1060 AM came to life in Tempe in 1959 with the callsign KUPD (pronounced Cupid). It was owned by the Tri-State Broadcasting Co. and by the 1960s featured Phoenix veteran Bill Heywood in the morning and a full-service middle of the road format competing with KOY, which then broadcast at 550. It went to a mainstream Top 40 format in the early '70s. Around 1971, they added a simulcast on 97.9/KUPD-FM, which remained Top 40 until about 1978 when the FM station switched to rock and became a dominant presence in the Phoenix radio market.