Rochester Radio history Question

[therealjm12]

I once worked for Bobby - long, long ago. He was great to me. Yes, he's a fiercely competitive guy and ruffles a few feathers from time to time, but if you worked hard for him and delivered on-air, he was aces.

I agree. I totally enjoyed working with Bobby. He was always very positive with me. He encouraged my talents. Obviously, he knows his stuff, and I respect him for that. Besides Bobby as the P. D. I got to work again with my old friend, Fred Horton –the O. M. It was a great experience. These guys know radio programming.

 

[slickkicker]

Re: WZKC

I guess I should've made my observations clearer. KC-99 suffered somewhat from a perceived notion in the advertising community. It had some decent numbers and debuted strong yet, in the mid-80's, it was simply a tough sell locally. To be honest I feel, as others surely must, that it was never given a chance.

You have to remember that a country format, on the FM side, in a Yankee market, was a bold proposition then. When WZKC took to the air AM was flailing and there were only seven strong FM signals (six if you discount WDKX). When WZKC came on board there was WHAM,WVOR,WPXY,WEZO(if memory serves me),WMJQ,WCMF and little else. Back then 'VOR was a monster and 'CMF was an emerging force. You gotta credit whoever gave KC-99 a spin. It flew in the face of the local marketing landscape at the time and it's failure was dictated by suits and nerves.

 

[Mike_Saffran]

Just a picky point of information:

The Sam Cooke classic was "Saturday Night".

"Jukebox Saturday Night" was a song by Glenn Miller and sung by The Modernaires...who, by the way, attended Lafayette High School in Buffalo.

You’re absolutely right, alw. In fact, my memory may have blurred a few songs into one: the great Sam Cooke’s “Another Saturday Night” and “Having A Party” (WKLX had a customized “Jukebox Saturday Night” jingle that followed the beat of the latter). Plus, one of the show’s unofficial anthems—included in a couple music montages—was Cooke’s “Twistin’ The Night Away” (my favorite among all his hits). I guess the mind gets a little fuzzy after seven years away from the oldies….

You’re also correct about The Modernaire’s “Juke Box Saturday Night” (I have it on a CD)—but let’s not forget about the great 1961 remake by the doo-wop band Nino & The Ebb Tides, which I used as the kickoff song during my final year-and-a-half run of the show. It was a challenge finding a copy (this was back in the days before iTunes), but a friend found it on CD and gave it to me as a gift.

Too bad the oldies are no longer heard anyplace on Rochester FM radio….

 

[Cary Pall]

Mark Giardina: I wasn't in town during the days before KC-99 signed on, and I have no direct knowledge of the situation, but I have heard some of the other side of the story. Let's just say that if what I have heard is true, and it had happened to me, I might have acted similarly. Betrayal will do that to ya. I will leave it at that.

And, Mike Saffran, it is a damn shame that there is no oldies radio in Rochester. And a sorry commentary on the current state of the industry that a history as rich as WBBF's was tossed on the trash heap.

 

[Mark Giardina]

Mark Giardina: I wasn't in town during the days before KC-99 signed on, and I have no direct knowledge of the situation, but I have heard some of the other side of the story. Let's just say that if what I have heard is true, and it had happened to me, I might have acted similarly. Betrayal will do that to ya. I will leave it at that.

Cary: There are always two perspectives to a story and I can only relate to what mine was having gone through the ordeal personally.

Call me “old school” but I believe that if a person knows they are going to work for another broadcasting operation , especially in a programming capacity, they should not use their current position as PD to tinker with the existing format of their present employer in order to see what may, or may not, work for their future employer.

I don’t know what you were told, but that is what happened at WNYR. I was there, I experienced it first-hand, and I still believe to this day that it was wrong what this person did.

The right thing would have been for this individual, once he knew he was hired at another station, to give his notice and then go work for his new employer. Instead this person didn’t give notice, kept on getting a paid at WNYR, while proceeding to make constant programming changes.

I was later told that his excuse was that he was only trying to improve WNYR. Sorry I just don’t buy that line and never will.

 

[Savage]

The traditional oldies format is just one more piece of radio-industry heritage, tossed cavalierly aside, by big-group corporate radio in its monolithic chase after the buzz-concept-du-jour. Oldies are a casualty of the crazed pursuit of "younger demos."

It's the same way some in the industry want to toss aside AM skywave listening because it impedes HD-AM - a unique advantage among all forms of mass communication which is immediately apparent to anyone who thinks about it for a moment. If skywave is "obsolete" then all 50kw stations should power down to 5kw at night to reduce interference.

Cary: let's talk about your car. It's screaming: wash me please!!

 

[Element9]

I'm on record here noting that Oldies will make a comeback. Radio is cyclical. Everything old becomes new again. Call it Classic Hits, Biggest Hits, Greatest Hits... whatever. Keep your eyes and ears on CBS-FM.

-9-

 

[SirRoxalot]

Oldies

I'm on record here noting that Oldies will make a comeback. Radio is cyclical. Everything old becomes new again. Call it Classic Hits, Biggest Hits, Greatest Hits... whatever. Keep your eyes and ears on CBS-FM.

-9-

Before I agree or disagree, please define "Oldies". CBS-FM is playing music that goes well into the '80s, and just a sprinkling from '64+. I may consider that "Oldies", but a lot of the people who identify themselves as "Oldies listeners" consider "Oldies" music from '55 to '70. Music that old isn't gonna fly.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Re: Oldies

I'm on record here noting that Oldies will make a comeback. Radio is cyclical. Everything old becomes new again. Call it Classic Hits, Biggest Hits, Greatest Hits... whatever. Keep your eyes and ears on CBS-FM.

-9-

Before I agree or disagree, please define "Oldies". CBS-FM is playing music that goes well into the '80s, and just a sprinkling from '64+. I may consider that "Oldies", but a lot of the people who identify themselves as "Oldies listeners" consider "Oldies" music from '55 to '70. Music that old isn't gonna fly.

IF a station is going to do '70's and '80's as oldies the better go deep into the library and play things other than what the A/C stations have burned out years ago. Maybe it's because I played them when they were new.

However their are '55-'64 songs that I never seem to burn out on no matter how much they are played. Stuff from The Fleetwoods, The Crystals, The Crests, Rick Nelson, Elvis Presley, Dion, The Supremes, Leslely Gore and Gene Pitney to mention just a few.

Does anyone else here feel that way or is it just me?

 

[VoiceGuyJack]

Mike...you are the man. May Dickey Do and the Don'ts live forever.

 

[Element9]

Sorry Jack, but Dickey Do and the Don'ts wouldn't make the cut. That would be the last type of music a re-born FM oldies station would program.

Before I agree or disagree, please define "Oldies". CBS-FM is playing music that goes well into the '80s, and just a sprinkling from '64+. I may consider that "Oldies", but a lot of the people who identify themselves as "Oldies listeners" consider "Oldies" music from '55 to '70. Music that old isn't gonna fly.

Essentially, it would be the hits from 64-89, primarily 68-78 intensive, with a smattering of chart busters from 64-67 and perhaps a few compatible songs from 90-93. Sorry, no doo-wop, no "Lonely Teenager" or "Little Darlin.'" Great songs, but not in this re-incarnation. The target demo is 45-54.

-9-

 

[alw]

Re: Oldies

[/quote]

Does anyone else here feel that way or is it just me?

[/quote]


It's just you!