CBS FM and "Oldies" Mania

[oldies76]

Absolutely. It's just too bad more stations don't follow the WCBS-FM example.

Yeah..you got that right..KRTH a great example.

 

[oldies76]

Even their daily themes and weekend specials appeal.

 

[scooty430]

Actually, KRTH has finally adopted some CBS-FM in its approach. This last weekend was another "Lost Hits" which had...

- some pre-64 stuff like Calendar Girl, Hello Mary Lou, Elvis, Dion...
- some well chosen, rarely spun tunes (see other post about Lost Hits)
- some harder rock for Woodstock anniversary (The Who, CSN, CANNED HEAT - whoa! - CANNED HEAT!)
- and then....1980s stuff. And I don't mean Hall and Oates. We're talkin' Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Human League, Joan Jett, Naked Eyes. They even played Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" complete with the rapping in it.

Much more listenable. At the core, they are still about Beatles, Beach Boys, Motown - but the variety around that makes it much better.

Charlie Tuna took a funny phone call. A 30 year old woman called up and said, "How come you are playing Phil Collins on the oldies station?" Charlie said, "Well, he's considered an oldie now." The woman responded that she suddenly felt really old!

 

[AZJoe]

What's really a tuff nut to take is, that you hear Phil Collins "You Can't Hurry Love" more on "oldies" stations now than The Supremes classic #1 Original!!! The end is near!!!!

 

[lalumia]

CBS FM still plays the heck out of the Supremes catalog with Diana Ross, but not nearly enough of the 70s Supremes hits with Jean Terrell,which are fantabulous!(although the Top 500 Countdown always includes "Up The Ladder To The Roof", "Stoned Love" and the earthquaking duet with the 4 Tops on "River Deep Mountain High")
...maybe they'll sneak in "Nathan Jones" this time..
in the early 70s, the Supremes without Diana Ross were having a lot more hits than Diana Ross without The Supremes was having...

 

[scooty430]

What's really a tuff nut to take is, that you hear Phil Collins "You Can't Hurry Love" more on "oldies" stations now than The Supremes classic #1 Original!!! The end is near!!!!

Definitely one of the signs of the apocalypse.... LOL.

Glad nobody plays Su-su-su-sudio. Man that song blew monkeys.

 

[radiogroupie]

I think WCBS FM is pretty smart for not using the term "Oldies". For playing the type of music that they do, the station sounds very contemporary.

 

[BossJock1947]

Let me chime in on this, too.

Yes, the CBS-FM staff has worked their butts off to make this happen, and I congratulate them. PPM technology is also a part of it. If anything, the PPM may be responsible for "saving" some type of "oldies" format on commercial radio. (At least in markets where a 60's/70's/80's format is viable).

At least, though CBS-FM has done it with personality and class, and not completely nuked the early years music, though at least with the way advertising is today, you can no longer hitch your station completely to 1955-1963. (And, no...I won't argue with anyone here about that - I've answered that question here dozens of times (just as David has) and none of you will change my position.)

David is correct, though in bringing up that CBS-FM still has quite a way to go to get to #1. But...that 4.9 million plus cume per week figure is pretty darned impressive for a station that was left for demographic death just a few years ago. (Didn't WABC used to crow about having about 5 or 6 million in cume per week at their heyday?)

Congrats to the people at CBS-FM.

I find it interesting all you people on here raving about cbs-fm with there number 2 ratings. When they were struggling... a lot of you were bitching how bad the station was. Oy Vey!

 

[BossJock1947]

I think WCBS FM is pretty smart for not using the term "Oldies". For playing the type of music that they do, the station sounds very contemporary.

Radio Groupie....Who is your favorite cbs-fm jock?

 

[andreajesus]

I think WCBS FM is pretty smart for not using the term "Oldies". For playing the type of music that they do, the station sounds very contemporary.

Radio Groupie....Who is your favorite cbs-fm jock?

I don't know about Radio Groupie, but i'm pretty cool with ALL the DJs on WCBS-FM...

 

[KevinFodor]

Let me chime in on this, too.

Yes, the CBS-FM staff has worked their butts off to make this happen, and I congratulate them. PPM technology is also a part of it. If anything, the PPM may be responsible for "saving" some type of "oldies" format on commercial radio. (At least in markets where a 60's/70's/80's format is viable).

At least, though CBS-FM has done it with personality and class, and not completely nuked the early years music, though at least with the way advertising is today, you can no longer hitch your station completely to 1955-1963. (And, no...I won't argue with anyone here about that - I've answered that question here dozens of times (just as David has) and none of you will change my position.)

David is correct, though in bringing up that CBS-FM still has quite a way to go to get to #1. But...that 4.9 million plus cume per week figure is pretty darned impressive for a station that was left for demographic death just a few years ago. (Didn't WABC used to crow about having about 5 or 6 million in cume per week at their heyday?)

Congrats to the people at CBS-FM.

I find it interesting all you people on here raving about cbs-fm with there number 2 ratings. When they were struggling... a lot of you were bitching how bad the station was. Oy Vey!

Not me, pal.

 

[DToTheJ]

Check it out, the moderator of the other New York radio board is having a Bill O'Reilly moment over this topic:
http://www.musicradio77.com/wwwboard/messages/362895.html

"We'll DO IT LIVE! (bleep) IT!!"

 

[John FL]

Check it out, the moderator of the other New York radio board is having a Bill O'Reilly moment over this topic:
http://www.musicradio77.com/wwwboard/messages/362895.html

"We'll DO IT LIVE! (bleep) IT!!"

The dentist is no Bill O'Reilly and certainly he is no Brian Thomas. Many of us on these boards and I will include myself as well can be called "wannabe PD's." It's tough for some to remove personal feelings from their objectivity and that is a main reason I don't bother posting on that board.

The dentist can pout and act childish all he wants. But no one can deny that WCBS-FM has done one helluva job in featuring a sound that has lots of variety, exciting specials, almost daily wow factors and a talent line up that in a word is just great. The station is well positioned to play an occasional song from the 90s and you know what? It really works. In the hands of most, playing 4-5 decades of music with so many varied styles could be a disaster. That's why so few do it because it takes time and effort and few can pull it off well.

I mentioned this earlier this year on my local North Florida board and I believe it demonstrates something I have long believed. Back in January I reviewed research where high school kids (11th-12th grade) were asked about favorite technology. For the sake of time I'll just limit this to the subject of iPods and downloading music etc. Many responses indicated how they enjoyed the Beatles and other British Invasion artists, early Motown, Elvis, Chuck Berry as well as 70s funk, pop and disco.

There is a long-held belief that listeners will only like music they heard while growing up and won't relate to songs before they were born. I believe we have to give people more credit. While I understand people have preferences, if music rotation is done right and it doesn't get stale or even get too "old," it will increase listening audience with coalitions of audience representing a wide range of age and gender. Even American Idol understands this. The show skews very young but I've heard Motown, Disco, 60's, 70's, 80's and everything in between and it all works and sounds pretty cool to me. And that's how CBS-FM has positioned itself and has it's earned it's rightful place.

The dentist and many others believe in silly lines of demarcation. 1979 is OK but not 1980. Nonsense. Most folks who are jogging around listening to their own music are listening to lots of different kinds. Despite what the other board says, the facts are clear. You can have jingles and talk-ups and "Do Wah Ditty" as well as Cher's "Believe." We can handle it. Apparently, the great ratings is validation enough for me and the enlightened. Sure I would love to hear lots of older stuff but I'm realistic to understand we won't hear any of it if a station ceases to exist because it sounds like a museum. Keep up the great work, Brian. May the sound spread!

 

[lalumia]

the point everyone's missing is that CBS FM has become a party station, sharing the tunes we hear at weddings, karoke bars, and frat type night clubs;
every age group loves and participates in these songs now; there are no more beatniks, hippies,or punk rockers out there,just people who enjoy mass participation party songs,which encompass six decades, actually!
Get with the program, people;
the kids don't take the fractionalization as seriously as everyone would apparently like them to(and neither do their parents);and that's why Beatles and "Love Shack" and Motown work side by side; cos it's ALL party music,and THAT'S what people are reacting to during these recessionary times!

 

[adma]

There is a long-held belief that listeners will only like music they heard while growing up and won't relate to songs before they were born.

Well, that might genuinely have been the case during, er, the "oldies era". The fact that we might have outgrown such "nature" doesn't seem to dawn upon the dentist crowd--it's a little like assuming that today's generations carry on yesterday's "commonplace" attitudes t/w race, sexuality, etc.

Then again, that assumption continues to guide commercial talk radio...

 

[lalumia]

and I just saw today that this holiday weekend, the newly ascendant KTU's theme is;
'party tunes'....

 

[adma]

Maybe the "party tunes" angle is worth considering--makes me think a little of Radio Disney nonchalantly playing tunes old enough to be the grandparents of the target demo...

 

[disney fanatic]

That must a be hot topic on CBS-FM and the 90's music. That's interesting! But what is going to happen to the station maybe a year or two from now, they will add Celine Dion, MC Hammer, Hootie and the Blowfish, Crash Test Dummies, Vanilla Ice, Wilson Philips, All 4 One, Boyz II Men, the Cranberries, the Real McCoy, CC Peniston, Dee Lite, Mariah Carey, Tevin Campbell, Seal, Offspring, Natalie Merchant and a whole lot more to the station.

Maybe CBS-FM will play nothing but the 90's would be Britney Spears "Baby, One More Time", MC Hammer "You Can't Touch This", Celine Dion "The Power of Love", Offspring "Give It to Me Baby", Crash Test Dummies "Afternoons and Coffeespoons", Hootie and the Blowfish "Only Want to Be With You", Jon Sekada "Do You Believe In Us", Dee Lite "Groove Is In the Heart", Backstreet Boys "Quit Playing Games With My Heart", Ricky Martin "Livin La Vita Loca" and many others to this station. I don't see it happening.

If CBS-FM would play any lost 80's song like Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love", that would be cool for this station, but I don't see it happening again!

 

[oldies76]

If CBS-FM would play any lost 80's song like Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love", that would be cool for this station, but I don't see it happening again!

80's...sure, like totally!! Genius of Love, Valley Girl, Pacman Fever, You Should Hear How She Talks About You, Ghostbusters, Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin', I Feel For You, Major Tom, New Moon on Monday, The Look Of Love, Poison Arrow, even Adam Ant's "Strip"...etc..etc.. They're over 23+ years old...they're classics!! Bring 'em on!

 

[lalumia]

I love Adam Ant!...but the 'party tunes' that are popular now will stillbe popular 20 years from now, and will still be kareoke and mobile dj favorites, because they don't pretend to be anything besides what they are...party songs,perfect for stuck in traffic drivers to blow off steam with, bringing a smile to everyone's face...
but Adam's "Goody Two Shoes" and "Ant Music" should be in the mix, and yes, 'Strip" as well...why not
and wait till the smoking new version of the Nancy Sinatra hit "Boots" hits the streets, by The Humans(Brit prog rocker Robert Fripp, his 80s brit pop star wife Toyah,and REM's current drummer)..we have a winner!