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Story Subject Category: Tuscola
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Segment duration: 01:45
Producer: Alison Davis
Advisor: Mary Emma Thompson
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Historical Landmarks • Illinois Culture/History • Tuscola
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Live country music, a singing news show and up-to-date market reports attracted listeners throughout central Illinois to WDZ radio in Tuscola during the 1930s and ‘40s.
Prairie Fireon remembers the early days of WDZ when local musicians such as Smiley Burnette, who later became Gene Autry’s sidekick, and Lazy Jim Day, who went on to the Grand Ole Opry, performed live on the air. “It was real old-time country radio,” said Prairie Fire host Alison Davis. “A lot of people still remember it fondly.” The program looks back at programs like “The Kitchen Barn Dance” that endeared the station to its fans.
Davis interviews Martha Brown, who worked for the station’s owner, and Red Proffitt, who performed on the air as part of the Proffitt Brothers when he was 9 years old.
Segment duration: 10:29
Producer: Alison Davis
This segment is filed in these categories: Arts/Culture • Illinois Culture/History • Radio • Tuscola
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