> > So what would be your idea for a Jack like approach to
> Gold?
> > and what current rock would you do?
>
> Jack is a mass appeal format so the current music needs to
> be listenable across several age groups. In other words,
> the new Scott Stapp and Fall Out Boy are okay, but Sevendust
> and anything like that is too much. I'd limit the currents
> to genuine hits, letting other formats break them in.
>
> Then, I'd look at the whole history of rock and pick out the
> quality cuts. Jack does not discriminate in this way;
> they'll play one-hit wonders "Smoke From A Distant Fire" or
> "Hot Child in the City" and not bat an eye, but neither
> those cuts nor those artists mean anything to anybody. Why
> play that when you could play The Band or The Boss or Pearl
> Jam? The common denominator would be quality, not novelty.
Cool Idea.. I find that was the sort of idea I think they were trying to go with for Bayou in New Orleans and they are still trying to stick with it to a point. But I also find some of the one hit wonders are loved by people also, such as Manfred Mann's remake of the Bruce Springsteen song "Blinded by the Light". But yeah I find some of the greatest rock is now sent away to deep track stations or in someone's CD collection (or a rock station in timbucktwo).
I figure a jack for rock personally would be where you play some of the familiar burns (such as Ac/DC's "Hells Bells" which still rate high), play the great rock you don't hear anymore (when was the last time you heard Bob Seger that wasn't "old time rock and roll"?) and the newer hits (with keeping the harder stuff for either a special show or say after a certain time perhaps).
But yeah I miss the 80's-90s idea of AOR. I don't really see it around here in Louisiana as you still do in the North East (I did a yes search on a radio station that people were hyping on the rock/classic rock forum and find the late hours (midnight till about 5am is the kind of rock station I like... Play Fall out boys, but also know how to get on to Jackson Browne and nickelback to Styx)
>
> I don't let Clear Channel do my thinking for me, so I don't
> accept their bastardization of any format.
I don't, but I find what gets bastardized by the majors are just taken by others to generally mean that bastardization (In this case Alternative refering more to Modern Rock IMO) and not the true definition.
Just like Alternative was originally an alternative to the mainstream..but being bastardized over the last 20 years, it commonly refers I find to pretty much newer rock groups and some of the rock that don't fit elsewhere.
>
> > My issue is that 104 the x is trying to return to the feel
>
> > of the zephyr of 10+ years ago as a former member of that
> > station is MD at 104the x last I heard.
>
> You are painting this individual with a broad brush that
> doesn't seem fair, especially given the difference in era,
> location and other stations. How do you know a consultant
> (insultant) isn't involved? I personally hear no difference
> except a few older songs now and then, which as I pointed
> out in an eatlier post, appears to be a trend in other areas
> not just in the 3rd rock signal in a market.
I might have been too harsh as you said, But I have been listening to the station on and off since it moved to the former KKAY transmitter/tower in Donaldsonville in 2001 (It was originally just on 104.5, moved to 104.9 before being simucast on both for the past few years)
I checked it out again, and this go around they played some more of the modern rock than they did the couple of times I checked before. But I just had noticed that the truer alternative grew after the hire of the former member. As you said, might be coincedence. So I will give in and say I may have been too judgemental on this.
The stations I did a fast check on for Alternative on Radio and records were mixed..Some of the areas like Austin were playing more of the Alternative, where as others were sticking more modern rock calling themselves "alternative"
>
> > In 1993, you had a mainstream rocker in WCKW playing the
> new
> > rock allowing the zephyr to freeform into a true
> > Alternative...
>
> As a longtime listener of all these stations, WCKW was a
> dinosaur and The Zephyr was a blip in 1993. It's not fair
> to compare thirteen years ago to now because things change.
>
I know things change, The newer rock stations sround the nation in general IMO are going back to a eiter AOR style or plain hard rock over 40 years of rock (compared to say just new rock). In towns where they have a station playing new rock fairly constant, You find the Alt. Rocker playing more of the hits by groups like Gorillaz, than I would in a town with only one station playing new rock.. and going back 13 years I think was my way as an example to get some people to understand what I was trying to make as a point.
Just my observations and opinion that 104 the X seems to be playing more of the true Alternative hits than some of the modern rock songs
> You are assuming "alternative" (your quotes) does not have
> mass appeal but only mainstream rock does. I'm sure the
> millions of people who bought Pearl Jam albums would beg to
> differ. Coldplay and U2 are the biggest bands in the world,
> Nickelback, Weezer and Fall Out Boy are all over CHR right
> now, none of these bands are "lesser known". I hear a few
> new cuts on X but not a lot.
>
No I find that alternative does have mass appeal as the artist you name I actually do listen to (and actually have Pearl Jam, Nickelback,and U2 in my personal collection)..
Maybe I'm not up on the Alternative scene like I was before Katrina and coming back to it, either my taste might have changed a little or just some Alternative currently is more extreme than my preferences right now (such as the White Stripes and the strokes).
But my whole point from before is, I find that KNXX is playing more Alternative heavy (such as the stipes, Gorillaz,and strokes among others) than Modern Rocker (Pearl Jam,Seether,among others) and with them being the only new rock game in town, I figure they would be like other markets with 1 station and be more of a modern rocker (Like KKND was in New Orleans) to go after more people is what I am getting at.
And what I consider Mainstream is about half of the alt rock playlist such as Seether,Godsmack, Advenged Sevenfold,10 years, and Korn among others (and are groups I love listening to).
> You are aware that Guarantee owns The Eagle/98 and any
> mainstream rock station would be competition for that
> station.
>
Yep.. and I even remember when Guaranty tried Mainstream on 98.1 for a few months after WCKW flipped A/C in 1999. But they find they do better as a classic rocker... some are more just closed minded to new rock totally thinking Rock died when Kurt Cobain did.
Unfortuneately, trying to describe something on air is kind of hard in print at times
So I apologize if you may misunderstand what I'm trying to say at times.
RFLA
