Hey Guys:
Would anybody know when in 1985 KZOK tried there Mellow AOR format?
Thanks T.J.
Would anybody know when in 1985 KZOK tried there Mellow AOR format?
Thanks T.J.
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KZOK THE Mellow Rock Failed Experiment
- Thread starter thebeach33445
- Start date
It was 1985 and it was called "Quality Rock".
Just before that, KZOK was starting to skew towards heavy metal (very heavy on the Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Scorpions, etc.) to compete with KISW and they were just beginning to really get noticed with that crowd. I'm sure if they had stayed that course, they could have done very well through the '80s with it up until grunge.
I guess somebody decided to go the other direction. So enter "Quality Rock". 1985 was a strange year in radio. The yuppies were in and the pastel colored polo shirt crowd was what many stations were trying to aim for. Words like "Quality Rock", "Quality Hits" (which was what KQKT 96.5 was offering at the same time KZOK was doing "Quality Rock") were being tossed around the biz. Never mind that "quality" is a very subjective to each person. And not many people were spending much "Quality Time" listening to this "Quality" crap.
And it damn near KILLED them. It took KZOK years to recover from it.
Typical KZOK songs of that era:
"Mockingbird" James Taylor & Carly Simon
"Knowing Me, Knowing You" ABBA (I heard this tune the first day of the Quality Rock thing. My friends and I were laughing our butts off when the opening notes of this song came on....then somebody said "Dude, change it. This is awful.")
"Get Back" The Beatles
"What About Love" Heart
"Suite Judy Blue Eyes" Crosby, Stills & Nash
"Sunglasses At Night" Corey Hart
"What's Love Got To Do With It" Tina Turner (Another WHAT? song on "Quality Rock" KZOK)
"Naughty Naughty" John Parr
"Heart & Soul" Huey Lewis
"Never As Good As The First Time" Sade (Another ??? song on KZOK of that period.)
It was pretty '80s heavy with only a few '60s '70s tracks of the more AC leaning kind mixed in. Some Bruce Springsteen, some Dire Straits. But no Led Zeppelin, no Pink Floyd, no Deep Purple, etc. "Quality Hits KQ-96" KQKT 96.5 was roughly the same, but even more AC leaning. They played Madonna (which KZOK still didn't touch.) KZOK jocks were also toned down and fed liner cards.
But in hindsight, it was roughly the same format that was on KZAM just before the switch to KLSY in 1983. Even their new logo was similar, with KZOK handwritten in the same way KZAM was in their latter days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QA82Ev5JFY
Well needless to say, KISW was whipping their butts. KZOK lost nearly 2/3rds of their audience in one fell swoop. In fact, there was a KZOK billboard suspiciously near the KISW studios, then on Aurora Ave., which read "KZOK....Not Too Hard, Not Too Soft". Below "Not Too Hard, Not Too Soft", somebody spray painted "NOT TOO GOOD".
It was a disaster. At the end of 1986, KZOK decided to flip to classic rock. And at first, it was REALLY Oldies heavy, but slowly added more late '60s and '70s AOR with VERY few '80s songs. And like I said, it took a few years of trial and error. But by 1988, they were sufficiently established as a Classic Rock station.
Hope that answers your question.
Just before that, KZOK was starting to skew towards heavy metal (very heavy on the Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Scorpions, etc.) to compete with KISW and they were just beginning to really get noticed with that crowd. I'm sure if they had stayed that course, they could have done very well through the '80s with it up until grunge.
I guess somebody decided to go the other direction. So enter "Quality Rock". 1985 was a strange year in radio. The yuppies were in and the pastel colored polo shirt crowd was what many stations were trying to aim for. Words like "Quality Rock", "Quality Hits" (which was what KQKT 96.5 was offering at the same time KZOK was doing "Quality Rock") were being tossed around the biz. Never mind that "quality" is a very subjective to each person. And not many people were spending much "Quality Time" listening to this "Quality" crap.
And it damn near KILLED them. It took KZOK years to recover from it.
Typical KZOK songs of that era:
"Mockingbird" James Taylor & Carly Simon
"Knowing Me, Knowing You" ABBA (I heard this tune the first day of the Quality Rock thing. My friends and I were laughing our butts off when the opening notes of this song came on....then somebody said "Dude, change it. This is awful.")
"Get Back" The Beatles
"What About Love" Heart
"Suite Judy Blue Eyes" Crosby, Stills & Nash
"Sunglasses At Night" Corey Hart
"What's Love Got To Do With It" Tina Turner (Another WHAT? song on "Quality Rock" KZOK)
"Naughty Naughty" John Parr
"Heart & Soul" Huey Lewis
"Never As Good As The First Time" Sade (Another ??? song on KZOK of that period.)
It was pretty '80s heavy with only a few '60s '70s tracks of the more AC leaning kind mixed in. Some Bruce Springsteen, some Dire Straits. But no Led Zeppelin, no Pink Floyd, no Deep Purple, etc. "Quality Hits KQ-96" KQKT 96.5 was roughly the same, but even more AC leaning. They played Madonna (which KZOK still didn't touch.) KZOK jocks were also toned down and fed liner cards.
But in hindsight, it was roughly the same format that was on KZAM just before the switch to KLSY in 1983. Even their new logo was similar, with KZOK handwritten in the same way KZAM was in their latter days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QA82Ev5JFY
Well needless to say, KISW was whipping their butts. KZOK lost nearly 2/3rds of their audience in one fell swoop. In fact, there was a KZOK billboard suspiciously near the KISW studios, then on Aurora Ave., which read "KZOK....Not Too Hard, Not Too Soft". Below "Not Too Hard, Not Too Soft", somebody spray painted "NOT TOO GOOD".
It was a disaster. At the end of 1986, KZOK decided to flip to classic rock. And at first, it was REALLY Oldies heavy, but slowly added more late '60s and '70s AOR with VERY few '80s songs. And like I said, it took a few years of trial and error. But by 1988, they were sufficiently established as a Classic Rock station.
Hope that answers your question.
Last edited:
WOW Bongwater: You really round it down for me on the format, which is perfect for my research. I am trying to find out what month in 1985 they changed. From radio and records magazines I think it might have been January 1985?
Thanks
T.J.
Thanks
T.J.
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