We live in a world of media fragmentation, where music, film, and television are laser-focused to appeal to highly specific tastes and interests. It’s a great time to be alive, but the lack of a common bond, a “monoculture,” if you will, can leave us feeling adrift and isolated. So why not use one of the instigators of that fragmentation, the internet, to travel back to a time when the city of Milwaukee, at least, was united under one common goal: rockin’.
Yes, back in the day, the Milwaukee airwaves were all about the rock—and there were television commercials to prove it. 93QFM (now the adult contemporary B93.3) was one of the big rock dogs in town throughout the ’80s, and a master at crafting totally sweet TV ads. Want Nazareth, Marshall Tucker Band, and REO Speedwagon imploring you to “ROCK ON, MILWAUKEE”? Look no further.
94WKTI (now KTI Country) was no slouch either, boasting the Lennon and McCartney-esque star power of Reitman and Mueller. “Ya, ya, Milwaukee!”
WLPX (now the Top 40-driven 97-3 Now) was quick to showcase its on-air talent, too. Dig this zany ad featuring Brent Alberts, Joanie Bohman, and Jeff Peterson, and marvel at the fact that something like this would never, and could never, be made today:
And now let’s wind down with 99.1 The Mix, which still exists today. Rock on, Milwaukee.