Oldies artists by market: A quick, informal poll

[hm insulators]

Judging by Los Angeles and Phoenix oldies and classic rock radio, it seems that different markets have different artists that get (heavy airplay or are overplayed: you make the call). For instance, when I was living in L.A. until 2004, the oldies and classic rock stations all gave you heavy doses of Santana. Every other song would be something by Santana, it seemed; you couldn't get away from the guy! Then when Santana somehow managed to have a hit with his Superstition CD in 1999, all the CHR and hot AC stations started playing him, too. (A friend explained that the reason is that many of the stations in L.A. are owned by some outfit whose CEO thinks Carlos Santana is the cat's pajamas.)

Now I live in Phoenix, where I almost never hear Santana on the radio, but the oldies and classic rock stations here are absolutely crazy about The Kinks and The Hollies. Those two bands are as prevalent in Phoenix as Santana is in L.A. And when they're not playing The Kinks and The Hollies, the stations seem to be out to play every single copy of "Brown Eyed Girl" (Van Morrison) and "Tiny Dancer" (Elton John) ever released. Honest to Pete, the next DJ in Phoenix that plays "Brown Eyed Girl" or "Tiny Dancer" is going to get whupped upside the head with a pillowcase filled with rolls of duct tape!

Now that you see what I'm getting at, what oldies artists get heavy or too much airplay in your market? Boston, New York, Chicago, I'm giving a shout, as well as smaller markets such as Pittsburgh or even El Paso, say. Testing for echo...

 

[PirateJohnny]

Here we go again...

 

[finallyescaped]

Judging by Los Angeles and Phoenix oldies and classic rock radio, it seems that different markets have different artists that get (heavy airplay or are overplayed: you make the call). For instance, when I was living in L.A. until 2004, the oldies and classic rock stations all gave you heavy doses of Santana. Every other song would be something by Santana, it seemed; you couldn't get away from the guy! Then when Santana somehow managed to have a hit with his Superstition CD in 1999, all the CHR and hot AC stations started playing him, too. (A friend explained that the reason is that many of the stations in L.A. are owned by some outfit whose CEO thinks Carlos Santana is the cat's pajamas.)

It is highly unlikely that the CEO of a major broadcast company would tell it's stations in LA to play Santana for his/her own personal reasons. Your friend is clearly uninformed.

Now I live in Phoenix, where I almost never hear Santana on the radio, but the oldies and classic rock stations here are absolutely crazy about The Kinks and The Hollies.

Maybe you're listening to the wrong stations to not hear Santana, or perhaps you're listening to non-terrestrial radio if you think you're hearing a lot of Hollies and Kinks. Here are the last 7 days for Phoenix market:

Hollies - 10 total spins from 2 stations (KOOL 4, KSLX 6)
Kings - 3 total spins from 2 stations (KOOL 2, KDKB 1)
Santana - 76 spins from 7 stations (KAJM 13, KESZ 5, KMXP 9, KOOL 13, KPKX 3, KSLX 18, KYOT 15)

Honest to Pete, the next DJ in Phoenix that plays "Brown Eyed Girl" or "Tiny Dancer" is going to get whupped upside the head with a pillowcase filled with rolls of duct tape!

Pete must be dead, because you're claiming to be honest to him, however this is unlikely to happen. Pete will forever haunt you.

Now that you see what I'm getting at, what oldies artists get heavy or too much airplay in your market? Boston, New York, Chicago, I'm giving a shout, as well as smaller markets such as Pittsburgh or even El Paso, say. Testing for echo...

Where I live, in Vegas, the classic hits station (KKLZ) sounds like most researched classic hits stations. Top artists would be Elton, Stones, Eagles, Fleetwood, Doobies, etc.

My second home is Lake Tahoe so I occasionally get to catch some Sacramento radio. That market has two classic hits stations as well as a classic rock. Same story. Pretty much hit driven with the same core artists, although on my drive through Sacramento on Monday it seemed one of the stations (KCCL) was diving a little later and getting away from 60s even more than stations like KKLZ or KOOL.

 

[davideduardo]

Honest to Pete, the next DJ in Phoenix that plays "Brown Eyed Girl" or "Tiny Dancer" is going to get whupped upside the head with a pillowcase filled with rolls of duct tape!

Odd.

KOOL played Brown Eyed Girl between 4 and 6 times a week since the beginning of 2013... that is about once every 30 hours. That's a rate at which the average listener might hear it once every month to 6 weeks.

They played "Margaritaville" twice as often... and "Tiny Dancer" gets about 2 plays a week.

 

[CTListener]

I wonder if the perception of saturation airplay on classic hits stations might have something to do with limited numbers of songs being used at the top of the hour. WDRC-FM has done this for years, and as a result, I've come to associate certain songs with regular airplay more than others simply because they're the ones that always get played right after the bright, bold ID jingle. For instance, today I got in the car at 2:57 and heard the Four Tops' "Are You Man Enough." Good song, and I know I'd heard it on the station before, but it didn't strike me as overplayed. Then I heard the jingle, followed by the distinctive intro of Pablo Cruise's "Love Will Find A Way," which is one of the songs I have come to associate with the top of the hour. ("Lady Marmalade" is another.) I'm guessing that this song is indeed getting more plays than "Are You Man Enough," but not as many more that I subconsciously believe it's getting. Is this likely?