New York Does Not Have An Oldies Station. Period.

[Those RRRRs]

Come on folks. Party's over. The cat's out of the bag and what we're hearing is not an oldies station. It's synonymous with Magic 102.9 WMGK in Philly. 70's classic hits. Period.

The logo may by CBS-FM, but time to face the music...(and it's bad) You ain't gonna be hearing Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Frankie Lymon, etc. So turn it off and go back to satellite and your CD's!

The glory days of CBS-FM are long gone and they aren't returning on 7/12/07. Don't make the same mistake as many Philly people. Some people still listen to WOGL expecting to hear Danny & The Juniors at any minute. Unbelievable.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Well, That Didn't Take Long

In Las Vegas, the "over-under" for disgruntled CBS-FM posts on this board was 75 minutes. If you picked "under" you've got some cash coming your way. Amazing!

 

[BRNout]

Re: CBS-FM IS an Oldies Station. Not Classic Hits. Period.

Good Lord - even if you gave away money for free, you'd have some complainers!!

What you're saying is simply not true. Not even close. ???

For one thing, the music is a lot like what's on WOGL. And, WOGL is a pretty good oldies station. Secondly, WMGK is a classic rock station. They would NEVER play Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, Elvis, KC and the Sunshine Band and any number of other groups that i have just heard on CBS-FM in the past hour. Also, if 'MGK has a splashy top of the hour jingle - I'd love to hear it! A lousy analogy.

Frankly, I was afraid that it would come out like B-101 in Providence or WROR in Boston (a.k.a. "Classic Hits"). Nope, it's straight on oldies - emphasis on the 70's. Which makes good business sense for market #1. Danny and the Juniors are not going to be played on a big market FM station. Sad but true. Their fans would be over 70 right now. Wayyyy too old to be attractive to advertisers.

 

[CTNYRADIO]

Yep, the complaint threads were sure to start...there's already one over at the other board. Unreal, an hour into the format and people are complaining...give it a day for cripe's sake.

 

[carolinaradio]

First songs on CBS-FM courtesy of Yes.com:

Beach Boys - Do it Again
Four Seasons - December 63
Aretha - Respect
Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days
Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop
Lovin' Spoonful - Summer in the City
Maxine Nightingale - Right Back (Where We Started)
Stones - Satisfaction
Billy Joel - Only The Good Die Young
The Contours - Do You Love Me
John Cougar - Jack and Diane
Beatles - Twist and Shout
Bee Gees - You Should Be Dancing
Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman
Tommy James/Shondells - Mony Mony
Donna Summer - Last Dance
Sam/Pharaohs - Wooly Bully
Bruce Springsteen - Pink Cadillac
Earth, Wind, and Fire - Sing a Song
Elvis - Suspicious Mind
KC/Sunshine - That's The Way
Doors - Light My Fire

I put all of the 60s 'oldies' in bold. Looks pretty good to me, more than we have here in Greenville, SC. Be thankful they're even playing anything from the 60s/early 70s.

 

[julesism]

Just played:
The Doors - Light my Fire (1967)

70's hits? wrong.

Before Light My Fire, they played:
Elvis - Suspicious Minds (1969)
no Elvis? wrong.

weeeeeeeeeeeeee! carolinaradio just beat me to it!

 

[Walter Graff]

As I and others said, it can't be the CBS you remember. In fact before the first switch it was already changing. Updating to hit a younger demo. Remember the 80's is already 20+ years ago and 60's? How about 40 years ago. Life is always better in the past so just remember that and move on. It's still a nicer station than the automated JACK format for NY and will show that in the ratings.

 

[KevinFodor]

This just shows the arrogance of those "fabulous fifties" fans who just don't get the realities of radio these days.

CBS-FM never said it would be featuring the 50's music, though it suggests some of these songs will be heard in features and on the weekends.

Their PD stated publically 2 days ago the music would be centered between 1965 and 1985.

The overall presentation is really good. The music that they are playing from the 80's is not the "Jack-style"
music or the 80's music you generally hear on Classic Rock stations. It's the "pop" side of 1980-1985. (Think:
Hall & Oates, Earth,Wind & Fire, Pointer Sisters, with an occasional Mellencamp.) These songs were the "pop"
hits of the 1980's. And they do fit, unless you're an angry, anal old man who wishes 1957 could come back.

CBS has been honest, so far, about this station. I think it can work, even if it doesn't get the support of all of it's hard-core former listeners.

In the honest opinion of this radio professional, it sounds fine. The jocks are passionate, and have personality.

You want to live in the 1950's? Please...buy a CD player.

 

[Those RRRRs]

I threw that out there like that on purpose.

The reason is because people are talking about "Hit The Road Jack" and thinking that The Doo Wop Shop is coming back. When I think of the glory days of CBS-FM, that's what I think of.

And those days are over, even if they do play some 60's. My post was for the benefit of those people. They are expecting "The First Generation" of Rock N Roll. This ain't it.

You want to live in the 1950's? Please...buy a CD player.

I have a CD Player. And I'm the arrogant one? It's obvious who the arrogant, condescending one is here, and without mentioning any names, his initials are Kevin Foder.

 

[CTNYRADIO]

umm..very few people said the 50's or doo wop shop was coming back. Get a life.

 

[BRNout]

I threw that out there like that on purpose.

The reason is because people are talking about "Hit The Road Jack" and thinking that The Doo Wop Shop is coming back. When I think of the glory days of CBS-FM, that's what I think of.

TR's, you cited WOGL as an example of what you don't like. Yet CBS-Fm's sister in Philly DOES have a Sunday night show featuring Doo Wop. Look, I am sympathetic to your argument, but I cannot agree with it. Yes, when I am in some small town in Western PA that has a 50's-60's heavy local station, I absolutely listen in and go "wow!" But, lets be realistic - that is not happening in New York. But, frankly, the music on CBS-FM sounds very good to me and is far better than I had feared. And, the presentation is great! In fact, for day one, it is incredible.

So, lets look at this as the glass being 80% full and not 20% empty. It sure beats the heck out of the 100% empty glass that JACK brought!

 

[CTNYRADIO]

The vast majority said that it would be 60's/70's and some 80's with nothing before 1964...the posts are there, read em. Your original post is ludicrous, uninformed and just plain ignorant. MGK sounds nothing like the new CBS.
and by the way, they stopped calling it Magic 102.9 years ago.

 

[Those RRRRs]

The vast majority said that it would be 60's/70's and some 80's with nothing before 1964...the posts are there, read em. Your original post is ludicrous.

Vast majority? It's not a scientific formula. I said "some people". No, your arrogant response was ludicrous. I read the posts. People expected to hear "Hit The Road Jack" as the opening song. Too old. That was the point.

uninformed and just plain ignorant. MGK sounds nothing like the new CBS.
and by the way, they stopped calling it Magic 102.9 years ago.

I don't care what they call it. And by the way, it sounds closer to WMGK than it does to the glory days of CBS-FM, which is what a lot of people were hoping it would sound like, whether or not it is a radio reality in today's market.

 

[BRNout]

The vast majority said that it would be 60's/70's and some 80's with nothing before 1964...the posts are there, read em. Your original post is ludicrous.

Vast majority? It's not a scientific formula. I said "some people". No, your arrogant response was ludicrous. I read the posts. People expected to hear "Hit The Road Jack" as the opening song. Too old. That was the point.

Yes, there have been many, many posts surmising that the "new" CBS-FM would be 60s/70s/80s. In fact, many folks have thought that it would be even heavier on the 80s and lighter on the 60s than it now sounds. I suspect that "Hit the Road Jack" was thought to be so unoriginal that they passed on it in favor of the montage and BB song. Besides, WABC started off 'Saturday Night Oldies' with that song. It's been done.

This rebirth represents a victory. Oldies stations were being whacked left and right. Many markets don't even have one anymore. Some are stuck (yes, I'll call it stuck) with "Classic Hits" such as SF and Washington. What I am hearing today is vastly preferable to that rock-heavy dullness.

I just don't get why you are whining about it. Really I don't. ???

 

[chuckydoll]

This screams Oldies/Classic Rock

Samples from that first hour and a half:

"December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" -- original version, not the '94 remix
"Glory Days" -- 80's AOR
"Satisfaction" -- full version, not the WABC edit
"Only the Good Die Young" -- never played on WABC, not even as an album cut
"Do You Love Me" -- released in 1962
"Jack and Diane" -- 80's AOR
"Twist and Shout" -- released in 1964
"You Should Be Dancing" -- from "Saturday Night Fever"
"Oh, Pretty Woman" -- also released in 1964
"Mony Mony" -- not the Billy Idol version
"Last Dance" -- disco
"Pink Cadillac" -- 80's AOR (Natalie Cole had the hit on Z100)
"Light My Fire" -- stereo edit of album version, not the monaural 45 edit played on WABC

Jack sounds better and better by the moment.

 

[CTNYRADIO]

Not really....a quick check at yes.com shows these songs played on MGK in the last hour
Katmandu, Bob Segar
Honky Tonk Women, the Stones
Dont Let the Sun go down on me, Elton John
Hey You, Pink Floyd
Locomotive Breath, Jethro Tull
Fly Like an eagle, Steve Miller Band
All the Young dudes, Mott the Hoople
Living on a Prayer, Bon Jovi
Blue Morning, Foreigner.
-
Sounds like a classic rock format to me. No KC and the Sunshine Band, The Spinners, The Temptations, The Righteous Brothers or Blondie...all songs played on WCBS in the last hour
-
The two stations have a little overlap, but that's about it. I dont think CBS is going to be playing BON JOVI, Foreigner or Pink Floyd anytime soon.

 

[BRNout]

I don't care what they call it. And by the way, it sounds closer to WMGK than it does to the glory days of CBS-FM, which is what a lot of people were hoping it would sound like, whether or not it is a radio reality in today's market.

You're kidding right? Or are you on Q104.3 by mistake? CBS-FM sounds NOTHING like WMGK. Right now they are playing "Rubber Band Man" by the Spinners. Tell me the last time you heard that on MGK - followed by another great TOH jingle? Or any jingle at all?

Really, your argument will gain no traction here with comments like this.

 

[CTNYRADIO]

Re: This screams Oldies/Classic Rock

Samples from that first hour and a half:

"December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" -- original version, not the '94 remix
"Glory Days" -- 80's AOR
"Satisfaction" -- full version, not the WABC edit
"Only the Good Die Young" -- never played on WABC, not even as an album cut
"Do You Love Me" -- released in 1962
"Jack and Diane" -- 80's AOR
"Twist and Shout" -- released in 1964
"You Should Be Dancing" -- from "Saturday Night Fever"
"Oh, Pretty Woman" -- also released in 1964
"Mony Mony" -- not the Billy Idol version
"Last Dance" -- disco
"Pink Cadillac" -- 80's AOR (Natalie Cole had the hit on Z100)
"Light My Fire" -- stereo edit of album version, not the monaural 45 edit played on WABC

Jack sounds better and better by the moment.

Then go buy an HD radio or listen to Jack online and quit complaining.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Just How Old is Old?

I've been listening to the CBS-FM stream since about 12:30PM, and I think that they've got a heck of a radio station - which is what I'd expect from Market #1.

As far as "oldies" are concerned, they're reaching back to 1964 - 43 years ago! Songs from the '70s are between 30 and 37 years old. Just what audience do you expect them to go after - 65+?

If you don't think that The Beatles, The Contours, The Lovin' Spoonful, Roy Orbison, and Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs - all played within the first hour - aren't "oldies", then YOU'RE TOO OLD.

If you want Doo-Wop and Shep & The Limelighters, it's time for you to pledge some money to your local PBS station during the next pledge drive when they drag out the few remaining septuagenarian performers left from the '50s and hawk their "newly re-mastered" CDs and DVDs.

Besides, people that old don't know how to spell FM, let alone find it on their Emerson tabletops.

 

[BRNout]

Re: This screams Oldies!

Dusty Springfield "Son of a Preacher Man" - now that's a great oldie! ;D ;D