First Firebird Cruise-- Part 2: Have Tunes, Will Cruise

Thursday July 1

So, I am out driving my new old '85 Firebird for what turned out to be its first real long cruise.  

The radio was tuned to MeTV FM, 87.7 FM, which plays more great old songs than you can shake a stick at, including a bunch from the days of yore (50s-80s) that I hadn't heard.  This is a great cruising station and, despite now having much wattage, has a real large broadcast area since it is all the way down at the far end of the radio station numbers.

As a matter of fact, that has proved to be a problem as some car radios won't pick up 87.7 FM.  They advise listeners to check that out when looking into buying a car.

If I get too far away and loose reception, I turn to either the Drive (Classic Rick) 96.9 and 97.1 FM or to WXRT, 93.1 FM.

Plus, even better, I have a cassette player in the Firebird.  And, I have lots and lots of cassettes.

--RoadCruising

Listenin' to My Music on the Trip-- Part 1: Illinois

Cruising down the road I have to have my music which I get from either the free airwaves or CD.

Leaving home, we listened to WDRV's Ten at Ten, first on 96.9 FM, which we get in the northern part of Chicagoland and then on 97.1 FM for the rest of the area.

On June 10, when we left, Ten at Ten was to 1979:

SARA--  Fleetwood Mac
DON'T BRING ME DOWN--  ELO
SOUTH BOUND SUAREZ--  Led Zeppelin

EVERY TIME I THINK OF YOU--  Babys
YOU CAN'T CHANGE THAT--  Raydio
GOLD--  John Stewart
SHOT DOWN IN FLAMES--  AC/DC

CRUEL TO BE KIND--  Nick Lowe
LOVE IS THE ANSWER--  England Dan and John Ford Coley
LIFE DURING WARTIME--  Talking Heads

So we got taken back forty years at the start of the trip.

For the rest of Illinois, we listened to MeTV FM, 87.7, WJEZ FM out of Pontiac and WGCY out of Gibson City.

Cruisin' and Tunin'.  --RoadDog

Jukin' Oldies and 1969 on the Radio

I came across a really good radio station on the internet called "Jukin' Oldies:  The World's Greatest Oldies."  Just type in Jukin' Oldies on your Yahoo! search.  It's apparently a 24-hour station with different deejays hosting segments, including one of my favorites, 'Fessa John Hook, doing all those great Beach Music songs.

I'm listening to it right now.

Also, another good one here in the Chicago area is MeTV FM, 87.7 FM which plays quite a mic of well-known and lesser known songs from the 1950s to 1980s.  When we're in the car and I don't have a cassette playing, this is what we listen to around home.  It also streams on Comcast Xfinity and can be heard on 87.7 FM.

Just one drawback that I've seen so far is that they don't run the names of the songs and artists.  Believe me, they dig deep down for their songs and this is needed.

Starting at 8 a.m. Central, WXRT, 93.1 FM in Chicago goes to 1969 for three hours on its Saturday Morning Flashback Show.  It streams at www.wxrt.com.

Of course, Sunday, we have Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots (60s-70s) Show on Chicago's WDRV from 7 to 10 a.m..  Also Terri Hemmert's Breakfast With the Beatles from 8 to 10 a.m., on Chicago's WXRT and at 9 p.m. Tom Marker's Bluesbreakers on the same station.

All Times Central.  --RoadDog