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KZOK 102.5 A Top 40??

T

thebeach33445

Hey Guys:

While I was doing research I found a music survey from Dec 9, 1975. It was a Top 40 survey for KZOK 102.5 OK 102 1/2.

So was KZOK a Top 40?? If yes when and how long? I thought they went from Religous to Progressive rock in 1975.

Thanks

T.J.
 
Please scan this music survey....this is NEWS to me.....
 
I have vague recollections of 102.5 briefly being Top 40 in the late 60's, but the calls would have been KTW-FM at that point.
 
KTW FM switched from Top 40 around March or April of 1965 to "The Nashville Sound".
 
I can't speak to KTW-FM, but I don't believe KZOK was ever a Top40. They may have tinkered with the music here and there, but as far as I know they have always been a rock-based format. I also remember a time (I believe in the late 80's ??) when they added some 1960's-70's classic hits, but it didn't last long.
 
I know KZOK was rock by 1974 because I moved to the Seattle area that summer and started listening to it. They may have published a chart/survey of their top 40 songs back then because most of what they played was fairly current - it was sort of the golden age of what's now considered "classic rock". KZOK and KISW sort of existed in a rock & roll parallel universe to true Top 40 stations of the era such as KJR and KING-AM that were heavy on artists like Barry Manilow and ABBA.
 
KZOK was definitely an album rock station in December, 1975. In fact, I don't believe that there were any FM Top 40 stations in either Seattle or Tacoma in December, 1975 -- the closest would have been a soft rock format on Tacoma's 97.3 KNBQ ("Mellow sounds in contemporary music, Q97 FM").
 
My hunch is that he's referring to this survey. http://www.las-solanas.com/arsa/surveys_item.php?svid=8978&lidx=0&lttl=1&lcnt=20&srt1=tsc_psv%20DESC&vqry=kzok

I remember them playing quite a few of the songs listed but not sure about Abba. Definitely remember them playing a lot of Bee Gees and Earth Wind & Fire. They weren't a true Top 40 -- missing from this survey was pure schlock like David Geddes "Run Joey Run" -- but much of what they played was also huge on Top 40.

They were basically album-oriented rock with the term "rock" much more loosely defined than it became by the end of the 70s. If an album was big, they played it. I remember them playing a lot of John Denver -- his albums were huge. It was really in 1979 that both KISW and KZOK went full-tilt hard rock with things like AC/DC and the Scorpions.
 
TexasTom said:
KZOK was definitely an album rock station in December, 1975. In fact, I don't believe that there were any FM Top 40 stations in either Seattle or Tacoma in December, 1975 -- the closest would have been a soft rock format on Tacoma's 97.3 KNBQ ("Mellow sounds in contemporary music, Q97 FM").
Click to expand...

yeah...that was an interesting stretch. Hard core Top 40 fans were still on AM (KOL was gone in Sept) with KTAC, KJR, KING ... and the FM "renegades" were KISW and KZOK, with presentation on those stations going out of their way to be opposite of Top 40 (no hype, no imaging, no jingles, etc.). Following year, KVI-FM signed on and started bridging the gap in this market.
 
Perhaps KZOK had a slight hiccup/reaction to KOL going away in late '75. If they did, it was short-lived. As for John Denver on KZOK...well, I'm atleast 102.5% that never happened!
 
searadiofreak said:
Perhaps KZOK had a slight hiccup/reaction to KOL going away in late '75. If they did, it was short-lived. As for John Denver on KZOK...well, I'm atleast 102.5% that never happened!
Click to expand...

The only time I can ever recall KZOK playing ABBA was one mid-morning in 1985 (when they were beginning that "Quality Rock" joke) when they played "Knowing Me, Knowing You". It was right there I (and pretty much everyone else) was convinced KZOK had gone to hell. It took them YEARS to recover from that little experiment....
 
Hi everyone, I Music Director at KZOK in 1975, we were never a Top 40 radio station. KZOK played a H U G E album oriented playlist, rocking hard at night. KZOK was the first FM to dethrone KJR-AM from the #1 25-54 slot.

Hope this helps, be safe,

Crowski
 
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