WIRE1430.com - remembering WIRE Indianapolis - Blog

WIRE Picnics 1975 - 1983

1/26/2021

From 1975 to 1983, WIRE staged huge free concerts for its listeners. Here's a rundown of these great shows which were free to attend with a WIRE bumper sticker on your car. Each attracted over 50,000 fans:

1975 - The First Annual "I Like You" Picnic - 7-27-1975 - American Heritage Park- McCordsville
Mel Tillis
Susan Raye
Jeannie Pruett
Don Williams
Local artists
1976 - The Second Annual "I Like You" Picnic - 8-8-1976 - Indianapolis Raceway Park - Clermont
Marty Robbins
Roy Head
Local artists
1977 - The Third Annual WIRE Picnic - 8-14-1977 - Indianapolis Raceway Park - Clermont
Hank Williams Jr.
Connie Smith
Larry Gatlin
Billy Thundercloud and the Chieftones
Local Artists
1978 - The Fourth Annual WIRE Picnic - 7-23-1978 - Indianapolis Raceway Park - Clermont
Tom T. Hall
The Kendalls
Ronnie McDowell
Steve Wariner
Kelly Warren
Locals included: Big Jon Potter, The Chuck Dean Music Review, Darla Coop and Music City Express,
Hook, Line & Sinker, First Annual Farewell Reunion, Liz Madison Show
1979 - The Fifth Annual WIRE Picnic - 7-22-1979 - Indianapolis Raceway Park - Clermont
Eddie Rabbitt
Jerry Reed
Kelly Warren
Mary K. Miller
The Wright Brothers
Tom Grant
Steve Wariner
1980 - The Sixth Annual WIRE Picnic - 7-20-1980 - Marion County Fairgrounds - Indianapolis
Mickey Gilley
Hoyt Axton
Dave & Sugar
The Wright Brothers
Stephanie Winslow
Locals included: Revival, Ron Mabry & the Possom Holler Band, Daryl Young & Last Stage West
Ron Hege, Gail Hicks, Tom Grant
1981 - The Seventh Annual WIRE Picnic - 7-26-1981 - Marion County Fairgrounds - Indianapolis
Barbara Mandrell
Ernest Tubb
Johnny Lee
Local Artists
1982 - The Eighth Annual WIRE Picnic - 7-18-1982 - Marion County Fairgrounds - Indianapolis
Barbara Mandrell
Mel McDaniel
Gary Morris
Locals included: The Showdown Band, Highground, Mike Carnes & Sunrize
1983 - The Ninth Annual WIRE Picnic - 7-17- 1983 - Marion County Fairgrounds - Indianapolis
Janie Fricke
Steve Wariner
The Wright Brothers
Locals included: The Hampton Valley Band, The WIRE Band, Sammy Dee Band, Southern Fallls Band,
The Authorities

Vintage Uncle Wally Birthday Party Stories

10/26/2015

Big thanks to Mark Murphy of Annapolis, MD for contributing some vintage photos of Uncle Wally Nehrling holding forth at birthday parties for Mark and his sister in 1955 and 1956. Amazing that one of Indy's top announcers could come to individual homes and make memories lasting for life.

Uncle Wally Nehrling of WIRE at the 6th birthday party for Mark Murphy in May of 1955

Uncle Wally Nehrling of WIRE with a group of kids reading the funny papers at Mark Murphy's sister's 5th birthday party in March of 1956

Terry Murphy gets interviewed on her 5th birthday in March of 1956 by Uncle Wally Nehrling of WIRE.

WIRE engineer Hal Trosper records the Uncle Wally Birthday party at the Murphy home in 1956 on what appears to be an Ampex 601 "suitcase" recorder.

Uncle Wally reads the Indianapolis Star Sunday funnies at a kid's birthday party in 1956. Wally Nehrling was morning man at WIRE for over 30 years and began reading the funny papers during a newspaper delivery strike. It became so popular that he continued it for years after including a in-home station appearances at lucky kid's birthday parties.

WIRE News Director Steve Yount dies at 64.

10/12/2015

Steve Yount was an award-winning news anchor and later News Director at WIRE/WXTZ/Network Indiana. After his years at the stations, he went on to be a news anchor in Chicago, Phliadelphia, New York, and top business news networks. He died on September 30, 2015. He had been diagnosed with Atypical Parkinson's Disease.
Steve and his wife relocated to Albuquerque, NM, after his disease forced him to leave the news business. There Steve wrote a series of western novels featuring the character "Turner Brown".

http://www.iape1096.org/news/2015/02_former.php - Story about Steve's passing from the Union he headed in New Jersey.

http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Yount/e/B0059K350I - Steve's Amazon.com page for his western novels.

More jingles on Sound Archive Page

12/29/2014

Big thanks to John Rabold for rescuing some carts from a DUMPSTER that were WIRE jingles. Not exactly sure of the vintage, but probably the period when 1430 went back to WIRE as a country station after its early '80's foray into ac/pop. Also a big thanks to Art Baker (Bouncin' Bill's son) for converting the carts to mp3 at his studio. These are now on the sound archive page.

Great WIRE Historical articles from Don Nelson

12/29/2014

Don Nelson, the V.P. & General Manager of WIRE during its successful launch and rocket-to-the-top success as a country station sends these fascinating articles from Billboard Magazine and the Indianapolis News and its radio-tv editor R.K. Shull.

Uncle Wally Nehrling broadcasts from Dana Webb's 8th Birthday Party

9/23/2014

In 1958, Dana Webb had the very special honor of having WIRE's longtime morning man, "Uncle" Wally Nerhling broadcast from his birthday party. Uncle Wally was famous for reading the Sunday funny papers on WIRE. It started during a newspaper strike, and proved so popular that it remained a mainstay of WIRE in the pre-country music years. Uncle Wally hosted mornings on WIRE for over 3 decades and generations of Hoosiers grew up listening to him. He remained with WIRE even after the change to country in 1968, hosting weekend shows and serving as Public Service Director.
Dana Webb went on to become a personality at WIRE in the '70's and 80's.
Enjoy this audio clip of Uncle Wally and the 8mm film of Uncle Wally courtesy of Dana Webb.

The WIRE-WXTZ Reunion Get-Together 9-10-14

9/11/2014

Thanks to all who braved the stormy night to come to Scotty's Brewhouse in Downtown Indy on the night of September 10, 2014. It was a good time and definitely great to see so many folks for the first time in years. Here are some photos. Please send me ones that you took if you were there and they will be added to the collection. Special thanks to Don Nelson, Doug Dahlgren, and Lee Shannon for making long trips to join the party.

NEW Photos

8/31/2014

There are new photos posted on the slide show on the home page. Special thanks to John Rabold, Ken Speck, and Karen Key for their submissions.

Blog your WIRE memories

8/18/2014

Use the contact page submission form if you'd like to post a blog here with your WIRE memories. You'll get a response..get your stuff and post it here to add to the rich history of WIRE.

Worked radio, mostly country, from 1962 all over the world. WIRE was the greatest!

Jim (James Alan) Johnson
WIRE, Indianapolis
KOKE, Austin, TX
WMEL, Pensacola, FL
WACT, Tuscaloosa, AL
in Europe and Korea on the American Force Network (Hosted Country Gold)jjohn0307@aol.com

WIRE/WXTZ Reunion

8/18/2014

There will be a WIRE/WXTZ reunion on Wednesday, September 10th, 2014 at Scotty's Brewhouse (1 Virginia Avenue) in downtown Indianapolis at 6:00pm. All former employees are invited. Food and beverages will be available off the menu with separate checks.
Lots of the old gang will be gathering in one of the side rooms at Scotty's. So come and enjoy and spread the word to others who might enjoy the evening. Don Nelson, former VP and General Manager will be there and many more.
Thanks!