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DRC-FM: Here come the '80s again

C

CTListener

Heard this week on DRC-FM: "Down Under." "Don't You Want Me." "Walking on Sunshine." "What I Like About You." "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." "I Want a New Drug."

DRC-FM has been sneaking in an '80s song every three or four hours for the past few days -- and not just '80s songs by acts like Billy Joel and the Rolling Stones who made their names in previous decades, but core '80s acts like Cyndi Lauper and Men at Work and one-hit '80s wonders like Katrina and the Waves.

Remember the fall of 2005? Just about all the '60s and much of the early '70s music was dumped in favor of '80s-focused "Big Hits," and it was a disaster, with oldies returning and '80s music banished the following spring. Maybe this approach will be easier for the listeners and advertisers to take, or maybe the intention is to gradually lose the '60s and early '70s again and let the '80s take control. Anyone with any opinions or inside info on what might be going on at 102.9?

Oh, and the Lauper and Men at Work tunes sound great with DRC's new audio.
 
I think the 80's can be done right in DRC-FM's format if well executed. I think it's going to be a natural progression for any oldies station as they try to extend their demographics to an audience where they can attract advertisers. I don't fault them at all as long as they don't go overboard with the 80's.

My oldies stream lasted for years with people complimenting on the balance of the three decades. The only reason I'm pulling the plug on June 1st is because of the stupid royalties that keep going up, and up, and up!
 
MarcB said:
From what I've seen WOR 710 is the only station Buckley streams.
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Buckley pulled the plug on the 'DRC-FM webcast way back in 2001, when the higher rates for unionized voice talent on commercials went into effect. I'd like to see the station back on the Web, too, as well as sister station WSEN in Syracuse -- just to compare playlists and programming elements. But I guess Buckley isn't going to do it if it means shelling out extra money just to stream ads.
 
CTListener said:
Buckley pulled the plug on the 'DRC-FM webcast way back in 2001, when the higher rates for unionized voice talent on commercials went into effect. I'd like to see the station back on the Web, too, as well as sister station WSEN in Syracuse -- just to compare playlists and programming elements. But I guess Buckley isn't going to do it if it means shelling out extra money just to stream ads.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised that if that's the only reason they don't stream that they just don't get some sort of content substitution system. They could possibly sell the stream separately and make it an additional revenue stream. I don't know if DRC-FM is a union shop or not so it may not be possible to have their own people do the commercials on the stream, which may be the reason they don't in the first place.
 
CTListener said:
Heard this week on DRC-FM: "Down Under." "Don't You Want Me." "Walking on Sunshine." "What I Like About You." "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." "I Want a New Drug."

DRC-FM has been sneaking in an '80s song every three or four hours for the past few days -- and not just '80s songs by acts like Billy Joel and the Rolling Stones who made their names in previous decades, but core '80s acts like Cyndi Lauper and Men at Work and one-hit '80s wonders like Katrina and the Waves.

Remember the fall of 2005? Just about all the '60s and much of the early '70s music was dumped in favor of '80s-focused "Big Hits," and it was a disaster, with oldies returning and '80s music banished the following spring. Maybe this approach will be easier for the listeners and advertisers to take, or maybe the intention is to gradually lose the '60s and early '70s again and let the '80s take control. Anyone with any opinions or inside info on what might be going on at 102.9?

Oh, and the Lauper and Men at Work tunes sound great with DRC's new audio.
Click to expand...
Add Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With You Best Shot"
 
CTListener said:
I'd like to see the station back on the Web, too, as well as sister station WSEN in Syracuse -- just to compare playlists and programming elements.
Click to expand...

Well, WDRC is on Yes.com; WSEN isn't, however...
http://www.yes.com/#WDRC

By the way, according to Sunday's log, another 80's song heard on WDRC was Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen". However, not that many 80's tracks in the afternoon. The playlist is quite extensive compared to most oldies stations, although I would take issue with them playing three Jay & The Americans songs in four hours.
 
Sounds like the station is simply following other classic hits stations in phasing in the 80s. I wouldn't expect the 60s to disappear anytime soon.

I got to listen to DRC-FM during my trip up to Boston and I really liked the variety of music. Quite a few songs you don't hear too often elsewhere. I'm fine with them mixing in 80s as long as they don't also shrink their playlist. Now hopefully they can start streaming soon so I can listen here in New Jersey.
 
Out with the 50s, in with the 80s. Unfortunately, 80s music is now "oldies". 10 years from now, 90s will become oldies. Oldies seems to have two meanings...one is songs that were popular 25-55 years ago. Another is a specific style of music from the 50s to the 70s when songs were made for AM radio and records, and many songs had similar styles (motown, doo wop, disco, soul, etc) For a long time, both meanings of oldies represented the same music, but now, they are starting to differ.

I really like Oldies 103.3 in Boston, their DJs still have some of that old time radio personality.
Till WDRC starts streaming, you'll only be able to hear 'DRC in New Jersey when the tropo hits.
 
Three more today: "Jessie's Girl" (Rick Springfield), "Let's Hear It For the Boy" (Deniece Williams) and "Good Thing" (Fine Young Cannibals). Fun songs, all three. I'm in my 50s and grew up with '60s and '70s music, but I have no problem with any of the '80s additions to DRC's playlist so far.

Incidentally, the Cannibals' "Good Thing" was played about two hours after Paul Revere and the Raiders' "Good Thing," a completely different song from 22 years earlier. And a few hours later, the Walker Brothers' "Make It Easy On Yourself" got a spin. Have these three songs ever coexisted on one station's playlist before?
 
KML-224 said:
Wait...they played something as late as 1989? Shouldn't the song be 20 years old minimum?
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WCBS-FM is playing "Good Thing," too. I have no problem with hearing the song on a classic hits/oldies station. It sounds like it could have been released at least five years earlier, with none of the hip-hop or grunge influences that were creeping into Top 40 music by the cusp of the '90s.
 
Our "Oldies Station" mixes in the 80's when it fits in, most of the time it's a cover of an oldies song, or the Stray Cats that mixes well with an old Chuck Berry song. There is no need to cut out the fifties, you just have to know how to mix them in. We do have the the advantage of allowing our DJ's to mix the music as they see fit; like in the good old days before playlist and tight music rotations came to be. We even slip in non American ABBA releases and rare Petula Clarks German or UK versions; We like to have our own sound, we like to stand out from all the other oldies stations.

Steve
www.knjoradio.com
www.radiobrandy.com
 
It is so refreshing to actually see in print a station (XRQK and others) actually admit to having talented jocks who know how to entertain who 'don't need a leash'. Way to go! And I bet it shows in the books too.
 
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