History
Louisville Radio School
102.3 FM signed on the air in October 1964. It was a stand-alone FM station for the Louisville Radio School, hence the call sign WLRS. It was used as a training ground for the school's broadcast students in its early years and had a studio at the school on 1701 S. 3rd Street in Louisville. [3]
In the late 1960s, station owner Clarance Henson entered into an agreement to sell WLRS to crosstown AM Top 40 station WAKY. But the deal fell apart when WAKY did not meet the six-month deadline to complete the transaction. By 1970, WLRS was noted as being one of only nine stand-alone FMs in the state of Kentucky.
Louisa Henson and Lee Masters
In 1974, under the aegis of Henson Broadcasting, Henson's daughter Louisa Henson became more involved in the family station. Under her control, WLRS aired an album-oriented rock (AOR) format. [4] The playlist of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and Creedence Clearwater Revival brought WLRS top ratings in 1978 even though the station was only powered at 3,000 watts. Some said it marked the first time in the nation an FM rock station had placed first in an Arbitron ratings survey, a trend that would continue as the era of FM dominance got under way. [4]
The WLRS program director during the 1970s and early 80s was Jarl Mohn, known then by the air name of Lee Masters. Masters and Bob Pittman went on to become the founders of the MTV cable channel. [4]
Popular DJs
Henson Broadcasting later hired high-spirited disc jockeys Ron Clay and Terry Meiners to host the wake-up show. In 1983, both were hired away by competitor 95.7 WQMF after a brief legal dispute. [4] [5] [6] [7] The duo's show "Morning Sickness" was broadcast from the 800 Building on weekdays in AM drive time. [8] When the pair left, a judge ruled that the name of the show and their sketches would remain WLRS's intellectual property. [6]
WLRS began using a "walrus" as the station mascot in the 1970s. The spelling of walrus roughly translated to the station's call letters. WLRS hired local artists Danny Messex and Victor Troutman Jr. to make the walrus art.[ citation needed ] Under the helm of manager Louisa Henson, the station began a series of memorable promotions that lasted over a decade. In 1981, DJ Terry Meiners memorably promoted "sex with Mick Jagger" during the Rolling Stones' only regional appearance in a WLRS-promoted concert. [9]
For ten years, the station conducted the Christmas toy drive, "Bridge the Gap." It distributed as many as 50,000 toys to needy children each year. WLRS would broadcast from Louisville's Phoenix Hill Tavern for the event. [4] Louisa Henson continued charity work after the station folded, and spun Bridge the Gap off as a nonprofit. [10] [11]
Mixing AOR and Top 40
By 1981, WLRS was beaten by rival album rock station 95.7 WQMF in Arbitron. It signaled a decline for WLRS's ratings. In 1984, the station switched to a hybrid format of album rock hits and Top 40/CHR songs as "The Flamethrowing LRS 102". The station began adding pop and dance artists like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston to its playlist while still leaning toward rock music. The format was designed to fill the void left when WKJJ abandoned Top 40 for adult contemporary in 1982 and WJYL dropped Top 40 for urban contemporary in 1984.
Eventually, WKJJ switched back to CHR as WDJX, and both WLRS and WDJX (which leaned more toward rhythmic contemporary and dance hits) battled each other for the next few years. WLRS returned to its original album rock format in 1986. The station later flipped back to Top 40/CHR in 1988 before being sold to Toney Brooks' One Broadcasting.
Adult Contemporary
On December 27, 1990, at 2 a.m., WLRS began stunting with Macintosh's Talking Moose counting down from 70,000 to 1. [12] On January 1, 1991, at approximately 9:27 a.m., WLRS flipped to adult contemporary music as "Mix 102". The first song on "Mix" was "This Is It" by Kenny Loggins. [13] The station still used the call sign WLRS for its station identification. But despite this, it complemented its branding with the fake call letters "WMIX". [14]
However, the "WMIX" branding was dropped by June 1991. Withers Broadcasting, which owns two actual WMIX stations in Mount Vernon, Illinois, (WMIX AM and WMIX-FM), registered the "WMIX" branding as an official trademark. [15] Withers threatened WLRS with a cease and desist letter for use of a trademark without permission. [14] The format was unpopular, with local press complaining that it was hard to differentiate from other big FM stations in the market. [16]
Alternative Rock
On May 18, 1997, at 6 p.m., WLRS played "The Last Song" by Edward Bear. At that time, WLRS began stunting with a loop of "I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles, as well as promotions for other Louisville radio stations and teaser formats. One of the teaser formats was country as "Hot Country 102, The Bull". [17] [18]
On May 26, at 1:02 p.m., WLRS switched to alternative rock as "LRS 102.3". The first song on "LRS" was "Spoonman" by Soundgarden. [19] [20] The alterative rock sound lasted two years.
Soft AC, Hot AC and Adult Hits
On July 30, 1999, at 3 p.m., WLRS flipped to soft adult contemporary as "Love 102.3". It used new call letters WULV. (The WLRS call letters would be resurrected on 105.1 FM in February 2000, with that station featuring an active rock format.) [21] [22] On May 17, 2002, WULV switched to Hot AC as "102.3 The Max", WXMA. [23] [24]
On August 31, 2017, at noon, WXMA changed to adult hits, branded as "102.3 Jack FM". [25] It used the national JACK FM syndicated feed with no DJs. The "voice of Jack" makes sarcastic quips and ironic remarks between songs.
On August 30, 2022, at noon, WXMA flipped back to Soft AC. This time, the format is branded as "102.3 The Rose". [26]
