Another bites the dust

[MN-Guy]

The trifecta of station known as Drive 105 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area or Minnesota dropped their alternative rock format of over four years and as an on again-off again format since 1994 at 2:40-ish Monday, May 7 with Weezer's "Say it Ain't So". Afternoon jock JP The Radio Slave slid over to big brother rocker 93X and at 6 AM Tuesday, May 8 the station will debut a lite-AC format dubbed "Love". This is the third time under ABC ownership in ten years that the 105s (105.1, 105.3, 105.7 WGVX, Y, Z) have dropped alt-rock as a format. The previous two attempts lasted 9 months and six months. This leaves the entire state of Minnesota without a commercial Alt-Rock station.

 

[Saladressing]

To be fair, the only time of those three times that alternative rock was dumped was when REV105 went under.

The incarnations known as Zone 105 and Drive 105 were both Adult Alternative stations. These stations, while very unique compared with other stations across the country, were very dry and avoided ALL edgy rock music in a concerted effort to keep a safe distance from moneymaking sister station 93X (Active Rock).

 

[MN-Guy]

Not to pick at the bones of a dead carcass but ABC dumped Rev 105's format in favor of X105 and they dumped Zone 105's alt-rock format for the shortlived V105 which preceeded Drive 105. Three strikes for Alt-Rock on the 105s.

 

[Saladressing]

Make that one strike for alt-rock and two strikes against adult alternative. Any station that avoids 85%+ of the Commercial Alt. Rock chart cannot be considered alt. rock.

 

[MN-Guy]

For the past 2+ years Drive 105 reported as Alternative, the first two years they were AAA and that year between defined formats was a rough transition while the station took on an identity of its own. I will agree that the Alternative format as it was known on Drive 105 wasn't the truest in the sense of the format but it had more of an "indie" feel than those alts than lean modern rock.

 

[SoulCrusher]

I looked at Drive 105's playlist before the switch. While there was a lot of good stuff missing, at least they didn't play tons of Mullet Rock (Nickelback, Hinder, Shinedown, Puddle Of Mudd, etc.) like so many other stations out there. That was a big plus in my book - chalk that up to the aforementioned counter-programming to its sister station. Minnesota lost a pretty good station, but at least they have a top-notch Active Rocker which plays a lot of the heavy stuff that stations in my neck of the words (NJ) are too scared to play.

 

[automationasphyxiation]

I looked at Drive 105's playlist before the switch. While there was a lot of good stuff missing, at least they didn't play tons of Mullet Rock (Nickelback, Hinder, Shinedown, Puddle Of Mudd, etc.) like so many other stations out there. That was a big plus in my book - chalk that up to the aforementioned counter-programming to its sister station. Minnesota lost a pretty good station, but at least they have a top-notch Active Rocker which plays a lot of the heavy stuff that stations in my neck of the words (NJ) are too scared to play.

Elitists and purists kill the Alt format, in terms of commercial radio viability. I fashion myself an "Alt Rock" fan, yet I also like some of the music which I hear from Shinedown and Hinder - and don't mind hearing them in the mix with Modest Mouse, etc. Shinedown and Hinder (and other bands of their ilk) certainly will not get written about (positively) in AP or NME, but if Alt radio stations program to closely to the purists, they will not stay in business long.

 

[p_herring]

I looked at Drive 105's playlist before the switch. While there was a lot of good stuff missing, at least they didn't play tons of Mullet Rock (Nickelback, Hinder, Shinedown, Puddle Of Mudd, etc.) like so many other stations out there. That was a big plus in my book - chalk that up to the aforementioned counter-programming to its sister station. Minnesota lost a pretty good station, but at least they have a top-notch Active Rocker which plays a lot of the heavy stuff that stations in my neck of the words (NJ) are too scared to play.

Elitists and purists kill the Alt format, in terms of commercial radio viability. I fashion myself an "Alt Rock" fan, yet I also like some of the music which I hear from Shinedown and Hinder - and don't mind hearing them in the mix with Modest Mouse, etc. Shinedown and Hinder (and other bands of their ilk) certainly will not get written about (positively) in AP or NME, but if Alt radio stations program to closely to the purists, they will not stay in business long.

I'm not an elitist and purist by any means. I love hearing Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At The Disco and their ilks on alternative (much better than CHR). However, Shinedown, Hinder and bands of that ilk are everything that alternative music started out to rebel against. Totally corporate/macho/homophobic SAFE rock that Kurt Cobain, Michael Stipe, Robert Smith and all the other altrock men and women set out to rage against.

 

[SoulCrusher]

I'm not an elitist and purist by any means. I love hearing Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At The Disco and their ilks on alternative (much better than CHR). However, Shinedown, Hinder and bands of that ilk are everything that alternative music started out to rebel against. Totally corporate/macho/homophobic SAFE rock that Kurt Cobain, Michael Stipe, Robert Smith and all the other altrock men and women set out to rage against.

Exactly. While I'm not a fan, FOB, MCR and P!ATD have enough quirks about them that they're acceptable for Alternative play (whether I would play them or not depends on the audience).

Admittedly, I am a purist to an extent. I think of when the Alternative format came to fruition and whether or not bands would have received airplay on the format if they were out 20 years ago. In my opinion, Shinedown, Hinder, Buckcherry, Puddle Of Mudd and Nickelback would have been getting played on AOR formats alongside Bad Company and Def Leppard instead of Alternative. In sound and spirit, they're all far closer to the primal, Neanderthal-like chest beating and "I wanna make love to you, woman" lyrical sentiments of the arena rock bands of the time. It's all Red State Rock - tailgate parties, cheap beer, mullets, macho men, subservient women, Camaros and Iroc-Zs all over the place. As p_herring pointed out, it's the antithesis to what the Alternative acts of the '80s and early '90s represented. The only reason these acts even chart on Alternative are because of those crummy CBS & Clear Channel operated pseudo-Alternatives in the South.

 

[FilmCritic3K]

I'm not an elitist and purist by any means. I love hearing Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At The Disco and their ilks on alternative (much better than CHR). However, Shinedown, Hinder and bands of that ilk are everything that alternative music started out to rebel against. Totally corporate/macho/homophobic SAFE rock that Kurt Cobain, Michael Stipe, Robert Smith and all the other altrock men and women set out to rage against.

Exactly. While I'm not a fan, FOB, MCR and P!ATD have enough quirks about them that they're acceptable for Alternative play (whether I would play them or not depends on the audience).

Admittedly, I am a purist to an extent. I think of when the Alternative format came to fruition and whether or not bands would have received airplay on the format if they were out 20 years ago. In my opinion, Shinedown, Hinder, Buckcherry, Puddle Of Mudd and Nickelback would have been getting played on AOR formats alongside Bad Company and Def Leppard instead of Alternative. In sound and spirit, they're all far closer to the primal, Neanderthal-like chest beating and "I wanna make love to you, woman" lyrical sentiments of the arena rock bands of the time. It's all Red State Rock - tailgate parties, cheap beer, mullets, macho men, subservient women, Camaros and Iroc-Zs all over the place. As p_herring pointed out, it's the antithesis to what the Alternative acts of the '80s and early '90s represented. The only reason these acts even chart on Alternative are because of those crummy CBS & Clear Channel operated pseudo-Alternatives in the South.

*thunderous applause*

And I'd like to add in "Alternatives" like the one here in Savannah, Georgia, WFXH-FM (Rock 106.1). You know, the "we report as Alternative yet spin Led Zeppelin and AC/DC and are pretty much Active Rock" type. Triad Broadcasting owns this station.

http://www.rock1061.com

Go there, look at their recently played list, and try not to recoil in horror. The only true diversity ever shown on the station is during a two-hour music show on Sundays called "Underexposed". Here's the most recent playlist for "Underexposed".

Young Folks - Peter Bjorn and John
101 - Albert Hammond, Jr
Goin' Under - Argyle
Duality - Bayside
Shade and Honey - Sparklehorse
Naive - The Kooks
Going Through Changes - Army Of Me
Rehab - Amy Winehouse
Golden Skans - Klaxons
Back To The Start - TheStranger'sSix
Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's
This Is The Worst Day of My Life... - The Actual
Heretics - Andrew Bird
Fighting featuring David Bowie - Gods of the Radio
Misery Business - Paramore
Pieces of the Sun - Test Your Reflex
Must Be The Moon - !!!
Keep the Car Running - Arcade Fire
Bomb. Repeat. Bomb. - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Wasted Little DJs - The View
Erase It Again - Sparta
Collection of Stamps - I'm From Barcelona
Spring and By Summer Fall - Blonde Redhead
Second Chance - Faber Drive

Think you'll hear any of these songs or songs by artists of this type outside of the specialty show? Think again.

I'd love to have a station around here like WAVF-FM (96 Wave) in Charleston. Contrary to the opinion of some, an actual modern rock station here would do well. We had a AAA (Wave 104.9) but Triad had to sell it, their weakest signal, when they bought classic hits WGZO (103.1 The Drive) from Zip Communications last year (they'd been running WGZO through an LMA.) So as far as alternative rock goes here, the market is staid at best. This city is hungry for a TRUE alternative station and with one of the top art schools in the country here (Savannah College of Art and Design; they also have a campus in Atlanta and one in Lacoste, France), a well-marketed and well-programmed alternative with a commitment to local events and a dedication to creativity and ingenuity would resound loudly and thoroughly with the citizens of Savannah and the students of SCAD.

 

[p_herring]

I'm not an elitist and purist by any means. I love hearing Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At The Disco and their ilks on alternative (much better than CHR). However, Shinedown, Hinder and bands of that ilk are everything that alternative music started out to rebel against. Totally corporate/macho/homophobic SAFE rock that Kurt Cobain, Michael Stipe, Robert Smith and all the other altrock men and women set out to rage against.

Exactly. While I'm not a fan, FOB, MCR and P!ATD have enough quirks about them that they're acceptable for Alternative play (whether I would play them or not depends on the audience).

Admittedly, I am a purist to an extent. I think of when the Alternative format came to fruition and whether or not bands would have received airplay on the format if they were out 20 years ago. In my opinion, Shinedown, Hinder, Buckcherry, Puddle Of Mudd and Nickelback would have been getting played on AOR formats alongside Bad Company and Def Leppard instead of Alternative. In sound and spirit, they're all far closer to the primal, Neanderthal-like chest beating and "I wanna make love to you, woman" lyrical sentiments of the arena rock bands of the time. It's all Red State Rock - tailgate parties, cheap beer, mullets, macho men, subservient women, Camaros and Iroc-Zs all over the place. As p_herring pointed out, it's the antithesis to what the Alternative acts of the '80s and early '90s represented. The only reason these acts even chart on Alternative are because of those crummy CBS & Clear Channel operated pseudo-Alternatives in the South.

Agree about the mullet-rock thing coming full circle. Though I'm a little less picky and I'll accept bands like Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, and (even) Puddle Of Mudd due to their grunge influences, Shinedown and Buckcherry have ZERO place on Alterntaive these days. Unfortunately, unless you live in select cities nowadays, you don't even have an alternative station (or maybe an Active reporting as alternative). This is too bad considering that, by glancing at the alternative chart these days, we have a pretty diverse line-up. You have your heavier bands like Papa Roach and Three Days Grace along with "indie" acts like Modest Mouse, White Stripes, Siversun Pickups right next to veterans such as Nine Inch Nails, Incubus, Chili Peppers along with the "emo/punk" movement bands such as The Used, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and The Almost. Wish I had a station spinning all these together. Thankfully, in New York, we did finally get a rock station back, but it's wallpaper radio (Chili Peppers, Nirvana, AC/DC, Green Day, repeat...)