Peach's version of "Jazz Flavors"

[bclark71.]

Back in 1988, when 94Q mercifully dropped all but the Sunday night "Jazz Flavors," Peach began airing a weeknight jazz show.

I want to say it was called "Peach Flavors." Was this the name or is my mind finally beginning to atrophy?

 

[AMFMRadFan]

I'm not sure what the name of the show was. However, I do recall listening to 94.9 back during the Peach era in the '90s when they called themselves "Peach 949" without the decimal point. They would occasionally mix Smooth Jazz in their Adult Contemporary rotation as part of a partnership they had with what was Jazz Flavors 104.1 FM WJZF before they flipped their format to Urban AC KISS 104.1 FM WALR, what that station is today. I remember reading about the partnership in a magazine when the partnership was still in existence. It may have been Atlanta Magazine. All the page displayed was Peach's logo and the Jazz Flavors logo.

 

[MRFLASHPORT]

actually WQXI did not drop Jazz Flavors until early 1989, just before the change to Star 94, which was in October of that year, I remember it well. I was a freshman in high school and listened to the sign-off of 94-Q, the last song played on WQXI was John Lennon's "Imagine" with a dedication to the staff. Very touching. 94-Q was a heck of a station and in 1988 my radio often stayed there. I remember "The Saturday Morning Oldies Show" with Bob Bailey and "the 4-40-40 afternoon drive with Jack Diamond". I hated to see 94-Q go. Ironically it was the idea that they had such a diverse split audience (MOR/Adult top 40 during the day and Jazz Flavors at night) which caused the downfall. Ironic because RoddyFreeman made the same comment about Star 94 today which suffers a similar problem.

The original Jazz show on WPCH was "Peachtree Nightsounds" hosted by one of their finest DJ's, Jim Clark. I had many phone conversations with him that year. Jim was a true radio guy and his original show was pure jazz, much like WCLK plays today. PD Vance Dillard decided to morph it into "Peach Flavors" later that year with WQXI becoming Star 94 and dropping Jazz Flavors altogether. Playlist was heavy on new age. When Andreas Vollenweider played at the fox theater that fall, WPCH was the "official" station. I still have a leaflet from that show (which was AWESOME) and it reads "Peach Flavors...Genuine Atlanta Jazz...only on WPCH FM 95". Note they were still using the moniker "WPCH FM 95" not "Peach 94.9" which seemed to occur in late 1990 or 1991. The show disappear right around the time Peach went to light A/C in 90/91. Peach also dropped the new age and jazz cuts as well as most instrumentals and Peach Flavors was history. Around this time is when they started calling themselves "Peach 94.9" versus "Peach FM 95- Bright and Relaxing".

The Peach Flavors show was very much a copy of "Jazz Flavors" but much different than Jim Clark's "Peachtree Nightsounds" which aired in early 1988. (First time I heard it I was leaving White Water in Marietta, it was in late May 1988 IIRC.) WPCH also had a heavy rotation of new age cuts such as Vollenweider, Carlos Reyes, Larry Carlton, etc. It wouldn't be until December 26 or 27, 1993 when Cox signed WJZF-FM on 104.1. The first voice I heard on there was Russ Davis himself. (apparently voice tracked on tape from him his "home" at WQCD-FM New York. I have several of his later shows on CD-R's that surfaced around 1995/1996 when he remained on a weekend show on WJZF). Jazz Flavors 104 would keep me occupied until it became Kiss in 2000 and then Radio One signed on WJZZ shortly thereafter with Smooth Jazz 107.5
I'll say this 107.5 never had the sound or imaging of WJZF, nor the original Jazz Flavors with Russ Davis on 94-Q. The format is going down because the programmers have watered it down from deep music to Muzak.
Just my opinion. Long live WCLK who know what real jazz is.

Yeah I know I was a weird kid listening to that stuff- got a lot of jokes at school. I never will forget seeing Al Jarreau open Lakewood in 1989. Take 6 was the opening act (never heard them before and they were incredible). I went with my best friend at the times folks and some other adults remarked to his parents "I see you had to drag your kids here."

To which my buddies' dad said: "No, they actually dragged us here."

I thank Russ Davis and Craig Ashwood, as well as Jim Clark who opened me up to jazz. I listen to it this day, it is much deeper than "chill out" music or background noise to me. I also have "The Best of the Original Jazz Flavors volumes I and II- The Cats that Make it Happen" on CD which features Atlanta artists such as Jerome Olds. Atlanta has some great music coming out of here that (no offense) isn't hip-hop, country or rock. It's just not on the air anymore. (but volumes of it online)

 

[craig_ashwood]

I thank MRFLASHPORT for the shout out, but I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that in reality, I only filled in on 94Q's Jazz Flavours when Russ Davis was on vacation. Russ (and his predecessor, Fleetwood Gruver, now PD of WMMO in Orlando) deserve 100% of whatever credit is to be doled out for the success of that show.

What was fun about it was...we could play whatever we wanted! So, it really led to some amazingly cool hybrid types of hours, with not only mainstream jazz artists, but other vocalists/groups that maybe were obvious (Steely Dan, say, a song like "Chain Lightning") and others, even more interesting, that fit but might only barely/marginally be defined as "jazz" (how about Hot Tuna's "Water Song", for example?)...anyhow, it was truly a fun way to stretch musical boundaries, and the audience reaction was really gratifying. I used to love to fill in on the Sunday night version of the show. The ratings were astonishing, too, which made it great from a business standpoint.

For those who are interested, I spoke with my old friend Russ just last week. He's in New York and doing great. He's working up a new web site, http://www.mojaradio.com/index.html, and I bet would love to hear from some of his old Atlanta listeners. And, he's still one of the nicest, funniest guys I know, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him at the upcoming 94Q reunion.

 

[MRFLASHPORT]

Mr. Ashwood I am thrilled to know you are still around. You were a hallmark of 94-Q along with Christy Tanner and many others. I do recall hearing you on Jazz Flavors in 1987/1988 and you all did an awesome job. The diversity of your rotation is what made the show so good. Unlike today's pre-defined lists, Jazz Flavors always had an almost elitist appeal. The show made one hear the pulse of what was Atlanta.

I recall visiting New York City in the summer of 1990 (most of my family hails from Suffolk County) and hearing Russ Davis on WQCD while coming into LGA and seeing the WTC complex from the sky (yes, I know it's a no-no to listen to FM radio in the air) and it was refreshing to hear him and CD 101.9 in general, which back then, was much like your Jazz Flavors show on 94-Q except it was 24/7. I got to see Jean Luc Ponty during that visit, one of the most memorable jazz concerts I've been to in my lifetime. Seeing Steely Dan this past June at the Encore Park in Alpharetta was right up there (thanks to Kelly McCoy and B98.5. I won the Lost Lyric Contest one afternoon. Song was "In too Deep" by Phil Collins. got through on the first call thank you Nextel.)

you guys really were (and still are) a class act that is often imitated but never duplicated. 94-Q will always live on in our hearts and we will never forget "the Cats that made it happen".

 

[MPDinATL]

Didn't Jazz Flavours start under the reign of Jim Morrison?
Loved Russ and Cliff Smith did a great job, too.
94Q rules!