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Nostalgic

S

staxizzit

Pardon me for waxing nostalgic but I miss sixties and seventies AM radio. I miss the magnetic on air personalities like former KJR DJ’s Pat O’Day, Norm Gregory, Lan Roberts, Gary Shannon and Ric Hansen. I miss the music. I miss the catchy station jingles, not to mention the sponsor jingles. They were jingles that you could and would sing along with just as you would the records being played (I can still sing the old Squire Shop holiday jingle!)
I was very young then, being born in 1960, but having three older brothers we always had the radio on in the house, in the car, and even outside while playing in the yard. The radio was usually set on KJR but sometimes it would be tuned to KOL which was one of my older brothers’ favorite stations. Even though I was young I remember how great radio was in the sixties. It was still good in to the mid to late 70s and my teen years, with KJR still going strong, as well as KING AM, but to a lesser degree.
I don’t know that any station today can or even attempts to capture the magic that radio had back then, even the oldies stations. Certainly today’s music isn’t anywhere near as good (nor as memorable). Obviously I am fond of oldies or classic hits. B97.3 is an OK station. The station is certainly better than it was this time last year. I would enjoy more sixties music thrown in.
Regardless, I just don’t feel any magic when I listen to music stations today in any format.
Is it just me?
Maybe kids today who listen to the current Top 40 stations (if there even is such a format anymore) will look back on these stations and the music with the same fondness that I do the 60s and 70s. Somehow I doubt it.
 
staxizzit said:
I just don’t feel any magic when listening to music radio stations today in any format.
Is it just me?
Click to expand...

No way! - We're actually a 'dying' breed in this day and age people...

BEST way to 'cure these ills' is to go go online and capture the magic that it was..

..I wish they'd bring back the 'KJR Seattle' website that had tons of airchecks..
 
Whatever happened to Ric Hansen? It would be so much fun if he came back to do afternoons for KNBQ 97.3...oh....I mean KBSG. Ric was high energy and it felt as if "he owned the south end".
 
I was wondering the same thing about Ric. When did he leave KJR FM? I stopped listening to KJR a while ago because of the lousy playlist but last I knew of him, he was still there doing afternoons, albeit pre-taped, now I see he is gone.
 
FMSteve said:
Whatever happened to Ric Hansen? It would be so much fun if he came back to do afternoons for KNBQ 97.3...oh....I mean KBSG. Ric was high energy and it felt as if "he owned the south end".
Click to expand...


KBSG spent millions of dollars in advertising and marketing to rid itself of the South Sound image it had for a long time. Not to mention the many millions it spent in engineering to get West Tiger Mountain up and talking (albeit Viacom dollars).

And they should put Ric Hansen on the air? For what? To corner the Jet Chevrolet and Emerald Queen Casino advertising revenue?
 
staxizzit said:
Pardon me for waxing nostalgic but I miss sixties and seventies AM radio. I miss the magnetic on air personalities like former KJR DJ’s Pat O’Day, Norm Gregory, Lan Roberts, Gary Shannon and Ric Hansen. I miss the music. I miss the catchy station jingles, not to mention the sponsor jingles. They were jingles that you could and would sing along with just as you would the records being played (I can still sing the old Squire Shop holiday jingle!)
I was very young then, being born in 1960, but having three older brothers we always had the radio on in the house, in the car, and even outside while playing in the yard. The radio was usually set on KJR but sometimes it would be tuned to KOL which was one of my older brothers’ favorite stations. Even though I was young I remember how great radio was in the sixties. It was still good in to the mid to late 70s and my teen years, with KJR still going strong, as well as KING AM, but to a lesser degree.
I don’t know that any station today can or even attempts to capture the magic that radio had back then, even the oldies stations. Certainly today’s music isn’t anywhere near as good (nor as memorable). Obviously I am fond of oldies or classic hits. B97.3 is an OK station. The station is certainly better than it was this time last year. I would enjoy more sixties music thrown in.
Regardless, I just don’t feel any magic when I listen to music stations today in any format.
Is it just me?
Maybe kids today who listen to the current Top 40 stations (if there even is such a format anymore) will look back on these stations and the music with the same fondness that I do the 60s and 70s. Somehow I doubt it.
Click to expand...

I know this is radio heresy, but even when I was a kid in the sixties I found Top 40 DJs to be annoying. I just wanted to hear the music and not some boss jock hitting the post. I didn't really enjoy listening to radio until the advent of AOR in the seventies when jocks started sounding more like real people (OK, real people who were totally baked but real people nonetheless).

My nostalgia is more for stations that would take a chance on a record and not wait for call out research or an auditorium test to tell them what or what not to play. Pat O'Day's on-air style may not be my cup of tea but the Northwest music scene owes him a huge debt of gratitude, not to mention other artists he broke that weren't from here. That simply wouldn't happen today, at least not in the high stakes world of commercial radio.
 
Well said Shark, and I agree. I always liked the more conversational aspects of old-school AOR radio myself. I just never liked hearing people yukking over the beginnings and ends of songs. I know there's an art and technique to that older style of radio, and that's fine, you really have to know your music, but I also like hearing hosts introduce a song in a manner consistent with the sound of the song, even a 60's classic like "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" or "Hold On I'm Coming." I've heard a lot of oldies DJs barking on top of the intro of, say, The Beatles' "Yesterday," but that style just doesn't fit the song. Just relax and introduce it, say a few choice words about it, then get out of the way and play it.

Hearing an oldies approach applied to rock classics on a Classic Hits format these days is just unlistenable. Many of those classic rock songs were never intended to have "intro ramps," etc. in the first place. I'm not a huge Yes fan, but hearing someone talk over the beginning of one of their early 70's classics is bizarre. Same thing with hearing cutesy AM radio jingles around music clearly intended for the FM band.

Also well said on the lack of chances taken by commercial radio with new aritists or interesting songs, or at least allowing things to become over-tested and over-analyzed in ways that have little to do with an infomed gut repsonse or a good set of ears. Alternative, in particular, has suffered from this syndrome when it decided as a format to chase hits instead of developing bands. There are exceptions to this, of course, but had alternative stayed closer to it's rock radio roots and presentation and it might have a little more credibility and appeal today.
 
AQH said:
FMSteve said:
Whatever happened to Ric Hansen? It would be so much fun if he came back to do afternoons for KNBQ 97.3...oh....I mean KBSG. Ric was high energy and it felt as if "he owned the south end".
Click to expand...


KBSG spent millions of dollars in advertising and marketing to rid itself of the South Sound image it had for a long time. Not to mention the many millions it spent in engineering to get West Tiger Mountain up and talking (albeit Viacom dollars).

And they should put Ric Hansen on the air? For what? To corner the Jet Chevrolet and Emerald Queen Casino advertising revenue?
Click to expand...
AQH.............I hate to say it, but..............this is hard...............good point.
 
FMSteve said:
Whatever happened to Ric Hansen?...
Click to expand...

When RH was doing airshifts lately ... it was essentially a supplement to his day. He owns a significant business that coordinates mobile jocks for special events, schools, weddings, etc. They are booked through and represent the stations who affiliate with Ric ... and he gets a slice of each one of these, talent gets a piece, station gets a piece. Figure he's in multiple markets doing this and it's a nice gig for all involved (except for the person at each of the stations who orignally wanted to corner their own dance market!! ... now even the side income they used to get to make a living has dried up!!)
 
How does KJR's all music mornings (in comparison to it's former hey day) work for the Seattle market?
 
Has KJR-AM ever attempted a WLS style "Rewind", with former jocks live on the air? 'LS' first Rewind got a lot of positive feedback this year in Chicago. Former jocks: Edwards and Lujack (you guys in Seattle remember him, don't you?), Fred Winston, and others took their place in the "Air Chair" one more time at the Big 89, WLS.
 
KlunkLetter said:
Has KJR-AM ever attempted a WLS style "Rewind", with former jocks live on the air? 'LS' first Rewind got a lot of positive feedback this year in Chicago. Former jocks: Edwards and Lujack (you guys in Seattle remember him, don't you?), Fred Winston, and others took their place in the "Air Chair" one more time at the Big 89, WLS.
Click to expand...

Was done twice ... once in 1988 to celebrate the "1968 reunion" (arbitrary celebration), featured several folks (one of which turned around and went back to the station as talent) --- and again when KJR-FM relaunched and they celebrated the heritage of the station. On the latter, it was fun to hijack a bunch of jocks from the Bellevue Hyatt and we drove up to a bar where one of the other jocks was working and took the reunion to HIM as a complete surprise. Will never forget that!


I was trying to bite my tongue on the whole "yesterday was better than today" thing because I honestly don't know how I feel. I loved radio much more years ago ... but it has likely adapted because people WANTED it to adapt (and by "it" I mean the style and presentation). But I'm not convinced that's the case because most people never get a choice...they only get exposed to the industry standard and if the standard doesn't work it gets shut down LONG before it has a chance to make a sustaining impact (think about any decent TV show launched in recent memory...yanked off air before it got roots --- and most seriously classic shows faltered in their first season big time).

I hated the "boss patter" because it was phony and didn't make sense. But I loved the talent that came through when people knew just the right "bit" to lay with (or between) just the right song ... people who found a way to make an awesome bridge into a STOPSET of all things ... and above all ... people who made you sit up and listen because they were telling you something WAY more interesting than "coming up....Van Halen/Shakira/Big&Rich/{insert your fave here}". That is what I miss today. Talk radio is generally about division and anger ... but when I find someone exploring a topic (lately I'm finding that on Bob Rivers show) I find it compelling to listen in. People share their opinions and observations without polarizing --- my understanding is that's what talk is SUPPOSED to be doing? Music shut down to the basics and not much jock presence (outside the formatics, required station promos, plug the remote, plug the artist, give the temp and FOR GOD'S SAKE NO BITS).

I kind of suspect THAT is what is at the core of the question being raised. NONE OF US can be all that nostalgic for hearing someone scream while introducing the Spencer Davis Group .... but I bet we ALL miss the "connection" we used to get.
 
LITTLEBOYBLUE said:
--- and again when KJR-FM relaunched and they celebrated the heritage of the station. On the latter, it was fun to hijack a bunch of jocks from the Bellevue Hyatt and we drove up to a bar where one of the other jocks was working and took the reunion to HIM as a complete surprise....
Click to expand...

That was in 'May 1995' BTW...
:)

There NEVER will be another one like it.....GLAD I have a video copy!
 
Doesn't that KIXI-AM fit your fancy? Reason #1 why the stations/formats that you like aren't around anymore; advertisers could care less about the 'older than dirt' demo.
 
[EDIT] I hardly consider the feel of radio in the 60s and 70s in the same vein of KIXI (which has gotten even a lot older sounding since the switch a couple of years ago.)
[EDIT]

[EDIT-Inflammatory content]
 
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