Cajun Radio is celebrating nine years of being on the air full time 24 hours a day playing Cajun, Swamp Pop and Zydeco music only.

It was a dream of my dad Dave Soileau's and I to have a full time 24 hour a day Cajun Radio station and nine years ago it happened.  Here is a little history about Dad and I and the history of doing Cajun music on the radio which led up to Cajun Radio going on the air.

Dave started out on KAOK 1400 AM back in the early 1980′s, doing a live show every Saturday morning. In 1990, Dave moved over to KLCL 1470 AM, then in Westlake. Dad decided bring me aboard and we did a Cajun music show every morning from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Monday thru Friday and Dave was the founder of “Louisiana Bandstand.” Louisiana Bandstand was a live show on Saturday mornings from the old “Downtowner Hotel” on Lakeshore Drive, where the site of what is now the remains of the old Harrah’s casino sits.

Louisiana Bandstand was a one-of-a-kind show where Cajun bands would play live and Dave and I would broadcast them. People would come in each Saturday to watch the band, to dance and to watch Dave do the show live on the air. It got so popular that Phil Menard/Ivy Dugas and the Louisiana travelers made a theme song called the “KLCL Special,” which was the theme song to start the show every Saturday — a song we still play here on Cajun Radio today.

Mike and Dave Soileau
Mike and Dave Soileau Back in 1985
loading...

Then it was on to Cajun Country 92.9 FM in Jennings, where Dave did a show after the legendary Jerry Dugas on Saturdays. I did a show on Sunday's from noon until 5:00 p.m. and I occasionally sat in for Dave when he couldn't make it on Saturday's.  In the following years, with radio stations being consolidated into clusters, 92.9 was sold and moved to Lake Charles. That’s where Dave and I did a show on KBIG 99.5 FM on Sundays for awhile before moving down the hall to 1470 & 1290 AM. Dave and I did shows back to back on Saturday mornings. Dave was on from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and Mike’s Show was from 12-4 p.m.

After doing that for a couple years, Cajun Radio was born on March 7, 2005 as Southwest Louisiana’s first and only full-time Cajun music radio station. Cajun Radio prides our self on playing Louisiana Music by Louisiana artist only!  Cajun, Swamp Pop and Zydeco Music and also attending as many festivals and events that have to deal with our culture, language and heritage.

Cajun Radio is also the birth place of the Cajun Radio Backstage pass where we give our listeners an opportunity to attend private concerts here at the radio station with their favorite artists. Plus with our website Cajunradio.com, we are now truly worldwide spreading the Cajun music and posting videos of our artists performing live!

Cajun Radio and Mike
(Photo by Mike Soileau)
loading...

We would like to thank everyone for listening and supporting Cajun Radio and the Cajun culture.  Merci Mon Amis.

More From Cajun Radio 1290 AM