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KONO 101 - What happened to the "oldies"?

J

jl1245

I noticed that KONO is now starting to playing classic rock (I've heard the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, some others that are not classified as oldies), and they don't play anything from before 1965. They've even gotten away from some mid 60's stuff that resembles the early 60's.... They are going all the way up through 1979. The station has changed so much from what I used to hear. They play Beatles every now and then, but we hear "Come Together" and "Hey Jude" instead of songs like "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Every now and then you'll hear a Motown song. The only Beach Boys song you hear is "Good Vibrations".

There are no 50's and early 60's "oldies" music being played anymore. Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, doowop, Dion, the Everly Brothers, etc. Where has it all gone?

I don't think KONO even calls themselves an oldies station anymore. "The Greatest Hits of the 60's and 70's". Why don't they just say "KONO - Your Classic Hits Station". Because classic hits is what they've become. Bring back the oldies! I liked the station more when their format spanded from 1956 to about 1972.
 
Looks like they are following in the footsteps of Houston sister KHTC (K-Hits) Really sad. I remember just 3 years ago when I lived in SA, they were one of the greatest sounding oldies stations around.
 
The demos for 50's-60's oldies have aged past 55, which makes them less desirable to advertisers. Whether that is valid thinking has been argued on these boards a million times, but that's the reality.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
The demos for 50's-60's oldies have aged past 55, which makes them less desirable to advertisers. Whether that is valid thinking has been argued on these boards a million times, but that's the reality.
Click to expand...
Maybe we've just stumbled into the next format for the KAHL simulcast on 103.7?
 
I havnt liked what KONO played in a long time. If your ever near the Victoria area, check out KITE, they are still one of the best oldies stations alive right now. (What I think)
 
Posted by: radiodog2- Looks like they are following in the footsteps of Houston sister KHTC (K-Hits)
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Actually, they've been tagging themselves "The Greatest Hits of the 60's & 70's" for atleast a year if not longer.

Posted by: Mediafrog+- The demos for 50's-60's oldies have aged past 55, which makes them less desirable to advertisers. Whether that is valid thinking has been argued on these boards a million times, but that's the reality.
Click to expand...
I think this trend has been happening throughout the country.

Posted by: daypart- Maybe we've just stumbled into the next format for the KAHL simulcast on 103.7?
Click to expand...
I think your right.
 
saradio1 said:
Posted by: radiodog2- Looks like they are following in the footsteps of Houston sister KHTC (K-Hits)
Click to expand...

Actually, they've been tagging themselves "The Greatest Hits of the 60's & 70's" for atleast a year if not longer.
Click to expand...

Then that is not Classic Rock, but Classic Hits... a 70's core gold format as opposed to a 60's core. The model is WOGL and WCBS-FM.
 
jl1245 said:
I noticed that KONO is now starting to playing classic rock (I've heard the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, some others that are not classified as oldies), and they don't play anything from before 1965. They've even gotten away from some mid 60's stuff that resembles the early 60's.... They are going all the way up through 1979. The station has changed so much from what I used to hear. They play Beatles every now and then, but we hear "Come Together" and "Hey Jude" instead of songs like "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Every now and then you'll hear a Motown song. The only Beach Boys song you hear is "Good Vibrations".

There are no 50's and early 60's "oldies" music being played anymore. Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, doowop, Dion, the Everly Brothers, etc. Where has it all gone?

I don't think KONO even calls themselves an oldies station anymore. "The Greatest Hits of the 60's and 70's". Why don't they just say "KONO - Your Classic Hits Station". Because classic hits is what they've become. Bring back the oldies! I liked the station more when their format spanded from 1956 to about 1972.
Click to expand...

Roger Allen told me you can thank Bob Neal out of Atlanta for the change.
 
I also notice KONO playing remake versions of some pre-1965 oldies, rather than the originals. They play the 1972 version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Robert John rather than the original Tokens 1961 version. The Locomotion by Grand Funk Railroad 1974 version rather than the 1962 Little Eva original. Even the 1979 Spinners version of Working My Way Back to You rather than the '66 version by the Four Seasons. Others include a remake of Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede with the "ooka shaka"s although they still play the BJ Thomas version.

I barely even noticed the transition at first because it was so subtle until my dad pointed out to me: where are the 50's?

Well, at least KONO wasn't entirely replaced with BOB FM or whatever they call it, as Oldies 103 in Austin was. There are still some 1966-1973 oldies remaining on KONO that were around during the mid 50's-early 70's format years of KONO, but KONO just isn't KONO anymore.

As you can tell I'm a 1955-1973 oldies fanatic!
 
The oldies format is changing with the times. Those us us who remember the 60s music first hand are now out of the coveted 25-54 demo.

I remember programming adult contemporary years ago and the conventional wisdom was that to avoid skewing old the music couldn't be older than 25 years. Today that takes us all the way back to 1983.
 
fredcantu said:
I remember programming adult contemporary years ago and the conventional wisdom was that to avoid skewing old the music couldn't be older than 25 years. Today that takes us all the way back to 1983.
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Wow, that means it won't be long until 70s hits will become as rare on the air as 50s music is today. I'm glad I have a few years to get my mind wrapped around the notion that some of the music I played on my college radio station is about to become obsolete on broadcast radio.
 
Wrap your head around this: A station today playing 50s music would be like a station in the 1960s playing music from the 1910s. Ouch!
 
1910's? I think that anaolgy is a little extreme, but I get the "jest" of your point and agree.

Personally, I miss the rockin' hits of the 10's ;)
 
[I think this trend has been happening throughout the country.]

Yes, this is definetely the trend. The "oldies" format (as it were) and name have disappeared from countless markets in recent years. Some stations are leaning at bit towards classic rock, some lean more toward AC...depending on the marketplace. Many of these stations are seeing a great deal of success (KLUV in Dallas, KBGO in Waco, KKCL in Lubbock). Due to the growth and popularity of this format and approach, many classic rockers are hurting right now.
 
I don't know why KONO couldn't split off their tinny-sounding FM SIMULCAST 860 AM and play Real Oldies there. After all, AM radio doesn't make any money, right? The waste of airwaves can't garner much listenership as it only rehashes the mediocre KONO-FM programming.
 
why does KONO still have that AM simulcast? To my parents, It was alright 15 years ago when the family Dodge only had an AM radio and no other music selection (because my parents were NOT going to listen to KKYX or spanish). To me: Torture and embarassment as a child!! lol
 
If the AM stick doesn't make any money, as I'm sure it doesn't, serving as an FM translator, why not put on some programming that would appeal to an audience segment the FM doesn't seem to care a whit about?

KONO used to be a legendary station. Now it sounds like any other crappy FM.

One way to tell is the repetitiveness of songs. I swear I heard Hang On Sloopy two days in a row during the same morning show. Okay, it was the great stereo version, but such repetitivity makes a station less desireable.
 
Listen to WLNG, from New York..50's thru the 80's!! Tons of "Lost" hits..songs most oldies station would never play anymore.
 
Don 62, I was curious about your hearing "Hang on Sloopy" on KONO. After searching their last songs played I noticed they don't play the song. When did you hear it?
 
KeyDemo said:
1910's? I think that anaolgy is a little extreme, but I get the "jest" of your point and agree.

Personally, I miss the rockin' hits of the 10's ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm told it's real difficult to dub those Edison cylinders
of Enrico Caruso onto the hard drive. ;D
 
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