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95.5 wbru

J

Jacko

Has anyone else noticed that 95.5 WBRU seems to have an actual morning show now, which includes program director Wendell Gee? I've heard some breaks here and there and it doesn't sound too bad. Perhaps they're taking a cue from Boston's 88.9 WERS and having a radio "professional" in AM drive?

Jacko
 
unregistered

WBRU doesn't sound good at all. When was the last time you cranked WBRU? 360 sounds tight but the Alt music has no direction. The kids are trying to play new stuff. Somebody is forcing them to play far too much gold and recurrents. The only real difference between programming before and after "The Retro Lunch" is a Kongos or Milky Chance tune. They play "Heart Shaped Box" far more than the "Dinosaur Rockers" (WAAF, WCCC, WHJY for examples) ever played "Stairway to Heaven"! Really? Nirvana has been dead longer than the kids at WBRU have been alive for crying out loud! Hows about another RHCP tune?

I expected more from Mr. Gi. If I remember correctly, he was the kid that was on the Saturday night they blew up the "Dance Floor Alternative". That probably saved the station because Alt programming stopped early Saturday night and didn't return until Monday. Huge weekend tune out of P1s.

WHJY has been sneaking up on WBRU's format. Sure, HJY will eventually blow it with a Queen tune or "Get the Led Out". Punch up 95.5 and hear "Glycerine" for the umpteenth time.

Sure! Why not add a morning show? Throw in some Katy Perry or Taylor Swift while you are at it.

WBRU programming isn't very creative or crankable lately. It no longer really stands out on the dial anymore. Much of their play list can be any other station as far as that goes.

Leave the kids alone and let them play Modern Rock. That is where they excel, have fun, enjoy themselves and sound good!
 
I agree with your assessment. WBRU has become the equivalent of Radio 92.9 WBOS in Boston. They are relying heavily on 90s/early 2000s gold and are only playing new music once it's cracked the top 30 on the national alternative chart. It's a shame. And for WBRU, there's no real direct competitor, so they have the ability to be out front on new songs, rather than wait for them to gain traction elsewhere. WBRU could be a tastemaker station like WEQX/Manchester, VT or WWCD Columbus, OH, with it being independently-owned and operated (mostly) by college students, but they sound very corporate at this point in time.

Jacko
 
I think they're sounding more Top 40/A.C.ish these days. I'm not hearing much rock when I (admittedly casually) tune in.
 
The kids are playing plenty of new Rock and Roll on WBRU! 360 is sounding great on Sundays. The station is solid.

WBRU's audience is a huge block of P1s. The problem is playing too many songs aimed for the "casual listener". This is a tough balance for any niche station to juggle but makes good business sense.

WBRU, like most music stations, programs their musical selections in day parts. Easier music in mornings segue to a harder edge later in the day.

WBRU is a blessing to radio!
 
I tuned in after I posted the other day & heard the decidedly non-rock "Royals" by Lorde & this hasn't been the only time nor song by her that they've played. That sticks out in my mind & wonder if WBRU will eventually shift away from modern rock, as it seems they already have started down that path.
 
N1WVQ said:
I tuned in after I posted the other day & heard the decidedly non-rock "Royals" by Lorde & this hasn't been the only time nor song by her that they've played. That sticks out in my mind & wonder if WBRU will eventually shift away from modern rock, as it seems they already have started down that path.
Click to expand...

?

Lorde's tune was WBRU's #1 song of 2013! I believe that she was 16 years old when she recorded it.

Lorde and her generation is Modern Rock!

I feel that Modern Rock and 360 Sundays will be around for a very long time.

Each year WBRU re invents itself with new kids continually coming on board with fresh ideas about Rock and Roll.

That is why people have been listening to the same new stuff on WBRU for the past 46 years!
 
Yes, 360 will be around for a long time, but I don't know how much rock WBRU is these days. Going back to "Royals", it's described in Wikipedia as being in 3 kinds of pop & the only rock reference was a year-end countdown for Billboard where it placed 3rd. I think that speaks volume about rock itself these days: it's following jazz into oblivion, sadly. Maybe 'BRU can't be anything but a rockish Hot A.C. because the music isn't there anymore. Even 10-15 years ago, you had solid rock from Weezer, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Jet, et al. This decade hasn't been good for rock. Even 2009's "The Reeling" by Passion Pit was a borderline rock/pop tune, but a good one. If Lorde's "Royals" was a song of the year, a song that has been played on Hot A.C. stations as well as stations like Fun 107, that says a lot about a "modern rock" station that is playing it.

I agree that the format will remain along with the 360 programming on Sunday, which I do enjoy. But, my sadness come from the fact that I hear the same songs played on WBRU as I do on Hot A.C. stations. I expect WBRU to be different & less poppy.

One final thing: in the summer of 1995, when I was about to get my driver's license, I interned at WBRU-AMcc/600, the student station. I rewired the board from mono to stereo as they were going on to F.M. 96.5. That was my first real assignment in radio. So, it's not like this is an ad-hominem attack on WBRU or something to just ruffle feathers. It hurts to see my alma mater sound like Pro-FM.
 
N1WVQ said:
If Lorde's "Royals" was a song of the year, a song that has been played on Hot A.C. stations as well as stations like Fun 107, that says a lot about a "modern rock" station that is playing it.
Click to expand...

The very 1st time I heard this song was on WERS in Boston who also describes themselves as modern rock.
 
I think Wikipedia's description as "Triple-A/Eclectic" is more accurate. In any event, I think the unregistered user's comments from April sums up a lot of my thoughts about WBRU these days. It doesn't stand out anymore, sadly. :(
 
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