Local love songs shows still around in 2022?

[tapesfromtheradio]

I’ve long been a fan of local “love songs” request & dedication shows on AC stations. Back in the mid-90s, before Delilah was in syndication, they were commonplace in the 7pm-midnight day part in many markets. By the mid-late 00s they were mostly gone and replaced by Delilah even in major markets.

Off the top of my head, here are the ones I remember from that era:

• Glenn Hollis, “After Hours” WASH/Washington
• “Love Songs at Night” (various hosts) WEZN/Bridgeport CT
• JJ Kennedy, “The Lite at Night” WLTW/NYC
• Zoe Bonet, KODA/Houston
• John Symons, “Love Notes” WNND and WLIT/Chicago
• Kasey Morabito, “Night Rhythms” WHUD/Peekskill NY

With the retirement of David Allan Boucher on WMJX/Boston earlier this year (replaced, of course, by Delilah) the only local love songs show I’m aware of that’s still on is Karen Sharp on KOST in Los Angeles. Any others still around? I need to record airchecks of them for my archive before it’s too late.

 

[gr8oldies]

I’ve long been a fan of local “love songs” request & dedication shows on AC stations. Back in the mid-90s, before Delilah was in syndication, they were commonplace in the 7pm-midnight day part in many markets. By the mid-late 00s they were mostly gone and replaced by Delilah even in major markets.

Off the top of my head, here are the ones I remember from that era:

• Glenn Hollis, “After Hours” WASH/Washington
• “Love Songs at Night” (various hosts) WEZN/Bridgeport CT
• JJ Kennedy, “The Lite at Night” WLTW/NYC
• Zoe Bonet, KODA/Houston
• John Symons, “Love Notes” WNND and WLIT/Chicago
• Kasey Morabito, “Night Rhythms” WHUD/Peekskill NY

With the retirement of David Allan Boucher on WMJX/Boston earlier this year (replaced, of course, by Delilah) the only local love songs show I’m aware of that’s still on is Karen Sharp on KOST in Los Angeles. Any others still around? I need to record airchecks of them for my archive before it’s too late.

One of the past hosts was Johnny Williams, best known for his work at CKLW, with a long-time Pillow Talk on WNIC, Detroit. He went on to program the original Love Songs channel on either Sirius or XM. Here's an R&R article from 1987 about local love songs shows, via World Radio History. https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/I...DX/IDX/80s/87/RR-1987-03-20-OCR-Page-0077.pdf

 

[tapesfromtheradio]

Of course, i forgot the legendary Alan Almond, also from Pillow Talk on WNIC. He lasted through 2008 or 2009 and died unexpectedly a few years after that.

 

[Mikey Radio]

I doubt many local stations are still doing this. Obviously Delilah is popular, especially among women or she wouldn't be so well-rated and on so many stations. That said, back in the day, many of the folks calling in to local "request and dedication" shows were school-aged kids. Long gone are the days when teens and younger once listened to a 3 hour love show to try and record a specific song they wanted for a "mix tape" they were making (sometimes causing them to call the station and yell at the DJ for talking over the intro or outro so they couldn't record the entire thing...usually causing the DJ to yell at them to stop being cheap and buy the album/CD). Long gone are the days when a guy would call a girl and say "listen to the radio, there will be a special message on there for you" or for kids to listen in to hear who their schoolmates were interested in.

It's somewhat similar to the reason "singles bars" have gone away...They're now considered passe and somewhat of a waste of time. For the past number of years rather than having to spend one or a few (or sometimes a bunch) of nights in a singles bar, maybe buying drinks for those you were interested in, etc. there are apps that give you more immediate results; Look up people you might be interested in, sort through them using parameters you input or by using "personality tests" to match you with those most compatible, you can then see their photos, their stats, find out a bit about them and even see how many feet or miles they are away from you. It's so much faster/simpler than it once was! Lol

 

[gr8oldies]

I remember WAJI, Majic 95.1 in Fort Wayne doing love songs with a twist. The format was A/C, but for the love songs show it was Urban....essentially doing "Quiet Storm".