Ben Cagle started at WFLI-AM 1070 as an engineer who also was on the air. He is shown at the microphone on March 31, the day the station went off the air.WFLI-AM 1070, the radio station that introduced new rock ‘n’ roll to the market in the 1960s and ’70s, is back on the air with only the second owners in its 56-year history.
Evan Stone and Marshall Bandy bought the station from Ying Hua Benns, the widow of Billy Benns, who launched the station in Lookout Valley.
“We are only the second owners and it is the only station in Chattanooga with its original call letters,” Stone said.
Benns had been trying to sell the station for some time and signed it off from the air in April. Bandy and Stone began the process of buying it and applying for a new license from the Federal Communications Commission around the same time.
It was off the air for about a week and played syndicated news while the application process was handled. It signed back on Monday, playing “six in a row from the ’60s and seven in a row from the ’70s.” It’s been playing oldies hits ever since in honor of the station’s history, Stone said.