WLUV radio in Rockford, which gave many DJs and musicians their first shot, sold to Milwaukee network

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Tim Larson was a 16-year-old high school student when he got an unexpected phone call offering him his first chance to work in radio.

It was 1977, and Larson had just been featured in a Rockford Register Star article for helping launch Auburn High School’s student radio station. That’s when Joe Salvi reached out.

“He said, ‘Do you want to come work for a real radio station?'” Larson said. “I went out to the radio station, met with him, and a week later I was doing afternoon drive 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on WLUV during my senior year in high school.”

The opportunity Larson was given is emblematic of the of the impact Salvi had on countless aspiring musicians and radio DJs who got their start at WLUV 1520 AM/105.3 FM. Salvi, who ran the station for nearly five decades, died in January 2020.

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Salvi’s legacy of making WLUV a training ground for up-and-comers is being remembered as the station enters a new era. Today the sale of the station to Milwaukee-based VCY America, a Christian information radio network, is set to be finalized. Employees left the station for the last time on Monday.

“He believed in giving everybody a chance,” said Sue Salvi Buckwalter, Salvi’s niece who took over as administrator of the station after her uncle’s death. “Whether he was playing your tune or he was employing you as a brand new DJ who was learning how to run the board, WLUV was a great place to come if you were looking for an opportunity.”

Salvi formed WLUV radio in 1962 as Rockford’s first country western station, playing hits from the likes of Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell and Dolly Parton, among others. In 1968, he got the license for 96.7 FM, where he was often the first to play soul and gospel music from Rockford’s Black musical artists. He would also bring people into the station to play live music.

“I think it really was the people’s station,” Buckwalter said. “If anybody had something new to play, he didn’t even listen to it, he just threw it on and said, ‘play that song for people.’ This was the place to come for opportunity.”

Salvi also broadcast NASCAR races and St. Louis Cardinals games. In 2015, he obtained the license for 105.3 FM. Always the marketeer, he would tell people to set their radio dials to the station “and then throw your knob away.”

Salvi, who was born to Italian immigrants, didn’t marry or have any children. But he considered his coworkers and listeners as his family. In his obituary, the first to be listed among his survivors was “his WLUV listeners.”

“His radio station was his child and his employees where his family,” Buckwalter said. “That’s what drove him. This was his love, WLUV radio.”

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Buckwalter continued her uncle’s tradition after taking over the station. With the help of longtime employees like Virgie Lameyer, a friend of Salvi who worked at the station for more than 50 years, and Buddy Stevens, who worked there for 20 years, she learned the ropes of radio.

She also got help from Larry Roberts, who worked for years in radio and now owns three NBC affiliate television stations in Oregon. Roberts help was an example of Salvi’s willingness to give people their start coming full circle.

“When he was 13 years old, his mother came in and she would sing gospel, and my uncle mentored him,” Buckwalter said. “Larry Roberts, Chuck Doyle, Tim Larson and others; those are the people who took me under their wing and they helped me make this the best I could.”

Doyle and Larson were DJs decades ago and returned after Salvi’s death to help Buckwalter continue the station. Larson told her he was helping as an IOU to her uncle. She also partnered with Liz Wylder, a longtime area DJ, for a Sunday morning show and to help automate music.

Buckwalter refurbished the radio station building at 2272 Elmwood Road, helping prime it for its eventual sale, and in August 2020 changed the format to play the best of the 60s and 70s.

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Larson, who spent 10 years working in radio before forming his own business, Skyward Promotions, said WLUV helped spur multiple successful radio careers.

He said Salvi loved the thrill of live radio, adored country music and believed in giving local artists their first shot “because somebody’s got to.” Sometimes they would bring in a tape or 45 cut, or he would host live music during picnics on the radio station grounds.

“It’s amazing when you hear all the stories of that one domino that Joe knocked over, how their careers and how their lives went,” Larson said. “If Joe hadn’t given them a chance it could have been drastically different.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.