I'm not a Peter Cetera fan either (except for 70s Chicago which I love). But I strongly dislike 80s Chicago, Peter Cetera solo songs, or his duets wih artists like Cher. But this song he did with Paul Anka is a major exception. It's a wondeful song, you might also like it even if you can't stand Cetera.
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Is there still soft AC?
- Thread starter vchimpanzee
- Start date
I used to hear it all the time on AC radio when it was new. It was okay, but the Peter Cetera parts I hated.Jay F said:
"If You Leave Me Now" is the only song with him I like, but I don't like HIM. It has good instrumentals.
About the only Chicago songs that any AC around here will play are "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", "Will You Still Love Me?" and "You're The Inspiration." One will play "If You Leave Me Now" and "Baby What a Big Surprise" as well, occasionally. I find it intriguing that they won't play much of Chicago from the 70s, yet they play everything by Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bee Gees, KC & The Sunshine Band, etc.
I don't mind the Peter Cetera/Cher duet. Nobody around here plays it surprisingly.
I don't mind the Peter Cetera/Cher duet. Nobody around here plays it surprisingly.
I like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" I haven't heard it lately.
And now you know all the Chicago songs I like.
I did enjoy the "Stay the Night" video back in the 80s. I still remember the evil look on that woman's face as she drove off in the ambulance.
And now I'm remeinded of poor Juice Newton in "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me".
Toward the end, my Stardust affiliate was playing the long version of "Hard to Say I'm Sorry". Once Stardust went off the deep end, the format was not exactly a "Hard Habit to Break". One of the worst Chicago songs.
And now you know all the Chicago songs I like.
I did enjoy the "Stay the Night" video back in the 80s. I still remember the evil look on that woman's face as she drove off in the ambulance.
And now I'm remeinded of poor Juice Newton in "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me".
Toward the end, my Stardust affiliate was playing the long version of "Hard to Say I'm Sorry". Once Stardust went off the deep end, the format was not exactly a "Hard Habit to Break". One of the worst Chicago songs.
We have similar tastes. I also liked "Stay The Night". I can remember watching and enjoying the video in 1984. As much as I liked the new bands and sounds of the era there was something comforting about having Chicago around. But then I turned against the band starting with "Hard Habit To Break". They had a string of big hits in the mid-late 80s but I thought they were all garbage, such a letdown from their earlier music.
With a couple of major exceptions, I still hear more 70s Chicago on the radio than 80s. For example, I never hear their #1 hit (for two weeks amazingly) from 1988 "Look Away". It is not cool enough for Hot AC or any 80s retro type specialty programming yet it also has fallen through the cracks on AC.
With a couple of major exceptions, I still hear more 70s Chicago on the radio than 80s. For example, I never hear their #1 hit (for two weeks amazingly) from 1988 "Look Away". It is not cool enough for Hot AC or any 80s retro type specialty programming yet it also has fallen through the cracks on AC.
I just heard Chicago-Will You Still Love Me on WLYF/Miami. It sounded somewhat refreshing to me because I haven't heard it in so long. I still didn't care for it, it has that overproduced late 80s sound.
WLYF is still one of my favorite ACs. They have a unique sound custom made for South Florida. They play songs you would never hear on other ACs. For eample they played Ray Goodman and Brown-Special Lady into Dr Hook-When Your In Love With A Beautiful Woman. I love the fact that a station that plays Dr Hook is #1 12+ and #1 women 25-54. They are gold based but they play some good currents too like Matt Nathanson-Come and Get Higher.
WLYF is still one of my favorite ACs. They have a unique sound custom made for South Florida. They play songs you would never hear on other ACs. For eample they played Ray Goodman and Brown-Special Lady into Dr Hook-When Your In Love With A Beautiful Woman. I love the fact that a station that plays Dr Hook is #1 12+ and #1 women 25-54. They are gold based but they play some good currents too like Matt Nathanson-Come and Get Higher.
Just to be clear, I didn't like the song, but I did like video. I liked a bunch of videos where I didn't like the song.Jay F said:
Terrible, terrible song.Jay F said:
And for this I would be grateful.Jay F said:
Can't STAND it. I can't remember which song it was I heard when this area still had a Timeless Favorites affiliate, but I changed the station quickly.Jay F said:
Those first two songs I like, but I wouldn't know the third one.Jay F said:
I guess someone has to play this stuff. I'm not aware of a standards station in that area, as much as it needs one. Doesn't Florida have a lot of old people, even there?
Oh, everyone stop talking about women 25-54. I have nothing in common with them!Jay F said:
"Matlock"! Gimme my pills! Gimme my Social Security! Gimme gimme gimme! And get your hands of my Medicare. I don't want government taking over my health care!
Jay F said:
After you mentioned "Special Lady" I had to go to iTunes to download it. Wow I haven't heard that song in years! Go collect your commission!
M
MsMusicRadio
Guest
vchimpanzee said:
Why do I picture you looking like Sen.Grassley?
Just to get back to WDUV Tampa, the Dove, I really like the station because they continue to play the soft hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s. The funny thing is they're owned by Cox, which also owns the conventional sort-of-Soft AC in the market, WWRM. While The Dove is always #1 12+ and always #1 in the 35-64 demo, WWRM is usually #1 women 25-54.
Up till maybe 2 years ago, The Dove was still playing an occasional Sinatra or Dean Martin tune. But to keep the station from falling out of that 35-64 demo, almost any title that might be Nostalgia has been tossed. You still hear Neil Diamond, The Carpenters, Barbra Streisand, Chicago, Anne Murray, Kenny Rogers, Dionne Warwick, The Beatles, Barry Manilow and The Fifth Dimension, even though conventional Soft AC stations have pretty much purged these artists from their playlists.
And at around :35 past the hour, you still hear an instrumental on The Dove, a throwback to their easy listening days. Today, that instrumental might be a soft jazz song or some music from a major movie like Titanic or Forrest Gump. r
Detractors will say that despite WDUV's consistant #1 ratings, sometimes double-digits, the station is only ranked around #7 in the market in bringing in revenue. Time can only be sold to older-adult advertisers.
But on the other hand, the station runs on a shoestring. Only one live voice is heard, morning host Dick Ring. He even reads his own headlines in the morning. The rest of the day is totally automated, using the same pre-recorded liners with the same deep voice as they've used for a decade.
Am I so old that I can't understand how younger people live their lives with NO soft music on their radio? (At one time NYC had SIX Easy Listening stations... 105.1 WRFM, 93.1/930 WPAT-AM-FM, 103.5 WTFM and 100.3/620 WVNJ-AM-FM. And two other stations, 97.1 WNBC-FM and 101.9 WPIX also went Easy Listening for a short time.)
Is there never a time to wind down? Enjoy dinner or read a book with a soft station like The Dove or Smooth Jazz being heard in the background? How do stations proclaim they're "Lite" or "Soft" while playing Nickelback or Rihanna?
Gregg
[email protected]
Up till maybe 2 years ago, The Dove was still playing an occasional Sinatra or Dean Martin tune. But to keep the station from falling out of that 35-64 demo, almost any title that might be Nostalgia has been tossed. You still hear Neil Diamond, The Carpenters, Barbra Streisand, Chicago, Anne Murray, Kenny Rogers, Dionne Warwick, The Beatles, Barry Manilow and The Fifth Dimension, even though conventional Soft AC stations have pretty much purged these artists from their playlists.
And at around :35 past the hour, you still hear an instrumental on The Dove, a throwback to their easy listening days. Today, that instrumental might be a soft jazz song or some music from a major movie like Titanic or Forrest Gump. r
Detractors will say that despite WDUV's consistant #1 ratings, sometimes double-digits, the station is only ranked around #7 in the market in bringing in revenue. Time can only be sold to older-adult advertisers.
But on the other hand, the station runs on a shoestring. Only one live voice is heard, morning host Dick Ring. He even reads his own headlines in the morning. The rest of the day is totally automated, using the same pre-recorded liners with the same deep voice as they've used for a decade.
Am I so old that I can't understand how younger people live their lives with NO soft music on their radio? (At one time NYC had SIX Easy Listening stations... 105.1 WRFM, 93.1/930 WPAT-AM-FM, 103.5 WTFM and 100.3/620 WVNJ-AM-FM. And two other stations, 97.1 WNBC-FM and 101.9 WPIX also went Easy Listening for a short time.)
Is there never a time to wind down? Enjoy dinner or read a book with a soft station like The Dove or Smooth Jazz being heard in the background? How do stations proclaim they're "Lite" or "Soft" while playing Nickelback or Rihanna?
Gregg
[email protected]
M
MsMusicRadio
Guest
That is a good assessment. When I was in the 25-54 demo, I lived in Richmond Va and they had 3 soft AC's . They were in progression so the market only had one at a time. They were WEZS, WQSF, and WTVR. Back then, the music played on all of them was the music played on the DOVE now. Only WTVR survives as AC and I think it evolved from WDUV music to WWRM music with a sprinkling of Motown oldies because of market demo's and seriouis competition from an Urban AC. They were live 24/7 when they flipped to AC in the early Nineties, but now they only have 3 local people with Delilah and Tesh at nights. They also use Premier on week-ends. Without anything like WDUV in Richmond, WTVR tends to skew a bit older than WWRM and other "Soft AC's playing currents". Cox owns a Hot AC in Richmond, but they seem to be non-competitive. It seems like only a few markets have anything like a Soft AC playing the music that used to be mainstream AC. Somebody mentioned WTRV in Grand Rapids and WLTT HD 2
The station in Saginaw/Bay City, MI that one of the first posters mentioned is The Bay, WSAG 104.1 FM/WSAM 1400 AM. I'm not sure I would call them "soft" anymore - on my way up to northern Michigan this past weekend they played "Hot N Cold." There was a time recently when they were mixing in some '60s oldies like Sonny & Cher, the Cascades, Gary Puckett etc. probably to try to draw in some of the oldies audience who were disenfranchised when crosstown WHNN dropped those artists. Those seem to be gone now.
Also it looks like Manilow, Streisand, Carpenters etc. are gone from WTRV, whose playlist now looks like a clone of competitor Star 105.7 WOOD-FM's. Now you hear not-so-soft stuff like Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" on The River. Now if you want truly soft music in that market you have to listen to classical on Blue Lake Public Radio or Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz feed on WOOD-FM's HD2.
From a Canadian perspective, I always thought CHFI in Toronto executed Soft AC quite well.
Also, WTGV 97.7 FM in Sandusky (in Michigan's Thumb) is an odd little station - fully automated except for simulcasting local news breaks from sister station AM 660 WMIC, and with a playlist that leans toward AC recurrents and gold (while keeping the Bruce Springsteen/Nickelback type stuff to a minimum) but includes such oddities as the Mike Curb Congregation's "Burning Bridges." You won't hear Manilow, Streisand or Carpenters there, however, except during the holiday season.
Also it looks like Manilow, Streisand, Carpenters etc. are gone from WTRV, whose playlist now looks like a clone of competitor Star 105.7 WOOD-FM's. Now you hear not-so-soft stuff like Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" on The River. Now if you want truly soft music in that market you have to listen to classical on Blue Lake Public Radio or Broadcast Architecture's Smooth Jazz feed on WOOD-FM's HD2.
From a Canadian perspective, I always thought CHFI in Toronto executed Soft AC quite well.
Also, WTGV 97.7 FM in Sandusky (in Michigan's Thumb) is an odd little station - fully automated except for simulcasting local news breaks from sister station AM 660 WMIC, and with a playlist that leans toward AC recurrents and gold (while keeping the Bruce Springsteen/Nickelback type stuff to a minimum) but includes such oddities as the Mike Curb Congregation's "Burning Bridges." You won't hear Manilow, Streisand or Carpenters there, however, except during the holiday season.
None of the AC stations here play Rihanna (or Hot N Cold), but those do NOT belong on AC. I've only heard one from Nickelback, that one from a few years ago.
Gregg brings up a good point in his last paragraph. Is there a place for soft music? If Nickelback or "Hot N Cold" is the softest music that anyone will accept it's not just AC that has changed, it's the human race! I don't think people have changed that much.If soft music stations existed they would have audiences. It's just that radio can't sell them.
For those who enjoy soft music the internet is the place to be. I am just discovering there is an entire world of ambient music streams. It's the most relaxing music I ever heard in my life.
For those who enjoy soft music the internet is the place to be. I am just discovering there is an entire world of ambient music streams. It's the most relaxing music I ever heard in my life.
Jay F said:
Unfortunately demographics have changed. It seems soft AC is a 55+ format. Same reason why smooth jazz, standards, oldies, and nostalgia are DOA. It pains me. These are the formats I love. I think radio COULD HAVE sold these formats better 10-15 years ago and held on to them, but now it's too late. A generation has passed and they no longer appreciate that type of music. As for Nickelback, I'd rather go to a proctologist than hear their crap. Pathetic.
AC's play more than Far Away by Nickelback? That's the only one I've ever heard one play. A few AC's play Creed's Arms Wide Open and Hoobastank's The Reason. Still amazes me those have a place on 'lite rock'
Star 92.1 played "Never Gonna Be Alone" when I was in Myrtle Beach, which has a real AC problem right now.carolinaradio said:
Of course, they quit calling themselves soft rock on the air a few years back. Someone should tell them to change their billboards, which still say soft rock and have hideous photos of Faith Hill and Celine Dion, along with nice photos of Elton Johnand Phil Collins.
Something I didn't say elsewhere is that WLGI 90.9 has some smooth jazz. I don't know how much. Of course, it's really just instrumental-based urban AC and not really the good stuff.
Here's what I said about WEZV on another board:
I had a long talk with the general manager of this station last week while I was in Myrtle Beach. The news isn't that good.
While there are times this station sounds very good and it even plays several songs in a row that are real standards, the instrumentals have pretty much disappeared. You get fooled by a lot of songs which start with such gorgeous instrumentals and they end up with a fine vocal performance--but still, not instrumental. They call the station "Easy". They promote it on-air and in the newspaper as "the relaxation station".
A lot of the songs fit into that gray area between real standards and AC. Most ACs aren't playing the songs any more. Then there are the real AC songs, many of which I could do without. Some aren't even on standards stations that I've heard. One was "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" by Bryan Adams. One of the last people I would want to listen to, although it's one of his least objectionable songs.
The first thing I said to the man was that The Sun News had messed up twice, calling WEZV soft AC. He said it was soft AC. He didn't give me any of that garbage about how the station didn't really fit any category, which is what I was expecting. I said no, Yes 94.5 was soft AC. Easy 105.9 was easy listening.
Regarding WEZV, he said that it was not easy listening because it didn't have instrumentals. I didn't tell him I heard "Nadia's Theme", but he's pretty much correct and that's a shame. I said the defintion of easy listening had evolved. He said no one calls their station easy listening any more. Soft AC is what this is. I said no, a lot of stations are easy listening. Most are in Florida. Okay, that wasn't true, but my Yahoo groups know there are easy listening stations, even some with the classic definition. He mentioned how WDUV in the Tampa area (which he said has 80 percent of their playlist) is considered soft AC. Well, I would have to agree, because the last few times I've looked at their playlist, pretty much everything was AC at one time, even if a few songs have been rejected by AC.
And of course we discussed what soft AC really is. No, he said, Yes 94.5 was mainstream AC. Now the Wikipedia article says the station changed. I don't know if that's true, although Yes 94.5 in October 2007 certainly wasn't the station I had seen described earlier in The Sun News. Actually, according to the Wikipedia article the station went mainstream in March 2008 but switched to oldies in September, before I heard it again. . I wonder if that could be what he meant. Amazingly, as the man described how AC had a wide range, he said a lot of people don't think Star 92.1 is AC, but it is. Excuse me? That's not helping your case. That's not what I said to him but I should have.
I never used the word standards but based on the way that format has changed he would never have found it acceptable as a description of his station. Luckily, the man who keeps formats up-to-date for the Arbitron section of this site agreed with me that it was. I certainly didn't tell the man from WEZV this! I explained what that man said about soft AC being the description of some of the Delilah stations (I didn't call them that) and he said once again, those were mainstream. And whether WEZV is standards or not, Westwood One was calling their format "adult standards" even when it was more AC than WEZV is.
As he was talking about how formats had evolved, he tried to claim Sunny is now classic hits. I disagree. Its format is called "true oldies". Therefore the defintion of oldies has evolved. No, it hasn't, he said. I suppose he could be right, because stations such as WNMB need to distinguish themselves.
He had to leave to go on the air. I read somewhere he calls himself Scott Richards on the air. I found out Kelli Dixon was on vacation, which was a nice relief.
This man is crazy. You need to label your station correctly or people will get the wrong idea.
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