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What songs do you think are perfect for a format flip?

K

knapfordsouthern1

If you were in charge of flipping a station from one format to another, which song would you consider to be the perfect one to usher in the new format?

Here's some examples I personally thought of:
  • Flipping to oldies (or back to it from another format) - "Yesterday Once More" by the Carpenters
  • Flipping to Top 40 or Hot AC - "Pop" by NSYNC
  • Flipping to a "Sunny"-branded format - "Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles
  • Flipping from talk to another format - "Shut Up" by the Black Eyed Peas or "You Talk Too Much" by Joe Jones
 
knapfordsouthern1 said:
Here's an additional example I thought of:
  • Flipping from classic rock or oldies to a Christian format - "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum
Click to expand...

Several have done the reverse---making the last song before going Christian AC/DC's "Highway to Hell", WLUP in Chicago among them:

ultimateclassicrock.com

Chicago's WLUP Signs Off With Three Devilishly Rebellious Songs

Just before Chicago's WLUP was replaced by Christian music programming, the devil got his chance to say goodbye with help from AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Motley Crue.
ultimateclassicrock.com ultimateclassicrock.com
 
Here's some other ones I thought of:
  • Flipping from rock to another format - "Closing Time" by Semisonic, "Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio" by the Ramones or "I Remember You" by Skid Row
  • Flipping from Christian to another format - "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe
  • Flipping to rock or alternative from oldies or standards - "Old Folks" by A
  • Flipping to Jack FM - "Captain Jack" by Billy Joel, "My Name is Jack" by Manfred Mann, "Happy Jack" by The Who or "Captain Jack" by Captain Jack (last one is perfect if you're flipping from a rhythmic format or Top 40)
 
Alternative station TXFM in Dublin, Ireland signed off with The Day After The Revolution by Pulp, complete with 11-minute one-note outro:


A couple of the British Jack FM stations went away with Hit The Road, Jack by Ray Charles. Jack FM disappeared altogether in the UK back in 2023 when the original and longest-lasting station (Oxford) went to a national network. Jack FM was never the same after Paul Darrow, the voice of British Jack, passed away. They tried a few replacement "Jacks" but they never quite had it.

I always thought that if a station was flipping to Jack, this one would be a good choice to stunt with on a loop:

 
  • Flipping to a "Bob"-branded format - "Bob" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (if variety hits) or "Bob" by the Drive-By Truckers (if country)
  • Flipping from classic rock to a "Froggy"-branded country format - "Peace Frog" by The Doors
 
I think the stunting is more for the staff to "unite around" than to arouse listener curiosity. Folks just don't spend a lot of time scanning the dial any more and would not likely discover a stunt unless it was so crazy that it got mentioned in social media or created chatter.
 
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When KFOG flipped from Beautiful music to rock, the last selection before the flip was The Last Farewell by Roger Whittacker (which happens to be a favorite of mine).

This flip would've been lost to time, except it actually was recorded, which is how I know.

c
 
cc333 said:
When KFOG flipped from Beautiful music to rock, the last selection before the flip was The Last Farewell by Roger Whittacker (which happens to be a favorite of mine).
Click to expand...
If I had a buck for every play of Last Farewell on Beautiful Music stations, I could retire to West Palm Beach.
 
KilowattKat said:
The two songs I've heard played the most for a station going silent are...

Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence

Sha Na Na - Goodnight Sweetheart
Click to expand...
A good one for an oldies station could perhaps be Simon & Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence".

And as a recent example, WNAM's last song was Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonite".

davideduardo said:
If I had a buck for every play of Last Farewell on Beautiful Music stations, I could retire to West Palm Beach.
Click to expand...
I can imagine! It's such a perfect Beautiful Music good bye song, how could they not use it when they flip?

c
 
cc333 said:
It's such a perfect Beautiful Music good bye song, how could they not use it when they flip?
Click to expand...
A lot of them didn't exactly "flip". They just gradually reduced the amount of instrumentals and gradually increased the amount of contemporary pop hits, until they effectively became AC rather than BM. Just like how a lot of Oldies stations transitioned to Classic Hits.

But yes, some did go for the "Forget what we used to play, we've changed the music completely!" approach:

 
kevtronics said:
A lot of them didn't exactly "flip". They just gradually reduced the amount of instrumentals and gradually increased the amount of contemporary pop hits, until they effectively became AC rather than BM. Just like how a lot of Oldies stations transitioned to Classic Hits.

But yes, some did go for the "Forget what we used to play, we've changed the music completely!" approach:

Click to expand...
I wonder if any station that did a flip from Beautiful Music to Rock... did it Dr Johnny Fever, WKRP style?

It's still the most memorable flip, even if it's fiction.
 
KilowattKat said:
I wonder if any station that did a flip from Beautiful Music to Rock... did it Dr Johnny Fever, WKRP style?
Click to expand...
Now that I think of it, a good way to flip a station from Soft AC to a more uptempo strain of AC (like Hot or Rhythmic Hot) would be to play "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" or something like that, then, without warning, cut it off in the middle of the song, have the DJ say something like "We're changing it up here!" and introduce the new format with a far more upbeat and rhythmic number (like "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga)
 
Flipping to Country: "Heartland" by George Strait. This was written as the theme for the motion picture "Pure Country", which was a flop. Despite that, the song was a #1 country hit in 1993.

Goes like this:
"When you hear twin fiddles and a steel guitar, you're listenin' to the sound of the American heart. And Opry music puts a smile on your face and a tear in your eye!"

I can't think of a better way to demonstrate there's a new sheriff in town.
 


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