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Interesting Piece of Radio History

K

KYnsRhicks

Someone has created a searchable database of Radio and Records magazines. What I found interesting was the variety of music that AOR stations used to play. You can see playlists of specific stations like WQMF. If you would have bet me that WQMF used to play songs by Richard Marx, The Eurythmics, Prince, Animotion, Howard Jones, Fiona, and many others, I would have called you a liar. But in the mid 80's it was common for them to be played right next to ZZ Top and Led Zepplin. And guess what? During this same time their ratings for the Winter of '85 was 11.2 share! Good enough for a number #2 spot. Yes, radio has changed, more competition, etc. Still makes me wish back for the good old days. Here is the link. Prepare to spend hours on the site. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/RandR_Magazine_Page_Range_Guide.htm
 
True, that someone is our very own David Eduardo.



KYnsRhicks said:
Someone has created a searchable database of Radio and Records magazines. What I found interesting was the variety of music that AOR stations used to play. You can see playlists of specific stations like WQMF. If you would have bet me that WQMF used to play songs by Richard Marx, The Eurythmics, Prince, Animotion, Howard Jones, Fiona, and many others, I would have called you a liar. But in the mid 80's it was common for them to be played right next to ZZ Top and Led Zepplin. And guess what? During this same time their ratings for the Winter of '85 was 11.2 share! Good enough for a number #2 spot. Yes, radio has changed, more competition, etc. Still makes me wish back for the good old days. Here is the link. Prepare to spend hours on the site. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/RandR_Magazine_Page_Range_Guide.htm
Click to expand...
 
ZZ Top tweaked their sound and were just as relevant at album rock radio as at CHR in 1985. Just about all of those other acts fit both formats, too. By '85, though, Led Zep was pretty much an AOR-only act.

Rock had been undergoing big changes since the early years of the decade and, for a while, the '60s/'70s sounds we know today as "classic rock" could coexist on AOR stations with the new wave and new wave-influenced '80s sounds. I remember hearing Prince, Eurythmics, ZZ Top, Jones on WPLR up here in Connecticut back then.
 
CTListener said:
Just about all of those other acts fit both formats, too. By '85, though, Led Zep was pretty much an AOR-only act.
Click to expand...

I think we've discussed this topic before, but one of the forces behind this genre blending was MTV. It was "new technology" at the time, there was only one channel, and everyone in contemporary music was trying to get played on it. So you had rock acts like Billy Joel, Dire Straits, and ZZ Top, on the same channel as pop acts like Duran Duran, Crowded House, and Michael Jackson. That led to Michael Jackson employing the rock talent of Van Halen on Beat It and ultimately led to Run DMC collaborating with Aerosmith. It all happened in living color on MTV.
 
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