On Saturday, October 11th, 2014, Over 50 people reunited at C.B.& Potts in Ft. Collins, Colorado to Celebrate the creation of KTCL-FM 40 years ago. Many had not seen each other since 1975. People came from all over the country to tell stories from the past, update their former coworkers about the last 40 years and promised to renew the friendships that had lapsed decades ago. We've updated this site with photos and information about the Reunion.
Here are photos from that night.
Someone recently noted that 2014 is the 40th anniversary of the planted seed that eventually became KTCL-FM, 93.3 in Fort Collins, Colorado. We cannot let this completely fabricated, historical and artificial milestone pass without a celebration.
* KIIX - FM began with a bold, visionary statement from the top management of KIIX - AM and FM: "Sure, go ahead. You can probably play some of your albums, I guess..." Back then, the FM side of WREN Broadcasting's Fort Collins stations, just simulcast the Top 40 format of KIIX-AM's programming. Since KIIX-AM was licensed as a Daylight Only station, it signed off when the sun went down and signed back on when it appeared the next day. The owners didn't really know what to do with the expensive silence of the underutilized FM signal once the sky turned dark and the top 40 air staff went home. Ray Huffman, and later Rick Lofgren, stepped up, or rather sat down, and started playing any albums they could scrounge, borrow, steal or bring from home. By early 1975, it became KTCL-FM and went 24 hours with its own Progressive Radio programming. A Broadcast Titan with a four channel board, a POS cart machine, an office supplies closet for a studio (really,) a transmitter located at the bottom of a feedlot, and an antenna which rose a majestic 73 feet above average terrain. On the good days, KTCL boomed almost all the way to the eastern edges of Greeley and as far south as northern Longmont, (southern Berthoud, in reality.) If we had moved the tower 150 feet farther south, it would have been subterranean.
During the next few years, there were ups and downs, very little pay, struggles with "The Man" and a dark period when it was automated. But with long hours, a lot of dedication, and still very little pay, most of us ended up out of work. The dream of "What It Could Be..." ran headlong into the realities that are Business. Eventually, Stu Haskell moved from the AM air staff over to the sales department and the FM began to turn into a growing and profitable effort. The station even increased power to 100,000 watts and relocated the transmitter and antenna to the top of Horsetooth Mountain.
KTCL-FM, in all its forms, grew...and still exists today. Many talented people have come and gone since the nascent years. And we finally had an opportunity to come together again while we still could remember and recognize each other. You can pretty much plan that there will not be another anniversary party.
This was a chance for all of us to gather in one place and tell long, boring stories about those times. Most conversations began with: "I remember that one night when you and I...."and the response to many of those statements was, "No. I don't remember that at all.....and who are you again?" That's why we needed to get together and contribute our individual memories to KTCL's collective oral history. Other benefits include.... Many individuals will finally be able to mentally reconstruct just what the hell did occur, (depending on the alchemy,) during those years.
If you worked there between 1974 and 1985, we hope you were able to attend. If you didn't, or couldn't be there, you were missed and most certainly talked about. If we couldn't find you, we hope to hear from you so we may find out what you have been doing since those memorable days.
* Historical accuracy not guaranteed - or even attempted.
During the next few years, there were ups and downs, very little pay, struggles with "The Man" and a dark period when it was automated. But with long hours, a lot of dedication, and still very little pay, most of us ended up out of work. The dream of "What It Could Be..." ran headlong into the realities that are Business. Eventually, Stu Haskell moved from the AM air staff over to the sales department and the FM began to turn into a growing and profitable effort. The station even increased power to 100,000 watts and relocated the transmitter and antenna to the top of Horsetooth Mountain.
KTCL-FM, in all its forms, grew...and still exists today. Many talented people have come and gone since the nascent years. And we finally had an opportunity to come together again while we still could remember and recognize each other. You can pretty much plan that there will not be another anniversary party.
This was a chance for all of us to gather in one place and tell long, boring stories about those times. Most conversations began with: "I remember that one night when you and I...."and the response to many of those statements was, "No. I don't remember that at all.....and who are you again?" That's why we needed to get together and contribute our individual memories to KTCL's collective oral history. Other benefits include.... Many individuals will finally be able to mentally reconstruct just what the hell did occur, (depending on the alchemy,) during those years.
If you worked there between 1974 and 1985, we hope you were able to attend. If you didn't, or couldn't be there, you were missed and most certainly talked about. If we couldn't find you, we hope to hear from you so we may find out what you have been doing since those memorable days.
* Historical accuracy not guaranteed - or even attempted.