DOES ANYONE CARE?

[audiobuffer]

Just curious.. How many people on this board are under the age of 40? I am asking because no one ever seems to be concerned about anything but "OLD WQUT AIRCHECKS" or something dealing with the past. Does anyone really care about what is happening now in the Tri-Cities or Knoxville?

What stations are doing anything right now? Is there anyone on this board that listens to anything? Are you aware of what WTFM is doing? What about WRZK or Electric. How bout xbq or Zrock, the peak, or jcw?? Anybody actually gonna comment on anything?

Someone, someone, someone. Talk about something now and interesting. Really, if we can't do that, this board isn't needed.

I will start.... Why does WTFM do the same old and lamed out promotion every book?

 

[Raingus]

I don't know about anyone else, however I for one do not keep up with what all is going on with the radio stations of today. As far as I'm concerned all commercial radio stations are crap.

My computer keeps me entertained as far as music entertainment goes, along with my car's mp3 player. I have over 7,000 mp3s on my computer that I listen to via Winamp. I have no need to tune in to the radio stations of today that play the same 400 songs over and over again with no variety.

I only concern myself with radio history considering that commercial radio today is worthless and is nothing more than a corporate monopoly that has lost it's appeal.

And for the record I am 38 years old.

 

[Jockamo]

I don't know about anyone else, however I for one do not keep up with what all is going on with the radio stations of today. As far as I'm concerned all commercial radio stations are crap.

I only concern myself with radio history considering that commercial radio today is worthless and is nothing more than a corporate monopoly that has lost it's appeal.

To answer audiobuffer's question, most people are interested in the older radio because that's when radio was at its best, not like what it is today. To figure out what radio is now, all you need to do is look at raingus' post. Oh, to go back to the days when you were always on your guard, trying to make your show as tight as you possibly could. And you didn't have to worry about corporate bigwigs coming in and changing everything and getting rid of people (sorry, Bob Gordon). Radio needs to do something soon to restore itself to the way it once was or it will die out just as the 8-track did.

And I'll be 49 next Friday.

 

[Sammy Reed]

Heck, I'm the guy who put (apparently) the old WQUT airchecks in question on my website, and I'm 39 - and my first year of it at that!
Hang radio, the 80's and earlier were a better time for just about anything!
But I guess that's just the "old guy" in me talking. The part of me that gets teary-eyed about wanting to hear some old geezer say "This IHHHhhhzzzz - CBSsssss." just one more time.
That's me, an old guy - and I'm not even 40 yet. :'(

 

[aaronsnet]

I'm 24, but enjoy my XM and internet radio. The only time I ever tune into terrestrial radio in the Tri-Cities is to catch the local talk shows, which most of the time end up boring me anyways. The radio here is very disappointing, minus one or two non-commercial stations (WCSK & WETS)...and that is just occasionally.

 

[TennStud]

I STILL wanna know what Black Hole swallowed up "Young Bobby Gordon?"

 

[ARDONAVINDA]

Audiobuffer until Knoxville radio or radio anywhere does something interesting we will be pining for the glory days of radio. It is boring and lifeless. Until banks and Wallstreet get out of the business and more independant owners get back into it and programmers can actually be allowed to make decissions and changes most of us will not care what happens currently other than what ridiculous format change will happen and joke about how long it will last!

If you want to get our attention and actually have us post something positive about a format, then a station needs to do something creative and think out of the box again.

About a year and a half ago almost closer to two, there was a little station in Crossville that blew their country format out and re created Music Radio WLS in Chicago. They took the mid 70's as their core but played some 60's too. They went as far as using the original WLS jingle package from that time period, they had reverb and the jocks were exciting sounding, many people were shocked to find out that they were from Crossville, it came in pretty good in West Knox, as that frequency still does. I believe that there was a transponder on Sharps ridge as well to help penetrate downtown plus north and east K-town. It sounded great! At the time Knoxville had no oldies station, so it perked up some ears in the area. Not to mention it generated some talk on this site, people were excited for a brief moment. It lasted for about 6 months then the owner apparently made a stupid move by going classic rock with it to possibly be an annoying flea on WIMZ's back. But the point is radio needs help badly and it won't get better unless it re creates itself. BTW I'm 42

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Im 28 and my fav station was the old CHR Format on WOKI 100.3,, mainly the I-100 Era.. I like Electric 94.9, but Star 102.1 is nothing like the old WOKI.

 

[Raingus]

The old WOKI definitely sounded better than what STAR 102.1 does. Plus most of today's music that is played on so called Top 40 stations is crap anyway.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Ditto,,, the closest and best station that would sound like WOKI today if the original owners and format and frequency existed is this ROCK LEANED CHR in pikeville Kentucky,,, The station calls itself Z-Rock and has a rock lean,, but they play all the biggest CHR Pop and Rhythmic hits as well, just like WOKI did... The only thing ZROCK 107.5 is lacking that I-100 had is a Flamethrower signal, and exceptional Air Talent,, but this station beats anything in K-town... Check it out,, you can listen online too www.1075zrock.com the closest station still in existance that is similar to the old WOKI-I-100 philosify...... Electric 94.9 is a close second, cause they have upbeat energetic jocks by todays standards and good jingles.... Electric 94.9 is not local, but can be heard clearly in most of K-town,, but Zrock 107.5 is up near Hazard (Kind of),, and it only has 1450 watts.

 

[RMarino]

The old WOKI definitely sounded better than what STAR 102.1 does. Plus most of today's music that is played on so called Top 40 stations is crap anyway.

The real hit music station in Knoxville today is Hot 104.5 anyway. Nobody can compare with the memory of WOKI, but Hot does a pretty good job with live/local personalites and a very good mainstream rhythmic-leaning hit music mix.

 

[Raingus]

The old WOKI definitely sounded better than what STAR 102.1 does. Plus most of today's music that is played on so called Top 40 stations is crap anyway.

The real hit music station in Knoxville today is Hot 104.5 anyway. Nobody can compare with the memory of WOKI, but Hot does a pretty good job with live/local personalites and a very good mainstream rhythmic-leaning hit music mix.

I thought Hot 104.5 was a rap/hip-hop station. They may have good local personalities, however I think the music they play is total crap. Sorry, not a fan of that type of music.

 

[AlbumOldies]

I'm 53, and old enough to remember when AM and FM were light years better than they are now. I was most fortunate to have grown up in Memphis where two AM Top 40 stations battled it out in the 60's and 70's, where DJ's were fun to listen to, and so was the music. The music actually had a melody then! Also, on the FM dial in the late 60's and early 70's we had WMC FM 100, which played progressive rock (also called cosmic rock) where we heard artists like the Velvet Underground, early David Bowie, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Babe Ruth, The Allman Bros, The Animals, Traffic, Jethro Tull, The Doors, The Who, The Beatles, CCR, Mott The Hoople, Led Zeppelin, and tons more, and NOT THE SAME *&^$##%^$ CRAP THAT WIMZ PLAYS OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!!

ATTENTION WIMZ: THERE'S MORE TO ROCK THAN LYNYRD SKYNYRD, BAD COMPANY, ZZ TOP AND AC/DC !!!

I am SO thankful I had the opportunity to listen to FM100 in Memphis back then. My album collection grew largely based on things I heard there.

I listen to Scott Shannon's oldies most of the time on 98.7. There's a good variety, he's fun to listen to, and knows his stuff. I remember listening to him on WMPS in Memphis in the 60's as "Super Shan." As I stated above, I cannot tolerate WIMZ, and just cannot see the attraction of anything about 102.1. B97.5 just strikes me as being a bit on the "feminine" side. Jack FM is decent, and I imagine they will gain listeners from 93.1. As far as 104.5, that music could be used at Club Gitmo to make the prisoners spill their guts out. Yeech! I have tried to listen to 105.3 but their signal just does not get out so I don't much bother trying to pick them up.

Am I over the hill? I think not. I still hear rock music that I like from other sources. Who around Knoxville has played anything from Tom Petty's last couple of albums? Anyone here heard of Nicole Atkins? I'll bet that if FM100 in Memphis still had the program director and DJ's and that they had then and was free of corporate BS that you'd be hearing Nicole Atkins on that station.

I resisted this thought for a long time, but I now believe corporate commercial radio is spiraling downward out of control.

 

[AlbumOldies]

About a year and a half ago almost closer to two, there was a little station in Crossville that blew their country format out and re created Music Radio WLS in Chicago. They took the mid 70's as their core but played some 60's too. They went as far as using the original WLS jingle package from that time period, they had reverb and the jocks were exciting sounding, many people were shocked to find out that they were from Crossville, it came in pretty good in West Knox, as that frequency still does. I believe that there was a transponder on Sharps ridge as well to help penetrate downtown plus north and east K-town. It sounded great! At the time Knoxville had no oldies station, so it perked up some ears in the area. Not to mention it generated some talk on this site, people were excited for a brief moment. It lasted for about 6 months then the owner apparently made a stupid move by going classic rock with it to possibly be an annoying flea on WIMZ's back. But the point is radio needs help badly and it won't get better unless it re creates itself. BTW I'm 42

Yes - I thought this WLS recreation was superb and was very disappointed that they didn't stick with it. They even called themselves WLSQ. If you ever listened to WLS in Chicago in the late 60's thru the late 70's consider yourself fortunate. It boomed into Memphis at night and lots of us there listened to it - John "Records" Landecker, Fred Winston, Yvonne Daniels, Larry Lujack (remember "Animal Stories"?), Chris Eric Stevens, and so many other DJ's who made radio fun.
I've picked up several WLS Music Surveys on Ebay just to keep the nostagia going.

 

[RMarino]

I'm 53, and old enough to remember when AM and FM were light years better than they are now. I was most fortunate to have grown up in Memphis where two AM Top 40 stations battled it out in the 60's and 70's, where DJ's were fun to listen to, and so was the music. The music actually had a melody then! Also, on the FM dial in the late 60's and early 70's we had WMC FM 100, which played progressive rock (also called cosmic rock) where we heard artists like the Velvet Underground, early David Bowie, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Babe Ruth, The Allman Bros, The Animals, Traffic, Jethro Tull, The Doors, The Who, The Beatles, CCR, Mott The Hoople, Led Zeppelin, and tons more, and NOT THE SAME *&^$##%^$ CRAP THAT WIMZ PLAYS OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!!

ATTENTION WIMZ: THERE'S MORE TO ROCK THAN LYNYRD SKYNYRD, BAD COMPANY, ZZ TOP AND AC/DC !!!

You see, the thing is... classic rock radio does not program to people who are actually old enough to remember the music. Today's classic rock stations (at least the ones that sound like WIMZ) program to guys in their 20s and 30s who love rock but hate today's rock music. They aren't burned out on "Freebird" yet because they weren't alive yet when it was orginally released.

There were great classic rock stations 15-20 years ago who played all of those artists that you mentioned. If those stations still sounded like that, you and I would enjoy it, but the demos would be considered too old, just like oldies stations are now.

 

[ratman2005]

The old WOKI definitely sounded better than what STAR 102.1 does. Plus most of today's music that is played on so called Top 40 stations is crap anyway.

The real hit music station in Knoxville today is Hot 104.5 anyway. Nobody can compare with the memory of WOKI, but Hot does a pretty good job with live/local personalites and a very good mainstream rhythmic-leaning hit music mix.

Can someone explain the difference between rhythmic and hip/hop or urban? I know there is some specific classification...

 

[Raingus]

I'm 53, and old enough to remember when AM and FM were light years better than they are now. I was most fortunate to have grown up in Memphis where two AM Top 40 stations battled it out in the 60's and 70's, where DJ's were fun to listen to, and so was the music. The music actually had a melody then! Also, on the FM dial in the late 60's and early 70's we had WMC FM 100, which played progressive rock (also called cosmic rock) where we heard artists like the Velvet Underground, early David Bowie, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Babe Ruth, The Allman Bros, The Animals, Traffic, Jethro Tull, The Doors, The Who, The Beatles, CCR, Mott The Hoople, Led Zeppelin, and tons more, and NOT THE SAME *&^$##%^$ CRAP THAT WIMZ PLAYS OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!!

ATTENTION WIMZ: THERE'S MORE TO ROCK THAN LYNYRD SKYNYRD, BAD COMPANY, ZZ TOP AND AC/DC !!!

You see, the thing is... classic rock radio does not program to people who are actually old enough to remember the music. Today's classic rock stations (at least the ones that sound like WIMZ) program to guys in their 20s and 30s who love rock but hate today's rock music. They aren't burned out on "Freebird" yet because they weren't alive yet when it was orginally released.

There were great classic rock stations 15-20 years ago who played all of those artists that you mentioned. If those stations still sounded like that, you and I would enjoy it, but the demos would be considered too old, just like oldies stations are now.

I saw a post on here one time where a guy said that he wishes "94.3 X" would take their new rock format and move it to 103.5 and combine the X's format with WIMZ's Classic Rock Format on 103.5 and take 94.3 in a different direction by changing it to AAA and call it "94.3 The River" and program it the same way the original River was being programmed before Citadel got a hold of it and ruined it.

 

[RMarino]

Can someone explain the difference between rhythmic and hip/hop or urban? I know there is some specific classification...

Well right now, they are very close. But there is a difference. Think of it this way... You have an Urban chart and you have a Mainstream Top 40 chart. Take the Urban chart and grab the most mainstream sounding songs leaving out all but maybe two or three ballads. Now take the Mainstream Top 40 chart and grab all songs with a dance beat. Now put those those two groups together and you have the Rhythmic chart. Hot 104.5 is a Rhythmic station. The closest Urban station would be 101.1 The Beat in Nashville.

 

[ratman2005]

Can someone explain the difference between rhythmic and hip/hop or urban? I know there is some specific classification...

Well right now, they are very close. But there is a difference. Think of it this way... You have an Urban chart and you have a Mainstream Top 40 chart. Take the Urban chart and grab the most mainstream sounding songs leaving out all but maybe two or three ballads. Now take the Mainstream Top 40 chart and grab all songs with a dance beat. Now put those those two groups together and you have the Rhythmic chart. Hot 104.5 is a Rhythmic station. The closest Urban station would be 101.1 The Beat in Nashville.

Thanks!

 

[bub]

I resisted this thought for a long time, but I now believe corporate commercial radio is spiraling downward out of control.

It's been a race to the bottom for quite some time. This is what you get when you try to convert a Main Street industry into a Wall Street industry...you get The Triumph Of Mediocrity.