB-AM (630) - "True" Don Bleu doing a New Year's Eve show with supervised alcohol consumption and breathalyzer tests on December 31, 1974. - 4 MB (provided by Jay Philpott)

**2/18/2024

	COMPOSIT OF KDWB-AM, KSTP-AM, WYOO-AM/FM (U100) AND WDGY-AM FROM 1972-1974 A composite of a wide ranging group of random breaks from October 1972 into 1974 featuring KDWB-AM, KSTP-AM, WYOO AM/FM (U100) and WDGY-AM with a strange sequence that sounds like the final breaks on the station from Catman (Tom Barnard). - 6 MB (provided by Jay Philpott)

**2/11/2024

SUPER BOWL I - GAME BROADCAST OPEN AND CLOSE WCCO-AM (830) - CBS Radio coverage of Super Bowl I (opening/ closing) Jan. 15, 1967. The First AFL-NFL World Championship The National Football League champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American Football League champion Kansas City Chiefs by the score of 35–10. Audio quality is poor, but we thought this would still be of interest. The broadcast was sponsored by Chrysler, Kent Cigarettes, American Express credit card, Anheuser Busch/Budweiser. - 8 MB

**1/28/2024

REMEMBERING LARRY "MOON" THOMPSON

Longtime afternoon KSTP-FM (KS95) host Larry “Moon” Thompson has died of multiple sclerosis at the age of 65. The following are tributes and reports on Moon's passing:

KSTP-FM (KS95) Tribute

KSTP-TV Report

WCCO-TV Report

A tribute to Moon when he retired from KS95 - October 2019 - 8 MB (courtesy of Jym Geraci)

**12/27 and 12/28/2023

**8/21/2023

MORE KQRS FROM 50 YEARS AGO! KQRS AM/FM (1440 / 92.5) – Aircheck of Russell Russ from either June 8 or 9, 1973 - 11 MB Includes newscast and commercials for Sunshine World at The Bronco Bar in Chanhassen, The Flame bar, Grain Belt, Bike Ways, Blue Oyster Cult (record), Pepsi (song by Argent), Guthrie Theater, K-Tel Super Bad; and Schlitz Beer. List of music played: The Allman Brothers Band: Statesbori Blues (Live); Wood Mann, Son House & Jo Ann Kelly: Bothering That Thing; Creedance Clearwater Revival: Penthouse Pauper; Climax Blues Band: Rich Man; Neil Young: Heart of Gold; Eagles: Tequila Sunbrise; Poco: Ride the Country; J.J. Cale: Call Me the Breeze; Manu Dibango: Soul Makossa; Wishbone Ash: Blowin' Free; It's A Beautiful Day: White Bird;Moody Blues: For My Lady; and Jerry Garcia: Sugaree.

THE SEARCH FOR THE LOST RADIO PLAY-BY-PLAY TAPE OF MINNESOTA TWIN CESAR TOVAR'S GRAND SUNDAY IN 1968 **Star Tribune article written by sports columnist Patrick Reusse about the search for the lost radio play-by-play tape of Minnesota Twin Cesar Tovar's Grand Sunday when he played all nine positions on September 22, 1968. Tom Gavaras, who is featured in the article, is the operator of RadioTapes. LINK to the Star Tribune article published on August 16, 2022 JPEG of the article (in the event you are unable to access the Star Tribune website) Edited aircheck - Herb Carneal and Halsey Hall with play-by-play of Tovar playing all nine position on September 22, 1968 (mp3)

| | We are always looking for historic airchecks of Twin Cities radio stations. If you enjoy this website, a financial donation would also be appreciated, but is not required. Donations will be used to help cover website related expenses including making more than 2,500 audio files available, maintaining equipment used to digitize airchecks (with more than 1,000 tapes waiting to be digitized), and more. In addition, discussions are taking place to eventually provide copies of RadioTapes' extensive archives to local and national broadcast museums and the Library of Congress. All donations will be exclusively used for RadioTapes. Though RadioTapes Inc. is a Minnesota registered non-profit, it is not currently a 501(c)3 charity and donations are not tax deductible. | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

The Following Airchecks are Featured on the Special Postings Page. Check them out! - WCCO-AM Severe Weather Coverage (1939 to 1991) Hubert H. Humphrey Recordings/Airchecks (1946-1978) WCCO Radio Civil Defense Announcements (1961) Coverage of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (1963) Coverage of the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King (1968) Coverage of the Assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1968) Coverage of the Apollo 1 Tragedy (1967) Coverage of the Flights of Apollo 11, 12 & 13 (1969-1970) Coverage of the Assassination Attempt on George Wallace (1972) Coverage of Watergate and the Fall of President Nixon (1973-1974) Coverage of the Vietnam War (1964-(1975) Coverage of the Death of John Lennon (1980) Coverage of the Shooting of President Ronald Reagan (1981) Coverage of the Falklands War (1982) Coverage of the Challenger Shuttle Disaster (1986) Coverage of the Start of Operation Desert Storm (1991) Coverage of 9/11 Attacks (2001) and Death of Osama bin Laden (2011) Coverage of 35W Bridge Collapse (2007) Coverage of the Death of Michael Jackson (2009) Coverage of the Tucson Shootings (2011) Coverage of the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011) Coverage of the Shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School (2012) Boston Marathon Bombings (2013) Coverage of the Death of Prince (2016) Election Coverage (2016) Minnehaha Academy Explosion (2017) Coverage of Disappearance and Location of Jayme Closs (2019) Election Coverage (2020) Storming of the US Capitol (2021)

File sizes listed next to the airchecks are approximate and have been rounded.

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