Our History

WOKY served as the city's premier Top 40 station during most of the 1960s and 1970s and was known for much of that time as the "Mighty 92.” It broadcast from its headquarters on Sherman Blvd and Fond du Lac Ave in Milwaukee.

Popular disc jockeys on WOKY during the Top 40 years, from the 1950s through the 1970s, included Bob White, "Mad Man" Michaels, "Lucky" Logan, Mitch Michael, Sam Hale, Ron Riley, Bob Barry, Carl Como, Paul Christy, Michael Lee Scott, Jim Brown, Pat McKay, Jack McCoy, Ronnie Knight, Johnny Dark, Craig Roberts, Jack Lee, Robb Edwards, Gary Price, Gene Johnson, Barney Pip and Bob Collins. A popular station catchphrase during the early 1970s was "WOKY Plays Favorites”.

For the station owners, the Bartell family, they found that Top 40 radio was more than just a list of the most popular tunes culled from national trade magazines and local record stores. The sound was based on a program or hot clock, which included locally oriented news, DJ chatter, public service announcements, singing commercials, prerecorded station IDs and jungles, and contests and special promotions,

The Bartell stations were among the first local operations to produce and record singing commercials and station jingles.

WOKY was also noteworthy for being the first station in Milwaukee to broadcast traffic reports from a helicopter, courtesy of air personality Art Zander and his feature "The Safer Route.”

The MilWOKY Center is not affiliated with WOKY radio, iHeart Media or Clear Channel Communications.