Old Smooth Jazz Charts/Playlist

[JoshB]

Does anyone have a link to old Smooth Jazz charts or playlist for certain stations from the late 80s and early 90s, "the golden ages" of the format. I'm just curious to see the top tracks back then versus what we have now.

 

[AnotherCat]

Gotta lotta them

I don't have a link to them online but boy do I have a stash of them, after all we actually used paper back then. I have my own playlists from two "first wave" cJazz/pop mix stations (79-82) as well as some from friends (like Donna Brake who had WSM-FM and early Love 94) I have monitors from Russ Davis' Jazz Flavors, sample hours from stations all over the country that were printed in the trades from 88-95 (BA took over in 95). Random charts..lots of fun stuff because although I may be the Goddess of DeCluttering in other aspects of my life I've never torn a page from a trade publication that I couldn't find a place to keep. I just moved so the file boxes are stashed but I'll go digging and post some of the lists here.

Fun topic, fun stuff. Mo' later1

 

[Nock]

Please post some of the Love 94 stuff. I was down there when they flipped to c jazz. They are what hooked me back then!! Also be interested in what you have on WSM FM. Early 80's they were a very good station. People still talk about the sound they had back then.

Nock

 

[AnotherCat]

All I basically have on WSM is adds and some chart #s. I was at WSKY in Asheville and Donna and I used to talk music a lot. She is involved with acradio.com now. What I forgot to mention is that I lost two boxes of cool stuff during hurricane season '94 when I got a hole in the roof of the back room. Here's a teaser though.
Russ Davis' Jazz Flavors circa 1991
George Howard/Everything I miss at home
Alex Bugon Dance of the Ghosts
Robert Palmer Aeroplane
Rippingtons Morocco
Gerald Albright Sweet Dreams
Basia Baby You're Mine
Andreas Vollenweider Dancing with The Lion
Nelson Kole Tatoo
Harry Connick Jr. We Are In Love
Bobby Lyle Othello

 

[Nock]

Here is what I remember from the mid 80's on Love 94

Plenty o Rippingtons
David Benoit
Kim Pensyl
Richard Elliot
Bose
Basia
Tangerine Dream
Ice House
Patrick O'hearn
Andreas Vollenweider
Kenny G (back when I could stomach some of his stuff)
David Sanborn
Larry Carlton
John Tesh
Shadowfax
Oleta Adams (Circle of One)
Lyle Lovett
Pat Metheny
Chick Corea
Herb ALpert
Spyro Gyra
Fattburger
Yellowjackets
Shakatak
Stanley Clarke
Paul Hardcastle
Acoustic Alchemy (they Blew Mr Chow out)

If memory serves me correct, Love 94 picked the format up around mid 80's from a lower power FM in Miami that went Spanish. Up in Palm Beach County we were very happy with the change to 94 as the signal boomed into PB County.

Nock

 

[AnotherCat]

Actually Love 94 came on board for the "first wave" in somewhere between 77 and 80. There were stations experimenting with the jazz/pop hybrid when FM stations started trying to attract non-rock listeners. We had one in Tallahassee called D-103 but I was actually at Gulf 104 at the time. I think they flipped back to some type of pop format then went back into CJazz to some extent in the early 80s.

Heres something fun..I think the early list was '91
WNUA Chicago
Then:
Sam Riney: What Was I to You
Bobby Caldwell: Real thing
Jan Hammer: Crocketts Theme
Booker T Jones: The Cool Dude
Michael McDonald: You Show Me
The Rippingtons: Welcome to the St. James club
Michael Franks-The Art of Love
Kurt Bestor: Windjammin'
Lee Ritenour: The Kiss
Lauren Wood: Fallen
Joe Sample: The Road Less Traveled

WNUA Now:
Toni Braxton-"Unbreak My Heart"
Marvin Gaye-"Sexual Healing"
Grover Washington Jr: Winelight
Gino Vanelli-"I Just Want to Stop"
Kenny G: I like the Way You Move
Gladys Knight and the Pips-"Midnight Train To Georgia,"
Euge Groove: Mr Groove
Doobie Bros.-"Minute by Minute,"
Bill Withers "Lean On Me,"

 

[Nock]

Ahhh, cause I remember Love 94 around 87 being AC with a weaker signal putting out the jazz format. Then they did the much publicized switch. Did not know they were playing with it that early on. Would have loved (no pun) to have heard it back then.

Nock

 

[AnotherCat]

Yeah, in '87 the weaker signal was a station that Shirley Maldanado (sp?) was programming and 94 was some type of A/C. Somewhere in the "stash" I have an article from MAC report on her and that station.

Tonight we go to:
CD 96.9 WCDJ Boston PD Blake Lawrence 1991

Alex Bugnon - Around 12:15 am
Dave Koz - So Far From Home
Anita Baker - Caught up In The Rapture (this song was 3 years old, not 20, at the time!)
David Benoit- Wild Kids
Dan Balmer-Somebody's Girl (who??)
Joni Mitchell- Nothing Can Be Done
Luther Vandross - Here and Now (This song was also considerably less old..but I still couldn't stand it)
Pat Metheny - Better Days Ahead
Richard Elliot - Take Your Time
Michael Franks - Face To Face
Sam Riney - Lay It On The Line (prod. by Paul Brown before the Bodysnatchers got him..)

Ya know, BA came in by saying that we (CJ programmers who were not them) were all self indulgent and esoteric but this is a pretty mainstream set. Admittedly the songs BA still plays were still recurrents rather than really old and tired, but this list doesn't seem very self indulgent or obscure to me.

 

[spiritof67]

Dan Balmer is a guitarist who had been working with Tom Grant for a number of years.

 

[JoshB]

Thanks for posting the list AnotherCat and Nock. It's interesting (in a bad way) to see how the format has gone from a Jazzy-New Age like diverse list, to a mostly R&B-AC-Jazz repetitive playlist that we have today. A few question from a non-radio person though; Did most stations follow like a standard national playlist, like where different stations would play exactly the same thing, or was it more independent, like each station would kind of do there on thing?

I'd be interested in seeing CD 101.9, WLOQ 103.1, and some of the other "original" smooth jazz stations. Just from listening to the music from the playlist you guys listed, I can conclude one thing, that it sounds a whole lot better than the crap they have on now, lol, which is sad. :-[

 

[Nock]

Josh

Fortunately it's not all bad, you just have to find it. There is plenty of new talent still trying to make it. I am heavy on a guy named Kyle Wolverton. Very cool cd and they are young. (i am not) I just think the format needs more of this and someone willing to play it.

Nock

 

[Bill Harmonic]

Thanks for posting the list AnotherCat and Nock.  It's interesting (in a bad way) to see how the format has gone from a Jazzy-New Age like diverse list, to a mostly R&B-AC-Jazz repetitive playlist that we have today.  A few question from a non-radio person though;  Did most stations follow like a standard national playlist, like where different stations would play exactly the same thing, or was it more independent, like each station would kind of do there on thing?

I'd be interested in seeing CD 101.9, WLOQ 103.1, and some of the other "original" smooth jazz stations.  Just from listening to the music from the playlist you guys listed, I can conclude one thing,  that it sounds a whole lot better than the crap they have on now, lol, which is sad.   :-[

One of the things that I loved about the format in the early 80's when I got involved was that uniqueness of sound that each station had. Steve Huntington, who now runs Radio Margaritaville for Jimmy Buffett, ran WHVE in Sarasota and it had a sound that was the reflection of the smooth jazz lifestyle in that area. He later went on to have a very successful run at WLOQ in Orlando despite Herb Gross. Steve's just one of many who were there in the beginning and had the right idea and follow through. There were things that we learned from the advent of research that should have been taken to heart but just not implemented the way they are now. For example, when a CD came out, there were no "singles" released. It was anyone's choice and many chose to play anywhere from 2 to 4 different cuts from the same CD. I think we had to cut that down a bit but our current "lemmings" thought process is wrong in so many ways. I happen to believe that a CD is "done" in anywhere from 8 to 12 months so I had no problem playing one track for three or four months then another track for three or four and then a final track after that. The artists really didn't mind either. They were getting constant airplay, the listener was always getting the "new" track from so and so and the radio station was programming variety. It worked! It also allowed space for new artists which we have very little of today because there's no room from playing so much from the stars that have been inbred to death. We also played very few "hit" vocals and only those that made sense to the texture and tempo of what each station had designed for their air sound. It was more of a track from a hit artist than their pop hits. For example I always had great success with "Trouble Man" by Marvin Gaye. Not "Grapevine" or the others but a track that fit the mold and an artist that had props with the audience. One thing I've learned over the decades of playing this music to the masses is that you can really play any instrumental that you like and it's quite acceptable to the listener. There are a few things you need in each one and as long as it has a melody then most listeners don't care. The P2's can't tell the difference and they just know what they hear is the right tempo and texture so they're digging it. The P1's are happy because they are getting the variety they want along with new music so to them the station has a perceived larger playlist with little repetition and now they're digging it to. The vocals were always "area" specific. I always tried to stay away from the major hits unless they had the "feel" you wanted to convey in the mix. Playing Jimmy Buffett worked well for Steve in his location but not mine in the midwest. One more point is that the format started out vocally more in the Triple A vein of artist and then de-evolved to the R&B heavy mess we have today. The research is important but it then went to far and created the monster we have that has NO soul and needs a stake driven into its heart so we can start fresh. Many of us had good success stories and in some ways the old days weren't to bad. We did have to grow and evolve but the owners allowed the cart to go before the horse when the likes of BA came around led by numbers crunchers who can't see themselves in a mirror. You can play anything you want in this format but you better have the responsibility to your audience first and not to your personal whims. Tower of Power posed the questions with "What Is Hip"? It was our job to let our audience tell us and we had to turn that over to huge Bozo's. Shame on us!

 

[cklw800]

Right on, Bill! I remember listening to those innovative years. I wasn't in the format then but I was a big fan even though I was doing something almost entirely different (AC). I was buying the music and it drove me crazy when hearing out of town stations. I heard even more new music and I thought I was going to go broke. I didn't and I'm glad I made the investment. Just think how many CDs would have sold for these artists had that innovation been allowed to resolve positively. The irony is that it is needed now more than ever and there is a big debate currently even among the nation's top programmers in the format. Something's gotta give but BA is on major damage control form the defections. They're getting new stations as we knew they would. They tried to launch a big to-do about their new innovative research thing, but found someone had already been doing it for years. Carol Archer has been surprisingly fair in R&R writing about the issues in the format. Brian Culbertson has a funky CD out and it is hot! Several artists are cutting loose and very responsibly. Check out The Sax Pack, Marcus Miller, Chris Standring, Jessy J and Bob Baldwin new releases. I'm hearing a big difference. Euge Groove's latest has been out a while but listen to "Religify" and "Geez Spot". Only if these were heard on the radio. Some of those tunes would have people stopping and going whoa! Yeah! They're very contemporay and structured but different than the radio offerings. They are hits! The artists know what's up. Something's gotta give!