Answer: Not often because it's horrible.
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Radio stations that are "chestnuts"/anomalies
- Thread starter jp1996
- Start date
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
I can tell you that among the stations whose airplay I monitor, that song gets enough airplay get a turn in my "Forgotten 45s" feature fairly regularly.
I just looked in our computer here.... it hasnt played in a year here... and we usually play almost anything. says alot if even we wont play it often lol
Saga. An album-rock warhorse, and frequent MTV feature, of the early 1980s.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Well, that's the point of my "Forgotten 45s" feature ...take songs which get only marginal airplay across the Classic Hits universe, keep 45 of them in rotation, replacing one third every week, with the currently active titles playing once every other day, in a different daypart each time, and in a different hour of a daypart that they come back around to. Then a minimum of six months' rest before being considered for active play again.
I just looked in my computer, and there are 566 songs in that category, combining the holds with the currently active. "On The Loose" last played between July 1 and July 18, and its previous active period was November 20 to December 30 (but the active period is adjusted between Thanksgiving and Christmas because we pre-empt the Forgotten 45 in hours that we play holiday songs instead. It got 13 spins in that holiday period, compared to 9 in July; four extra spins in what was essentially two extra weeks fits the turnover model.
The good thing about having this feature is that it lets us go deeper into the songs that don't get huge amounts of airplay anymore, without the listeners hearing any of them very often.
I know this thread is mostly for US stations, so I'm not going to mention any formats that are commonplace here in the UK but aren't in the US, but I think Skylark warrants a mention:
skylark.fm
The station is on two FM signals in a rural area in the south-west of England, and has no programming, just an algorithmically generated mix of field recordings, poetry, speech snippets and original music.
They don't promote a stream, because they want you to listen to their FM in situ, but they stream here: http://uk2.internet-radio.com:8164/listen.ogg
About
A radio station with no programmes Skylark is a unique FM radio station for Dartmoor that began broadcasting in 2020 that gives voice to the landscape. An ever-changing and continuous broadcast wea…
skylark.fm
The station is on two FM signals in a rural area in the south-west of England, and has no programming, just an algorithmically generated mix of field recordings, poetry, speech snippets and original music.
They don't promote a stream, because they want you to listen to their FM in situ, but they stream here: http://uk2.internet-radio.com:8164/listen.ogg
I remember KZEW and then-"rock 40" KEGL in Dallas played it. Wikipedia says the band's from Canada so I imagine it was a CanCon favorite up there. Wiki also says the video was played a lot on the first year of MTV, back when they didn't have that many videos to choose from yet.
I don't remember it from the CHR stations, but in order to make 26 on the Hot 100, they had to be getting lots more than just AOR airplay, right?
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
The Hot 100, contrary to popular belief, was not entirely based on airplay. Record sales factored in as well, and there were many cases where songs debuted on the chart already certified platinum because wholesale orders had already been tallied.
I looked in my R&R chart book (because their chart was based on airplay) and it was a non-charter. You'd have to get at least to #30 to be included there.
Is there any evidence of actual listening to this station?I know this thread is mostly for US stations, so I'm not going to mention any formats that are commonplace here in the UK but aren't in the US, but I think Skylark warrants a mention:
About
A radio station with no programmes Skylark is a unique FM radio station for Dartmoor that began broadcasting in 2020 that gives voice to the landscape. An ever-changing and continuous broadcast wea…
The station is on two FM signals in a rural area in the south-west of England, and has no programming, just an algorithmically generated mix of field recordings, poetry, speech snippets and original music.
They don't promote a stream, because they want you to listen to their FM in situ, but they stream here: http://uk2.internet-radio.com:8164/listen.ogg
I read the description, and it sounds like the background for a Thomas Hardy novel! That is as far from the madding crowd as you can get!
It's not in the ratings, but none of these small stations are. I think there are more people involved in its production than actual listeners, but nobody knows. It feels a bit like a toy for some local artists, who run a more conventional "radio art" station down the road, SoundArt Radio.
A station that does have listeners, which I mentioned elsewhere but is probably more relevant here, is Alfred 107.3:
It's on a single FM signal in a small town of 9,000 people, and is 100% speech with zero syndicated shows or even items from outside the town, everything on the station is talk, and everything is local - they have a policy of broadcasting nothing from out of town. There's local news, but there are also things like history, recipes, an equestrian slot, local walks, someone does an item on "tree of the week", and so on. The hourly timechecks are done by a random local - "this is Bob, I live on South Street, it's ten o'clock". It's like a local magazine on the air. It's unique in the country, nobody else is running this format.
ALFRED!It's not in the ratings, but none of these small stations are. I think there are more people involved in its production than actual listeners, but nobody knows. It feels a bit like a toy for some local artists, who run a more conventional "radio art" station down the road, SoundArt Radio.
A station that does have listeners, which I mentioned elsewhere but is probably more relevant here, is Alfred 107.3:
It's on a single FM signal in a small town of 9,000 people, and is 100% speech with zero syndicated shows or even items from outside the town, everything on the station is talk, and everything is local - they have a policy of broadcasting nothing from out of town. There's local news, but there are also things like history, recipes, an equestrian slot, local walks, someone does an item on "tree of the week", and so on. The hourly timechecks are done by a random local - "this is Bob, I live on South Street, it's ten o'clock". It's like a local magazine on the air. It's unique in the country, nobody else is running this format.
Kerri is a small town local programming genius and had much success in commercial radio in the past. I've known Keri for over a decade and met him twice in the US, once when i was working at KWCA 101.1 Redding, PA and once when I was at WDDH 97.5 Ridgway, PA
KEGL playing it as a "great new rock and roll" track from December 1982...
The Dallas/Fort Worth Radio Dial: April 7 1987
"Magic 102.9" KMGC, KLUV, "Y95" KHYI, "the Eagle" KEGL, "Kiss 106" KTKS, KVIL, "Cozy" KQZY, "Z107" KDLZ, "K104" KKDA-FM, KZPS, "Q102" KTXQ, "K-Zoo" KZEW, "K-Oldie" KLDD, KSCS, "K-Plex" KPLX, WBAP
overtheair.substack.com
Aside from KEGL, Radio & Records editions from December 1982 showed WCAU 98.1 Philly, 96KX Pittsburgh, WLOL 99.9 Twin Cities, WGCL 98.5 Cleveland, WBEN-FM 102.5 Buffalo, WABB-FM 97.5 Mobile, WSSX 95.1 Charlotte, WNOK 104.7 Columbia, among others beginning to play it at that time as well. I remember as a kid that MTV played the video a lot, so I imagine that also helped getting it airplay.
Er, Redding CA
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Paul, you got confused by the pronunication of Reading, which is in Pennsylvania and also the name of one of the railroads in Monopoly.
It's also the pronunciation of the city in England whose name the Pennsylvania Reading and the one in Massachusetts share. However, if you ask Google (by voice) for English soccer scores, the UK Reading gets pronounced with a long "e."
Paul, you got confused by the pronunication of Reading, which is in Pennsylvania and also the name of one of the railroads in Monopoly.
Paul, you got confused by the pronunication of Reading, which is in Pennsylvania and also the name of one of the railroads in Monopoly.
I get place names confused from time to time, having lived all over the place
Charleston SC.
Oops…yes. I recently digitized an old WAQQ airchecks so I had another 95.1 Carolina top 40 on my mind.
Would any of these qualify as unusual?
"Take the Long Way Home" Supertramp
"Cover Me" Bruce Springsteen
"I Like It Like That" Dave Clark Five
"Authority Song" John Mellencamp
"Love Rollercoaster" Ohio Players
"Family Affair" Sly and the Family Stone
"Take the Long Way Home" Supertramp
"Cover Me" Bruce Springsteen
"I Like It Like That" Dave Clark Five
"Authority Song" John Mellencamp
"Love Rollercoaster" Ohio Players
"Family Affair" Sly and the Family Stone
No. All very familiar, and all played on various sorts of classic hits, oldies, and classic rock stations over the years. The DC5 song has "aged out," and few classic hits stations play much soul or funk nowadays, but those that do dare to veer away from rock play those Ohio Players and Sly tunes.
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