Press Communications' WWZY/WBHX has had an increasingly pop-leaning playlist for quite a while, but now they've finally dropped any pretense of being a "Classic Rock" station and are now branding as "Classic Hits & More"... with the "More" extending into the 2010s, including artists like Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Walk the Moon, DNCE, American Authors, etc. They're still playing some 1970s music, though, and the majority of their playlist is from the '80s and '90s.
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Monmouth/Ocean 107.1 The Boss is now "Classic Hits & More"
- Thread starter kevtronics
- Start date
Might this be the future of most classic rock stations over the next decade or so, as rock itself becomes a niche genre?
It depends. Other Classic Rock stations like Q104.3 aren't going in the pop direction -- they're now playing Nirvana, Green Day, Third Eye Blind, etc. Mayyybe the early Maroon 5 hits when they were actually trying to be an Alternative Rock band, but definitely not any of their more recent stuff.
"Semi-Charmed Life" and "Good Riddance" aren't considered pop tracks?
On second thought, maybe I should have written "over the next 20 years," as there was still a strong enough mass-appeal pulse alive in the rock genre in the '90s and, to an extent, in the '00s to give the format enough consensus tracks for it to survive the '20s once the '70s and early to mid-'80s songs age out. At some point, pop classic hits without "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and rock classic hits without "Sharp Dressed Man" will be a reality. After all, "Brown Eyed Girl" has, at long last, finally aged out.
They're pretty much a variety hits station at this point. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, but it's short on genuine surprises. But I no longer expect to be surprised by any commercial station in a fairly large market like Monmouth/Ocean. That's what left of the dial or small town radio is for. That said, good on them for apparently having on-air personalities around the clock (during the week, at least). That's refreshing in this day and age.
A little too much "personality" in the morning, though. Robbie and Rochelle aren't as funny as they think they are, they blather on and on and on without ever playing any music, and what's with that "fwoomp" sound effect they keep playing every time they make a joke? Is that like their version of a rimshot?
Robby Bridges is the station's VP of Programming, and Rochelle is his wife. When there's no boss to give them constructive criticism of their own programming, that role falls on the listeners.
Let me make this very clear, like any manager Robby is doing exactly what his bosses want him to do. You're judging them based on your dislike of their show, not the programming strategy. Bob McAllen and Rich Morena at Press have always been known to have their hands in the programming pot.
They're trying to be a more gold-based version of what WPLJ was for the shore. Press has always had a habit of news elements on 107.1 since the original Breeze, which they brought over from when they owned New Jersey 101.5. Morena in particular had always wanted a Rock station in the cluster, which is why G106.3 went Active Rock heavy towards the end of its term, why "Thunder 106" was originally "Jersey's ROCKin Country" with some crossover, and why The Boss launched as a Classic Rocker (albeit one with a female audience lean). All they've done is follow that demo they wish to target.
Overall the station is fine, but the morning show seems to be under the impression that too much of a good thing is a good thing. They take what could've been a funny one-minute bit and stretch it out until they run it into the ground and Joe Nolan starts groaning at their awful jokes, and it's actually a relief to hear him interrupt them with a traffic report.
When CBS FM went Jack, many southwestern Brooklynites discovered 107.1.It has a great signal and is pirate free unlike 106.3.
The RDS sez Adult Hits
Yes, they changed the RDS ID from "Classic Rock" to "Adult Hits".
They're also running promos saying "At least 52 minutes of music per hour"... at least during the evening and overnight.
Actually Brown Eyed Girl (along with a handful of Rolling Stones tunes from the 60’s) are surprisingly in regular rotation on Ben FM in Philadelphia. To me they seem out of place on a station that predominantly plays 80’s rock and pop with very few (if any) 70’s titles consistently featured.
Despite the playlist now extending into the 2010s, The Boss is still playing at least one song that was recorded in the 1960s (if not released until 1970): "Let It Be".
No way The breeze was a great station, then again so was the Boss til they killed off rock for what is it now.....
The Breeze is now on 1410 WHTG and 100.7 W264DH:
It’s a different Breeze from the one that was on 107.1 & 99.7. This is a renamed “Great Gold” playing hits of the ‘60s through the ‘80s. They seem to skew slightly more contemporary with their music than Beach Radio.