Let's watch everyone lose their minds. KRTH is playing...

[michael hagerty]

No, not exactly. In 1968, WMOD in DC did a pure oldies format for several years under PD Barry Richards. WEEL in Farifax, an AM, did all gold as "Million Dollar Music Weel" in 1969.

Discussion of "oldies" in the early 70's was a bit different than today, as they were less than a decade removed from the British Invasion, so most of the material was either mid-50's early rock 'n roll or post-54 stuff (nobody much wanted to remember the 1959-1963 period).

So a lot of the music was what we'd call "recurrent" today... just not enough time had passed for "oldies" to be truly memory songs.

In fact, in doing a chronological listen of my aircheck collection (up to mid-1968 now), I'm finding that it was common for Top 40 stations to billboard an oldie with a jingle (Golden, Flashback, Memory, whatever)---and have that song be a year or even six months old (past its leaving the chart).

 

[vchimpanzee]

Logically this would make sense. The song is eight years old. In 1982 KRTH would occasionally do a seventies weekend playing music that was between two and twelve years old so an eight year old song shouldn't be an anomaly.

It makes sense because it sounds like it is from the 70s.

When Charlotte got an oldies station in 1983 (not its first, but it had been a while) the Observer columnist said it should play Billy Joel's latest hits that sounded twenty years old.

 

[davideduardo]

In fact, in doing a chronological listen of my aircheck collection (up to mid-1968 now), I'm finding that it was common for Top 40 stations to billboard an oldie with a jingle (Golden, Flashback, Memory, whatever)---and have that song be a year or even six months old (past its leaving the chart).

Part of that is due to the lack of "recurrents" as a concept or a category. We'd generally think that when a song was "over" it had to rest a year or two.

I recall a long discussion at WERC in Birmingham in 1972 about keeping the big songs and lowering their rotations to about 10 times a week (a day less a daypart) and finally concluding that it was a good idea but only for real power songs and only if we were not on a current by that artist. Of course, there was nothing to compare that flagrant lack of logic with, so at least we played some recurrents.

Our motivation was based on listener requests for those songs long after we had dropped them. That did make sense.

 

[michael hagerty]

Part of that is due to the lack of "recurrents" as a concept or a category. We'd generally think that when a song was "over" it had to rest a year or two.

...which is what made it a surprise to very commonly hear these stations playing songs between six months to a year old as goldens.

 

[radiomj]

Now if only KSURF would play Uptown Funk! Haha!

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

Aircheck meant to showcase jingles recorded yesterday. What's that song at 3:30?

https://soundcloud.com/radiojinglesonline%2Fkrth-k-earth-101-los-angeles-ca-2nd-april-2023

Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" from 2015!

And it sounds good.

I saw this message on FaceBook, but I didn't understand why someone would post an aircheck from 3 days ago. I didn't understand what the controversy was. "Uptown Funk" was released in November of 2014, so that would make it about 8.5 years old. It's definitely meant to have an old school sound, reminiscent of Michael Jackson in the 1980's, and it really cannot be classified as rap. ( JMO) It's a catchy, danceable, sing-along. It's meant to sound like the 80's, and KRTH plays 80's songs, mostly.

When we discussed this on the other thread, David mentioned that stations who play classic hits, will sometimes "bookend" their playlists by going back to the end of the previous decade, or going forward. I think that's what happened with KRTH. So, after David mentioned that, it ceased being a cause of concern for me.

I don't have much of a chance to listen to KRTH during the day. But I listen after dinner in the early evening, and they actually do play a jingle, at least on the internet, when they finish their clump of commercials, approximately at :15 and :45 past the hour. It's a simple jingle of "K-R-T-H Los An-ge-les." Otherwise, they do play voiced shouts sometimes. -- Daryl

 

[tall_guy1]

Doesn't surprise me. They could probably spin "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus as well. Classic Hits, mainstream AC, and more pop-leaning Adult Hits (KCJK from about a decade ago) seem closely related. You could probably lump more rock-leaning Adult Hits, classic rock, and mainsream rock together in a boat together where some songs from that genre could cross over. Hot AC, CHR, and Rhythmic CHR kind of in a boat together. And Urban AC and Mainstream Urban could probably share one, where certain songs from each could seamlessly transition from one to the other.

 

[tall_guy1]

KCAR in Joplin calls itself classic hits and ranges from 80s to 10s music. I know it is a smaller town example, but it can work.

 

[davideduardo]

KCAR in Joplin calls itself classic hits and ranges from 80s to 10s music. I know it is a smaller town example, but it can work.

Remember, there is no industry-wide rule about what a station calls itself on the air. Although Nielsen has a shorter list of formats stations can be listed by, that's mostly to help ad agency buyers know what each station does.

On the air, stations can use whatever descriptor that is legally available that they like.

Think of all the names that bath soaps have... from Dove to Clinique, from Peach to Hesperides, from Dial to Irish Spring, from Dr. Squatch to Zest. Yet all are intended to be used to wash in the bathroom sink, shower or tub.

And names that don't appeal to you may be "people magnets" for others.

 

[Brandon1993]

“Uptown Funk” fits perfectly with the rest of K-Earth’s music.

 

[tall_guy1]

In small increments, listeners wouldn't care. I will say doing that a lot (adding a lot of later classic hits) might catch up to them in a competitive market though. If they start to lean strongly towards "newer" classic hits, another station could adopt a more "standard" classic hits sound (70s/80s focused) and potentially have their listeners go over there.

 

[michael hagerty]

In small increments, listeners wouldn't care. I will say doing that a lot (adding a lot of later classic hits) might catch up to them in a competitive market though. If they start to lean strongly towards "newer" classic hits, another station could adopt a more "standard" classic hits sound (70s/80s focused) and potentially have their listeners go over there.

The same owner has that pretty well covered with KTWV (The Wave) and KCBS-FM (Jack).

 

[tall_guy1]

The same owner has that pretty well covered with KTWV (The Wave) and KCBS-FM (Jack).

That makes sense in this case. If the ststion starts becoming "associated" with Bruno Mars and 10s pop another could become the one more associated with Madonna and Prince, but they have it covered here.

 

[ercjncpr]

I no longer rely on broadcast radio for my oldies fix. “Alexa play songs from 1973”

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

I no longer rely on broadcast radio for my oldies fix. “Alexa play songs from 1973”

Best not to rely on broadcast radio for anything, except civil defense alerts in case of fast-moving wildfires (or other disasters).

 

[briancraig]

Didn’t WCBS-FM call their currents Future Gold in the 1970s/early 80s.

I believe 101.1 before KRTH aired the Drake Solid Gold package which was currents mixed with oldies or was that Hitparade?

 

[Yabadabado1]

Best not to rely on broadcast radio for anything, except civil defense alerts in case of fast-moving wildfires (or other disasters).

Are you kidding? Not if you're ishart. You're more likely to hear "Air raid warning! Japan has launched an attack against Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian territory of the USA earlier today, December 7th!" So many glitches on their pre-programmed Commodore 64 computer system. I have literally heard a week old newscast, weather report for snow squalls and up to 3 inches of snow in the snow belt.....in August when it was almost 90 degrees and a traffic report that a highway was closed for a traffic accident at the same time I was driving through where THE ACCIDENT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE! Not a crushed car in sight, no cops, nothing but bunny roadkill.

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

Are you kidding? Not if you're ishart. You're more likely to hear "Air raid warning! Japan has launched an attack against Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian territory of the USA earlier today, December 7th!" So many glitches on their pre-programmed Commodore 64 computer system. I have literally heard a week old newscast, weather report for snow squalls and up to 3 inches of snow in the snow belt.....in August when it was almost 90 degrees and a traffic report that a highway was closed for a traffic accident at the same time I was driving through where THE ACCIDENT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE! Not a crushed car in sight, no cops, nothing but bunny roadkill.

Ha. I live in one of those "active adult 55+" communities where everyone has his/her own apartment in a larger building. Each building is supposed to have its own CERT team. According to FEMA, "CERT" means "Community Emergency Response Team." So, every condo building here has two residents that are the CERT supervisors, and they are in charge of evacuating everyone in case of a disaster. As we get ready for fire season, the CERT supervisors send out the list of everything required to be in "Go" kit. The "Go" kit is what we keep packed next to the front door. It has to contain things like bottled water, flashlight, list of prescription medications, list of vaccinations, passport or other I.D., etc. Among the items required for the "Go" kit is an AM radio and extra batteries.

In past wildfires, the electric utility company, PG &E, has shut down the power, so that the power lines and transformers don't malfunction and arc, which spreads the fire. So, we cannot count on having electrical power during a fire.

The residents asked, "Can't I just take my smart phone, and stream emergency information from that?" The answer is no, because in an emergency, the cell phone towers might be down, then the smart phone doesn't work. Also, once the smart phone battery runs down, there's no way to charge it, unless you can get to a facility with electrical power. But an AM radio with spare batteries will function for much longer.

(Continued below)

 

[TheBigA]

The answer is no, because in an emergency, the cell phone towers might be down, then the smart phone doesn't work.

Keep in mind that any disaster that knocks down a cell tower will also knock down a radio tower. Same basic idea, just different part of the spectrum. Radio stations are not required to have generators, so any power outage will also affect radio stations. Just a few years ago, wildfires in LA came dangerously close to Mount Wilson, home to broadcast towers for LA radio & TV stations.

Bobcat Fire: Winds pushing flames dangerously close to Mount Wilson

Shifting winds were once again bringing flames from the Bobcat Fire dangerously close to Mount Wilson Monday night.

abc7.com

 

[davideduardo]

Keep in mind that any disaster that knocks down a cell tower will also knock down a radio tower.

Not really. Urban cell towers don't, in their majority, have long-term auxiliary power. Many are on the roofs of apartment buildings, churches, office buildings and the like where fuel can't be stored. If they have a generator, it is not intended to last for days or weeks, most just have short failures covered with batteries.

Radio stations, in their majority, have honest-to-god generators and enough fuel to last for a week or more.

Same basic idea, just different part of the spectrum. Radio stations are not required to have generators, so any power outage will also affect radio stations. Just a few years ago, wildfires in LA came dangerously close to Mount Wilson, home to broadcast towers for LA radio & TV stations.

But cellular companies have thousands and thousands of cells in every neighborhood. The signals are not able to cover wide populated areas. Radio stations have one main studio, one main transmitter site. The cost of a generator is not extreme compared to the cost of the transmitter and related gear.

One generator at one or two sites (studio and transmitter). A small investment. Even in rural areas, stations have generators. in the majority of cases.

Bobcat Fire: Winds pushing flames dangerously close to Mount Wilson

Shifting winds were once again bringing flames from the Bobcat Fire dangerously close to Mount Wilson Monday night.

abc7.com

I believe every station on Mt Wilson has generators. And all but one or two have auxiliary sites, with generators, at different locations. One station on Wilson that I know has three transmitters in two separate buildings, feeding 3 antennas on two separate towers. And then it has a second site on a smaller mountain "down below" which can cover 90% of the market in an emergency.