WLUP (FM)
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| City | Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Chicago market |
| Branding | 97.9 The Loop |
| Slogan | Chicago's Classic Rock |
| Frequency | 97.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | 1950s (as WEHS) |
| Format |
FM/HD1: Classic rock HD2: Comedy HD3: Smooth AC |
| ERP | 4,000 watts |
| HAAT | 425 meters (1,394 ft) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 73233 |
| Callsign meaning | A play on the "Loop" branding, which is taken from The Loop, Chicago's downtown district |
| Former callsigns | WEHS (1950s-?) WHFC (?-1960s) WSDM (1960s-1977) |
| Owner | Merlin Media, LLC (operated by Cumulus Media via LMA) (Merlin Media License, LLC) |
| Sister stations | WKQX, WLS, WLS-FM |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wlup.com |
WLUP-FM (97.9 FM, "The Loop") is a commercial classic rock radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan area. The station is owned by Merlin Media, LLC, and is operated by Cumulus Media. WLUP transmits its signal from an antenna located atop the John Hancock Center in Downtown Chicago at a height of 1,394 feet (425 m) with an effective radiated power of 4,000 watts, while their studios are located in the NBC Tower.
WLUP also airs HD Radio programming on three subchannels:
97.9 FM signed on in the 1950s as WEHS. Richard Hoffman, owner of WHFC, in the early 1930s bought out two radio stations which shared the 1420 kc. frequency of his station: WEHS and WKBI. He revived the WEHS call letters in the late 1940s for a new FM station. WEHS broadcast background music for National Tea Grocery stores in the Chicago area. When the contract with National ran out in the mid-1950s, WEHS simulcast WHFC's foreign language and black programming for six hours a day, the minimum broadcast time to keep the license. When the Chess Brothers purchased WHFC and changed its call letters to WVON ("The Voice of the Negro"), they changed the WEHS call letters to WHFC-FM. 97.9 then simulcasted WVON 24 hours a day. In the mid-1960s, the station began airing separate programming as WSDM (which stood for "Smack Dab in the Middle", "the middle" meaning the exact middle of the FM radio dial). They also briefly used the term "Stereo Den for Men"; the format featured all female announcers (Yvonne Daniels and Dr. Cody Sweet among others) playing light jazz and instrumental music. This light jazz & instrumental format was similar to the more recent "Smooth Jazz" formats. In the 1970s, WSDM began to mix album rock music with its light jazz. Although WVON was sold to the Potter Palmer family in the late 1960s, the Chess family held on to WSDM, which was being run by Phil Chess' son, Terry Chess.
WSDM was owned by the Chess family of Chess, Checker and Cadet Records fame through their company, L & P Broadcasting. "L" stood for Leonard Chess, who primarily ran the record labels and recording studio, while brother Phil Chess ("P") was president of the radio company. Son Terry Chess was General Manager of WSDM/WLUP through all of the 1970s, up until the time the sale of the station was FCC approved in January 1979. The radio station positioned itself as "jazzed up rock" and the "station with the girls"—a reference to the all-female air talent. Its original program director was Burt Burdeen. Among the disc jockeys were Connie Szerszen, Cindy Morgan (who later left radio, went to Los Angeles and became an actress, her career including roles in such films as Caddyshack and Tron), Danae Alexander, Linda Ellerbee, Yvonne Daniels, Dr. Cody Sweet, Kitty Loewy, Susan Payne, Janice Gears and Glorie June. There were guys on "the station with the girls", too. Announcers such as Russ James (later known as Russ Albums on the LOOP) David Witz (cousin of former WCFL General Manager Lew Witz) and Don Davis (later an air talent on WDAI/Chicago and then a Program Director for WWDC in Washington, D.C. and WCKG-FM/Chicago) appeared on WSDM in the mid-1970s. Davis made the transition from WSDM to the WLUP airstaff when the format changed in 1977.
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