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102.3 WLRS
WLRS Trivia: Louisville's first successful, stand-alone FM station was WLRS, which signed on in 1964. The calls stood for Louisville Radio School, and was intended as a training tool for students of the school. In the late-60s, Clarence Henson agreed to sell WLRS to WAKY. However, the deal fell apart when the six-month deadline to complete the transaction wasn't met. In 1970 WLRS was one of only nine stand-alone FM stations in Kentucky. WLRS topped Louisville's Arbitron ratings in 1978. In 1981 WLRS became the sister station of WAVG (formerly WAVE). WLRS Pepsi Pumper Ron Clay and Terry Meiners exit the 800 Building with doorman Sam Grandison (1982)
WLRS Stationery #1	WLRS Stationery #2
WXVW-WLRS Stationery
Know anything more about this station? Have any WLRS airchecks, photos or promotional material? Drop us a line.
WLRS Photos

When former WLRS announcer Dan Steffen was studying for his FCC First Class License, he made this bookmark from a WLRS rate card to mark his place in the study guide.

Tim Goodwin behind the WLRS RCA console in 1968
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Dan Steffen cues up a record in the WLRS Control Room circa 1968. Dan says, "It was shot within the first week or so of our move from the South 3rd Street location into our studio in the 800 Building. The studio was still a work in progress, as indicated by the clock, which was brought from the 3rd Street location, but not yet mounted on the wall.

Dan Steffen in the WLRS studio in 1968 with a Turner 510 mic in hand. He's standing below a WLRS poster and in front of a NAB plaque.

Don Hoke at the WLRS controls

Don Hoke

Christine Orr, a Scottish friend of Don Hoke, poses for a photo in the "air chair" (1968)

Terry Meiners on the air in the early 1980s













The "800 Building" -- which was home to the WLRS studios for many years -- complete with the WLRS antenna on top
WLRS Airchecks
Dan Steffen WLRS (1968) #1 8:31 - 5990 KB	Dan Steffen WLRS (1968) #2 21:36 - 15,191 KB
Dan Steffen WLRS 1968 Program Excerpts 3:51 - 2709 KB	Dan Steffen WLRS (1969) 4:17 - 3021 KB
Bobby Kennedy Assassination MBS Newscast 24:52 - 8746 KB The edition of Mutual's "The World Today" aired on WLRS on June 5, 1968, the day of the assassination or Robert F. Kennedy, and constituted exclusively of assassination coverage. It's introduced by Dan Steffen, who made the original recording. All commercials played in the newscast are included.
WLRS Legal ID (Unknown Date) :06 - 40 KB	Future Bob (August 1980) 11:48 - 4150 KB
Ron Clay & Terry Meiners (September 10, 1982) 12:07 - 4263 KB	WLRS Sweeper Break (1984) :41 - 481 KB
BC (Late 1984) 5:47 - 2039 KB	Lisa Lyons (February 20, 1985) 14:37 - 10,280 KB
Dave Lee (March 16, 1986) 12:44 - 8959 KB	Dave Lee (December 1986) 15:43 - 11,063 KB
Brad Hardin (August 4, 1988) 8:29 - 2984 KB
WMIX Station Launch (January 1, 1991) 10:14 - 7205 KB Another January 1, 1991 Aircheck 3:55 - 2705 KB It sounds like WLRS had a call letter change when they flipped from rock to an adult contemporary format on New Year's Day 1991, but the call letters were still officially WLRS when legal IDs were given. The real WMIX got a little upset when they found out another station was using their call letters. Mark Stahr, who was at WLRS at the time says, "We later received a call from some official that said if we don't stop using WMIX that we would get a C&D [Cease & Desist order]. The call letters were from somewhere in Michigan I believe. I don't think we ever received a C&D but I know I had to spend the entire weekend editing and changing all the station imaging. The dropping of WMIX happened around May or June of 1991. I was the acting PD that weekend while Peter Smith was out of town. The legal call letters were always WLRS."
Mark Stahr on Mix 102 (1991) 7:00 - 4925 KB	Peter Smith on Mix 102 (March 11, 1991) 2:03 - 1450 KB
Mix 102.3 (March 28, 1992) 3:03 - 2148 KB	WLRS "Walrus" Stunting (May 1997) 8:44 - 6141 KB
More "Walrus" Stunting and LRS 102 Returns (May 23 and 27, 1997) 19:56 - 14,026 KB
Love 102.3 (July 31, 1999) 7:49 - 5498 KB
LRS Alive at 105 (February 25, 2000) 10:22 - 7294 KB Technically, the station (105.1 FM, licensed to Shepherdsville) was still WXLN when this was recorded, but the call letters would be officially switched to WLRS a few days later.
All audio is in downloadable MP3 format.