Friday Flashback: The Blaze

By Karl Klockars in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 28, 2008 6:30PM

When those of us on the Flashback Beat aren't gazing back wistfully at days gone by, we're thinking to ourselves, "Man, radio when we were kids was kickass." See also: The awesomeness that was WLUP AM 1000, Steve Dahl, and Kevin Matthews to name just a few. To be honest, only one thing defined that era of Chicago radio other than the Loop for us - and that was the Blaze. Home of Steve Seaver, Major Tom, and the first radio home of one Eric "Mancow" Muller. It was also where we learned to love bands like Megadeth, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, and other various lesser hair-metal 'bangers like Warrant, Faster Pussycat, and Savatage.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of online documentation of The Blaze other than this Time Capsule site put together by radio documentarian extraordinare and former Blaze jock Scott Childers (who, by the way, put together an excellent book on WLS Radio history as well). But sometimes, a little goes a long way.

Scrolling through Childers' site, we're struck by a couple things: Warrant used to be big enough to play the Odeum back in the days of places like Poplar Creek and the Rosemont Horizon (and when that shed in Tinley Park was still the World Music Theater), and the $10 ticket price.

For a further step back in time, don't miss the .mp3 airchecks at the bottom of the page, but to really immerse yourself in the era, a better choice is probably a trip to Metal Sludge. Too much metal for just one fist. \m/\m/