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10 Reasons Why WJJZ "Ain't Right"...

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

These were all played on WJJZ on Thursday alone, according to Yes.com:

1. George Michael - Father Figure (Thursday 3:58 AM) - This has been in regular rotation on 'JJZ for quite some time, and no doubt a selection from the fine folks at Broadcast Dilapidation Architecture. It probably won't be long until they start adding "Careless Whisper" - oh wait, I think they have!

2. The Police - Every Breath You Take (Thursday 4:55 AM) - Everything about this track just screams "smooth jazz"... Not.

3. Steely Dan - Deacon Blues (Thursday 5:24 AM) - An established classic rocker has absolutely no place on a smooth jazz station.

4. Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight (Thursday 5:48 AM); Against All Odds (Thursday 10:55 PM) - I'm sure these won't sound out of place next to all the Kenny G saxophone solos...

5. Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke (Thursday 11:57 AM); My Cherie Amour (Thursday 7:08 PM) - Okay, you can make an argument for Stevie Wonder somewhat "fitting in" with the genre, and maybe with "My Cherie Amour" (as well as "That Girl", which was also played on Thursday). But "Sir Duke"? Yeah, that's a real "smooth" selection, BD BA!

6. Tina Turner - I Don't Wanna Fight (Thursday 12:41 PM) - Tracks from artists like this (and "Mix" staple Phil Collins) prove that 97.5 is a smooth jazz station masquerading as an AC.

7. Van Morrison - Moondance (Thursday 6:19 PM) - See 3. Steely Dan.

8. Beyonce - Wishin' On A Star (Thursday 6:29 PM) - Even the original from Rose Royce has no place on a "Smooth Jazz" station.

9. Lenny Kravitz - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over (Thursday 8:58 PM) - An eponymous song for this station, wouldn't you agree? Wonder if 97.5 will stunt with this song once they decide to change formats?

10. Boyz II Men - I'll Make Love To You (Thursday 9:40 PM) - Yawn.

Yes, I understand that 97.5 is not entirely at fault, and that BA is responsible for some of these selections, in order to make the format more viable to advertisers as well as listeners.

But this is turning into a joke. Basically, 97.5 should just call itself what it really is: a glorified AC station that just happens to play jazz instrumentals.

And with WJJZ the lone major alleged smooth jazz station along the Eastern seaboard, the "WJJZ Death Watch" continues...
 
DToTheJ said:
But this is turning into a joke. Basically, 97.5 should just call itself what it really is: a glorified AC station that just happens to play jazz instrumentals.
Click to expand...

When the smooth jazz format first started, stations were labeled as "NAC/Smooth Jazz" -- "new adult contemporary." Therefore, a glorified AC station that plays jazz instrumentals is exactly their format! lol

How hard is it to see the huge hole for a 2nd AC station in Philadelphia? Is B101 loved that much, it is executed that well, is the music mix that fine-tuned, and is it the promotional machine that it is, or is there just a large audience for AC in these parts? WJBR, WFPG, WBEB, WMGS/Scranton, and WLTW all dominate the landscape around here.
 
I can accept Steeley Dan, they have a jazz undertone to their music. Stevie Wonder fits every format. He's a legend. Boz Scaggs, good stuff. Michael McDonald, interesting, unusual style. But the Tina Turner, Spandau Ballet, Geoge Michael, Commodores, Beyonce nonsense has to go. It's dull. It's boring. It's overplayed. "In The Air Tonight" is and always has been just crap.

On the other hand, the volume gets turned up everytime they play the Ace jem, "How Long". Not a jazzy song, but it belongs on the radio and JJZ is the only place that plays it.

The bottom line is this, if you have an IQ that goes into double digits, you only have JJZ, XPN, RTI and BYO to choose from.
 
WJJZ is a lost cause thanks to the consultants. when they came back on 97.5 in november 2006, it sounded much much improved over the old WJJZ. then one bad book and the folks at greater media panic and apparently bring back the same consultants as before and the music deteriorates. It's not just WJJZ that's a losing cause. almost all smooth jazz stations are dead or dying thanks to what the consultants did to the format. at this point, i think the entire branding "smooth jazz" has to be eliminated and totally rebranded. how so i'm not sure, but WJJZ is going nowhere fast. it'll be a different format by labor day i'm sure.
 
Interstate 78 said:
WJJZ is a lost cause thanks to the consultants. when they came back on 97.5 in november 2006, it sounded much much improved over the old WJJZ. then one bad book and the folks at greater media panic and apparently bring back the same consultants as before and the music deteriorates. It's not just WJJZ that's a losing cause. almost all smooth jazz stations are dead or dying thanks to what the consultants did to the format. at this point, i think the entire branding "smooth jazz" has to be eliminated and totally rebranded. how so i'm not sure, but WJJZ is going nowhere fast. it'll be a different format by labor day i'm sure.
Click to expand...


WJJZ 97.5 will be flipped before labor day 2008
 
DToTheJ:

Most of the songs you mention were on the old WJJZ by 1997 or so.

Steely Dan was a staple of the format. "Moondance" was on almost daily. Then more and more R&B hits were added to the point it became Motown + contemporary jazz instrumentals.

As strongly as I dislike that mix, I have to admit that is what pulls in the ratings. I don't listen, but many people do. I still enjoy my old KTWV tapes with contemporary jazz instrumentals mixed with alternative rock vocals. That defines for me what NAC is all about. But now the format is basically New Urban AC. And it also explains why it is being dropped in so many markets. It is no longer pleasing either the white or black audience.

We may have to admit that Smooth Jazz was a 90's format whose time has passed. It developed at a time when Kenny G, Syra Gyra, Larry Carlton, Enya, etc. were receiving air play on CHR ( in the late 80's, WSTW regularly included all the artists I mentioned) and regular AC stations. The last NAC artist to receive regular AC air play was Jim Brickman. Enya's last hit, "Only Time" never made it to NAC, even in its original album mix.

It may be time to just admit it's over and look for another instrumental format for the future for those of us who enjoy contemporary instrumental music.
 
WTUX said:
DToTheJ:

Most of the songs you mention were on the old WJJZ by 1997 or so.

Steely Dan was a staple of the format. "Moondance" was on almost daily. Then more and more R&B hits were added to the point it became Motown + contemporary jazz instrumentals.

As strongly as I dislike that mix, I have to admit that is what pulls in the ratings. I don't listen, but many people do. I still enjoy my old KTWV tapes with contemporary jazz instrumentals mixed with alternative rock vocals. That defines for me what NAC is all about. But now the format is basically New Urban AC. And it also explains why it is being dropped in so many markets. It is no longer pleasing either the white or black audience.

We may have to admit that Smooth Jazz was a 90's format whose time has passed. It developed at a time when Kenny G, Syra Gyra, Larry Carlton, Enya, etc. were receiving air play on CHR ( in the late 80's, WSTW regularly included all the artists I mentioned) and regular AC stations. The last NAC artist to receive regular AC air play was Jim Brickman. Enya's last hit, "Only Time" never made it to NAC, even in its original album mix.

It may be time to just admit it's over and look for another instrumental format for the future for those of us who enjoy contemporary instrumental music.
Click to expand...

I agree. i really thought chill would be that next instrumental format success, but the experiment on WQCD a few year ago didn't work. then again, i don't think it really was given enough time. that's the problem with these radio companies. one or two bad books and it's over. if you're going to invest time and money in a format, shouldn't you give it a good couple of years to catch on?
 
How about something like what Martini Radio is doing but a little more hip with more modern artists? Or would that skew too old either way?
 
Betrayed said:
I can accept Steeley Dan, they have a jazz undertone to their music. Stevie Wonder fits every format. He's a legend. Boz Scaggs, good stuff. Michael McDonald, interesting, unusual style. But the Tina Turner, Spandau Ballet, Geoge Michael, Commodores, Beyonce nonsense has to go. It's dull. It's boring. It's overplayed. "In The Air Tonight" is and always has been just crap.

On the other hand, the volume gets turned up everytime they play the Ace jem, "How Long". Not a jazzy song, but it belongs on the radio and JJZ is the only place that plays it.

The bottom line is this, if you have an IQ that goes into double digits, you only have JJZ, XPN, RTI and BYO to choose from.
Click to expand...

Betrayed, I am with you on the Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder selections, as well as what doesn't go, except for maybe Spandau Ballet. I do think "True" belongs more than "In The Air Tonight". Commodores "Night Shift", while overplayed, does have a groove to it, and points to one NAC artist, that being Marvin Gaye. Blue Eyed Soul, as they call it, also has a place (think: Hall and Oates and Michael McDonald's Motown CD). I'm on the fence about the Police. Sure, it's a smooth, familiar song. Ahhhh, I guess it can stay.

My true issue with JJZ is that they NEVER play the full album/CD version of Chuck Mangione's "Feels So Good". Sure, it's 9 minutes long. We used to call them tracks "Bathroom break songs".

I am also with you on Ace. I think that song fits and, other than OGL, no one is touching it.
 
Kind gentlemen and ladies ...

WJJZ's problems have now been solved.

In Philadelphia, Los Angeles and elsewhere, a new "hybrid Band-Aid" has officially been placed on the format by those in it and largely responsible for it (Broadcast Architecture, Clear Channel, CBS, Arbitron, etc.)

The format has, as of today, been renamed as "Smooth A/C" instead of "Smooth Jazz."

That change, alone, ought to bring in those cumes, huh?

(Reported by Arbitron and other sources this very day.)

Now, all "Chill" and heave a great sigh of relief. Can "Magic" be far behind, now?
 
XCountry285 said:
WJJZ should just go back to the Hawk.
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Thank You!!!

but as MarkB said, GM owns MGK. and besides the eastern edge of the Philly market has 105.7 The Hawk crystal clear.

unless by some 1 in a trillion chance, Nassau or Millenium got WJJZ and moved it back to Trenton. if that did happen i woyuld hope millenium would get it....its a lot safer in their hands. it would last more than 5 years.
 
The whole format is dead. people like to say they listen to "smooth Jzz" or any jazz for thqat matter, but outside of tryig to impress, how many people really do? It's like pretending they know the differences in Wines! Pleease, be real ad get me a Bud!
 
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