Methinks you have the antenna terminals backward. The wire is the AM/FM antenna, that goes on the AM antenna terminal or a loop if supplied goes between the AM and ground terminals. You can also put the wire (should be a 1/4 wave 31" long) on the FM terminal closest to the ground terminal, these are your 75 ohm FM connections. A 300 ohm balanced output antenna such as the cheapo Rat Shack folded dipole made from TV twin lead goes between the two FM terminals, ground is ignored.
If you can receive local stations on another receiver without outdoor antennas you should be able to receive on this one too, just observe the proper connections whether you use simple indoor antennas or more complex outdoor ones. One caveat, AM in one of those AM/FM stereo receivers is often an afterthought and a poor one at that. The AM section may be easily overloaded by strong local signals causing stations to appear on the dial in places they aught not be and lots of "interference" all over the band. If you use a wire antenna make it barely long enough to receive those strong locals and forget about the rest, sometimes a foot or two makes all the difference.
"Always wondered if a wire with a alligator clip connected to the tin building would work?"
An alligator clip hanging from your earlobe or lower lip works rather well (makes a handy roach clip too) but if you want to fit in at a rave you'll need more metal applied to sensitive areas of the body, then attack your hair with scissors and fluorescent green dye. Jump up and down with clenched fists and an agonized look on your face while screaming I LIKE PAIN and you're bound to be a hit, maybe GET one if you're lucky.
