The image of my friend Steve Galli leaning against the wall next to a door of WRIF stickers has been making the rounds all over the internet lately. He sent me a text saying that the picture was taken in 1986 or 87. He said it was at the station when we were on 10 mile in Southfield connected to WXYZ, Channel 7.
The iconic stickers have been a big part of the RIFF for the entire 52 years of the station’s existence. At every appearance I make someone always, without fail, asks me for a sticker. To this day, I have people sending me self-addressed stamped envelopes looking for the latest ones. Heck, you even see them for sale on certain websites. To me, that’s kinda crazy.
Personally, my favorite ones are the stickers in which we get permission from the bands to use their band’s logo. One of my favorite RIFF shirts is the one with the famous WRIF oval and METALLICA scrawled across it in that famous font.
I’ll never forget coming to interview for my job at the station 28 years ago. As I drove down the street I soon came upon the station parking lot. In it were WRIF promotional vans with the iconic station logo on them It was kind of surreal.
As you can see from the picture below, there have been many WRIF stickers over the years. Think about it for a second, not many other stations do what the RIFF has done with these things over the years. In some ways, the sticker is almost as iconic as the station itself. And the fact that people are still asking for them is the best thing of all.
Check out some of the past stickers below.
