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80's TITLES FADING AWAY?

A

Al Timiter

I am continuing a thread that got started in the "Next Station in Columbus to Flip Formats" or something like that. I think this deserves its own thread.

Re:80's. Consultant Guy Zapoleon had a theory about music cycles some time back. He believed that the beginning of any past modern-era decade produced "safe" and "bland" music. I know some could argue that contemporary music is "safe" and "bland" right now. However, if Zapoleon's theory still holds true (and it was amazingly accurate in decades past) we will be soon entering a "safe" period. To my way of thinking, that "safe" and "bland" period will also foster a haven for older music, such as the 80's. When times are uncertain, older titles are like "comfort food." So, personally, I look for 80's to hang on for a few more years-maybe 5-before it's banished to the nether regions. It's just a theory and I could certainly be wrong.
 
Oh I love the 80s! Really I do, so much so that with the help of the DJs that worked at the WXST in Columbus, I brought STAR 107.9 back on Internet Radio as STAR1079.com. I worked hard making it sound just like it did when it was on FM, jingles, sweepers, etc. I contacted many of the DJs that worked at the station so they could lend their voice to the project. While I was doing this, I discovered that if you only play the same 80s hits as other 80s FM stations, you're going to get tired of the same 100 or so songs eventually. I felt that there was much more to the 80s than the hand full of hits I was playing. I started adding "the rest" of the 80s to the mix, alternative songs, rock songs, soft songs, R&B, and so on. I mixed them in with the well known hits, and it seems to be doing extremely well. So I agree that the 80s aren't dead. The Radio Stations just haven't been stirring the pot of 80s music, so they keep playing the same stuff.

Will they continue another 5 years on Mix 107.9? They could, but at times I have notice they would only play 1 80s song in the entire hour. I kind of got the impression that they were slowly weening us off the 80s. Given they have HD, if they were to phase out the 80s on the Mix they could appease the 80s fans by bringing it up on one of their HD channels. Heck if they wanted to do it on the cheap, they could just pick up the stream from STAR1079.com (shameless plug). I'm a firm believer that 80s done right can last for a long time, but its got to be done with more than just 160 or so songs. I feel the station that does the best with the 80s, will be the one that actually remembers the music from the 80s and plays it.

Stepping down from soap box...
 
Well, in other markets, where they have a marginally decent signal and live or live-VT jocks, Classic Hits stations ('modernized oldies" variety) are doing extremely well 25-54.  And there the 80's is still just spice, with the 70's as the core and a fair amount of 60's still getting play.  And Classic Rock stations still play tons from the early 70's.  So anticipating futher "oldies updating" over time, I think the 80's will still be on the radio in one format or another for a lot more than another five years.

As for VMX cutting to few 80's titles, recall that they are owned by WSNY owner Sunny 95, which has become more 80's-oriented than ever before.  Particularly now that Sunny is throwing in some of the more-upbeat 80's titles such as Prince's (despite continuing to lean softish overall)  they may be trying to keep VMX further from their turf.
 
By and large, many Hot A/C and some more modern A/C stations are beginning to drop 80's music now. And it's probably time to do that.

70's music is now beginning to become "too old" on some types of gold-based stations. It's not going to completely go away anytime soon, but it's days are now numbered. The 70's music will slowly disappear just as 50's and some early 60's titles disappeared from oldies stations beginning about 6 or 7 years ago. Eventually, your "oldies station" of the future will play few if any 50's/early 60's (maybe an occasional "Jailhouse Rock" for spice, only a small number of titles from 1965-1972...and will be totally focused in the mid 70's and 80's. The 80's are not dead...they just going to move stations eventually and become what I said would happen all along...an "oldies" format. (Guess I was just a little ahead of the game on that one...)

And yes...someday..."Ice Ice Baby" will be an oldie. It already is to some extent. And may God help us all.

Guy Zapoleon also talks about the "doldrums" and "extreme periods". I think we've just come through an "extreme" period, as many CHR stations are seemingly finding more of a balance between the pop, the rock and the urban product. Urban, though still an admittedly popular part of the format, is not seemingly driving the CHR bus as it once was. Not when a Taylor Swift song can be in a heavy rotation these days. That just wasn't happening a few years back. (And Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and some of the other Disney acts going a bit more "mainstream" may have played a part in that.) I realize it's not "hip" to say that, but there's some evidence to support that claim.
 
Kevin is right. I still enjoy SOME 80s tunes, but the ones that stations haven't run into the ground(For example, while I like Cameo's "She's Strange", every time I hear "Word Up" I cringe because of the burn on it). As V. has done with Star1079 online, you have to expand to some of the songs that people truly haven't heard in awhile to create an Oh wow! feel, another one of Guy Zapoleon's trademarks. As I see it right now, the 80s will fade from Hot AC stations onto Adult/Classic Hits and even some ACs within the next few years, just as the 70s faded off of Hot ACs throughout this decade, the 2000s, and onto Adult/Classic Hits and AC. Below are a few of my "Repeat offenders" that the 80s format should stop playing:
MODERN ENGLISH I Melt With You
SOFT CELL Tainted Love
DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS Come On Eileen
J. GEILS BAND Centerfold
CAMEO Word Up
RAY PARKER JR. Ghostbusters
PAT BENETAR Pick any one...biggest offender would have to be "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"
I know i'm missing some I can't stand to hear anymore...feel free to add on to this list of songs that have been rammed down your throat so much they make you want to regurgatate them.
 
I may be pathetic but I still LOVE 80s music and hate to see it go away. However...

I am not sure many people my age want to consider the music we grew up with as oldies just yet. That term can have a very negative connotation to many (to some even offensive.) I also agree that many oldies stations have badly burned their play lists. If you bind yourself to just those songs that performed well on the charts you are only providing a portion of the picture.

When MTV signed on in 81, people were exposed to a wide variety of music that never really charted but had a strong following. Obviously music testing is important as some of these songs were forgotten for a reason but an overly homogenized playlist- regardless of format- will always be detrimental.

I think if you put together a deeper playlist and worked hard to keep things sounding fresh (and with ten years of music to choose from- it should be possible) a viable 80s station is possible. The challenge is attracting listeners from the stations that have cross over dems such as Hot AC and even the Classic Hit stations that are playing a good variety of 80s.
 
DebBonner:Obviously music testing is important as some of these songs were forgotten for a reason but an overly homogenized playlist- regardless of format- will always be detrimental.


God Bless you, Deb. I tried to get Oldies stations to realize the "incestuous nature," as I called it, of a strictly limited, library-based format. I think you are correct that some titles were forgotten for a reason but others could have been sprinkled in, slowly introduced as "new" titles in a library-based format such as Oldies or Classic Hits. And if programmers think that the target audience is offended by certain handles, quit using the handle! My opinion never took me very far, though. But thanks for reading it.
 
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