WAKY (and WKLO) were harbingers of a lot of what would become widespread music tastes - R&B crossovers, C&W crossovers, novelty hits, new rock groups, you name it. Being smack dab on the Mason-Dixon line gave the station a lot of freedom. Freedom to play to a variety of audiences and cultures.

By no means did the station subscribe to the Drake music model or the wait-until-it's-Top 10 WABC model. It went out early, it went out long. After all, it was in a very competitive battle - sometimes a three-station race (with 'KLO and WINN or 'KLO and 'QHI) and, to win, it had to find songs that would raise eyebrows and ratings both.

There are lines you can draw certainly to other LIN or regional stations. What happened in Louisville often happened in Philly at WFIL or at WMAK in Nashville. Was there a one-upsmanship contest going on? Maybe. But, the goal was freshness and uniqueness and WAKY scored some serious points in that contest. Sure, it lost some dice rolls, but the ones it won (the C&W crossovers come to mind) are legendary.

In this contest, you're going to find songs you know and can instantly recite, hooks that you know but can't place and songs that will just plain dumbfound you (sorry, but unless you grew up in Louisville, a few of the tunes might be for naught). Hits, misses, one-hit wonders, "WAKY Oldies" all - songs that made up the heart and soul of one of the greatest Top 40 stations of all-time. The WAKY Oldie contest ran April 1 through April 30, 2006.

Use the above player to stream the WAKY Oldie Montage. Or, click on the "WAKY Oldie Montage" text underneath the player to download the montage in MP3 format. The montage is 18:52 long and the file size is 8848 KB.