The news of Q100 moving to 99.7, signaling the demise of 99X, takes me back '91-'92 when I was programming a top40 radio station in a small Georgia college town and modeling the station's sound after Power99 Atlanta. The format, while never popular with management and sales, was a huge hit in the town, specifically at the college there. I recall once a salesperson declaring we need to play more music that appeals to women, artists like Lynyrd Skynrd. Another time, while playing Rozalla's "Everybody's Free," the GM called me up and said "What the **** it that?!" Ha ha! I used that recorded bit (with appropriately place "beep") often after that!
I liked Power99's sound so much I would listen for hours, write down song titles, scan R&R for the correct artists and record companies, and then call and badger the companies to send me copies of the songs to add to my playlist. But all good things come to an end, right? The station was sold. The new owner, a big fan of alternative music, insisted we pepper the playlist with such songs. Eventually, whatever little money the small town station was making began to dry up which probably had more to do with the economic times than anything else. We moved the station in an AC direction (or 'hot AC as it was called) and layoffs came. Eventually, the owner put on a new alternative station in a nearby city, raided the smaller station for equipment and music, then sold the property.
Around the same time, Power99 was experimenting with alternative music at night. If I recall, they called the timeslot "Power99 on the Edge." Encouraged by it's reception and perhaps disheatened by lowering ratings of Power99 overall, they flipped to 99X. Now, please keep in mind this is coming from the perspective of small town PD with virtually no access to inside information from the Atlanta market. It was 1992, after all. There may very well have been some other factors at play and if there were, I'd love to be corrected on my impression.
I recall the Power99 morning show the day they announced the flip. It was a call in show to soften the blow to the station's listeners. I recall Ric Stacey rattling off a list of artists who would still be played on the new format - including Madonna (who, of course, wasn't.) At some point that year - it may have been before WAPW's flip or after (15 years does that to a person's memory) I'd read an article in R&R stating 'top40 radio stations are dropping like flies.' Perhaps, I thought, if Power99 was changing formats, the article was true.
But who remembers the lean years afterward when Atlanta had no true top40 station? When Star94 was the only game in town and could get away with playing AC hits instead of half the current top 10 because, apparently, they sounded too 'black?' When 95.5 The Beat hit the airwaves and strived to be the opposite of what Star94 was, leaving me scratching my head and saying, "I could do that so much better." (yeah, I'm one of those jaded former radio pros who listens to Atlanta radio, shakes my cane, and yells "you young whipper snappers don't know crap!")
So like many here, I predicted Q100 would eventually move to 99.7. I hoped they would rebrand as 'Power99.' But like all things, the good old days weren't always that good. Could a modern version of Power99 succeed in Atlanta? Are there still indie record labels pushing freestyle and dance music? Would people still want to hear it? And more importantly, would a program director still have the permission to play a new, uncharted song because he/she has a gut feeling about it or because it packed the floor at a recently dj'd Sorority party?
Finally, there is a bit of sweet irony here. One night I was driving home after hosting the station I worked for's 'Saturday Night Hot Mix" show and listening to the new 99X. The dj dedicated some long forgotten song to the fans of Power99 and said, "for those of you who like things the old way, we changed the music just to annoy you."
Yes, I was sufficiently annoyed. I believe now, though, we've come (almost) full circle.
I liked Power99's sound so much I would listen for hours, write down song titles, scan R&R for the correct artists and record companies, and then call and badger the companies to send me copies of the songs to add to my playlist. But all good things come to an end, right? The station was sold. The new owner, a big fan of alternative music, insisted we pepper the playlist with such songs. Eventually, whatever little money the small town station was making began to dry up which probably had more to do with the economic times than anything else. We moved the station in an AC direction (or 'hot AC as it was called) and layoffs came. Eventually, the owner put on a new alternative station in a nearby city, raided the smaller station for equipment and music, then sold the property.
Around the same time, Power99 was experimenting with alternative music at night. If I recall, they called the timeslot "Power99 on the Edge." Encouraged by it's reception and perhaps disheatened by lowering ratings of Power99 overall, they flipped to 99X. Now, please keep in mind this is coming from the perspective of small town PD with virtually no access to inside information from the Atlanta market. It was 1992, after all. There may very well have been some other factors at play and if there were, I'd love to be corrected on my impression.
I recall the Power99 morning show the day they announced the flip. It was a call in show to soften the blow to the station's listeners. I recall Ric Stacey rattling off a list of artists who would still be played on the new format - including Madonna (who, of course, wasn't.) At some point that year - it may have been before WAPW's flip or after (15 years does that to a person's memory) I'd read an article in R&R stating 'top40 radio stations are dropping like flies.' Perhaps, I thought, if Power99 was changing formats, the article was true.
But who remembers the lean years afterward when Atlanta had no true top40 station? When Star94 was the only game in town and could get away with playing AC hits instead of half the current top 10 because, apparently, they sounded too 'black?' When 95.5 The Beat hit the airwaves and strived to be the opposite of what Star94 was, leaving me scratching my head and saying, "I could do that so much better." (yeah, I'm one of those jaded former radio pros who listens to Atlanta radio, shakes my cane, and yells "you young whipper snappers don't know crap!")
So like many here, I predicted Q100 would eventually move to 99.7. I hoped they would rebrand as 'Power99.' But like all things, the good old days weren't always that good. Could a modern version of Power99 succeed in Atlanta? Are there still indie record labels pushing freestyle and dance music? Would people still want to hear it? And more importantly, would a program director still have the permission to play a new, uncharted song because he/she has a gut feeling about it or because it packed the floor at a recently dj'd Sorority party?
Finally, there is a bit of sweet irony here. One night I was driving home after hosting the station I worked for's 'Saturday Night Hot Mix" show and listening to the new 99X. The dj dedicated some long forgotten song to the fans of Power99 and said, "for those of you who like things the old way, we changed the music just to annoy you."
Yes, I was sufficiently annoyed. I believe now, though, we've come (almost) full circle.
