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Best Stations in Phoenix per decade
- Thread starter markchub
- Start date
Gary is obviously into obscure rock, so I do like the KUKQ mention....but what about KEY? I do like KCDX once in a while, but they REALLY need to tighten things up to hold my attention. What's up with those forever fades, and silence between tracks? Or those ambient intros that go on and on...
Haven't seen any mentions of KOPA yet
Haven't seen any mentions of KOPA yet
"Haven't seen any mentions of KOPA yet"
KOPA was a great station in many ways. I loved ' em, especially with Crazy Dave Otto in the AM. But they never acheived legendary status, mostly because they didn't have a great promo budget. They did have some great jocks, but their playlist could be a little too tight and they never generated a lot of buzz (except for Crazy Dave). I hated that KZZP raided KOPA for Dave Otto, but there's no question that KZZP was a more interesting station than KOPA. From 1980-87 or so, KZZP was as good a Top 40 station as any in the country. Look at the talent they had: Dave Otto, followed by Jonathon Brandmeier, Paul Talbot, Chris Shebel (who, I think spent some time at KOPA AM when they didn't simulcast the FM), Steve Goddard, Bruce Kelley, and many, many more. Not to mention the off-air talent like Guy Zapoloen. A LOT of national-quality radio talent cut their teeth at KZZP.
And yet I still have a soft spot for KOPA. Then again, I rent from Avis, I like both Art Garfunkel and John Oates. And Zeppo is my favorite Marx Brother. I like underdogs.
KOPA was a great station in many ways. I loved ' em, especially with Crazy Dave Otto in the AM. But they never acheived legendary status, mostly because they didn't have a great promo budget. They did have some great jocks, but their playlist could be a little too tight and they never generated a lot of buzz (except for Crazy Dave). I hated that KZZP raided KOPA for Dave Otto, but there's no question that KZZP was a more interesting station than KOPA. From 1980-87 or so, KZZP was as good a Top 40 station as any in the country. Look at the talent they had: Dave Otto, followed by Jonathon Brandmeier, Paul Talbot, Chris Shebel (who, I think spent some time at KOPA AM when they didn't simulcast the FM), Steve Goddard, Bruce Kelley, and many, many more. Not to mention the off-air talent like Guy Zapoloen. A LOT of national-quality radio talent cut their teeth at KZZP.
And yet I still have a soft spot for KOPA. Then again, I rent from Avis, I like both Art Garfunkel and John Oates. And Zeppo is my favorite Marx Brother. I like underdogs.
DJ_Perry said:
It was KEYX 100.3, not KEY, though it went by "the Key" and their 'playlists' were posted at Tower Records by the import racks. There's some archival KEYX stuff on Jonathan L's myspace/web site. I mention JL, because did for KUKQ what John Peel did for the BBC. The only thing I really remember about KEYX was hearing Sigue Sigue Sputnik, the original "No More I Love You's, and, of course, "88 Lines About 44 Women." (No station could ever get away with playing the unedited version these days.)
indieradioguy said:
Ah yes, the underrated KEY. They were one of the many stations which were done too soon. I think they might have paved the way for KUKQ's debut in '89. I remember first hearing the great Don Dixon on the Key.
I thought it was kinda odd that, after the flip to New Age, they STILL played Joe Jackson's You Can't Get What You Want ('Til You Know What You Want). Maybe they wanted to hang on to a few old listeners for awhile, to build ratings?
And how come no one's mentioned KSTM? I moved here shortly before they changed to es-pan-yole but what little I heard I liked. Let's Active, and semi-obscure Rundgren? This musta been a good station.
D
David Owens
Guest
Well, first off I'm cheating a little here, cause I wasn't here the entire time, but from all I've heard, here's my rating:
60's KRUX
70's KDKB
80's KSLX
90's KOOL
2000s KCDX
KRUX based on some of the old airchecks I've heard, the announcers they had, and what I've heard from people who lived in the valley during that time period.
KDKB had a 24% share of the audience at one point in the 70's. They owned the rock market and could do no wrong for most of the 70's. I heard a few airchecks, from that time period. KDKB ruled. Their longevity with the format is pretty amazing too.
KSLX when I first heard them in the 80's was fresh, because Classic Rock was a new format. They were true to their format. There was 1700 songs in their library when I was there, which is pretty decent by today's standards. They had a great morning show, one of the best I've heard with Jones and Boze, and were firing on all cylinders.
KOOL had a great airstaff in the early 90's. They had competition from Sunny 97 (now Mix 96.9) at that time, but KOOL was #1 in the market. They had personality, a high energy, fun staff, and perhaps Oldies radio was also a bit fresher in our minds too. Their promotions were top of the line, and everybody loved KOOL, and the image of the radio station was top notch.
KCDX because they actually real variety, which to me outweighs the negatives of hearing some real oddball songs that don't completely fit the format. Most radio stations have lost their appeal over the years due to shrinking playlists, in my opinion. It may be unfair to list KCDX because they aren't a true commercial station, and don't have to worry about ratings, and they don't play 8 minute blocks of commercials during afternoon drive, but no other stations have really captured me in the last 10 years, unfortunately.
60's KRUX
70's KDKB
80's KSLX
90's KOOL
2000s KCDX
KRUX based on some of the old airchecks I've heard, the announcers they had, and what I've heard from people who lived in the valley during that time period.
KDKB had a 24% share of the audience at one point in the 70's. They owned the rock market and could do no wrong for most of the 70's. I heard a few airchecks, from that time period. KDKB ruled. Their longevity with the format is pretty amazing too.
KSLX when I first heard them in the 80's was fresh, because Classic Rock was a new format. They were true to their format. There was 1700 songs in their library when I was there, which is pretty decent by today's standards. They had a great morning show, one of the best I've heard with Jones and Boze, and were firing on all cylinders.
KOOL had a great airstaff in the early 90's. They had competition from Sunny 97 (now Mix 96.9) at that time, but KOOL was #1 in the market. They had personality, a high energy, fun staff, and perhaps Oldies radio was also a bit fresher in our minds too. Their promotions were top of the line, and everybody loved KOOL, and the image of the radio station was top notch.
KCDX because they actually real variety, which to me outweighs the negatives of hearing some real oddball songs that don't completely fit the format. Most radio stations have lost their appeal over the years due to shrinking playlists, in my opinion. It may be unfair to list KCDX because they aren't a true commercial station, and don't have to worry about ratings, and they don't play 8 minute blocks of commercials during afternoon drive, but no other stations have really captured me in the last 10 years, unfortunately.
Dave Andrews said:
Absolutely! I was sooo bummed when KUKQ flipped from Urban to Country in 87? But I continued to check in with them afterwards and remember discovering New Order's "Fine Time" one afternoon!
Dave Andrews said:
Hate to call you out on this, but its a pet peeve of mine when people say "New Age"...it was New Wave. And I absolutely LOVE that Joe Jackson song.
it was mentionedDave Andrews said:
unless Dave was referring to The Key flipping from Alternative to New Age in 86? My apologies if so....but I catch people calling 80s music "New Age" instead of "wave". I found this really interesting website:
http://www.jlradio.com/Archive_KUKQ.html
http://www.jlradio.com/Archive_KUKQ.html
KEYX flipped from "Modern" (The Key was Arizona's Rock & Soul. You couldn't call it alternative yet, the word really hadn't been coined yet, and New Wave was K-15 in the early 80's, and even the early days of KQ, they called themselves as New Stuff, before landing on Alternative).
So yes, The Key did flip to a New Age format KGRX (not New Wave),before morphing into KZRX (Z-Rock), then they had Stern with a short lived talk radio format, before simulcasting the Edge, then onto spanish. Right as they flipped to Talk, KUKQ came back with its second version of the station before ultimately becoming a sports station.
my list per decade: and only cause I moved here in late 70's a kid .
70's -KOPA/KDKB
80's - KZZP/KUPD/KUKQ/KNIX (with a mention of KSTM/K-15, KZRX & KSLX)
90's - KMLE/KUPD/KZON/KQ/
2000's- hard to say.. a mish mash
Does anybody remember the female DJ that did afternoon son KKFR (it wasn't called Power back then? mid 80's, but still top 40, but more mainstream) .. I think her name on air was Slim.. verry funny afternoon host.
So yes, The Key did flip to a New Age format KGRX (not New Wave),before morphing into KZRX (Z-Rock), then they had Stern with a short lived talk radio format, before simulcasting the Edge, then onto spanish. Right as they flipped to Talk, KUKQ came back with its second version of the station before ultimately becoming a sports station.
my list per decade: and only cause I moved here in late 70's a kid .
70's -KOPA/KDKB
80's - KZZP/KUPD/KUKQ/KNIX (with a mention of KSTM/K-15, KZRX & KSLX)
90's - KMLE/KUPD/KZON/KQ/
2000's- hard to say.. a mish mash
Does anybody remember the female DJ that did afternoon son KKFR (it wasn't called Power back then? mid 80's, but still top 40, but more mainstream) .. I think her name on air was Slim.. verry funny afternoon host.
Parma said:
That makes sense, which is ironic, since I read that KGRX went by "The Wave". Perhaps thats why some folks confuse New Age with New Wave. I stand corrected, as I didn't keep up on this station as a youngster. I do remember Z Rock however. So they really played Joe Jackson still on KGRX? I wondered if Dave meant that song played on the previous format of KEY.
DJ_Perry said:
I didn't know there was ever any confusion between "New Age" (Yanni, Enya) and "New Wave." There was a "No Wave" backlash in the 80's, and there's a current buzz band called No Age, but I'm not aware of anyone ever thinking stuff like "A Mannheim Steamroller Christmas" was released by Sub Pop.
DJ_Perry said:
I can see now where "Age" and "Wave" associated with the same station can cause confusion, but that Joe Jackson song sure sounded like it belonged on the Key instead of The Wave.
Now I remember when Kyle sent me a tape of KMET's last hour or so as The Met and the start of 94.7 The Wave in L.A....They ALSO played a Joe Jackson tune, Be My Number Two, AFTER the flip to New Age. Hmmmm.....
Interesting. I love Joe Jackson, and it seems quite appropriate he was played on Key. I hate to beat this topic up, but I suppose the New Age format was referring to waves on the ocean....kinda weird that early Modern Rock was later referred to as New Wave. I believe is was a Punk rock term that gave it a friendlier image.
DJ_Perry said:
Actually, the term was around as far back as the late '70s as a musical genre term. There was a difference between punk (Sex Pistols, Ramones, Black Flag, et. al.) and new wave (Blondie, Go-Go's, B-52's...)
I think the term New Wave itself can be traced back to Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 classic film Breathless (remade in 1983 with Richard Gere). Kind of a fashion term or something, and the fashion spilled over into the early New Wave bands.
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