I grew up in Windsor, Ontario – a 10-minute walk over the Ambassador Bridge to the Detroit – which had a border blaster station of its own in the form of CKLW, otherwise known as “The Big 8”. Whereas on the other side of the border, in Canada or Mexico, giant transmission towers were erected, giving a single station upwards of 250,000 watts of power. In an attempt to control chaos on the airwaves, a North American treaty known as NARBA (established in 1941) set out an international band plan and interference rules for the US, Canada and Mexico which allowed for a certain wattage per capita – with the US more heavily urbanized, there were more radio stations, but transmitters were capped at a max of 50,000 watts. XERF in Ciudad Acuna – once the home of Wolfman Jack and likely the station referred to in the ZZ Top song – didn’t just reach across the border into the US, its signal stretched all the way to Soviet Russia. “The X” is a reference to the call signs for Mexican radio stations (which all begin with the letters XE), in particular the “border blaster” stations that did not fall under American FCC regulations and could thus broadcast at a much higher wattage, meaning a significantly more powerful reach. But while the alternately sweet and raucous sound of the Wolfman’s soulful jive first hooked many young 70s audiences via the power of television, an earlier generation – to quote ZZ Top – “Heard it on the X”.
#Wolfman jack radio snippit tv
By the time I was five, the Wolfman was a ubiquitous presence on television, appearing in his own CBC variety show The Wolfman Jack Show at the same time that he was a regular host on The Midnight Special, recording albums, and doing a slew of TV guest spots, public appearances, revues and rock concerts all over the map. But as a Canadian kid born in the early 70s, my experience of the notorious, gravelly-voiced deejay was as likely to have come from the tube as the radio. I can’t remember the first time I encountered Wolfman Jack he was just always a part of my life. And I wantcha to reach over to that radio, darlin’, right now, and grab my knobs. “I’m runnin’ around naked in the studio right now, beatin’ my chest.