97.1 The Eagle - KEGL

January of 1981 is when 97.1 The Eagle (KEGL) took off for flight. The Eagle remained in the top 10 for most of its top 40 life (Give or take a month or two). In May of 1992 The Eagle decided to give itself a makeover and transform into an active rock station. Dallas/Ft.Worth was now without a Top 40 radio station. In November of '92, Kiss FM (KHKS) became home to the top 40 format. Kiss Fm was home to many of the air staff that got canned when The Eagle transformed, including Kidd Kraddick.

In the Winter of '92 The eagle found itself back in the top 10, it hadn't been in the top 10 since last winter of 1991. In the summer and fall of 1999 The Eagle ranked #3 in the top 10 list. The fall of 2001 was the last time The Eagle would see itself in the top 10. The following winter a new station would be born, and that station was 93.3 The Bone (KDBN). The way I see it, The Bone had a lot to do with the crashing of The Eagle in 2004. Once that station hit the airwaves, The Eagle never saw itself in the Top 10 again.

May 18th 2004 Clear Channel decided to switch formats to challenge KVIL. The station is called Sunny 97.1. The playlist is not so different from the top 40 Eagle of the eighties. A little over a year later, on August 25th 2005, Sunny 97.1 switches to a spanish language radio station. On December 1st 2007, KEGL (still retaining its call letters from The Eagle days) switches to christmas music.

During all this 102.1 The Edge made up for the loss of The Eagle by playing more of The Eagles type of music such as bands like Tool, Slipknot, NIN, Mudvayne, and Guns N Roses. They didn't take care of the 80's rock....but The Bone was dishin that out.

December 18th 2007, The Eagle lands again. The new Eagle kicked off with Ozzy's "Flyin' High Again." When The Eagle abandoned the rock format in 2004, they left the air by playing Sammy Hagar's "When Eagles Fly." Audio from the eagle leaving and returning to the airwaves is below.

Click here for an interesting article The Dallas Observer wrote on The Eagle

Airchecks

(Check my aircheck page for unscoped versions for trade)

KEGL 1985

Clip of The Eagle flipping to Sunny 97.1 - 5/18/04

The Launch of the rebirth of 97.1 The Eagle - 12/18/07

The following are drops, and are between 2 and 26 seconds in length:

KEGL 1 KEGL 2 KEGL 3 KEGL 4 KEGL 5 KEGL 6 KEGL 7