Friday, September 4, 2026

Time In A Bottle Chart-September 5, 1973

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSU9RAOUGzAWCbGElFrUWj8Ulgt9SjeKtViaU_9q6dnQDG-SGI7vSH0S7nTQ6FpI_Yw5k0mHviuP3l6/pubhtml?gid=1350032375&single=true

This specific WDGY Minneapolis weekly chart from September 5th, 1973 captures AM radio right at a fascinating cultural turning point. FM stations were beginning to gain ground, but 1130 AM was still where upper-midwest teens and commuter drivers turned for the hits.

  • Heavyweight Rock vs. Pop Soul: The late-summer charts of '73 were stacked with massive crossover singles. Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band," The Rolling Stones' "Angie," and Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" were all jostling for upper-tier airplay.

  • Eclectic Curation: What made WDGY's weekly survey unique was its local regional flavor—often breaking album-oriented rock tracks like The Doobie Brothers' "China Grove" or Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" into heavy rotation well before national charts fully caught on.

By late summer 1973, Minneapolis–St. Paul radio was in the thick of one of the midwest's most iconic AM dial battles. At the center of it was 1130 AM WDGY—affectionately known to generations of Twin Cities listeners as "WeeGee."

First hitting the airwaves in 1923 under the vision of Dr. George Young, the station made history in 1956 when Todd Storz purchased it and launched a high-energy Top 40 format. WDGY essentially brought rock 'n' roll radio to the Twin Cities, cultivating a massive youth audience through fast-paced personality jocks, snappy jingles, and legendary local events (including sponsoring The Beatles' famous 1965 Metropolitan Stadium concert). By September 1973, "WeeGee" was locked in a fierce, decade-long ratings war with rival KDWB (Channel 63), pushing both stations to deliver the sharpest music curation in the region.


4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Comments seem to be working now. Just wanted to comment that I like seeing these local station charts. Would love to see one from my hometown top 40 station, KTKT.

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