Chicago’s WLUP Signs Off With Three Devilishly Rebellious Songs
Just before Chicago's long-running classic rock station WLUP was replaced by Christian music programming at the stroke of midnight last night, the devil got his chance to say goodbye thanks to AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Motley Crue.
According to numerous fan reports and videos (which you can see and hear below), the last three songs played before the station nicknamed "the Loop" signed off were Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil," Iron Maiden's "The Number of the Beast" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell."
WLUP was founded in 1977, and drew national attention two years later with the infamous Disco Demolition Night. In a pyrotechnic protest against the popular dance music craze, the station actually blew up a pile of disco records that fans brought to Comiskey Park, home of baseball’s Chicago White Sox. Unfortunately, things got out of hand when some of the 60,000 fans in attendance overwhelmed the security team, charging and damaging the field and forcing the cancellation of the second half of the night's doubleheader.
“We tried to break new ground, to break the rules, to be different and had amazing, talented people,” former station impresario Jimmy de Castro told the Chicago Tribune. “We had a hell of a lot of fun.” After earning a spot as the city's third most popular station in 1979, WLUP slipped to 15th in the latest Nielsen survey for Chicago, with a 2.9 share.
The good news is that the Loop lives on...on the internet at least. You can listen to a streaming version of the station at wlup.com, and show your support for the station by buying their official T-shirt.