As near as I can tell, August 3, 1987, is apparently the last date my cluttered brain had the room to store. Three nephews and a darling niece have come along since then and, with a weapon pointed at my head, I couldn’t give you a single one of their birthdays.
But there’s a reason that date is cemented in my memory. That’s the day the Smooth Jazz Era began in Chicago. That’s the day WNUA was born, when the passionate alto of David Sanborn came charging out of radio speakers at 5:00 that afternoon in the form of—what else—“Chicago Song” on WNUA 95.5.
In 1987 WNUA was the third radio station in a major market to switch to a full-time format based on contemporary instrumentals and eclectic vocals. Station KTWV was the first, when “The Wave” debuted in Los Angeles on July 14, 1987. Next, it was KKSF in San Francisco on July 31.
Like Seinfeld, WNUA had an inauspicious start. Ratings foundered for a couple of years. There was even talk in early 1989 that the owner of the station was getting restless. Murmurs of a possible format change were heard in the local and national broadcasting press.
At around that time, new management took over the station. Chicago radio veteran John Gehron came in as the new General Manager. He, in turn, hired Lee Hansen as Program Director. Lee and John installed legendary announcer Yvonne Daniels in the morning drive role. They recruited Charlie Meyerson from WXRT to be News Director. And they brought me onboard from WCLR. John and Lee had a specific vision for the radio station. Within a year, under their leadership, ratings began to climb.
By the station’s tenth anniversary, in 1997, WNUA had the makings of a ratings powerhouse, occasionally jumping into the top ten of all listeners and the top five of all adult listeners in Chicago. Smooth Jazz was beginning to hit its stride, with WNUA artists drawing large audiences and sellout crowds to Navy Pier, the Chicago Theater and United Center. On June 12, 1997, nearly 60,000 came out to Grant Park for a free concert by George Benson and Herb Alpert. By then, the Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch had become a signature event at, first, the Hotel Nikko and then the Hilton Chicago. Kenny G, Dave Koz, Boney James, Peter White and Richard Elliot became household words.
As the format began to mature in the 2000s, WNUA maintained a solid, loyal listenership, even through the upheaval that followed 9-11. Station ownership changed hands a couple more times, and WNUA was the property of Clear Channel Communications by the time the twentieth anniversary rolled around in 2007. August 22, 2007, saw the staff and over a hundred listeners gather at Andy’s jazz club downtown for an anniversary party with special guest performers Steve Cole, Nick Colionne and Michael Manson.
By the end of the decade the ratings for WNUA had dipped a bit since its 1990s heyday but were still respectable by any standard. Unfortunately, the economic downturn which began in late 2008 put all radio stations under huge financial pressure. Clear Channel felt the station was not producing enough revenue and flipped the format to Spanish Adult Contemporary on May 22, 2009, ending the 23-year run Smooth Jazz had enjoyed in Chicago.
Even though there’s no more WNUA, August 3rd will always be a special date for me. After all, like my wedding anniversary, it was a date never to forget. For my almost 20 years at WNUA, we sure had some good times on those anniversaries.
