WCFL, Dick Biondi and "30 Double Gold"

This album cost me 50¢ from Half Price Books.  It was in great shape and had a huge selection of hits from the mid-to-late 60s (plus three 50s tunes thrown in as well).  The album was a promotional album from Chicago's WCFL, 1000 AM.  The station was known as the "Voice of Labor" and was originally owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor.  Broadcasting from Marina Towers, WCFL turned toward rock and roll music in 1966 and in just a matter of years it was the number one radio station in Chicago.  It was branded as "The Big 10."

The DJs of WCFL were known as the "Men From 10" and included some of Chicago's legendary on-air personalities:

After spending years at rival WLS and then hosting a syndicated show from Los Angeles, Dick Biondi returned to Chicago and joined WCFL in 1967.  He remained at the station until 1971 and then moved to Boston.

He returned in 1983 and has been on Chicago radio ever since.

Biondi is a radio legend, the first American DJ to play the Beatles in 1963.  At 81 years young, Biondi is still on the airwaves, now broadcasting again on WLS at the 11pm to 2 am time slot.

Earlier, I had highlighted another WCFL album that I had found in a thrift store.  This one is better.  Not only is it a double album, it is in better shape than the earlier album.  It has some great tunes as well, including the Turtles, the Righteous Brothers, Chuck Berry, the Association and James Brown.

I believe this album was distributed in either 1970 or 71.

WCFL continued broadcasting rock and roll until 1976 when it switched over to "Muzak" format, making WLS the only AM station to play rock and roll.  Today, AM1000 is a sports/talk station.

Thanks to the internet, WCFL is still alive and kicking.  You can listen to actual streams of the radio station from its glory days.  Click the player below to listen to a composite of WCFL from 1966-1971, featuring jingles, news and air checks:



Here is an hour of WCFL from 1970:


Here is another hour of WCFL from 1971:


Selections from WCFL's 30 Double Gold can be heard on Vinyl Voyage Radio.

Dick Biondi, WCFL and a "Found" Record

In 1963, Dick Biondi was the first DJ to play the Beatles.  The song was "Please Please Me" and the radio station was WLS-AM 890 in Chicago.  Fifty years later, Dick Biondi still spins records on WLS.  Although he has appeared on stations all over the country, Chicago has been his home for most of his career.  Now 81 years old, Dick Biondi is a Chicago tradition.  In fact, I have listened to Dick Biondi my entire life.

Avoiding the crazy "Black Friday" crowds, I decided to stop at my local thrift shop today in order to peruse the selection of vinyl.  And there, in a stack of discs, a young Dick Biondi smiled up at me.  He had thick hair back in 1968, large black-rimmed glasses and a suave smile.  Here was the "Wild I-Tralian," as he liked to call himself.

In 1968, Biondi was spinning records on WCFL AM 1000, the first true rival to WLS, where he had worked for several years.  The album I held in my hands was Big 10 Summer Gold, released by WCFL in 1968.  It was a promotional album, featuring a picture of Biondi and the other djs at the station. The album was billed as a sampling of the "WCFL Hall of Fame."

In the picture, all are wearing WCFL long-sleeved t-shirts, trying hard to look as cool as possible. Biondi was the only one actually pulling it off.

The album features some great music from the late 60s.  Tommy James and the Shondells, the Turtles, the Association, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Shirelles just to name a few.  The album is actually in really good shape, considering it is 45 years old and found in a storage bin at thrift store.  I forked over a dollar for it, brought it home and gave it a nice soapy bath.  As I write these words, "Five O'Clock World" by the Vogues plays on the turntable, an occasional pop and crackle a pleasant reminder of  the past.

A past that includes a Chicago icon.

Today, Biondi has the 11pm-2am shift on WLS-FM, 94.7.   Much too late for me, but I am feeling rather nostalgic for the voice that I can still hear in my head with his signature sign off: "Be good to your fellow human beings."

Thanks, Dick Biondi.

Vinyl Voyage Radio was created because of people like you.

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Dick Biondi was recently featured on NPR.  Click here to listen to the story.