Every now and then business takes me and my channelflipping ways on the road, and this week I am in DC. Haven't had much of a chance to flip around the dial again since I was here four or five years ago (damn work always getting in the way), but it just so happens that when I was at the gym this evening, my Wannabe Ipod that I use for workout music was still set on 100.3 FM from home, which landed me on WBIG-FM, "The BIG 100.3", the only classic rock station in town. Nothing too special about the classic rock station; they were playing two songs by each artist today (from the standard 750 song list) because of course its "Twosday", one of those time-tested AOR gimmicks that dates back to the seventies. Kinda mindless too, as the DJ relates the upcoming Paul McCartney concert to the two Beatles songs he back announced, which of course were both John Lennon songs ("Revolution" and "Come Together").
But what really struck me was the promo I heard that was nothing like what I have heard before* - every day at 4:20, they play the "Smokin' Song of the Day", which is something hard from AC/DC, Zeppelin, Def Leppard, etc., particularly ones that mention smokin', so you can have a smokin' good song at that certain time of day when everyone wants to stop and take a, uh, smoke break. One wonders how many times Boston's "Smokin'" been chosen to be the "Smokin' Song of the Day", given this level of creativity. I also wonder why people always talk about the 4:20 smoke break, but never the 5:00 munchies that comes soon afterwards? Anyway, I was so impressed and amused by this promotion I checked out their website and was glad I did because in addition to the all that, they have the "Babe of the Day" which is exactly what you would imagine, but just in case you can't, here is a sample page:
http://www.wbig.com/photos/babe-of-the-day/babe-of-the-day-372248/22068311/#/501/22068311
I gotta give it to this station, it is clearly programmed to the wants and weeds, er I mean, needs, of it's core listeners. And doing a damned good job of it too, as a quick check of the nielsens shows it to be the #6 station in town, and the #4 music station with a very respectable 4.5. It goes without saying that during the one hour I tuned in, a certain song about a certain hotel played. You just can't get away sometimes. And hey, I'm pretty sure that song reeferences, Oops spelling, I mean references, that warm smell of colitas...
* Well ok, KRLA was known as "Smokin Oldies" and the Hispanic population it was aimed at, including most of my Hispanic friends at the time, were smoking more than just cigs back then too, so I guess I have heard it before, right here in LA.
But what really struck me was the promo I heard that was nothing like what I have heard before* - every day at 4:20, they play the "Smokin' Song of the Day", which is something hard from AC/DC, Zeppelin, Def Leppard, etc., particularly ones that mention smokin', so you can have a smokin' good song at that certain time of day when everyone wants to stop and take a, uh, smoke break. One wonders how many times Boston's "Smokin'" been chosen to be the "Smokin' Song of the Day", given this level of creativity. I also wonder why people always talk about the 4:20 smoke break, but never the 5:00 munchies that comes soon afterwards? Anyway, I was so impressed and amused by this promotion I checked out their website and was glad I did because in addition to the all that, they have the "Babe of the Day" which is exactly what you would imagine, but just in case you can't, here is a sample page:
http://www.wbig.com/photos/babe-of-the-day/babe-of-the-day-372248/22068311/#/501/22068311
I gotta give it to this station, it is clearly programmed to the wants and weeds, er I mean, needs, of it's core listeners. And doing a damned good job of it too, as a quick check of the nielsens shows it to be the #6 station in town, and the #4 music station with a very respectable 4.5. It goes without saying that during the one hour I tuned in, a certain song about a certain hotel played. You just can't get away sometimes. And hey, I'm pretty sure that song reeferences, Oops spelling, I mean references, that warm smell of colitas...
* Well ok, KRLA was known as "Smokin Oldies" and the Hispanic population it was aimed at, including most of my Hispanic friends at the time, were smoking more than just cigs back then too, so I guess I have heard it before, right here in LA.
