On September 4, 1950, WEXT Radio became WOKY and hit the Milwaukee airwaves at 920 on the AM dial. In 2000, legendary disc jockey Bob Barry helped the station celebrate “50 Years in 50 Days” with this recording.
From the day they began signing onto the airwaves more than half a century ago – and in some cases, more than 75 years ago, Wisconsin radio and televisions stations shaped the history of every corner of the state. They brought the world to homes from Waukesha to Watertown to Washburn. They broadcast news, sports and entertainment, and they both informed and reflected the lives of their local viewers.
Many stations have celebrated their anniversaries on the air. The Wisconsin Museum of Broadcasting is proud to present these reports, created by the stations themselves as they looked back on their contribution to Wisconsin’s broadcasting history.
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I remember WOKY the most for D.J. Jim O’Hara “Hey you Kid’s Get Off That Roof”. Jim played a lot of Dixieland, especially Bob Skobey and his Frisco Band with Clancy Hayes on the vocals. Jim lived in Greendale and talked about that little community a lot. I also remember when WOKY had a UHF TV station WOKY-TV on channel 19 for a brief time. This is all long before Bob Dorrfler (sp) became Bob Barry. Another station name that was used was “Lucky Logan”. I believe the station owned that name as there were several “Lucky Logans” over the years. Woky in Milwaukee.
Jim was my uncle. His family name was Lawler and they were from Fon du Lac and his Uncle Jimmie was a band leader that died in a car accident bringing a drummer back from Chicago. Uncle Jim further changed his name to Seamus Patrick O’Hara going on the San Francisco and KCBQ in San Diego.
Thank you for that information! I’m doing my family tree and he was married to my aunt Maggie. I’ve only known him as Seamus O’Hara so that was interesting to find out! I always thought Jim Lawler was another husband because of the kids took the name O’Hara! Seamus went on to be a VERY successful di in San Francisco and was very well known there. Mystery solved!
Jim had a role in bringing my dad, Mad Man Michaels, to Milwaukee in 1953. They had both worked in Columbus, Ohio, before their stints at WOKY. I have photos of them both as radio announcers there and doing a live commercial on WOKY-TV.
What ever happened to “Guy Minilla”?
Skip Taylor…playing the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown hit “Fire”! & the Spiral Staircase “More Today Than Yesterday”.
I haven’t lived in Milwaukee for ovet 40 years, but I grew up there. I distinctly remember calling in with the “I love Fun-Loving WOKY!” to try to win tickets to concerts and stuff,. My parents thought we were crazy…
Listening to Bob and the team of personalities at WOKY play hit after hit was the soundtrack of the 1960’s for me. From age 7 onward,
I had a transistor radio with me all of the time. Listening back through the songs from the 60’s, these songs have aged so well! So many great memories!