WDRV

[CassChopper96]

Back when WDRV was classic hits what kind of music would they play outside of classic rock and did Chicago have two classic rockers at one point

 

[macattack]

Back when WDRV was classic hits what kind of music would they play outside of classic rock and did Chicago have two classic rockers at one point

Chicago had two and a half classic rock stations for the longest time. WDRV's competition was WLUP 97.9 The Loop, which had minor facelifts over the years but was best known as a heavy classic rock station, mixing in classics by The Rolling Stones in with hair metal like Def Leppard and Motley Crue. WLUP was sold to EMF last year and was flipped to being a KLOVE affiliate, which means Christian AC.

WXRT 93.1 follows the AAA format but they've always been more of a AAA/classic rock hybrid, and generally went softer than either WDRV or WLUP. In recent years they've shifted away from classic rock in favor of playing 90's and 00's alternative rock, and got a bit livelier as a result, but you'll still hear quite a bit of classic rock pop up on WXRT.

I generally do not listen to classic hits stations so I don't know what WDRV played when they used that format. Someone else will have to answer that.

 

[scanman1]

Basically the same playlist WLS-FM had immediately after it transitioned to Classic Hits. Some 60's Oldies mixed with 70's and 80's Rock-based hits.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

Classic Hits was the original term for softer Classic Rock heavy on the 70s.

I heard a lot of Beatles, Doobie Brothers, America, The Doors, The Byrds, Carole King, CCR, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Zombies, Cream, Jim Croce, John Mellencamp, Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys, Canned Heat, 10cc, Gordon Lightfoot, Jefferson Airplane, Rolling Stones, Heart, etc. Plenty of deeper cuts too. Delivery was very laid back. Almost a whisper. First song was actually Aliotta, Haynes & Jeremiah - Lake Shore Drive which is where it got it’s name.

 

[davideduardo]

Classic Hits was the original term for softer Classic Rock heavy on the 70s.

"Classic Hits" in my experience was not an industry term until the time when "oldies" based stations were abandoning the 60's and moving full-bore into the 70's.

Because there was a wide belief that the "oldies" term was then highly negative among media buyers (oldies = older listeners), many stations decided that a new term was needed, and somewhere in the early 2000's Arbitron took the consensus feeling and created "classic hits" as one of the limited number of standard format names a station could be listed under.

Just as "oldies" meant "pop hits of the 50's and 60's" "classic hits" means "pop hits of the 70's and 80's" in today's context. Inside the industry, there has never been a "classic hits" definition that means only rock, although some classic hits stations may lean more in a rock direction. But the underlying foundation for both oldies and classic hits has always been Top 40 / CHR.

The litmus test here is whether a classic hits station plays any songs that a true classic rock station would never consider playing. There will be lots of overlap, but what each format plays that the other does not and would not is the difference.

Local stations in certain markets may have used certain terms differently, just as today some true classic hits stations use the oldies term for marketing.

Remember, these terms are used by the industry to clarify the format of each station for media buyers who may either not listen or not even be in the same city or state. As such, they are trade nomenclature, not audience marketing tools.

 

[JeremyAndrews]

WKLH in Milwaukee began using the term in the 80s. The call letters actually stand for “KLassic Hits” They used the term until sometime in the 2000s. I think 95.5 WRXR in Chicago called itself “Rock ‘n Roll Classic Hits” for a period of time in the 80s. Jones Radio Network had similar formats using the term, both Hard Drive and Network. It was the cross between Oldies and Classic Rock. Very little (if any) pop. I think Westwood One’s “Classic Hits-Rock” STORQ format is the closest to how these stations were.

I’ll go through some old airchecks I have of The Drive from ‘01 and post what they played if anybody is interested. They decided to initially use 96.9 to simulcast WTMX, leaving it unlistenable in this area until 2003. I’d often roll tape on 97.1 when 96.9 would go off the air, which happened quite often on 2001 and 2002.

 

[davideduardo]

WKLH in Milwaukee began using the term in the 80s. The call letters actually stand for “KLassic Hits” They used the term until sometime in the 2000s. I think 95.5 WRXR in Chicago called itself “Rock ‘n Roll Classic Hits” for a period of time in the 80s. Jones Radio Network had similar formats using the term, both Hard Drive and Network. It was the cross between Oldies and Classic Rock. Very little (if any) pop. I think Westwood One’s “Classic Hits-Rock” STORQ format is the closest to how these stations were.

I’ll go through some old airchecks I have of The Drive from ‘01 and post what they played if anybody is interested. They decided to initially use 96.9 to simulcast WTMX, leaving it unlistenable in this area until 2003. I’d often roll tape on 97.1 when 96.9 would go off the air, which happened quite often on 2001 and 2002.

As I said, some individual stations used the term on the air as a positioned, but as an industry accepted format descriptor it did not come into use until Arbitron accepted the name as a definition for 70’s based pop hits... and that was several years into the new Millenium.