Rant here about Timeless Classics

[vchimpanzee]

We have complaints about this format all over the site. It's time to get them all in one place.

I'm not hearing the real standards (meaning recorded way back when) often enough when I actually get to listen, which is usually during a short time in the car. At home, at night, I rarely get a good enough signal this time of year to really listen.

Nearly every song other than the new recordings could have been played on oldies radio of 10 years ago or soft AC from 15 years ago. So much of what's there doesn't really interest me, though many of the songs would have been "acceptable" if I was hearing Sinatra and friends frequently. When it's mostly junk, then what was only okay becomes junk as well.

Now I like The Carpenters, John Denver, Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond. I like The Fifth Dimension. I like Petula Clark.

I'm still hearing The Lettermen and The Vogues. And Bobby Vinton and Frankie Avalon.

On the other hand, I like Bert Kaempfert, Perry Como, Jack Jones, Nelson Riddle and Henry Mancini. Where are they?

Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and Count Basie don't seem to have been around lately either. And forget Saturday and Sunday evenings now.

 

[fred flintstone]

What have you got to complain about? Sounds like you've got the format in your market. Most places don't.

I suggest you try Frank's Place on XM.

 

[passtheword]

We have complaints about this format all over the site. It's time to get them all in one place.

I'm not hearing the real standards (meaning recorded way back when) often enough when I actually get to listen, which is usually during a short time in the car. At home, at night, I rarely get a good enough signal this time of year to really listen.

Nearly every song other than the new recordings could have been played on oldies radio of 10 years ago or soft AC from 15 years ago. So much of what's there doesn't really interest me, though many of the songs would have been "acceptable" if I was hearing Sinatra and friends frequently. When it's mostly junk, then what was only okay becomes junk as well.

Now I like The Carpenters, John Denver, Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond. I like The Fifth Dimension. I like Petula Clark.

I'm still hearing The Lettermen and The Vogues. And Bobby Vinton and Frankie Avalon.

On the other hand, I like Bert Kaempfert, Perry Como, Jack Jones, Nelson Riddle and Henry Mancini. Where are they?

Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and Count Basie don't seem to have been around lately either. And forget Saturday and Sunday evenings now.

I haven't heard the previous Stardust format in many years. I can't think of there being even one station here in Alabama now that's using Timeless Classics. We used to have them everywhere back in the 80's and early 90's. In fact, in Birmingham, 4 of the AM stations used the Stardust format at one time in the past (sometimes more than once).

I knew the format had changed (to what degree I didn't know), but I gave it a listen the other day on a station that was streaming online, and it basically is soft AC, or at least soft AC as we knew it 15-20 years ago...a cross between adult contemporary and "easy listening" artists, with some standards thrown in here and there. I like soft AC as it used to be programmed years ago, but it's sad to see the adult standards stations morph into nothing more than soft AC. There are a few adult standards stations left that really are adult standards. We have one here in Birmingham which switched to adult standards a few months ago, and although they have some 50's oldies occasionally thrown in there which really don't fit the format, it's a pretty good standards stations, compared to what's out there now. They even play a couple of big band hits every hour, too.





__________________________
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Does anything last forever?
www.PassTheWord.net

 

[amlover]

Frank's Place on XM put's me to sleep. They need to be more up tempo in my opinion with more lively announcers. For me the 40's channel on XM is the place for some great older standards and big band. I like MOYL but they seem to be going AC on us. Other thought's?

 

[fred flintstone]

Frank's Place is a Standards format.

If you want more of a Nostalgia format like AM Oldies, Music of Your Life and ABC Stardust used to be, the I recommend XMs 50s on Five (or 40s on Four if you want to go back a little further). 50s on Five and many other XM music channels are available free with WinAmp or at radio.aol.com.

Live365.com also has several good Nostalgia channels. I personally like Stuck In The 50s but there are several others Nostalgia fans will enjoy. Mostly, these channels do not require a subscription but if a stream fills up with listeners it gets closed temporarily to non-subscribers (and some of the Nostalgia streams do fill up).

 

[Chuck]

We have complaints about this format all over the site. It's time to get them all in one place.

Now I like The Carpenters, John Denver, Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond. I like The Fifth Dimension. I like Petula Clark.

No problem with your taste, but they really aren't "standards." I'd call them soft rock or "Soft AC."

I'm still hearing The Lettermen and The Vogues. And Bobby Vinton and Frankie Avalon.

For the most part, they are 'border-line."

On the other hand, I like Bert Kaempfert, Perry Como, Jack Jones, Nelson Riddle and Henry Mancini. Where are they?

We play them on our station. In my opinion, those are "standards". The problem is the format has been diluted enough so there is something to piss off just about anyone, therefore nobody listens.

Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and Count Basie don't seem to have been around lately either. And forget Saturday and Sunday evenings now.

Once again, those are "Standards." You either play them or you don't, but what is being passed off as "Standards" these days is not what many people think it ought to be. Usually it is a nauseating mix of songs that everyone associates with elevators.

I also agree that "Frank's Place" on XM is a good way to fall asleep while driving. Life in other times was not just a bunch of sleepy ballads.

 

[IBadget1]

The ABC Timeless Classics format is boring in comparison to the Dial Global Adult Standards format. At least Dial Global Adult Standards mixes the old standards, e.g., Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, etc., with the new standards, e.g., Steve Tyrell, Michael Buble, Rod Stewart, etc. ABC Timeless Classics, on the other hand, only plays soft oldies of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, thereby picking up where the now defunct Memories format left off. ABC could just as well have shut down the Stardust format and renamed the Memories format as Timeless. Lucky my area has a Dial Global Adult Standards station, on FM too.

 

[vchimpanzee]

We have complaints about this format all over the site. It's time to get them all in one place.

Now I like The Carpenters, John Denver, Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond. I like The Fifth Dimension. I like Petula Clark.

No problem with your taste, but they really aren't "standards." I'd call them soft rock or "Soft AC."

I never claimed they were. Just stating what my taste is.

I'm still hearing The Lettermen and The Vogues. And Bobby Vinton and Frankie Avalon.

For the most part, they are 'border-line."

Well, they always were a part of standards radio for me.

I also agree that "Frank's Place" on XM is a good way to fall asleep while driving. Life in other times was not just a bunch of sleepy ballads.

From what I've heard of "Frank's Place" just trying it out, it's not sleepy. The 40s channel is more my taste. I'd probably have to spend time on the 50s channel too. I expect I'd devote most of my time to Escape.

 

[vchimpanzee]

What have you got to complain about? Sounds like you've got the format in your market. Most places don't.

But I want the OLD Timeless Classics. Some days I hear what sounds like the old format for four or five songs, but I just can't always depend on it. At least I have Dial Global, and it has less to get upset about.

I suggest you try Frank's Place on XM.

Read my repsonse to Chuck. Right now, it just seems too expensive and too complicated.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Frank's Place on XM put's me to sleep. They need to be more up tempo in my opinion with more lively announcers. For me the 40's channel on XM is the place for some great older standards and big band.

That's what I say.

I like MOYL but they seem to be going AC on us. Other thought's?

Wow, I hate to think what you'd say about Dial Global.

 

[Famous56guy]

Timless Classics is my favorite program, although the format has been tweeked over the years, they still play some great MOR from the 50's and 60's. Their female Jocks seem to play alot more Soft AC from the 80's then Tim , Budd and Scott during the day. I also have XM and really have to jump around to find adult standards and MOR. I do miss alot of the great classics they do not play any longer. Does anyone know if their old memories format affillates are now stardust affillates?

 

[Famous56guy]

The ABC Timeless Classics format is boring in comparison to the Dial Global Adult Standards format. At least Dial Global Adult Standards mixes the old standards, e.g., Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, etc., with the new standards, e.g., Steve Tyrell, Michael Buble, Rod Stewart, etc. ABC Timeless Classics, on the other hand, only plays soft oldies of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, thereby picking up where the now defunct Memories format left off. ABC could just as well have shut down the Stardust format and renamed the Memories format as Timeless. Lucky my area has a Dial Global Adult Standards station, on FM too.

If you check out ABC radio website and review thier 24 hour music programming selections, the Stardust format has been renamed "Timeless Classics", with a description stating "The Greatest pop standards and AC oldies, having evolved beyond Nostalgia programming, Timeless is great music for the good life" So there you have it, the format has been officially changed for the worse! The original Stardust format is gone I think thier are enough disenchanted listeners to bombard the station and jocks with phone calls and e mails to express our disatifaction in thier tweeking of a such a great format with the likes of Elton John (candle in the wind) the Rascals ( groovin) stevie wonder (you are my sunshine) and replacing such legend DJ's as Eddie Hubbard and Joe Lacina with the likes of Laurie Bandemir..........................

 

[vchimpanzee]

Timless Classics is my favorite program, although the format has been tweeked over the years, they still play some great MOR from the 50's and 60's. Their female Jocks seem to play alot more Soft AC from the 80's then Tim , Budd and Scott during the day. I also have XM and really have to jump around to find adult standards and MOR. I do miss alot of the great classics they do not play any longer. Does anyone know if their old memories format affillates are now stardust affillates?

Where I live they still call it "Memories 1280" and their music is "Unforgettable Favorites" but the music is mostly Dial Global. There are Stardust stations 20 miles away in two different directions, and based on what I heard once from a station owner who wanted Stardust and considered AM Only (what we now call Dial Global) inferior, Stardust stations with different owners can't overlap. The three Stardust stations I pick up are all GHB owned.

Of course, the Dial Global station isn't perfect either. While Tim Kase was playing "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song", which I like, Jeff Rollins was playing "Mrs. Robinson", which I could do without. Dial Global sometimes sounds worse than Timeless Classics. Particularly if they're playing AC such as Vanessa L. Williams' "Colors of the Wind" which I haven't heard on Timeless Classics. At least we can say that about the format. They're playing entirely too much soft rock from the 70s, but at least they aren't obsessed with 80s and 90s AC.

And the station itself has an all-request afternoon drive show which sounds like Unforgettable Favorites. In fact, while I don't know that these songs were on the satellite format, the station plays "Hold On Loosely" by .38 Special, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey, "China Grove" by The Doobie Brothers, and "Take It On The Run" by REO Speedwagon. Now, I haven't actually heard most of these since the format change, but you would think ...

Still, today, the first thing I heard Jeff Rollins play was "Friendly Persuasion" by Pat Boone. For Tim Kase it was "Ventura Highway". That song's okay, and in fact it was a relief to hear it yesterday on the Muzak in Sears after the even worse AC I had heard. Do stores even want people like me to shop any more?

And later Jeff Rollins played "Tenderly" by Nat King Cole. Pat Boone, strangely enough, was followed by Rita Coolidge's "We're All Alone".

 

[vchimpanzee]

I think thier are enough disenchanted listeners to bombard the station and jocks with phone calls and e mails to express our disatifaction in thier tweeking of a such a great format with the likes of Elton John (candle in the wind) the Rascals ( groovin) stevie wonder (you are my sunshine) and replacing such legend DJ's as Eddie Hubbard and Joe Lacina with the likes of Laurie Bandemir..........................

I don't object to these particular songs as long as the good stuff is included.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I forgot to list Les Baxter (whose version of "Unchained Melody" is my favorite, followed by Al Hibbler's) and Ray Conniff.

 

[ChrisInMI]

Does anyone know if their old memories format affillates are now stardust affillates?

I don't know if all of the old Memories affiliates are now with Stardust, but I can mention a few that are:

WFOB 1430 AM Fostoria, OH
WNIL 1290 AM Niles, MI
WBDK 96.7 FM Algoma, WI
WNNG 1350 AM Warner Robins, GA

 

[ChrisInMI]

Re: "Ventura Highway"... anyone remember when Janet Jackson sampled that song for "Someone to Call My Lover"?

Back to the topic at hand. Personally I prefer the Dial Global format to Timeless Classics. When I was in the Thumb area of Michigan a couple of weeks ago, I had my choice of a Timeless Classics affiliate (WLSP 1530 from Lapeer) or Dial Global (WHLX 1590 from Marine City, simulcasts WHLS 1450 Port Huron), and I picked Dial Global. I prefer the flow of the format and the jocks to Timeless Classics. The Dial Global jocks seem more lively and conversational to me - it's not just "Your home for America's Best Music and that was Artist A with Song B, and up next we'll hear from Artists C, D, and E, stay tuned," into a stop set. While I wish they still played more pre-1960 stuff and while I don't understand how they consider "Don't Ask Me Why" by Billy Joel or "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer to be "Adult Standards" (though I like both those songs), I'd certainly take Dial Global (or Timeless Classics for that matter) over nothing at all.

Playlist-wise, I would say I prefer Music of Your Life over both Dial Global and Timeless Classics. Looking at the Top 100 of MOYL station KIXI 880 Seattle on yes.com, they are still playing Kay Starr, Sarah Vaughan, Doris Day, Patti Page and other artists who have disappeared from the other two formats. MOYL also seems to do a pretty good job of playing the new standards artists' releases (Diana Krall, Michael Buble, Deana Martin etc. - although Michael Bolton I could do without). There are no MOYL stations in my neck of the woods, but at least they do stream.

 

[Oldbones]

On the other hand, I like Bert Kaempfert, Perry Como, Jack Jones, Nelson Riddle and Henry Mancini. Where are they?

Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and Count Basie don't seem to have been around lately either. And forget Saturday and Sunday evenings now.

Well, for one thing most of the people who listened to those artists are on the wrong side of the grass or will be soon. Keep in mind that when the standards format began, it targeted 50-65 year olds. The format has evolved with the demographic (as opposed to continuing to cater to the original audience) as a means of survival. To today's 50-65 year olds, the artists you mention were their parents' music and are mostly irrelevant. To play Count Basie of Glen Miller on a MOR station today makes about as much sense as playing the Monkees on a CHR.

 

[ThePickleReport]

I've been listening to the Dial Global format and to me it sounds like very soft AC with a slight nod toward the standards format of the past. There doesn't seem to be a gold-based AC format playing 60's-70-80's AC on 'the bird" anymore.

I agree with the post above. I also think that the need for this format has changed so the network suppliers have more or less updated their formats to reflect that. It's not a right or wrong issue---it's what the stations are asking for most.

 

[Famous56guy]

That may be true of the new 50 to 65 five year olds with different taste, but I do not beleive they are going to listen to AM radio to hear soft AC, when they can listen to it on FM. I highly doubt that any new listeners are comimng over to these modified formats , all they are doing is ailanating thier loyal listeners. Time for XM for me.