I miss the days when 93.7 KRQ was rhythmic, even though I never lived in Tucson. When 103.9 was cut away back in 1998, I was a bit desperate for something similar, so I moved my stereo and rearranged things in such a way that I was able to pick up KRQ in Phoenix. Their Saturday night shows did feature some dance, but nothing like what the old Power and Party stations did. 93.7's regular format was mostly rhythmic r&b and hip hop, and I remember hearing some stuff that wasn't given any attention in Phoenix, such as NTYCE "telefunkin" and FIVE "when the lights go out"...etc. A short while after, the top 40 KZZP was born in Phoenix so I kind of forgot about KRQ. Flash forward a few years later, I remembered to check on them again and noticed KRQ became top 40 as 104.7 Kiss FM started sounding a bit more rhythmic.
I have to say that unlike the past, I now think our 104.7 Kiss FM is better than KRQ in a few ways, and despite the fact I don't really care for the morning show too much, the station does sound a bit more "fixed" than it did when they had the Ron & Don show on 104.7 'ZZP. Top 40 back then was a bit different and there was a lot more variety and different sounds back then, and those were the days when Whitney Houston and Cher were still able to make it in top 40 radio. Now, it's all changed, but Kiss FM still sounds like they are more organized now when it comes to the feel of things. I'm not sure if I'd rather keep the present day KZZP or have the old KZZP in today's times. One thing I can say though is that with the old KZZP, it would be interesting to see what it would've sounded like today if it wasn't changed in 2002. I thought it really sounded good shortly after it's change in 2002 and has slightly been going back and forth between improving and worsening its sound ever since. Now it's sounding a bit more top 40 like it did for a while in late 2006 - early 2007 before they once again decreased the amount of alternative they played during those days. I have a feeling that Power and JamZ sounding a bit a like and JamZ adding in a few top 40 rhythmic hits has some influence on why Kiss FM has slightly tweaked it's format a bit. There were times I'd hear Kiss go for up to and even over an entire hour of nothing but rhythmic r&b and hip hop hits before ever getting to the next alternative song (usually in the evening), then there would be times when it was all mixed up with pop, rock, alternative..etc. Last night on JamZ, I heard "disturbia" followed by "just dance" followed by "whatever you like" then "let it rock". This is a sign of the changing times of rhythmic music. Each one of those songs have electro-pop style elements to it. If you imagine someone just now arriving to Phoenix, getting off the plane, going to baggage claim to pick up their baggage, and they get picked up from the airport by someone who just happened to have 101.5 JamZ playing in their car at the exact same time those four songs were played, they'd never know they weren't listening to a top 40 station right away. Imagine them also getting in a car from the airport at a time when 104.7 Kiss FM was playing nothing but rhythmic R&B and hip hop hits during the entire ride as well. They'd think they were listening to a hip hop station.
I wonder, what would it be like if we had all the stations we have now, 10 years ago today? What would KMVA be playing? What would KVIB be like? what about KZON and KZZP? And would there have ever been a KPTY with the present day format of KZON and KVIB in existance? What would KVIB be playing? What would KNRJ have been like? and what about KAJM? Would Majik 107 have been able to successfully exist with all this going on back then? If the Peak were around, they'd most likely be doing the 60's 70's 80's and whatever we want. If all this was around 20 years ago, how far would we have evolved today and would we have any room for anything new to pop up along the way?
