• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Has America's Best Music Eliminated All Adult Standards?

The above playlist belongs in an oldies thread, actually. I don't know where you would draw the line, but there are certainly some songs there you surely wouldn't hear on a standards station.

I came back to say I heard a smooth jazz version of a gospel song. Weird. There was one commercial for a Christian business.

WERT has a weird music mix, that's for sure. Tommy Dorsey AND The Traveling Wilburys. But pretty much everything can probably fit a standards format, even if a lot of songs aren't familiar.
 
WERT is sounding more normal but I was beginning to think they played a Christian song each hour.

But "There's Something About That Name" by Bill and Gloria Gaither sounds like "The Waltz You Saved for Me" by Wayne King. Enough that the Gaithers maybe should be concerned about Wayne King and Emil Flindt taking some sort of action. Given how old the song is, my guess is both of them are deceased but there would surely be relatives.

Another similar case: "Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots sounds like "I Got a Name" by Jim Croce.

And on a related subject, I heard "Baby Shark" by Pinkfong and that sounds like "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys.
 
Okay, WERT is the best station I've found so far. KABL has a lot of unfamiliar music even if it is nearly all standards. The versions of songs aren't always the most familiar ones but I'm hearing standards I haven't heard anywhere else.

streamdb5web.securenetsystems.net

WERT

Listen to our station on your computer or mobile device!
streamdb5web.securenetsystems.net
 
Here are some samples of WERT's music:

McGuire Sisters "Muskrat Ramble"
Petula Clark "Don't Sleep in the Subway"
Frank and Nancy Sinatra "Something Stupid"
O.C. Smith "Little Green Apples"
Oliver "Jean"
Gene Pitney "Only Love Can Break a Heart"
Shep and the Limelights "Daddy's Home"
Dean Martin "The Door Is Still Open"
Dion and the Belmonts "Where or When"
Mac and Katie Kisson "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep"
Frankie Valli "Our Day Will Come"
Ray Conniff "Somewhere My Love"
Dusty Springfield "Wishin and Hopin"
Paul Anka "Goodnight My Love"
Frank Sinatra "Come Fly with Me"

Peter Nero "Theme from 'Summer of '42'"
Frankie Lymon "Goody Goody"
Lena Horne "Watch What Happens"
Bert Kaempfert "Afrikaan Beat"
Ricky Nelson "Poor Little Fool"
Neil Sedaka "Laughter in the Rain"
Ray Lefevre "Soul Coaxing"
Jewel Akens "The Birds and the Bees"
Jackie Wilson "Reet Petite"
Roger Williams "Near You"
Glen Campbell "Gentle on My Mind"
Three Degrees "When Will I See You Again"


Merilee Rush "Angel of the Morning"
Les Baxter "The High and the Mighty"
Bill Haley & the Comets, "Rock Around the Clock"
Four Tops "Baby I Need Your Lovin'"
Jobim "Agua de Beber".
Bobby Darin "Beyond the Sea"
Sam Cooke "Havin' a Party"
Jo Stafford "Make Love to Me"
Andy Williams "Days of Wine and Roses"
Impressions "Gypsy Woman"
Barry Manilow "I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby"
Don Costa "Never on Sunday"
Hugh Masekela "Grazing in the Grass"
"Sea of Love" Phil Phillips
Nat King Cole "Smile"
 
For comparison, WPTX:

Ella Fitzgerald "Love You Madly"
Jim Brickman and Martina McBride "Valentine"
Anne Murray "Snowbird"
Tony Bennett? "Smile"
Billy Ocean "There'll Be Sad Songs"
Neil Diamond "Cracklin' Rose"
Chicago "Wishing You Were Here"
Michael Buble and Jane Monheit? "I Won't Dance"
Dan Fogelberg "Hard to Say"
ABBA "Fernando"
Perry Como "Round and Round"
Johnny Rivers "Swaying to the Music"
Jimmie Rodgers "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine"
Ray Charles "Busted"
Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On"
Joe Cocker "You Are So Beautiful"
Dave Clark Five "Because"
Lionel Richie "Hello"
Bob Lind "Elusive Butterfly"
Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald "On My Own"
Steve Lawrence "Go Away Little Girl"
John Denver "Sunshine on My Shoulders"
Carole King "Sweet Seasons"
Carly Simon "Nobody Does It Better"
Oliver "Good Morning Starshine"
Bobby Vinton "Roses Are Red"

For two of the songs I had to guess the artist because it doesn't say what the song playing is, but there is a DJ who come on sometimes. That DJ was Rod Tanner during the first hour or so.

There are more standards than on America's Best Music, but fewer than on WERT. On the other hand, WPTX has more familiar songs. In the past I've heard a lot of more AC-sounding songs than this. Today must be a good day.
 
More from WPTX, which did end sounding more like an AC station later (I left out two songs I didn't know):

Paul Davis "Cool Night"
Chris DeBurgh "The Lady in Red"
Beatles "Here Comes the Sun"
Olivia Newton-John "Hopelessly Devoted to You"
Mike Reno and Ann Wilson "Almost Paradise"
Moe Koffman "Swinging Shepherd Blues"
Ricky Nelson "Travelin' Man"
Bangles "Eternal Flame"
Vogues "You're the One"
Peter Cetera and Cher "After All"
Sylvia "Nobody"
Al Hirt "Autumn Leaves"
Christopher Cross "Sailing"
Fleetwoods "Come Softly to Me"
Stephanie Mills "Never Knew Love Like This Before"
Genesis "Hold On My Heart"
 
WPTX was definitely leaning AC yesterday. I even heard "Endless Summer Nights" by Richard Marx and "The Living Years" by Mike + the Mechanics.

Here is something that may provide hope for America's Best Music. I heard "Fly Me to the Moon" by Sinatra on Good Time Oldies today.
 
Hubbard Broadcasting has a station in Seattle, KIXI, that vchimpanzee may be interested in. It is described in Wikipedia as "KIXI features nostalgic music, such as big band and musical standards." It seems really listenable to me, and the one thing I enjoy about most Hubbard stations is that their commercial breaks are not annoyingly long, although you tend to hear repetitive adds for some sponsors.
 
theman8410 said:
Hubbard Broadcasting has a station in Seattle, KIXI, that vchimpanzee may be interested in. It is described in Wikipedia as "KIXI features nostalgic music, such as big band and musical standards." It seems really listenable to me, and the one thing I enjoy about most Hubbard stations is that their commercial breaks are not annoyingly long, although you tend to hear repetitive adds for some sponsors.
Click to expand...
I think I tried it and didn't like it that much. I might be more interested now, though.

And remember, you can't rely on Wikipedia. Not every format change gets documented.

Edit: I couldn't get the audio to work but I saw a "last songs played" list, and it's not so different from America's Best Music. There is an occasional "standard", apparently, but it still falls short of WERT in the number of total standards. WERT plays more energetic rock and roll, while KIXI is more easygoing, sort of like WPTX if it didn't have so many newer songs.
 
Last edited:
Here is another station I had forgotten about...WMIN Uptown 1010, which calls itself "Ring-A-Ding Radio". The playlist consists almost entirely of crooner vocals, with no RDS or "last played" list that I could find anywhere. Also, they have no app so you must listen through Tune-In or My Tuner Radio.

Occasionally they will play a vocal by a 60's/70's more modern group such as Sergio Mendes or the Carpenters.
 
JBraddock said:
Last 20 played on WMIN. (Hover over arrows at right and left sides to scroll through selections.) WMIN stream
Click to expand...
Occasionally? I started with the theme from "Taxi" and now I'm hearing Gary Puckett & the Union Gap.

One of the station IDs sounded like Maynard G. Krebs.

One regular standard (though it was one of the newer Linda Ronstadt versions) and a vocal standard with smooth jazz instrumentals. So far I'm not that impressed.

Okay, three standards in a row, and this is a traditional-sounding performance. But not a song I ever heard before.
 
Last edited:
One other note.. It seems like lately I have been listening to stations where the automation is not working properly and the music is not mixing as should be occurring. I will hear one type of music played (all re currents vs. re currents & currents mixed) and in this case all crooners vs. the usual mix. Possibly some of the hackers have been able to tamper with a number of automation systems. I noticed one weekend that all the gas stations I went to except one had no "pay at the pump" available.
 
theman8410 said:
One other note.. It seems like lately I have been listening to stations where the automation is not working properly and the music is not mixing as should be occurring. I will hear one type of music played (all re currents vs. re currents & currents mixed) and in this case all crooners vs. the usual mix. Possibly some of the hackers have been able to tamper with a number of automation systems. I noticed one weekend that all the gas stations I went to except one had no "pay at the pump" available.
Click to expand...
This station seems to be working properly, but "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer, one of the most synthesizer instrumentals of them all, is not what I'm looking for.
 
Later on I was tuning in & out in between listening to my usual "10@10" programs & I heard what was either Hootie & the Blowfish or Huey Lewis & The News. That to me was way out of line with the remainder of the format. They also seem to place instrumentals before the news or business news to run out the clock, so the music is not precisely timed.
 
"Little Lies" by Fleetwood Mac? Captain Kirk's friend Spock had an answer for that. That's like "Bette Davis Eyes" on WERT, though that one is just plain unlistenable to me.

There was something off-the-wall by Steely Dan which just went on and on. Then I heard the most bizarre song yet: "Lovefool" by The Cardigans.

Still, there's a lot of good stuff and it will definitely go on a list of options for hearing some good songs. I have yet to find a station that plays nothing but songs I like (America's Best Music when Jeff Rollins was still there would qualify now, I now realize, but didn't then).
 
Last edited:
According to the web site, "Birmingham" by Amanda Marshall. What is going on here?

Some other truly bizarre selections: "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac and "I'm Your Baby Tonight" by Whitney Houston.

Now "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Michael Buble, while unusual, is logical.

That's just too many bad songs in too short a time. I'm going back to WERT next time I get on the computer. WPTX didn't do such a good job last time.
 
Last edited:
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom