Andre out at Party

[TonySantiago]

Vic won't do anything to hurt Dance at Party...c'mon..he's not only a great talent, he's an artist himself...selling HUGE amounts of Dance CD's all across the country. Vic is probably the most well known personality on LI radio and knows more people and artists in the dance industry than anyone.

I do realize that Vic is well known...heck, I've spoken to him a couple of times myself so there's no question about his passion with dance music.

I'm only saying if things happen to change, everyone will point to Vic on this should upper management (and I do realize he's co-owner) feels Party should change out of the dance and head into the hip-hop/pop/R&B territory with less club material. Is that fair? Probably not, per se. And I say it with apprehension here because Vic has been a cool guy with me and all. But I gotta look out for the dance music community too and this time around if something has to be said (and not just Party 105 but ANY station)....then this time around we won't be quiet about it.

Dance music has been disrespected for too long now. The way things have been going, dance music has been improving. We certainly don't want to go back into the "dark ages". And yeah, I'm thanking Andre for what he did at Party...just as I thanked Vic Latino when he went to 'KTU and helped "semi" improve it...at least his show anyway.

 

[TonySantiago]

Let me also note this for the record.

I have NOTHING against Andre or Vic and I suppose whatever happened at TMO, happened at TMO for whatever reasons may be. And to that, for me...I don't want to lose another dance music outlet in the area because when you get down to it, even though you have 2 stations here (Pulse and Party), with the exception of Nassau County both stations serve different regions of the dance music audience.

I wish Vic (and if they hire someone new as PD) all the luck! Truly. And just as I'll defend dance music and push my efforts forward, I'll also defend those that make things happen positively as well! That's what "community" is all about.

 

[mkdanz]

Tony,

I have great respect for you and the passion you have toward Dance Music and the 'Coalition'. I'm a fan of the station, and of the music. Radio is however, a business, and I'm sure Party isn't Party because its what some listeners want. Its there to make money. So other than the blogs, posts etc; what have you and the coalition done to support/enhance the revenue numbers at Party? How do you encourage not only listenership of that station, but promotion of the sponsors/advertisers loyal to Party 105? A movement is all well and good, but please tell me a few things:

- How many members belong to your coaltion?
- What percentage of those members are in the Party105 listening areas?
- What promotion have you done for the station ( I see only passing mention on the Coaltions MySpace)?
- What promotion have you done for their advertisers?
- Do you and your coaltion members frequent the sponsors of the radio station (what few there are), and when you do, do you tell them why you are there?

I ask all this because I've been following your posts on a number of message boards over the years and have seen you do quite a bit of shouting, but have always wondered what else you do to further your cause?

Thanks
- Michael

 

[TonySantiago]

Tony,

I have great respect for you and the passion you have toward Dance Music and the 'Coalition'. I'm a fan of the station, and of the music. Radio is however, a business, and I'm sure Party isn't Party because its what some listeners want. Its there to make money. So other than the blogs, posts etc; what have you and the coalition done to support/enhance the revenue numbers at Party? How do you encourage not only listenership of that station, but promotion of the sponsors/advertisers loyal to Party 105? A movement is all well and good, but please tell me a few things:

- How many members belong to your coaltion?
- What percentage of those members are in the Party105 listening areas?
- What promotion have you done for the station ( I see only passing mention on the Coaltions MySpace)?
- What promotion have you done for their advertisers?
- Do you and your coaltion members frequent the sponsors of the radio station (what few there are), and when you do, do you tell them why you are there?

I ask all this because I've been following your posts on a number of message boards over the years and have seen you do quite a bit of shouting, but have always wondered what else you do to further your cause?

Thanks
- Michael

Michael,

Let's note this.....the support from us as fans goes to BOTH Pulse 87 and Party 105. Granted, with Pulse 87 happening recently, yes...my focus on 105 did drop off but it was never gone. So...let's get to your questions. (Your question in BOLD)

- How many members belong to your coaltion?
Last I've checked about 1,406; visit the page (link below)

- What percentage of those members are in the Party105 listening areas?
I have not officially tallied that but I can assure you, we do have plenty of members from Long Island that are Party 105 listeners but were also former 'KTU listeners.

- What promotion have you done for the station ( I see only passing mention on the Coaltions MySpace)?
We have been more on Pulse recently, but in the past we have pushed our support on Party 105. We have posted playlists for the station on the forum page of the NYDMC on MySpace. If any event was to happen...whether I found out or a member posted it, I most certainly placed it up/allowed it. However, just as I have an unofficial Pulse 87 fan forum (with a Party 105 forum in there)....I am planning on making a separate board for Party 105 and to that we can do a lot more promoting the station, events, shows, etc.

- What promotion have you done for their advertisers?
I have always said to the coalition members to support ANY advertiser on the station. As soon as the unofficial Party 105 page is up, we will have an area noting the advertisers of the station so as to be a reference point for members to frequent.

- Do you and your coaltion members frequent the sponsors of the radio station (what few there are), and when you do, do you tell them why you are there?
I can't speak for others, but if I'm anywhere on the island and go to an advertiser, I would tell them that I've heard about them via Party 105, come from The Bronx and note the coalition.

Admittedly, there are times that I do feel alone in terms of the coalition. It's great that people support the idea, but it also helps if movement occurs amongst those that have joined us. We have had meetings in the past (we are planning one on May 16th in NYC...you're invited) and have done petition drives along with dance music awareness campaigns. Yeah, you see me "shout" in here but I can assure you, the coalition is not just TALK. It's action. And for the bigger picture I am pushing to other cities as well (check the Philly board).

You will actually be seeing a LOT of me come the summer (I've been low key for the longest time in terms of meeting people in person...it's time people see me ) Yeah, I may yell...and frankly I don't care who's in my way because I'm looking out for us, the dance music fans. Prior to the coalition, there was NOTHING for dance music fans, industry, etc. whereas everyone can speak out, reach out and help one another. So, a lot of this I've been basically "winging". But for what has happened, our efforts are paying off. Yet there still is a way to go.

 

[TonySantiago]

I forgot to add....if you (Michael) or anyone else here have any suggestions on what the coalition needs to do or other points that I may have forgotten about, I would like to know I will be the first to admit I don't know it all and whatever help we can get will only help enhance the dance music movement.

I'm open to all ideas that you or others may have. There's no wrong answers in my book.

 

[mkdanz]

Thanks Tony, very nice work. As I said I've always wondered what there was to your coalition beyond ranting, and now I know. You put some good work into this post. Perhaps you should use it on your MySpace to let the world know what you are doing.

All the best,

Michael

 

[PSA_Man]

Maybe Andre will move over to Pulse87, he would certainly be a great asset to Pulse. Back when Andre was the only PD at Party 105, the station was 95% dance with very little hip hop. They did fire Andre when Party started "channel-casting" but he came back when that experiment failed.

Nothing against Andre I don't know him to have anything against him,from what I hear he's a cool guy, but I don't see how he would fit in at Pulse due to the fact that between Joel @pd and Jewelz @ md there wouldn't be any room for him. That's just my unbiased opinion.

 

[letmethinkaboutit]

Tony,

I have great respect for you and the passion you have toward Dance Music and the 'Coalition'. I'm a fan of the station, and of the music. Radio is however, a business, and I'm sure Party isn't Party because its what some listeners want. Its there to make money. So other than the blogs, posts etc; what have you and the coalition done to support/enhance the revenue numbers at Party? How do you encourage not only listenership of that station, but promotion of the sponsors/advertisers loyal to Party 105? A movement is all well and good, but please tell me a few things:

- How many members belong to your coaltion?
- What percentage of those members are in the Party105 listening areas?
- What promotion have you done for the station ( I see only passing mention on the Coaltions MySpace)?
- What promotion have you done for their advertisers?
- Do you and your coaltion members frequent the sponsors of the radio station (what few there are), and when you do, do you tell them why you are there?

I ask all this because I've been following your posts on a number of message boards over the years and have seen you do quite a bit of shouting, but have always wondered what else you do to further your cause?

Thanks
- Michael

Michael,

Let's note this.....the support from us as fans goes to BOTH Pulse 87 and Party 105. Granted, with Pulse 87 happening recently, yes...my focus on 105 did drop off but it was never gone. So...let's get to your questions. (Your question in BOLD)

- How many members belong to your coaltion?
Last I've checked about 1,406; visit the page (link below)

- What percentage of those members are in the Party105 listening areas?
I have not officially tallied that but I can assure you, we do have plenty of members from Long Island that are Party 105 listeners but were also former 'KTU listeners.

- What promotion have you done for the station ( I see only passing mention on the Coaltions MySpace)?
We have been more on Pulse recently, but in the past we have pushed our support on Party 105. We have posted playlists for the station on the forum page of the NYDMC on MySpace. If any event was to happen...whether I found out or a member posted it, I most certainly placed it up/allowed it. However, just as I have an unofficial Pulse 87 fan forum (with a Party 105 forum in there)....I am planning on making a separate board for Party 105 and to that we can do a lot more promoting the station, events, shows, etc.

- What promotion have you done for their advertisers?
I have always said to the coalition members to support ANY advertiser on the station. As soon as the unofficial Party 105 page is up, we will have an area noting the advertisers of the station so as to be a reference point for members to frequent.

- Do you and your coaltion members frequent the sponsors of the radio station (what few there are), and when you do, do you tell them why you are there?
I can't speak for others, but if I'm anywhere on the island and go to an advertiser, I would tell them that I've heard about them via Party 105, come from The Bronx and note the coalition.

Admittedly, there are times that I do feel alone in terms of the coalition. It's great that people support the idea, but it also helps if movement occurs amongst those that have joined us. We have had meetings in the past (we are planning one on May 16th in NYC...you're invited) and have done petition drives along with dance music awareness campaigns. Yeah, you see me "shout" in here but I can assure you, the coalition is not just TALK. It's action. And for the bigger picture I am pushing to other cities as well (check the Philly board).

You will actually be seeing a LOT of me come the summer (I've been low key for the longest time in terms of meeting people in person...it's time people see me ) Yeah, I may yell...and frankly I don't care who's in my way because I'm looking out for us, the dance music fans. Prior to the coalition, there was NOTHING for dance music fans, industry, etc. whereas everyone can speak out, reach out and help one another. So, a lot of this I've been basically "winging". But for what has happened, our efforts are paying off. Yet there still is a way to go.

Tony,
If Dance music couldn't work in Miami:


WPYM 93.1 Changes Format
By DJ Ron Slomowicz, About.com


WPYM 93.1 in Miami has changed format from dance to rock. The station website says "Party 93 FM is now the new 93 Rock...South Florida's Pure Rock Station."


Then how do you think it would be a viable, money-making format, anywhere else? If people want to pay for radio, like I do, Satellite has some great stations!

 

[mkdanz]

Tony,
If Dance music couldn't work in Miami:

The passage you quoted and the change you reference took place over 3 years ago. The circumstances were that of a dance station flipping to rock to take advantage of the only rock station in Miami flipping to some other spanish format.

WHDR, the current call letters of that Cox station, looks like it has a killer signal yet its 12+ arbs indicate a poor performing station for that quality of signal (never higher than the low 2s). I'd be curious to know what the numbers were before the flip.

 

[TonySantiago]

Tony,
If Dance music couldn't work in Miami:


WPYM 93.1 Changes Format
By DJ Ron Slomowicz, About.com


WPYM 93.1 in Miami has changed format from dance to rock. The station website says "Party 93 FM is now the new 93 Rock...South Florida's Pure Rock Station."


Then how do you think it would be a viable, money-making format, anywhere else? If people want to pay for radio, like I do, Satellite has some great stations!

Michael D did hit it, but I have heard Party 93.1 on the Internet. While I found the station fantastic, the problem IMHO is that they did an overkill on trance. If one genre of dance gets prominence over others, that tends to be trouble since dance music constantly reinvents itself and what may sell today may not sell tomorrow....and if it's "too late", then the station suffers.

 

[letmethinkaboutit]

"WHDR, the current call letters of that Cox station, looks like it has a killer signal yet its 12+ arbs indicate a poor performing station for that quality of signal (never higher than the low 2s). "

12+ #'s are indicative of nothing. Look at WFAN in NYC, and how low their 12+ #'s are. Are you going to tell me that they don't do well in their demo, and rack up a ton of $$$?


"While I found the station fantastic, the problem IMHO is that they did an overkill on trance. If one genre of dance gets prominence over others, that tends to be trouble since dance music constantly reinvents itself and what may sell today may not sell tomorrow....and if it's "too late", then the station suffers."

If dance music could make $, someone else would have started up another station, and done it another way. It's great that you love the music, and have networked with other fans of the genre. But, sometimes if you want choice you need to pay for it. Look, most network television sucks. That's why I pay for HBO. If it comes down to "According to Jim", or "Entourage", I am getting my money's worth. I can complain all I want to the networks, and even form a coalition. But, I hate to break it to you, they won't and don't care. Just like commercial radio and dance music.

 

[mkdanz]

12+ #'s are indicative of nothing. Look at WFAN in NYC, and how low their 12+ #'s are. Are you going to tell me that they don't do well in their demo, and rack up a ton of $$$?

No, 12+ numbers do not tell the story, everyone on the board already knows that. Neither does posting an article about a station that converted from Dance 3 years ago. I was trying to add some history and perspective to your comment. But when a class C0 Station can't surpass is 2 its not likely that its knocking them dead revenue wise. I'll visit the Miami board and inquire as to the stations success.

 

[mx5dolphin]

PARTY 93-1 MIAMI INFO

Saw a posting in our MIAMI / FT LAUD board asking for info on PARTY 93-1...

Whatcha wanna know? Here's some basic info:

PARTY 93-1 did very well with Adults 18-49...mostly 25-34 Adults.
Over 60% hispanic (it is south florida after all)
High income
Active lifestyles
Technological savvy
Drove $40k+ valued cars
Home owners
We used to say the listeners "lived the Miami lifestyle"
Went out alot
Ate out even more
Lots of disposable income

WPYM mets its demise ONLY because Clear Channel killed the 25+ year heritage ROCK station on 2/11/05. Rumors flew around the market for YEARS that CC was killing a station to go "hurban"...and COX knew that if it was WZTA (rock) that died, WPYM would take the rock banner and run with it!

WPYM has been missed in the market, but its SOOOOO much easier to explain to a media buyer at Busch Media in (middle america - aka conservative) St Louis Missouri what WHDR (93ROCK) is vs WPYM (PARTY 93-1). Think about it...if I told you that WPYM's core artists were Madonna, Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk, and Tiesto...you (remember, you are living in St Louis) will know ONE of them!

If I tell you my core artists are Metalica, Ozzy, Linkin Park, and Aerosmith...you know EXACTLY what my station is!

Its just a business fact...ROCK is easier to "sell" than DANCE. If you don't live in SoFla, you just "don't get it"...sorry NYers, but many of you know what I mean.

PARTY 93-1 has returned to the 93.1 HD2 signal and soon it will be streaming again on party931-2.com. PARTY 93-1 was/is/will be the "pulse" of South Florida.

Could it have been done differently? Sure, we all have our opinions on "if I was in charge I would have..." but it doesn't matter...it's all about money and the flip to 93 ROCK was a BUSINESS DECISION.

Regarding the "low ratings" I see mentioned on this post about 93 ROCK / WHDR, this (again) is South Florida. ROCK 'typically' targets WHITE MALES 18+...right? Can we all agree on that? Well in SoFla, the "white male" is the MINORITY! It's extreeeeeeeeeemely difficult for Arbitron (hell anyone) to find WHITE MALES! Remember, again, it's South Florida...we are the melting pot of melting pots...African American, Caribbean American, Cuban, Domincan, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Colombia, Hatian, you name we it...we got it. WHITE MALES are the minority.

The great thing is that 93 ROCK is 40%+ hispanic and does VERY WELL in it's target demo of MEN 18-49 (25-34 target).

With PARTY 93-1HD2 now on the air and 93 ROCK on HD1...neither station is going anywhere. Its going to take some time for the "public" to be educated on HD Radio...but we're slowly making progress. And now that South Florida has a REASON to buy an HD Radio (Party had/has a VERY passionate audience)...maybe that advancement/upgrade will happen even quicker. Scion just announced HDs...and we've already got Ford, BMW, Mercedes, etc. Give it time...those of you over 30 will remember AM Radios? How long did it take YOU to upgrade to an FM radio!?!?!?! (hell, how many of you still do NOT have an HD TV?)

What else you wanna know?

 

[PhDance]

Michael D did hit it, but I have heard Party 93.1 on the Internet. While I found the station fantastic, the problem IMHO is that they did an overkill on trance. If one genre of dance gets prominence over others, that tends to be trouble since dance music constantly reinvents itself and what may sell today may not sell tomorrow....and if it's "too late", then the station suffers.

Tony, I certainly respect your opinions and applaud your efforts to raise awareness over the dance offerings in the NY metro area, but I must respectfully disagree with the last point you made. One thing that we need to remember is that dance stations need to be customized to the market. When it is not then there are problems that ensue. This is one of the reasons why it is so hard to reach an agreement about the quality of a national satellite station such as "The Beat" on Sirius or "BPM" on XM. Also, just because several dance stations that leaned heavily on certain genres such as breakbeat or trance, for WPYO 953 Party in Orlando and WPYM Party 931 in Miami, respectively, doesn't mean that the stations would be around today if they had a more mass approach. One of the things Phil Michaels told me in an email exchange some time ago is that he found out that he couldn't duplicate what he did in Orlando in Miami. The breaks didn't test in Miami the way they tested in Orlando. Trace that back to the launch of Party in Orlando- he found that the house music wasn't taking off in the market. While I will not dispute that there is a small house scene in Miami- certainly larger than in any other region of Florida for sure- it is not what the kids listen to on their radios or what is being played in MANY of the clubs (save for a few notable exceptions). Plus, during Power's dance supportive eras (including now)- name more than a couple house songs that made it onto that station! I hardly doubt that the research both stations ran on the demographics were erroneous. Simply put, better opportunities came for Cox and Beasley by moving in the direction of hip hop and rock, respectively, in order to fill larger holes. Believe me, if the NY circuit house was played on Party 931- the situation would not have ended any less grim than it did. Also, by your logic, KTU played very little trance and very much circuit house by comparison. Would it be fair to say that had KTU played more breaks or more trance (ergo no genre would have "prominence") then ratings would have increased high enough to keep KTU in a currents based direction?

I would be very eager to hear the opinion of several of the resident dance programmers, but I would hunch a guess that they will agree that certain dance music plays better to certain geographic areas than others. Whether that is a good thing or not in terms of gaining better appreciation/recognition of an increasingly fragmented dance product, this is a reality.

 

[lalumia]

found that the house music wasn't taking off in the market. While I will not dispute that there is a small house scene

were there ever any markets where it did take off with a mainstream audience?

 

[PhDance]

better opportunities came for Cox and Beasley by moving in the direction of hip hop and rock, respectively, in order to fill larger holes.

I must have been tired! Make that "better opportunities came for Cox by moving in the dirction of hip hop and rock for now Power 95-3 and Rock 93, respectively, in order to fill larger holes."

 

[TonySantiago]

I'll break it down like this:

Tony, I certainly respect your opinions and applaud your efforts to raise awareness over the dance offerings in the NY metro area, but I must respectfully disagree with the last point you made. One thing that we need to remember is that dance stations need to be customized to the market. When it is not then there are problems that ensue.

You're right, and I TOTALLY agree with you there. This was brought up on the Los Angeles board regarding bringing back a dance station there. And while I did like what Swedish Egil offered with "Mars FM" and "Groove Radio", the stations (and I'm trying to think back to those years so bear with me...) didn't hit much into the Latino audience as Power 106 (KPWR) did during it's time as a "Churban" outlet.

This is one of the reasons why it is so hard to reach an agreement about the quality of a national satellite station such as "The Beat" on Sirius or "BPM" on XM. Also, just because several dance stations that leaned heavily on certain genres such as breakbeat or trance, for WPYO 953 Party in Orlando and WPYM Party 931 in Miami, respectively, doesn't mean that the stations would be around today if they had a more mass approach. One of the things Phil Michaels told me in an email exchange some time ago is that he found out that he couldn't duplicate what he did in Orlando in Miami. The breaks didn't test in Miami the way they tested in Orlando. Trace that back to the launch of Party in Orlando- he found that the house music wasn't taking off in the market. While I will not dispute that there is a small house scene in Miami- certainly larger than in any other region of Florida for sure- it is not what the kids listen to on their radios or what is being played in MANY of the clubs (save for a few notable exceptions). Plus, during Power's dance supportive eras (including now)- name more than a couple house songs that made it onto that station! I hardly doubt that the research both stations ran on the demographics were erroneous. Simply put, better opportunities came for Cox and Beasley by moving in the direction of hip hop and rock, respectively, in order to fill larger holes.

I haven't heard from Phil Michaels in a bit, and trust me when I say (in the event whatever I said with my last comment was inferred wrongly) that Phil Michaels was (and is) definitely on top of the scene and with dance music as a whole. I just felt, IMHO that the trance was overkilled (for me no problem..but I could see how the casual fan might have been turned off). Okay....I'll stand corrected to say that the overkill of trance was NOT the downfall of Party 93.1. But to that, I can't help but to think about how freestyle MADE Hot 103 but KILLED Hot 97 since a lot of the material being produced in the later years by the freestyle labels were crap...made just for the sake of getting the music out there without regards to the creativity. Granted, Emmis did have other issues going on....near bankruptcy, purchasing the Seattle Mariners, etc and that may have been the downfall of Hot 97 as dance, though I don't think Emmis would have pulled the plug on dance that quick if the ratings were higher if they have stayed on a current/mass appeal approach instead of shifting a lean on one specific dance music genre.

Believe me, if the NY circuit house was played on Party 931- the situation would not have ended any less grim than it did. Also, by your logic, KTU played very little trance and very much circuit house by comparison. Would it be fair to say that had KTU played more breaks or more trance (ergo no genre would have "prominence") then ratings would have increased high enough to keep KTU in a currents based direction?

Actually KTU played very little house AND very little circuit house during the dayparts...except for the Saturday night remixes. In the case of a 'KTU, they could have added more currents and less disco/classic freestyle & dance format and things could have been different. YES, 'KTU has been garnering major billings with their Rhythmic A/C format now...but ratings wise they haven't gone down NOR up, which means that while they may not have lost the audience they are targeting, there hasn't been a big gain either...especially that Mix 102.7 dumped their similar format for a Lite A/C approach.

I would be very eager to hear the opinion of several of the resident dance programmers, but I would hunch a guess that they will agree that certain dance music plays better to certain geographic areas than others. Whether that is a good thing or not in terms of gaining better appreciation/recognition of an increasingly fragmented dance product, this is a reality.

And I'll agree to that. Freestyle works in NYC, So. Jersey/Philly and Miami but not for a Washington DC or perhaps Chicago. Though my MAJOR wish is that if there is new freestyle that is out there to be heard, that it should be covered. I just think the classics sound (though it may get listeners stuck to that sound) should just get played less...once again my opinion...if dance music will ever move forward.

 

[PhDance]

Thank you for the very thoughtful post, Tony. Yes, I do think there is a tendency for certain programmers to not keep up with the changing dynamics of dance preferences in their respective markets. I think a lot of that is solved when the programmers continue to survey what is played in the clubs- and not just the national charts. It does sound so easy; we have some great programmers on this board who do "get it", unfortunately it's those that do not get it that cannot sustain the initial success that a dance format earns.

As for the freestyle, there was a slight push a few years ago of some modern freestyle fusion stuff- stuff the likes of Paradigm "Back for My Life", Sk8 "My Imagination". I'm surprised that momentum didn't continue- both of the previous tracks made it onto WPYO/Orlando. There is a lot of parallel between freestyle and modern florida breaks, however. A lot of the fairly recent stuff by Sharaz/DJ Infiniti/Baby Anne/Magic Mike, even some DJ Icey reminds me of freestyle. At the very least, it certainly has freestyle influences.

 

[TonySantiago]

Thank you for the very thoughtful post, Tony. Yes, I do think there is a tendency for certain programmers to not keep up with the changing dynamics of dance preferences in their respective markets. I think a lot of that is solved when the programmers continue to survey what is played in the clubs- and not just the national charts. It does sound so easy; we have some great programmers on this board who do "get it", unfortunately it's those that do not get it that cannot sustain the initial success that a dance format earns.

As for the freestyle, there was a slight push a few years ago of some modern freestyle fusion stuff- stuff the likes of Paradigm "Back for My Life", Sk8 "My Imagination". I'm surprised that momentum didn't continue- both of the previous tracks made it onto WPYO/Orlando. There is a lot of parallel between freestyle and modern florida breaks, however. A lot of the fairly recent stuff by Sharaz/DJ Infiniti/Baby Anne/Magic Mike, even some DJ Icey reminds me of freestyle. At the very least, it certainly has freestyle influences.

Funny thing about that last paragraph. I remember around 2000 when 95.3 Party was doing those Florida "breaks" figuring THAT could be the new sound to replace freestyle up here in NYC, instead of being stuck to those "classics". And I suppose this gets back to the "regional issue" because when I brought this up somewhere (on some posting board...don't remember which one) back in those days, the freestyle fans up in NYC were LIVID about it. :-\ To me I just figured, something NEW and innovative...so what if it came from somewhere else. Even something as "basic" as the Roc Project's "Deja Vu" (Johnny Budz Remix), freestyle fans at the maximum would "lukewarmly" accept.

I dunno. Heck, I loved hearing DJ43, Precious Little Fantasy and all of the local Orlando stuff back in those days! And yeah, it did surprise me (but then again not TOTALLY because of the type of station it was) that 'KTU didn't touch any of it.

 

[PhDance]

Funny thing about that last paragraph. I remember around 2000 when 95.3 Party was doing those Florida "breaks" figuring THAT could be the new sound to replace freestyle up here in NYC, instead of being stuck to those "classics". And I suppose this gets back to the "regional issue" because when I brought this up somewhere (on some posting board...don't remember which one) back in those days, the freestyle fans up in NYC were LIVID about it. :-\ To me I just figured, something NEW and innovative...so what if it came from somewhere else. Even something as "basic" as the Roc Project's "Deja Vu" (Johnny Budz Remix), freestyle fans at the maximum would "lukewarmly" accept.

I dunno. Heck, I loved hearing DJ43, Precious Little Fantasy and all of the local Orlando stuff back in those days! And yeah, it did surprise me (but then again not TOTALLY because of the type of station it was) that 'KTU didn't touch any of it.

Very true about the opposition from many of the extremist freestyle fans, Tony. I recall a debate about the classification of Rockell (I Fell In Love, In a Dream) in the mid 90s with some friends. That's part of a larger issue with Dance music today-- there is the need to classify dance music in one specific silo- trance/house/techno, etc. There are a few songs I would call trance that friends would call something else. Point is, we lose a lot of the struggle fighting each other in the dance community over what specific subgenre is the dominant one- which one is the future, which one is dying, etc. We should be using that energy towards advocating for the whole dance umbrella to the mainstream audiences.

As for KTU- they probably should have at least tested the other genres-- I doubt they would have seen much opposition to some of the florida breaks type songs-- youre certainly right by pointing out that the Johnny Budz remixes of both Roc Project songs (that one plus Never) were wildly popular on KTU.