Still missing the long defunct modern rock station. I still remember how crushed i was when i heard the news thay they would be going off air in Feb 1997. Anyone else love that station as much as I did? In my opinion there is still void there that has not been filled since the station went off air. Y-100 and Radio 104.5 have tried but i feel they have still somewhat missed the mark. Through the years since i have attempted as best as i could to replicate the station on ipod playlists and things like that but havent quiet gotten it down, i recently started an online radio station to which I've attempted to combine all 3 stations into one (WDRE, Y-100, RADIO 104.5) if anyone cares to listen or give honest feedback it is welcome i will post a link http://wdcrmodernrock.radio.net/ just wondering if anyone remembers that great station and the cult following it had although it was only locally broadcast here for a short time after being simulcast from New York previously
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103.9 wdre
- Thread starter rags516
- Start date
WDRE was my favorite music station. When Howard Stern's show would end, I would immediately tune over to WDRE. I spent lots of time and money on antennas to tune it in at my house in West Chester. You're absolutely right about Y-100 and Radio 104.5 trying, but missing the mark. If 104.5 would stop over-playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers and play some Soul Coughing, Fun Lovin' Criminals, G Love, Fiona Apple, Pixies, Beck, Cake, Morphine, etc., it would be a much better station. When I programmed WCHE, that's the stuff I used to play. Unfortunately, not many people heard it because it's a 1000 watt AM daytimer. Now I find myself switching back and forth between 88.5 XPN, Radio 104.5 and WDEL for talk.
The problem with Soul Coughing, Fun Lovin' Criminals, G. Love, Fiona Apple, Pixies, and Morphine is that they haven't had a hit in... what... 15-18 years?
That means the young end of the Alternative demo (18) was 0-3 years old when they came out. They won't know it.
The older end of the demo (we'll say... 34) was around 16. Some recognition as it played while they were in high school, but they haven't been played regularly in the market in a very long time. Lack of familiarity = tune out.
Beck has had a bit of a revival recently, but you'll still only hear his biggest hits, same with Cake.
Radio 104.5 isn't trying to be WDRE. They're not trying to be Y100. They have a pretty good lock on what the people in their demo wants to hear, and it's not forgotten tracks from nearly 20 years ago.
If you want to hear stuff that was played on stations like Y100 and WDRE in the 90s, check online for stations like www.975radiox.com
Not saying that 1045 is or should be trykng to be like y100 or wdre just that there was a void left when wdre went off the air of a alt rock station who played music that was popular but also played songs that were not so popular and lesser known. Today it seems like most of the rock ststions in this market now only play music that has already succeeded in other markets, or play a song a few times and give up on it, it dont know if that is because most stations are owned by large corporations now and less independent or small families of stations but i notice when i go out of town to smaller markets like ocmd i hear a better variety of songs on their rock stations
Also about the whole soul coughing ect. Havent had hits in 20 years, i understand what you're saying about that but then again I've heard them play "your woman" by white town and "naked eye" by lucious jackson on a regular basis. Its strange the songs that they pick to dust off and keep in their semi-regular rotation and what they dont. Once i heard them play "stars" by hum and the dj at the time came on the air afterwards and had to explain that it wasnt a new song it was a song from the mid 90s because of all the texts and calls they wete getting about the song, but dispite what i would think is a positive response to a song that most of the younger people never heard up until that point, they never played it again, at least not that ive heard, and ive heard the other 2 songs i mentioned quite a few times... anyway just some things that ive noticed thats all lol
I just checked Radio 104.5's playlist of their last ten songs at 8:46 AM. It included Buddy Holly by Weezer from 1994, Hey Jealousy by Gin Blossoms from 1989 and Creep by Radiohead from 1993. I've also heard them play Bob Marley songs and he died in 1981. So why can't they play Soul Coughing, Fun Lovin' Criminals, G Love, Fiona Apple, Pixies, Beck, Cake, Morphine, etc.?
You also said the older end of their demo is 34. I'm 49 years old and Alternative is the format that my friends and I listen to.
As far as listening to online stations, maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't have internet access in my car.
All of the songs you listed have a history of continuously being played on stations in market. WMMR plays Weezer and Radiohead, Ben FM is heavy on the Gin Blossoms, and both play Marley. The other artists such as Soul Coughing etc. literally have not been played outside of special features for nearly 2 decades.
It's not a matter of what year the song was released, it's a matter of how continuously it's been played since. People are familiar with Gin Blossoms, Weezer and Radiohead because they continued to be played in the market.
Also, yes, the generalized older end of the Alternative demo is 34. That doesn't mean people outside the age range don't listen, that just means they're outside the demo and a bonus to the station. I have a co-worker who is a 65 year old female, and she regularly tells me about bands she hears and loves on Radio 104.5. Target demographic does not equal the only people who listen to a station.
And I never mentioned in-car listening. Sure, not a lot of people have internet access in their car. But sitting at a desk all day with earbuds in, you have a world of streaming possibilities.
Playing old songs that are unfamiliar to the audience is a recipe for disaster, as atthestars explained.
I'd suggest contacting the station about including one of those artists on their New Music Show- they have a "New to You?" track every episode. There's a lot less audience to potentially run off and if it happens to get a good response, who knows?
I'd suggest contacting the station about including one of those artists on their New Music Show- they have a "New to You?" track every episode. There's a lot less audience to potentially run off and if it happens to get a good response, who knows?
Isn't part of liatening to radio to discover songs that you haven't heard. I understand playing all the songs that everyone knows but why not mix in songs that are forgotten about? If they were good at one time they would still be good now. They are only forgotten about because the stations dont plsy them anymore. As i stated earlier when i go into some smaller markets they play a wider range of songs. Philadelphia rock radio is pretty straight forward and only plays the biggest of the big. Even songs that 1045 played a few years ago that were hits just get swept under the rug now and then in the future become those same type songs we are talking about from back then. Pearl Jam made more than 6 songs that were radio hits but you would be lucky to hear one on 1045 that arent mega hits, and Pearl Jam is still around and fairly relevant today. I just feel 1045 is geared more towards hipster music rather then all around alt rock, i dont need to hear every song from 20 years ago but even the new songs that they play arent rock based either
I'm confused. First you say they're too mainstream of an Alternative station, then you complain that they are too "hipster." Which is it?
That being said, 104.5, I'm sure, uses a lot of information to base their playlist off of. Callout and music tests etc. Their playlist is the result of the research telling them what the market wants to hear.
Based off their ratings that are sometimes two full points higher than what Y100 pulled (I know... I know... Diary vs. PPM), their method is working.
As for "most of the new songs they play aren't rock based either"... Well then, you have an issue with the genre, not the station. Look at the chart, and you'll see this is the sound of the format now. Personally, I like it better than when Alt and Active Rock were essentially the same, but that's my personal preference.
No, new music discovery is only a part of certain formats. Others depend on familiar music as their biggest audience draw.
I dont really have a problem with them or anyone else playing mostly mainstream hits or the hipster style stuff i like all of it. I really just feel like the new music they play is geared more toward that folky style and the older stuff is only the mega hits. And im sure they use a system to pick their songs, but i think that is the feel of the station as well, it feels very corporate, no real personality or character. Maybe thats just me and maybe thats just because im comparing it to WDRE even though i shouldnt, but 'DRE had a feeling and vibe about it that i liked. Maybe im reading way too much into this lol. I understand they have to play to a demographic that is younger than i am and they play the songs that these younger people will know, but i think those oddball songs like the forgotten about 90s songs, or a new song that might be a little bit different from some the other songs coming out give a station an identity. Every rock station in the country is playing those other songs and they should too but theres nothing wrong with mixing in an obscure older song or even playing a song from a huge band like Nirvana or Pearl Jam or STP that just doesnt grt played anymore if they played STP "Lady Picture Show" that would be fine with me. In 96 it reached #6 on the modern rock charts and now its like it never existed, that not an obscure song its just not played, i dont know i guess im just a disgruntled guy in his mid 30s lol but i hear some of these songs in other towns just not here
That's just how the format evolves as the demographic evolves too. Oldies/Classic Hits stations are evolving into the 80s and even 90s to keep up with the evolution of their demographics.
And just like the rest of the songs mentioned before... no one has played "Lady Picture Show" in a long long time in Philly. Sure, it's a great song, I love that album. But the average listener to 104.5 isn't going to remember it, and probably will tune out when it comes on. They don't want to risk that.
If chart position determined if a station keeps a song in it's playlist, you'd still be hearing songs like:
"Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan (Peaked at 3)
"Walking on Broken Glass" by Annie Lennox (Peaked at 7)
"Love Shack" by the B-52's (Peaked at #1)
"You're Gonna Go Far Kid" by the Offspring (11 weeks at #1)
"Re-Arranged" by Limp Bizkit (Peaked at #1)
5 separate songs from Korn that broke the Top 10.
Thankfully, that's not how it works.
So do I! But I'm not the average Alternative listener. lol
As has been stated in Classic Hits posts, how a song charted years ago is irrelevant to how a song will test today. "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service did not chart upon its release. Today, the song gets regular gold spins at Alternative stations across the country. Meanwhile, "Headstrong" by Trapt, released at a similar time, was the most played song of the previous decade at Alternative (per Billboard), yet gets very little airtime except on the stations which straddle the Alt/Active line.
I can relate. When I was an angsty teenager, nu metal resonated with me. Now, I don't care for it and I find Indie/AAA to be better. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of gold material that I wish stations still played (Snow Patrol songs not titled "Chasing Cars" for one example), but I have numerous options to hear the stuff radio doesn't play.
I can relate. When I was an angsty teenager, nu metal resonated with me. Now, I don't care for it and I find Indie/AAA to be better. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of gold material that I wish stations still played (Snow Patrol songs not titled "Chasing Cars" for one example), but I have numerous options to hear the stuff radio doesn't play.
When you say that you have numerous options to hear stuff the radio doesnt play, th ats kind of my point, theres pandora, spotify, ipods, internet radio http://wdcrmodernrock.radio.net/ (shameless plug inserted) but i feel like radio can satisfy a lot more of people's wants by simply throwing in an oddball song here and there, nothing wrong with them playing all the current mainstream hits, i expect that, but i also see nothing wrong with sandwiching an off the beaten path song between two hits once every hour or two, i really dont think the average radio listener is sitting with their finger on the dial switching stations on s song by song basis, most long frame listeners are at work and don't have that opertunity, i dont expect stations to go out on a limb and risk losing listeners but a song here and there is far from abandoning their format and alienating their core audience, every time wmmr does an A-Z people always say, why dont they play this song more? People want it, the programers are just affraid of it.
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So I am 19- so you understand my age and where I am coming from. I listen to Radio 104.5 regularly (as I am typing this actually). I love at least 75% of what they play. Is it repetitive? Unbelievably. I love Florence + The Machine to death, but I do not need to hear Ship To Wreck twice an hour. They just went into Edward Sharp + The Magnetic Zeroes; that's a new one to me! It so far sounds like a really cool song. Very hipster though. Folky, Dylanseque, Mumford & Sonsesque. That is the new face of Alt Rock folks.
Alt has basically sucked up Indie/AAA. Alt used to be grunge (Nirvana, STP, Alice in Chains). But as has been stated on here before- Alt is evolving with what makes them money. All my friends I know (I'm the hippie sorta college "free thinker" crowd- yes I am a stereotype) love 104.5, WKDU 91.7 and XPN, throw in MMR too.
Radio 104.5 is killing it in the demographic they're targeting. It is the ONLY station that plays that exact mix of the big ones from the 80s-today that were what the angsty teens like me were listening to back then. They also play the new indie/alt stuff from today. And believe it or not, but a lot of people I know also dig WKDU for its untouchable eclecticism. They're playing Yorric by Meic Stevens. Never heard of it but I love it- an Indian Raga with the guy singing a sorta Celtic poem. Far out stuff.
It would be nice to hear 1045 throw in 'Shiny Happy People by REM, or The Eighties by Killing Joke, but look, its corporate controlled by iHeartMedia and why risk their profit?
Alt has basically sucked up Indie/AAA. Alt used to be grunge (Nirvana, STP, Alice in Chains). But as has been stated on here before- Alt is evolving with what makes them money. All my friends I know (I'm the hippie sorta college "free thinker" crowd- yes I am a stereotype) love 104.5, WKDU 91.7 and XPN, throw in MMR too.
Radio 104.5 is killing it in the demographic they're targeting. It is the ONLY station that plays that exact mix of the big ones from the 80s-today that were what the angsty teens like me were listening to back then. They also play the new indie/alt stuff from today. And believe it or not, but a lot of people I know also dig WKDU for its untouchable eclecticism. They're playing Yorric by Meic Stevens. Never heard of it but I love it- an Indian Raga with the guy singing a sorta Celtic poem. Far out stuff.
It would be nice to hear 1045 throw in 'Shiny Happy People by REM, or The Eighties by Killing Joke, but look, its corporate controlled by iHeartMedia and why risk their profit?
They're afraid of it because the stations that throw in "an occasional oddball song" often suffer as a result.
For the record, Y100 (née WRDE) never really died, becoming Y100rocks.com, then Y-Rock on XPN, then (after being kicked to the curb with XPN trying to retain the branding/format) the current iteration as YNot Radio. We're playing everything that's been mentioned (and Mike Doughty and Pixies have both had releases in the past year, so WRFF could absolutely be playing them if they weren't busy sharing half their playlist with Q and Mix). We're on the iRadioPhilly app, TuneIn, and online at YNotRadio.net and I host Wednesday nights so by all means, make a request!
Also WKDU is by far the best thing available on the dial, but these new community stations sound really promising if for nothing more than offering something markedly different
Also WKDU is by far the best thing available on the dial, but these new community stations sound really promising if for nothing more than offering something markedly different
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