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Backtrax USA 80s version rebrands to '80s Backtrax'

V

vw86

I was listening to Backtrax this past weekend and noticed for the first time in 2+ decades that it has a new jingle package! The new jingles sound like a variation on the JAM Z100 jingles that many of the Audacy/Entercom/CBS Classic Hits stations were using a decade or so ago. The show also refers to itself now as '80s Backtrax' (although a few old Backtrax USA sweeps were still there) and there is very heavy promotion of the new app/website, 80sbacktrax.com

I didn't hear the 90s show but there doesn't seem to be a corresponding website for it like the 80s version has.

It was nice to hear some fresh life on the show!
 
Listened to the Backtrax stream for a bit, and yes, the new jingles are JAM Z100 resings. Including the DJ name jingle that Kid used on Z back in the day. Sounds great!
 
Here's a screenshot of something I just found on the new website. It's not setup yet, both links go to the stream of current shows. But it looks like they'll potentially be adding a second channel, having both an "80s Backtrax" stream and a "Backtrax USA" stream

1765394465590.png
 
The last few weeks the show has gotten weird. The entire show just feels like a giant advertisement for the new app/website. Every segment opens with a Spyder Harrison voiced promo for the new app/website and the chance to win $5,000, and during the show Kid Kelly mentions the same thing no fewer than 15 times.

The presentation of the show is now full-blown Z100 early 90s Kid Kelly, which doesn't necessarily work on all those Cumulus AC stations that take the show. He also humble brags quite a few times about how he created the all-80s radio format and intros/outros almost every song now with "Target Year (insert release year year), Hot Hit (insert peak chart position)" which even took me a few listens to realize what he was talking about since he said it so fast.
 
vw86 said:
He also humble brags quite a few times about how he created the all-80s radio format and intros/outros almost every song now with "Target Year (insert release year year), Hot Hit (insert peak chart position)" which even took me a few listens to realize what he was talking about since he said it so fast.
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I'm sure Jeffrey T. Mason and Chris Shebel would disagree.


Note the start date ... August 6, 1999. Kelly was just barely coming off his first PD gig that year.
 
K.M. Richards said:
I'm sure Jeffrey T. Mason and Chris Shebel would disagree.


Note the start date ... August 6, 1999. Kelly was just barely coming off his first PD gig that year.
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Ha! I love that. I know Kid Kelly started Backtrax in 1992 so perhaps he's referring to that and just expanding his title from "creator of the first syndicated show to focus on the 80s" to "creator of the format you're listening to right now"
 
You might be right. Kelly may just be padding his resumé and hoping no one knows better.

Full disclosure on my part: The Eighties Channel™ format that I program on KRKE in Albuquerque (and, hint-hint, is available in other markets if anyone wanted it) is something of a descendant of the Chicago format. I acquired the animated logo in the bankruptcy hearing for Big City Radio and I am happy to count Jeffro among my friends in the business; he has been of great help in filling in my knowledge of the WXXY version.
 
I've always liked and respected Kid Kelly's work, be it Backtrax, his time at Sirius or the Z100 days. That's why this weird direction Backtrax has gone the last few weeks is disappointing.
 
vw86 said:
I've always liked and respected Kid Kelly's work, be it Backtrax, his time at Sirius or the Z100 days. That's why this weird direction Backtrax has gone the last few weeks is disappointing.
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The old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" would seem to apply here.
 
Quite a few Cumulus AC stations air both shows in a four hour block on Saturday nights. Although I don't think it is on nearly as many stations as it was when Premiere syndicated it in the early 2000s and it aired on nearly every Clear Channel Hot AC outlet.
 


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