the station began broadcasting on july 1, 1969, and originally held the callsign wago. the station featured a middle-of-the-road music format, old time radio dramas such as "the shadow", and news from abc's american entertainment radio network. by 1976, the station had begun airing a top 40 format. in 1983, the station's call sign was changed to wckk, and it aired the music of your life pop standards format, as "cake radio". from 1987 to 1992, the station held the call letters wlke, initially simulcasting 1170 wlkd as "the lake", playing music from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. the call letters were changed to wxol under the ownership of area disc jockey steve rose from 1992 to 1995, and the station was branded as "excellent oldies" during this period, airing an oldies format.