What Killed Beautiful Music?

[crainbebo]

Last "holdouts" in 1996? Last I knew, KAHM was *still* beautiful music in Prescott AZ...neither rain, nor pandemic, nor declaration of war can stop that station from continuing its heritage. Even though the Cesar Chavez Foundation owns it now, it has never changed format.
Even though Beautiful Music has been gone for 25-30 years in a vast majority of America, there are a couple of exceptions left on terrestrial radio. WGCY in Illinois is another, but with no webstream.
Adult Contemporary has morphed several times over the decades as well. At this point, you could call it CHR-Lite with a Little '80s Thrown In. A current 35-year-old soccer mom would love the rhythmic appeal of AC. A 55-year-old turns it out and listens to Classic Hits instead. Of course, exceptions apply with Adult Contemporary stations - some lean towards CHR-Lite, some are a mix, some lean towards gold/classic songs - but not many anymore. There's a station in Arkansas, KBVA, that leans towards 1970s and early '80s soft songs. Not a format you will often hear in major markets, and if there are, it's tested hits, more tighter than small-town radio, and often with some 2010s or 2020-21 songs here and there.

I wish the 'New Adult Contemporary' format got a little more traction, but eventually, those stations (like KTWV) went to contemporary SJ. Not a lot of stations out there playing Basia, Toni Childs, Bonnie Raitt (songs not called 'Something to Talk About'), B-sides of Steely Dan, Melody Gardot, Michael Franks, non-'Tom's Diner' Suzanne Vega, later Paul Carrack, etc. anymore. I assume a playlist under these artists would be considered 'classic AAA' nowadays. I still have all my airchecks I taped of Sierra Wave 92.5 in Bishop before they went to Alternative, and hope to put them up somewhere (Archive?) soon. I loved the NAC-type blend they had outside of the morning show and newscasts. I guess like with SJ, reviving NAC would appeal to an older audience that isn't in the target demo for advertising anymore.

 

[michael hagerty]

Not to nitpick, but KMEO-FM became KPSN Sunny 97 with a mostly 60's Oldies format to compete with KOOL-FM, not AC.

No, KilowattKat. KMEO became KPSN Sunny 97 as an AC. I mentioned it further up this thread.

They thought they were going to compete with KESZ (KEZ 99.9), and KKLT (K-Lite 98.7), but the month in 1991 that they flipped., so did KZZP (to Variety 104.7) and KAMJ became Mix 101. It was a five-way AC battle, and Sunny 97 came in fifth in the fall, 1991 Arbitron.

The oldies version of Sunny 97 happened May 1, 1992, targeting a weakened KOOL-FM, which was in receivership:

https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RandR-IDX/IDX/90s/92/RR-1992-11-06-OCR-Page-0035.pdf#search=%22kpsn%22

 

[KilowattKat]

Last "holdouts" in 1996? Last I knew, KAHM was *still* beautiful music in Prescott AZ...neither rain, nor pandemic, nor declaration of war can stop that station from continuing its heritage. Even though the Cesar Chavez Foundation owns it now, it has never changed format.
Even though Beautiful Music has been gone for 25-30 years in a vast majority of America, there are a couple of exceptions left on terrestrial radio. WGCY in Illinois is another, but with no webstream.
Adult Contemporary has morphed several times over the decades as well. At this point, you could call it CHR-Lite with a Little '80s Thrown In. A current 35-year-old soccer mom would love the rhythmic appeal of AC. A 55-year-old turns it out and listens to Classic Hits instead. Of course, exceptions apply with Adult Contemporary stations - some lean towards CHR-Lite, some are a mix, some lean towards gold/classic songs - but not many anymore. There's a station in Arkansas, KBVA, that leans towards 1970s and early '80s soft songs. Not a format you will often hear in major markets, and if there are, it's tested hits, more tighter than small-town radio, and often with some 2010s or 2020-21 songs here and there.

I wish the 'New Adult Contemporary' format got a little more traction, but eventually, those stations (like KTWV) went to contemporary SJ. Not a lot of stations out there playing Basia, Toni Childs, Bonnie Raitt (songs not called 'Something to Talk About'), B-sides of Steely Dan, Melody Gardot, Michael Franks, non-'Tom's Diner' Suzanne Vega, later Paul Carrack, etc. anymore. I assume a playlist under these artists would be considered 'classic AAA' nowadays. I still have all my airchecks I taped of Sierra Wave 92.5 in Bishop before they went to Alternative, and hope to put them up somewhere (Archive?) soon. I loved the NAC-type blend they had outside of the morning show and newscasts. I guess like with SJ, reviving NAC would appeal to an older audience that isn't in the target demo for advertising anymore.

Believe it or not, WAVV resurrected the B/EZ format they had previously. It's on their HD2 and an FM translator, Easy 107.9, they also stream it on the WAVV website. There is also non comm KNCT Killeen TX, KLUX Corpus Christi TX.

And of course the infamous KAHM, which has survived despite the death of the original owner, and the purchase by a Spanish language operator. There is a deal in place to allow for a purchase option after 5-10 years for Prescott Broadcasting. They currently own former sister KYCA. Don't know how much time is left for that deal to possibly happen.

 

[KilowattKat]

No, KilowattKat. KMEO became KPSN Sunny 97 as an AC. I mentioned it further up this thread.

They thought they were going to compete with KESZ (KEZ 99.9), and KKLT (K-Lite 98.7), but the month in 1991 that they flipped., so did KZZP (to Variety 104.7) and KAMJ became Mix 101. It was a five-way AC battle, and Sunny 97 came in fifth.

The oldies version of Sunny 97 happened May 1, 1992, targeting a weakened KOOL-FM, which was in receivership:

https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RandR-IDX/IDX/90s/92/RR-1992-11-06-OCR-Page-0035.pdf#search=%22kpsn%22

You're right! There was a lot of AC competition at the time. I was living in Sacramento at the time, but occasionally visiting family in the valley. I must have missed hearing the Sunny 97 AC period.

KAMJ, eventually became AAA KZON. And KVRY reversed back to KZZP in 1996 with Adult Top 40. That one I remember well, as I had moved back to the valley then.

 

[michael hagerty]

You're right! There was a lot of AC competition at the time. I was living in Sacramento at the time, but occasionally visiting family in the valley. I must have missed hearing the Sunny 97 AC period.

It didn't last long. A year at most. They got five and a half years out of the oldies format (with a repositioning to K-Hits 97 about midway).

 

[KilowattKat]

It didn't last long. A year at most. They got five and a half years out of the oldies format (with a repositioning to K-Hits 97 about midway).

Yep, K-Hits was that short lived all 70's format. Which never took off nationally, then came the Eagle with Classic Rock hits.. and Charlie Van Dyke in the morning, which was the best thing about the Eagle.

 

[michael hagerty]

Yep, K-Hits was that short lived all 70's format. Which never took off nationally, then came the Eagle with Classic Rock hits.. and Charlie Van Dyke in the morning, which was the best thing about the Eagle.

Having been Charlie’s partner on that show for the first few months, and still his friend, I can tell you that would mean a lot to him.

 

[TomásEstefan]

Totally in generalities:

People prior to rock and roll were less into lyrics than into melody. That's part of why instrumentals were much more of a thing prior to rock and roll. They liked "the tune". And since popular artists of that time were largely people who didn't write their own material, but interpreted that of others, it didn't seem odd to want to hear someone else that you liked do a song a different artist made popular.

This was very common in the World War II and immediate postwar years---you'd have songs that were a hit both as instrumentals and vocals. And it lasted into the 60s and 70s, though not at the same level. For example:

Theme from Love Story: Andy Williams' vocal peaked at #9, Francis Lai's instrumental at #31.

Mrs. Robinson: Simon and Garfunkel vocal #1 in 1968, Booker T. and the M.G.s instrumental the following year at #37.

And the reverse---Grazing in the Grass: Hugh Masakela instrumental #1 in 1968, the Friends of Distinction vocal the following year at #3.

That's a great analysis! Never thought of it that way! Although I must say that I often wondered why the Composer/Band Leader Burt Kaempfort never covered anything by the Beatles as I remember reading years ago that he apparently had some kind of short term involvement with them.

 

[KilowattKat]

Having been Charlie’s partner on that show for the first few months, and still his friend, I can tell you that would mean a lot to him.

Living in San Diego, I get to hear that great voice of his when ever I watch KUSI-TV. He's been the imaging voice on that channel for years now.

 

[TomásEstefan]

Backin the day I was always amazed and amused that the gigantic signal of KRUZ 103.3 in Santa Barbara with its 105 kW signal from Calabasas to somewhere in Monterey County could for years and years and years just play "beautiful music". I thought to myself boy what I would do with that signal!

 

[asugeorge1]

Having been Charlie’s partner on that show for the first few months, and still his friend, I can tell you that would mean a lot to him.

Charlie Van Dyke is the best and I used to listen to him growing up in Phoenix. I always liked hearing him as the voice of “12 News” and, when I traveled to LA, doing the voiceover of KRTH and “This is ABC 7 Eyewitness News.” I still miss hearing him on KRTH and his classic TOH ID stating: “Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Entertainment Capital Of the World!” I wish KRTH would bring him back as their voiceover guy, but they have moved on. Now that I spend a lot of time in San Diego, it is nice to still hear him as the voice of KUSI. I hope he is doing well!

 

[asugeorge1]

Backin the day I was always amazed and amused that the gigantic signal of KRUZ 103.3 in Santa Barbara with its 105 kW signal from Calabasas to somewhere in Monterey County could for years and years and years just play "beautiful music". I thought to myself boy what I would do with that signal!

KRUZ is a monster signal. At my current location in Carlsbad, KRUZ comes in like a local on 103.3 FM with a stereo lock. But, if I move the radio just a little bit, it will cut out and I will get Q 103.3 from Temecula. Probably since I am close to the coast, that is why KRUZ comes in so well here. Both KRUZ and KRTH rule the Southern California coast.

 

[davideduardo]

Adult Contemporary has morphed several times over the decades as well. At this point, you could call it CHR-Lite with a Little '80s Thrown In.

And that is how it started in the early 70's. Top 40 without the hard stuff and most of the bubblegum stuff and the heavily urban crossovers plus lots of 60's songs.

There was a transition from the old MOR sound that still made itself known on Top 40 with the occasional song like "Mack the Knife" and "Invisible Tears" (to name just two) well into the 60's. But the 70's saw a new format that rejected Andy Williams and the like and played Top 40 songs without the rough stuff and most of the crossovers. And AC was the first to heavily play recurrents, a category that Top 40 stations would typically rest for quite a while.

AC was, in a sense, a reaction to the harder rock influence on Top 40 and it began as "the hits without the hard stuff" and was called "chicken rock" in the industry. But it worked and has really not evolved all that much in the last 50 years.

 

[KilowattKat]

KRUZ is a monster signal. At my current location in Carlsbad, KRUZ comes in like a local on 103.3 FM with a stereo lock. But, if I move the radio just a little bit, it will cut out and I will get Q 103.3 from Temecula. Probably since I am close to the coast, that is why KRUZ comes in so well here. Both KRUZ and KRTH rule the Southern California coast.

I've been blown away whenever I pick up some of the Santa Barbara stations during the day while driving close to the coast here in San Diego, as far south as Old Town. Not just 103.3 FM, but 1250 KZER and 1490 KOSJ, which is only 1kw on a crowded frequency.

It seems to happen when the marine layer has rolled in or there is cloud cover. And something with the way SD and Santa Barbara are positioned from each other across the water.

 

[thenetwork]

From what I remember in my younger years (70s/80s) in the Cleveland area, there were no less than four Beautiful Music stations on the FM dial and maybe one or two on the AM dial. Pretty much all of the stations (at least the FMs) played straight instrumentals with no vocals -- the MOR stations handled those songs.

But I believe one of the demises of the Beautiful Music stations was that most of the FM stations in the 60's and early 70s were Beautiful Music and/or Classical Stations and the rock stations dominated the AM dial. And once the migration of the AM Top-40, Chicken Rock (AC) and even some country stations began in the mid 70's and FM was becoming the dominant radio band, thanks to more AM/FM car radios becoming more popular add-on or standard options, stations saw the new cash cow formats on FM and went with it, giving up on Beautiful Music and either upgrading to harder, modern music formats or just "upgrading" to softer rock formats that allowed for more familiar songs that could have vocals as well.

I worked at a few offices which played Beautiful Music, usually via Muzak. I still vividly remembering one office Muzak system that went as far to play "Pick Up The Pieces" while *still* editing out the limited vocals by the Average White Band heard in the song -- and this was in the late 80s!!!

 

[TomásEstefan]

I've been blown away whenever I pick up some of the Santa Barbara stations during the day while driving close to the coast here in San Diego, as far south as Old Town. Not just 103.3 FM, but 1250 KZER and 1490 KOSJ, which is only 1kw on a crowded frequency.

It seems to happen when the marine layer has rolled in or there is cloud cover. And something with the way SD and Santa Barbara are positioned from each other across the water.

Now that 1450 KVEN Ventura is permanently off the air. Folks near the coast in Oxnard and Ventura might be able to tune in Escondido's KFSD 1450. What format are they now??

 

[michael hagerty]

And that is how it started in the early 70's. Top 40 without the hard stuff and most of the bubblegum stuff and the heavily urban crossovers plus lots of 60's songs.

There was a transition from the old MOR sound that still made itself known on Top 40 with the occasional song like "Mack the Knife" and "Invisible Tears" (to name just two) well into the 60's. But the 70's saw a new format that rejected Andy Williams and the like and played Top 40 songs without the rough stuff and most of the crossovers. And AC was the first to heavily play recurrents, a category that Top 40 stations would typically rest for quite a while.

AC was, in a sense, a reaction to the harder rock influence on Top 40 and it began as "the hits without the hard stuff" and was called "chicken rock" in the industry. But it worked and has really not evolved all that much in the last 50 years.

Well, apart from the 20-year dominance of the KOST “Continuous Soft Hits” approach that made people think AC was by definition soft and emotional.

 

[davideduardo]

But I believe one of the demises of the Beautiful Music stations was that most of the FM stations in the 60's and early 70s were Beautiful Music and/or Classical Stations and the rock stations dominated the AM dial. And once the migration of the AM Top-40, Chicken Rock (AC) and even some country stations began in the mid 70's and FM was becoming the dominant radio band, thanks to more AM/FM car radios becoming more popular add-on or standard options, stations saw the new cash cow formats on FM and went with it, giving up on Beautiful Music and either upgrading to harder, modern music formats or just "upgrading" to softer rock formats that allowed for more familiar songs that could have vocals as well.

The first of what we would call "AC" in Cleveland was WGAR-1220 under John Lund and that began with a heavily gold based format around '72.

Remember, by 1975 Cleveland's famous WMMS was already #1 with rock, and WGCL was doing Top 40, competing with WHK (and losing).

The Beautiful Music stations local to Cleveland WDOK, WKSW and WQAL all had the usual 15-minute sets with a vocal as the third song in most quarter hours. WQAL was Bonneville, and I don't recall whether WDOK was Shulke or not.

Beautiful Music continued strong well into the 80's with WDOK and WQAL #2 and #3 in late 1984 and WDBN from Medina down much lower with a locally done version of the format. By 1987, WQAL was still #2 but WDOK was down to 7th.

Remember, back in the early 70's we called Top 40 "rock" ; it was when Top 40 clearly separated from hard rock that the distinction was clear and we quit calling Top 40 stations "rockers".

You can look up the Cleveland ratings from 1975 onward here: https://worldradiohistory.com/Duncan-American-Radio-Issue-Guide.htm

 

[KilowattKat]

Now that 1450 KVEN Ventura is permanently off the air. Folks near the coast in Oxnard and Ventura might be able to tune in Escondido's KFSD 1450. What format are they now??

KFSD is Spanish Christian or Catholic, at least the last time I heard them. They are in Escondido which is 30 miles from Downtown SD. Their signal is lousy, even by 1kw AM standards. Once you are at least 20 miles from the transmitter, the signal quickly disintegrates. Disappears south of Interstate 8.

Being that it is inland a good distance, I don't think you can pick it up along the coast very much.

 

[pjc1961]

KFSD is Spanish Christian or Catholic, at least the last time I heard them. They are in Escondido which is 30 miles from Downtown SD. Their signal is lousy, even by 1kw AM standards. Once you are at least 20 miles from the transmitter, the signal quickly disintegrates. Disappears south of Interstate 8.

Being that it is inland a good distance, I don't think you can pick it up along the coast very much.

St. John Paul II Catholic Radio in English language (Wikipedia entry is incorrect for KFSD):

KFSD Member - JP2 Catholic Radio

AM Radio Information Status: LICENSED View License Authorization View Renewal Authorization License Expires: 12/01/2021 Status Date: 05/20/2020 Facility Id: 49205 Community of License: ESCONDIDO, CA Service: AM Station Licensee: IHS MEDIA Licensee Address: 525 B STREET...

jp2radio.com

Can be picked up along the coast during the day in certain spots between Oceanside and Carlsbad.