Songs You'd Never Think You'd Hear...

[qwertynyc]

Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order just played on Fresh 102.7! What other songs sound uncharacteristic to you based on their format?

 

[DToTheJ]

In regards to uncharacteristic song segues, anything on 101.9 WRXP within a twenty-minute span.

 

[hubcity]

There was a time in the mid-90's when it seemed Z-100 would start every other hour with either New Order's original or the Frente (female-sung, acoustic) version. So yeah, while I'm surprised it showed up, I think it fits.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

I remember in 1995 z-100 would recite lyrics from rancid and say"poetry by rancid on z-100" funny stuff i thought.

 

[SoulCrusher]

I remember in 1995 z-100 would recite lyrics from rancid and say"poetry by rancid on z-100" funny stuff i thought.

I remember those days as well. They did the same thing with Better Than Ezra and Silverchair, among others. This was during Z-100's short-lived Alternative period. K-Rock flipped to an Alternative format the same year, and WAXQ was actually doing a Hard Rock format around the same time. WNEW was the station to listen to if you wanted Classic Rock. We had a lot of choices back then. But, of course, Z-100 jumped on the Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls bandwagon just two years later, K-Rock started playing "Retro Rock" around the same time, and WAXQ went Classic Rock, eventually trumping WNEW and forcing them through revolving format doors over the last decade. And, alas, a "younger" take on Soft Rock seems to be prevailing on 102.7 now. On the bright side, while radio stations in NYC haven't offered much for rock fans this decade, at least now there's WRXP, which has to be one of the best stations in the Northeast. Without question, they're sounding far superior to WFNX these days. Have you heard them lately? They've really gone to hell in the last few months, dumbing down their format to attract displaced WBCN fans.

 

[cheffo200]

I noticed RXP has been playing less Classic Rock and more Alternative. Maybe they finally realize that the Classic Rock belongs on the Q.

 

[mjb1124]

I remember those days as well. They did the same thing with Better Than Ezra and Silverchair, among others. This was during Z-100's short-lived Alternative period. K-Rock flipped to an Alternative format the same year, and WAXQ was actually doing a Hard Rock format around the same time. WNEW was the station to listen to if you wanted Classic Rock. We had a lot of choices back then.

This was the period when I first got into alternative rock, and I do have fond memories of those days. I can't fault Z100 for going back to the format that made them successful in the first place, but I never understood K-Rock's need to mix "retro rock" in.

On the bright side, while radio stations in NYC haven't offered much for rock fans this decade, at least now there's WRXP, which has to be one of the best stations in the Northeast. Without question, they're sounding far superior to WFNX these days. Have you heard them lately? They've really gone to hell in the last few months, dumbing down their format to attract displaced WBCN fans.

Yeah, FNX has really taken a turn for the worse, relying way too much on stale '90s hits, and playing it much more safe with new music. Thankfully their fling with grunge-flavored arena rock like Shinedown was short-lived, but they're still a shadow of what they were not too long ago. WRXP has definitely improved in recent months. I still wish they didn't feel the need to throw Van Halen and GNR into the mix, but they play enough of the music I like to make up for it.

 

[Radical348]

Found a link to this topic in the general board.

I know this is the NYC board, but on Live 105 this week (SF's Alt. station) I heard "How Soon is Now?" by the Smiths & had to do a double-take to make sure that it actually was 105.3. In two years I have never heard any golds (other than the obligatory entire 90's RHCP/Nirvana/Pearl Jam back catalogs & the occasional Marley or Peter Tosh).

The next few days they've played a lot more surprises. I think this is due to competition from 92.3, the very good alt. from San Jose which recently expanded their signal into SF.

 

[LIradiofan226]

I've always found it bizzare that a station branded as Lite FM, plays two songs in particular. I'm not talking about " More Than a Feeling" from Boston which I personally find that it's not off for the format. The two choices that I find interesting from a Lite perspective are the songs " Don't You Forget About Me" from Simple Minds which is as loud as a rock song can get. The other interesting choice is the one song that former music director Jim Ryan himself told the Daily News he surprised people by choosing to play it, " Living on a Prayer" from Bon Jovi, another extremely superloud heavy-metal rock song. I quote Jim Ryan from the May 21st 2008 edition of the Daily News:
"Lite was very soft," he says. "It played a lot of streisand, the Beatles. I started playing the music of the day, whether it was the boy bands and marc Anthony or Alicia Keys. our typical listener is still a 42-year-old woman. But she changed, and so did we." He also says New York needs a faster pace to its music. "When you're getting into a cab at 3 o'clock on a friday afternoon, you want something that moves."

Maybe that's why, he suggests with a laugh, Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a prayer" now can be heard on Lite-FM: "When it came out [in 1987], who woulda thunk it?"



( I can see his rationale of course, but I do wonder if in his haste to make the station edgier that he might have chosen some songs that might have been better off not making the cut. I mean for instance you're never going to hear The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin on Lite.)

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

(  I can see his rationale of course, but I do wonder if in his haste to make the station edgier that he might have chosen some songs that might have been better off not making the cut.  I mean for instance you're never going to hear The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin on Lite.) 

Must be 10+ years ago I saw a Doonesbury comic strip (which I rarely read, but this caught my eye), where a character was happily rocking out to "I can't get no...sat-is-fac-tion" blaring out of his radio. But then his expression changed to confused and dejected when the song ended and he heard, "back shortly with more relaxing Lite-FM."

Actually, I seem to recall from my visits to NYC in the 00's and 90's that Lite-FM played a pretty edgy an upbeat mix for a mainstream AC.

"Livin' On a Prayer" and "Don't You Forget About Me" have been common even on mainstream AC for several years (even on soft-textured versions, as spice).  And certainly on Hot AC's.  Those songs aren't really what I'd call "loud" by today's standards.  They're pretty tame.  And speaking of the Stones, it's not at all uncommon to hear "Miss You" even on soft-leaning mainstream AC's these days.  Of course it depends on the station.

 

[DToTheJ]

There was a time in the mid-90's when it seemed Z-100 would start every other hour with either New Order's original or the Frente (female-sung, acoustic) version. So yeah, while I'm surprised it showed up, I think it fits.

Z-100 was "alternative" from 1993-96 before wising up and going back to its roots.

 

[hubcity]

There was a time in the mid-90's when it seemed Z-100 would start every other hour with either New Order's original or the Frente (female-sung, acoustic) version. So yeah, while I'm surprised it showed up, I think it fits.

Z-100 was "alternative" from 1993-96 before wising up and going back to its roots.

From a business perspective, sure.

From a music perspective...ah, but there is no music perspective, is there?

 

[MarcR]

There was a time in the mid-90's when it seemed Z-100 would start every other hour with either New Order's original or the Frente (female-sung, acoustic) version. So yeah, while I'm surprised it showed up, I think it fits.

Z-100 was "alternative" from 1993-96 before wising up and going back to its roots.

And after 1996, from a music perspective, came the Dark Age of the Spice Girls, boy bands, nu-metal, gangsta rap and the Latin Explosion! LOL

 

[p_herring]

I remember in 1995 z-100 would recite lyrics from rancid and say"poetry by rancid on z-100" funny stuff i thought.

I remember those days as well. They did the same thing with Better Than Ezra and Silverchair, among others. This was during Z-100's short-lived Alternative period. K-Rock flipped to an Alternative format the same year, and WAXQ was actually doing a Hard Rock format around the same time. WNEW was the station to listen to if you wanted Classic Rock. We had a lot of choices back then. But, of course, Z-100 jumped on the Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls bandwagon just two years later, K-Rock started playing "Retro Rock" around the same time, and WAXQ went Classic Rock, eventually trumping WNEW and forcing them through revolving format doors over the last decade. And, alas, a "younger" take on Soft Rock seems to be prevailing on 102.7 now. On the bright side, while radio stations in NYC haven't offered much for rock fans this decade, at least now there's WRXP, which has to be one of the best stations in the Northeast. Without question, they're sounding far superior to WFNX these days. Have you heard them lately? They've really gone to hell in the last few months, dumbing down their format to attract displaced WBCN fans.

Man, I remember the mid-90's, a great time if you were into new rock. Remember X107 out of Westchester?

Also, I'll take FNX any day over RXP. Sure, they seem a little more focused, but they still are an alt-rock station whereas on RXP I have to suffer through the tired classic rock in order to get my alt tunes.

 

[WBIMDJ]

I remember in 1995 z-100 would recite lyrics from rancid and say"poetry by rancid on z-100" funny stuff i thought.

I remember those days as well. They did the same thing with Better Than Ezra and Silverchair, among others. This was during Z-100's short-lived Alternative period. K-Rock flipped to an Alternative format the same year, and WAXQ was actually doing a Hard Rock format around the same time. WNEW was the station to listen to if you wanted Classic Rock. We had a lot of choices back then. But, of course, Z-100 jumped on the Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls bandwagon just two years later, K-Rock started playing "Retro Rock" around the same time, and WAXQ went Classic Rock, eventually trumping WNEW and forcing them through revolving format doors over the last decade. And, alas, a "younger" take on Soft Rock seems to be prevailing on 102.7 now. On the bright side, while radio stations in NYC haven't offered much for rock fans this decade, at least now there's WRXP, which has to be one of the best stations in the Northeast. Without question, they're sounding far superior to WFNX these days. Have you heard them lately? They've really gone to hell in the last few months, dumbing down their format to attract displaced WBCN fans.

Man, I remember the mid-90's, a great time if you were into new rock. Remember X107 out of Westchester?

Also, I'll take FNX any day over RXP. Sure, they seem a little more focused, but they still are an alt-rock station whereas on RXP I have to suffer through the tired classic rock in order to get my alt tunes.

In just the past few days, WFNX has refocused their format, dumped the crap-rock and is now playing acts they were more known for playing in the past again, like The Flaming Lips, Band of Horses, Brand New, Regina Spektor, Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, Interpol, The Walkmen, The Strokes etc and are sounding much better. As I write this, they are playing Morrissey - "Suedehead."

 

[MarcR]

I remember in 1995 z-100 would recite lyrics from rancid and say"poetry by rancid on z-100" funny stuff i thought.

I remember those days as well. They did the same thing with Better Than Ezra and Silverchair, among others. This was during Z-100's short-lived Alternative period. K-Rock flipped to an Alternative format the same year, and WAXQ was actually doing a Hard Rock format around the same time. WNEW was the station to listen to if you wanted Classic Rock. We had a lot of choices back then. But, of course, Z-100 jumped on the Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls bandwagon just two years later, K-Rock started playing "Retro Rock" around the same time, and WAXQ went Classic Rock, eventually trumping WNEW and forcing them through revolving format doors over the last decade. And, alas, a "younger" take on Soft Rock seems to be prevailing on 102.7 now. On the bright side, while radio stations in NYC haven't offered much for rock fans this decade, at least now there's WRXP, which has to be one of the best stations in the Northeast. Without question, they're sounding far superior to WFNX these days. Have you heard them lately? They've really gone to hell in the last few months, dumbing down their format to attract displaced WBCN fans.

Man, I remember the mid-90's, a great time if you were into new rock. Remember X107 out of Westchester?

Also, I'll take FNX any day over RXP. Sure, they seem a little more focused, but they still are an alt-rock station whereas on RXP I have to suffer through the tired classic rock in order to get my alt tunes.

In just the past few days, WFNX has refocused their format, dumped the crap-rock and is now playing acts they were more known for playing in the past again, like The Flaming Lips, Band of Horses, Brand New, Regina Spektor, Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, Interpol, The Walkmen, The Strokes etc and are sounding much better. As I write this, they are playing Morrissey - "Suedehead."

And as I write this, they're playing a block of Linkin Park, after having played a block of Incubus earlier, so I don't see how they've "refocused their format" away from the post-grunge and nu-metal garbage.

 

[WBIMDJ]

I remember in 1995 z-100 would recite lyrics from rancid and say"poetry by rancid on z-100" funny stuff i thought.

I remember those days as well. They did the same thing with Better Than Ezra and Silverchair, among others. This was during Z-100's short-lived Alternative period. K-Rock flipped to an Alternative format the same year, and WAXQ was actually doing a Hard Rock format around the same time. WNEW was the station to listen to if you wanted Classic Rock. We had a lot of choices back then. But, of course, Z-100 jumped on the Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls bandwagon just two years later, K-Rock started playing "Retro Rock" around the same time, and WAXQ went Classic Rock, eventually trumping WNEW and forcing them through revolving format doors over the last decade. And, alas, a "younger" take on Soft Rock seems to be prevailing on 102.7 now. On the bright side, while radio stations in NYC haven't offered much for rock fans this decade, at least now there's WRXP, which has to be one of the best stations in the Northeast. Without question, they're sounding far superior to WFNX these days. Have you heard them lately? They've really gone to hell in the last few months, dumbing down their format to attract displaced WBCN fans.

Man, I remember the mid-90's, a great time if you were into new rock. Remember X107 out of Westchester?

Also, I'll take FNX any day over RXP. Sure, they seem a little more focused, but they still are an alt-rock station whereas on RXP I have to suffer through the tired classic rock in order to get my alt tunes.

In just the past few days, WFNX has refocused their format, dumped the crap-rock and is now playing acts they were more known for playing in the past again, like The Flaming Lips, Band of Horses, Brand New, Regina Spektor, Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, Interpol, The Walkmen, The Strokes etc and are sounding much better. As I write this, they are playing Morrissey - "Suedehead."

And as I write this, they're playing a block of Linkin Park, after having played a block of Incubus earlier, so I don't see how they've "refocused their format" away from the post-grunge and nu-metal garbage.

That's one band, and only once so far this wknd. I don't see Papa Roach, Shinedown, Apocalyptica, Nickelback, Seether, Three Days Grace, Disturbed etc. that other stations are forcing down people's throats at all. Incubus fits their format, they've always played them since they came out. Look at their playlist and you tell me. They did a block of Regina Spektor today. Matter fact, I can list all the band/artist blocks they've done since 9am today.

Jimmy Eat World
RHCP
The Ramones
Foo Fighters
STP
Snow Patrol
Green Day
The Cure
The White Stripes
The Offspring
MGMT
Pearl Jam
New Order
Blink 182
Violent Femmes
Paramore
Oasis
Beastie Boys
Kings of Leon
Beck
Smashing Pumpkins
Audioslave
311
The Clash
Weezer
Alice In Chains
The Strokes
The Police
Bush
Regina Spektor
Death Cab For Cutie
Radiohead
Nirvana
Incubus
Cake
The Smiths
Third Eye Blind
Depeche Mode
The Killers
Vampire Weekend
R.E.M.

I don't see much nu-metal/butt rock/post whatever in there. There were a couple bands blocks repeated, but different songs were played. And I heard a Strokes song that was an album cut ("What Ever Happened"), not just "Last Nite". To say WFNX hasn't tweaked their format from a month or two ago means you either weren't listening a few weeks ago or you are just deaf. And a good tweak it was. They are sounding better than ever.

 

[BossJock1947]

Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order just played on Fresh 102.7! What other songs sound uncharacteristic to you based on their format?

I'd rather hear that than Melissa Ethridge, The Fray, Nikelback. How anout some Brenda K Starr or Expose?

 

[BossJock1947]

Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order just played on Fresh 102.7! What other songs sound uncharacteristic to you based on their format?

I heard Squeeze the other night on CBS-FM. Never heard of it.

 

[FM Free NY]

I heard Sowing the Seed's of Love on CBS yesterday morning.. Progression I see is moving at 101.1..