Twin Cities Radio Airchecks.Com Presents The Judy Dibble Contributions - WDGY History
This person holds the key to preserving some the WDGY past. Judy Dibble, formly worked at WDGY, starting in 1965 with a tenure of 17 years. Judy saw DJ's and formats come and go. New ownership did not save the past. Judy did not throw it away. We owe her a big debt of gratitude for her efforts. She will be providing some material on an ongoing basis and Judy shares the desire to preserve this historic radio past. Come back for more o a regular basis.
It was recorded before 1965 because you can hear comments by Todd Storz about 10 minutes into this 11:30 long recording. You will also hear Chuck Blore comment about Color Radio. This takes you back to the beginning and bring you up to Top 40 radio. This tape was found at WDGY's basement at the old studio at the Blooming transmitter site (long gone and replaced by housing).
Contributed by Judy Dibble, formerly of WDGY
WDGY Johnny Canton Airchecks Deep From The WDGY Basement at the Old Studio/Transmitter Site in Bloomington This recent tape conversion to digital was accomplished with the help of Judy Dibble, formerly of WDGY and allows us to hear a progression of Johnny's delivery and the station's sound from 1966 to 1971, This old cassette tape was still in good condition and the sound quality is good.
WDGY - Johnny Canton December 1966 "You Keep me Hanging On" was the big hit when this aircheck was made. Johnny's delivery is a little different in 1966 compared to the tape below in 1971. Johnny just finishes five big ones in a row on "Much More Music WDGY." In 1966 WDGY has its Fortune Phone with one call per hour and a $1 bill added to the jackpot if no one was home or they did not have the right answer. In 1968 the amount of increase was $5. You will hear Johnny do a live spot for 1st Nat'l Bank of Mpls promoting the Greenback Society. Johnny also warns us of the danger of walking on thin ice.
WDGY Johnny Canton Spring/April 1968 This was a "Hoppin' Jumpin' Springtime" on WDGY and it was 49 degrees o this Tuesday afternoon. Johnny has an unsucessful Fortune Phone cash call and the new jackpot is not $1,608. He has some one liners, like "Draft Beer, not Students." The Vietnam was far from over in 1968.
Contibuted by Judy Dibble, Formerly of WDGY. (10-1-07)
Judy Dibble, formerly of WDGY, Sent me this newsprint photo of the Beatles WDGY news conference with the WDGY mic in good position. Her email is below:
Hi, Rick:
Attached is a photocopy of a photo taken at the WDGY Beatles News Conference in Bloomington, MN in 1965. This copy was given to me by a friend, Ed Christian. His brother (left) and two other of Bloomington's finest were picked as security guards that day. I didn't attend the concert, but videos attest that the screaming was so loud, you could hardly hear the music when the Beatles played at Metropolitan Stadium. WDGY gave away tickets to see this new group who was taking the U.S. by storm. The mic flags were made of metal with clips that attached them to the mics.
Judy Dibble
For a video of a portion of the WDGY News Conference go the the following YouTube link: CLICK HERE
Click on Image to Enlarge
Contributed by Judy Dibble, formerly of WDGY. Posted April 2008
Judy Dibble Comes Through Again
Thanks Judy for sending this material
Beatles Concert Photos of the Fab Four in 1966 with local radio talend from Cleveland's WIXY radio - Note a young Johnny Canton and Jerry Brooke who both went on to work at WDGY
Article on Scott Burton's injury during a WDGY promotional event. Note the article actually prints his home address.
WDGY Mid 1960's Promotional Photos
Judy Dibble sent these photos from a promotional piece. Judy states:
"These were promotional pieces used by the sales department. These and other pieces were created to introduce the various components of WDGY to prospective clients."
Press the play button to start the slide show.
Image:
WDGY Studio Photos 1970's
Judy Dibble just sent some more photos. Great shots of the prodution room, studio and newsroom.
Johnny Canton photo comments by Judy Dibble:
Johnny Canton in the WDGY control room. Notice the Catman poster on the upper wall. The Catman was Tom Bernard who at one time was a record rep (Capitol Records, I think). He was a captivating jock on WDGY. He has been at KQRS in the Twin Cities for years, doing the morning show. Tom did the best impression of Muhammad Ali I have ever heard.
Donald K. Martin Comments from Judy Dibble:
Donald K. Martin reading the news in the WDGY newsroom.
WDGY Production Room Comments by Judy Dibble: Donald K. Martin, edting tape in the WDGY production room, lower level. In those days, you used a razor blade to edit the tapes. Don did news, but also did the morning show on WDGY with Charlie Van Dyke. One of the funniest men I have ever met and a great country singer as well. Don has been in real estate for many years in the Twin Cities.
Contributed by Judy Dibble, formerly of WDGY (10-3-07)
Johnny Canton in the main WDGY Control Room (1970's)
WDGY's Donald K. Martin at the newsroom mic. (1970's)
The WDGY Production Room. This was in the basement of the old bloominton studio/transmitter site. Don K. Martin is in this photo. (1960's)
WDGY Johnny Canton August 13 (Friday) 1971
Johnny is recorded in the 10 AM hour, it's 74 degrees in the Twin Cities and all is right with the world. Johnny tells us he will be appearing later this day at 2 PM at the Cooper Theater for the premiere of the movie 'Who is Harry Kellerman." But wait, there more. He will be with Dr.Hook and the Medicine Show too and will be giving away records (pre-historic CD's). Since he needs time to get there, he tells us Famous news man Donald K Martin will fill in for him at 12 Noon. Also, George Young will fill i for Bob Dayton at 3 PM, as Bob is on vacation.
Since this is a weekend, you will hear a promo with Bob Dayton telling us the solid gold weekend will start at 7 PM tonight. Later, you will hear a spot for an Ampex 8 track sale at Woolworths. In this tape, you will also hear the new weather background bed while Johnny shares the forecast with us. Last, you will hear Donald K. Martin start the news and the news background bed used during this period on WDGY. Unfortunately, the portion with Donald K is very short.
Contributed by Judy Dibble, formerly of WDGY (10-1-07)
Judy Dibble has sent me more material from the old WDGY basement at the Studio/Transmitter site in Bloomington.
WDGY Air Staff Photo #1 Judy Dibble writes: This was the air staff posing for a promotional photo. Left to right: B. Mason Dean (Robert Gross). After WDGY, he went to KRUX in Phoenix, where he got me a job in Traffic (scheduling commercials). He and his wife were dear friends of mine. After KRUX, he went to San Bernardino, CA and after that, I lost track.
Perry St. John. Great guy who loved to laugh. He died from complications from bypass surgery about nine years ago, I think.
Jim Dandy (James Evertz). Wonderful personality who had no fears about insulting anyone. The high school kids loved him. He called the girls at Richfield High School "skags". White socks were in. I think Scott told me he had gone into law practice.
Scott Burton ("The Boss Sound of Scott"). Program Director and commanding personality. Great guy who knew how to program a radio station.
George Young (John Dotas). Given the on-air name in remembrance of the founder of WDGY, Dr. George Young. A gentle sort of a man - classy. After he left the air. he went into sales at WDGY. I think he's in the Midwest five-state area somewhere.
WDGY Air Staff Photo #2 - Judy Dibble Writes: Left to right:
Jim Dandy, Perry St. John, Scott Burton, George Young, B. Mason Dean
WDGY's Johnny Dollar Photo - Judy writes: This is a photo of Johnny Dollar with, I'm guessing, a WDGY winner. This was in the early 1960's - I'm guessing 1964 or 1965.
Thanks Judy
Photos contributed by Judy Dibble, formerly of WDGY. (10-1-07)
Mid 60's WDGY air staff photo No. 1
Mid 60's WDGY air staff photo No 2
Mid 60's photo of WDGY's Johnny Dollar on the back of a Honda being driven by a constest winner.
WDGY's Ballad of Minnesota
I believe this was was played over the air in the last 50's or very early early 60's. Just recently I heard form Dick Sigurdson, a contributor to this site (Click here for his page). His email is below:
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 11:06 AM To: Rick Burnett- Subject: New posts
Hey Rick,
Just a short note..... the WDGY 'Ballad of the Twin Cities" and the Music
Bed were both produced by PAMS, of Dallas. Storz bought a number of packages
from PAMS during the heyday of Storz Broadcasting. The music bed came from
PAMS Series 18 --circa 1961-62(my favorite), the other side was produced by
PAMS for a number of markets. Check out the PAMS web site, you will get an
earful of jingles and a history of the PAMS production company.
Dick
Contributed by Judy Dibble, formerly of WDGY
Scann of the 45 RPM record by WeeGee Productions. This undadate Jingle is a song about Minnesota that was played on WDGY. I think this was in the late 50's - very early 60's
They had planned to have 500 people show up, they had 4,000
The airchecks on this not for profit web site were recorded off the air. The recordings on this site provide historical examples of Twin Cities radio and are intended for purposes of archival preservation and for research. Additionally, the recordings can be used by vision impaired visitors to get an audio perspective of radio history. These recordings are not intended to by used by others for commercial purposes.
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