oldies survey

[disgruntled]

Just for fun, I want to hear some opinions about the best/worst oldies stations, and why one format is better than the rest. Naturally, I have a few candidates in mind......WTHZ has a sensible mix of classics and post-60s rock, at least thats my impression based on my own sporadic listening. WWMY is, of course, the most "pure" oldies outlet, as far as I can tell, and is probably the only such station of relevance, as far as the Triangle goes (just a guess). WPCM is a very odd duck. calls itself "oldies and beach" which apparently means oldies + Chairman of the Board once per hour + some obscure stuff I've never heard of. Obviously, its a niche format, and there's nothing wrong with that, but the one time I actually listened to the station for 20 minutes on a Monday afternoon, I heard what must have been the boss's daughter playing DJ with no formal training whatsoever. Hideous.

So who am I neglecting to mention, besides the River, which I wouldnt really characterize as oldies (but if you want to, i won't try to stop you), and other classic rock leaning formats

 

[jmobooku]

As far as the train wreck in programming the am/beach/oldies, WPCM ex-all star dj Charlie Brown is in charge last i heard. So he must be driving the engine. Maybe the five people that listen to that station don't really mind.

 

[BIG APE]

Don't know whether you mean that are still on the air or not..but my vote for one of the best ever was WTGR...Raleigh or wherever they were licensed.. As for right now, you can't beat AM WMNB in North Myrtle beach..Check it out, they stream!

 

[XTalker]

The oldies and beach format is a very eclectic, "Carolinas" kinda thing. There is a pretty loyal, and affluent audience for it. If you ain't from round here, you woun't understand.

Honestly, the best oldies stations in America are the one who understand the region in which they exist (which means there aren't many really good ones).

One must understand, for example, that in most of North Carolina many of the Northeastern Beatle hits were not hits. You're in the bible belt - and people burned Beatle records in this part of the world. Motown had a much greater influence than the British invasion groups - thus the popularity or R&B (know by many as Beach Music - which ain't the Beach Boys).

Ape knows! The Big Ape, KIX, WTOB, WMBL, WGNI, WTMA - all the great southern Top 40 Stations played lots of things you would never hear on WABC or WMCA back in the day.

And, while there are many northeastern transplants in the area, the core is still the folks who grew up here!

 

[surfdude]

The Best Oldies station I've ever heard was Capital Gold in Great Britain.
Sadly, they don't stream to the US anymore. It is a regular broadcast station
in London that streams.

Capital Gold covers every genre and era of Rock and Soul music '55-'85.
Little Richard to Springsteen(not that far apart, really).
Tutti Fruitti into Dancing in the Dark, yeah baby!

The music is masterfully scheduled and it WORKS Good "live" jocks.
The station was, and is, the History of Rock & Roll. I would imagine the demos are wide.
They're ratings are big!

That style of Oldies would work in the US if anyone had the 'nads to do it. The cume would
be huge.

 

[disgruntled]

so capitol gold is essentially WTHZ extended into the mid-80s

 

[disgruntled]

I see conflicting opinions here about WPCM. On the one hand, its a train wreck--on the other hand its eclectic with a modest but loyal following. Alright guys, duke it out.

 

[surfdude]

"so capitol gold is essentially WTHZ extended into the mid-80s"

Uh, no. Much bigger, deeper, more interesting playlist. Does Hits play any 50s or
early 60s?

You'd have to hear it, to appreciate it's excellence...as an Oldies station.

 

[disgruntled]

easy now, surf, no need to get defensive, i'm just asking questions. capitol gold is undoubtedly a very fine radio institution. can we get back to my original question: how would you rank the local oldies formats. its looks like wwmy is getting consistenly lackluster books. are they hitting their demo? if not, why not? or is it just the best any oldies station can do in the triangle market against other formats, such as urban

 

[surfdude]

Not defensive. I've never heard WTHZ. Just wondering if they played any
50s/early 60s? 80s?

Can't say much about WWMY, I work there. The Triangle is a demographically young market,
as opposed to say Phoenix or Pittsburgh, so it's challenging for a true Oldies format.

 

[w00t]

WWMY is a decent station. I don't get to see rating breakdowns, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that a station pushing out 1700 watts isn't going to do as well as they'd like against a station pushing out 100k from 2000 feet high above Nash County.

I realize most listening is done in the Triangle proper, and not that WRVA is doing much better, but still. It's a factor.

 

[jmobooku]

ANY......ANY....."Oldies" radio station playing the same 450 songs over and over and over...will DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!!! In this world of internet, satellite, cable and who knows what else....people do NOT want to hear 5 or NINE songs and then 10 minutes of commercials, especially those nauseating CAR dealer commericals or anyone where the OWNER does the voicing. Hey....leave it to the Professionals you Morons. It's "instant Tune-out" time. Hey Oldies PROGRAMMERS....."Surf-Dude".....remember Juke Boxes...where people could choose from 100 songs. How about expanding that to 1,000 songs....lower the commercial time and ADVERTISE YOUR STATION! But then again....you're working for CMC...and they don't believe in that stuff. Commercial radio could LIVE again if only the PASSION from MANAGEMENT was there. But then........let me go smoke my pipe....and dream!

 

[surfdude]

And, on that juke box of 100 songs, people picked the same 20 over and over again.
People like hits. #1 of all time on juke box plays...CRAZY by Patsy Cline.

When I worked in a pizza shop as a kid, every other play on the juke box was CRACKLIN ROSE by Neil Diamond.
Even today, when I hear it, I start making a large pepperoni.

 

[Sniffthamic]

Surfdude, That was the most brilliant word picture anyone has crafted in a long time! I was with you there making the large pepperoni! Are you on the air currently? "Cracklin' Rose" and you make a pizza. That takes me right there! Why don't jocks get this stuff? Nice.

Oldies stations? Why doesn't Magic 94 listen to Kearth online? They got that thang right.

 

[jmobooku]

Yeah.....that's why a certain station can't crack a 3.0. Same boring "cracklin" Top 20 over and over.....and cable, internet and satellite radio continues to grow. Zzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!

 

[surfdude]

Thanks Sniff (I think?) K-Earth does a nice job with the way
Oldies needs to be done in 2008. I listen to them quite a bit online.
Nice vibe on that station. Jocks are brief but topical.

 

[fingar]

"an oldies station"

is what?
...in 1978 if you played a 20 year old song (1958) what was your image?

in 2008, you play a 20 year old song (1988) are you "targeted" or "all over the road"

is an oldie 20, 30, 40 (1968) years old? less or more?

let the fun begin.

 

[surfdude]

I think 1977 plus or minus one year is where the Oldies format ends. From there on
there were other formats coming on the scene: Album Rock, Progressive, Disco, Black,
the first AC stations. By the late 70s people were dialing to a station that catered more
specifically to them, and on FM. The shared Top 40 radio listening experience began to
end and splinter off.

The next generation Oldies format is Adult Hits as represented by Jack, and Bob, and Simon, and Mike,
and even Jill. Classic Rock has to be considered an Oldies format now.

 

[XTalker]

In 1978, there were no formats revolving around 20 year old songs. AC was being born and many played songs from the sixties, but you found little product on the air from the 50s unless it was a weekend special or a special feature. There were a few MOR (Middle Of the Road) stations were still around, and some of them played some standards from the 50s, but again, there was no real format based on the era.

Remember, FM was young in the 70s. The number one format was Beautiful Music! AC was starting to take over across the country, and by the middle 80s, there were few BM stations remaining.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Someone asked in WTHZ played 80s muisc. I haven't listened much during the day lately and I won't go into why, but Mike Harvey, who is national, plays a lot and some really off-the-wall stuff too.