starting a classic 50-60's format...any ideas

[hornet61]

hornet 61: what successful oldies Stations

Assuming you meant to place a question mark after that, try WWSW Pittsburgh, Kool in Denver, WCBS-FM New York, WJMK-Chicago, K-Earth-Los Angeles, WQSR-Baltimore, WGRR-Cincinnati, WFOX-Atlanta, WMGI (not sure if those are the right calls)-Cleveland,
and scores more. All highly successful Oldies stations in the 90's.

I agree...but, when In LA I used to listened to KRLA with Art Laboe , rather than K-Earth. I haven't been to LA since 1997. The Irony is that My Oct trips to LA 1993-1997 were to attend the annual K-Earth Oldies Show at the Greek Theater..hosted by Brian Birne of KRLA with special guest Shotgun Kelly also from K-Earth.

 

[TheFonz]

The 50's and 60's music attracts people who (advertisers say) are too old. They (we) ARE OVER 60.

A 25 year old salesperson wants to sell Lady Gaga, not Glenn Miller, not Elvis, not even the Beatles. ...and so were oldies stations - around the mid-70's. Today, not so
much.

I guess Nissan didn't get the message. During NFL football today they ran two commercials.........................one using Elvis' "Devil In Disguise" and the other using Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man".

 

[uncleDJ]

Hi gang, as one who is relegated to my 5-hour Sunday Oldies show on WINY-AM Putnam CT (1350am and winyradio.com) on a 6-11am time slot, I can tell you the secret to success remains two things: PERSONALITY, gotta have it - and VARIETY. The show is big stuff in the eyes and ears of listeners, with folks telling me 'all the radios in town are tuned to you' or 'sometimes I have to decide to go to church or just keep listening!'...You know you've hit the mark when it's a choice between God or great oldies! (BTW, being Judeo-Christian I tell them God comes first and that's what recording devices are for).

This show is light on news (really try to give folks a break from all that's depressing the hell into us), peppered with local and national sports, and wall to wall with stuff from 'roots rock' of the late 40s to the standards of Como, Sinatra, Williams and instrumentals seasoned perfectly with the great rock, rockabilly, r&b, ballads, gospel, fun tunes and other essences which made up the era. Music is strong, personality is all over it as well. When I can make the listener know it's 2010 and feel like it's 1955 or 1964 then we've achieved listener nirvana.

I bet a lot of you can come up with talent back then that made you feel good or laugh out loud, gave you something to get you good or think for awhile. My loyal and growing audience gets that every Sunday; I'm their reconstituted Salty Brine of WPRO or Cousin Bruce of WNBC or Dan Ingram of WABC or Jess Cain of WHDH - some of the greatest personalities of NE US radio who taught me well how to treat an audience.

Listeners have told me over and over they'd support the format full time if it were available. They range in age from kids to the very elderly...and when the tune they love hits their ears, well...you've got 85-year-old men dancing away to Chrck Berry and couples sweeping the floor in their night attire first thing in the morning to the Teen Queens.

If you do what worked then, performing like it was back then, creating the sound and feel of then, it will work now - and as I am discovering it's got listener attention and devotion. No one yet has proven to me that the Greatest Era of Radio has been dethroned! This music continues to mean something to listeners across the spectrum and age barriers.

Oh, and by the way, if you ask some of those advertisers what they listen to they'll admit there is a good mood and a great attraction to music people can actually whistle and sing, and they're not singing Lady Gaga - but I've caught many singing and groovin' to Elvis, the Supremes, Sinatra and the Temptations in every store where they're heard.

To all of us who love and perform and play this music, take a page from Tim Allen's quote from one of his movies, Galaxy Quest: NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER.

-Bill Alley
Show Host, Juke Box Gold
WINY AM 1350 / Putnam CT

 

[TheFonz]

Hi gang, as one who is relegated to my 5-hour Sunday Oldies show on WINY-AM Putnam CT (1350am and winyradio.com) on a 6-11am time slot, I can tell you the secret to success remains two things: PERSONALITY, gotta have it - and VARIETY. The show is big stuff in the eyes and ears of listeners, with folks telling me 'all the radios in town are tuned to you' or 'sometimes I have to decide to go to church or just keep listening!'...You know you've hit the mark when it's a choice between God or great oldies! (BTW, being Judeo-Christian I tell them God comes first and that's what recording devices are for).

This show is light on news (really try to give folks a break from all that's depressing the hell into us), peppered with local and national sports, and wall to wall with stuff from 'roots rock' of the late 40s to the standards of Como, Sinatra, Williams and instrumentals seasoned perfectly with the great rock, rockabilly, r&b, ballads, gospel, fun tunes and other essences which made up the era. Music is strong, personality is all over it as well. When I can make the listener know it's 2010 and feel like it's 1955 or 1964 then we've achieved listener nirvana.

I bet a lot of you can come up with talent back then that made you feel good or laugh out loud, gave you something to get you good or think for awhile. My loyal and growing audience gets that every Sunday; I'm their reconstituted Salty Brine of WPRO or Cousin Bruce of WNBC or Dan Ingram of WABC or Jess Cain of WHDH - some of the greatest personalities of NE US radio who taught me well how to treat an audience.

Listeners have told me over and over they'd support the format full time if it were available. They range in age from kids to the very elderly...and when the tune they love hits their ears, well...you've got 85-year-old men dancing away to Chrck Berry and couples sweeping the floor in their night attire first thing in the morning to the Teen Queens.

If you do what worked then, performing like it was back then, creating the sound and feel of then, it will work now - and as I am discovering it's got listener attention and devotion. No one yet has proven to me that the Greatest Era of Radio has been dethroned! This music continues to mean something to listeners across the spectrum and age barriers.

Oh, and by the way, if you ask some of those advertisers what they listen to they'll admit there is a good mood and a great attraction to music people can actually whistle and sing, and they're not singing Lady Gaga - but I've caught many singing and groovin' to Elvis, the Supremes, Sinatra and the Temptations in every store where they're heard.

To all of us who love and perform and play this music, take a page from Tim Allen's quote from one of his movies, Galaxy Quest: NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER.

-Bill Alley
Show Host, Juke Box Gold
WINY AM 1350 / Putnam CT

Sounds like a great show. Wish you had a podcast..........it's a bit early for those in the PDT zone.

 

[Captainfirst]

Hi gang, as one who is relegated to my 5-hour Sunday Oldies show on WINY-AM Putnam CT (1350am and winyradio.com) on a 6-11am time slot, I can tell you the secret to success remains two things: PERSONALITY, gotta have it - and VARIETY. The show is big stuff in the eyes and ears of listeners, with folks telling me 'all the radios in town are tuned to you' or 'sometimes I have to decide to go to church or just keep listening!'...You know you've hit the mark when it's a choice between God or great oldies! (BTW, being Judeo-Christian I tell them God comes first and that's what recording devices are for).

This show is light on news (really try to give folks a break from all that's depressing the hell into us), peppered with local and national sports, and wall to wall with stuff from 'roots rock' of the late 40s to the standards of Como, Sinatra, Williams and instrumentals seasoned perfectly with the great rock, rockabilly, r&b, ballads, gospel, fun tunes and other essences which made up the era. Music is strong, personality is all over it as well. When I can make the listener know it's 2010 and feel like it's 1955 or 1964 then we've achieved listener nirvana.

I bet a lot of you can come up with talent back then that made you feel good or laugh out loud, gave you something to get you good or think for awhile. My loyal and growing audience gets that every Sunday; I'm their reconstituted Salty Brine of WPRO or Cousin Bruce of WNBC or Dan Ingram of WABC or Jess Cain of WHDH - some of the greatest personalities of NE US radio who taught me well how to treat an audience.

Listeners have told me over and over they'd support the format full time if it were available. They range in age from kids to the very elderly...and when the tune they love hits their ears, well...you've got 85-year-old men dancing away to Chrck Berry and couples sweeping the floor in their night attire first thing in the morning to the Teen Queens.

If you do what worked then, performing like it was back then, creating the sound and feel of then, it will work now - and as I am discovering it's got listener attention and devotion. No one yet has proven to me that the Greatest Era of Radio has been dethroned! This music continues to mean something to listeners across the spectrum and age barriers.

Oh, and by the way, if you ask some of those advertisers what they listen to they'll admit there is a good mood and a great attraction to music people can actually whistle and sing, and they're not singing Lady Gaga - but I've caught many singing and groovin' to Elvis, the Supremes, Sinatra and the Temptations in every store where they're heard.

To all of us who love and perform and play this music, take a page from Tim Allen's quote from one of his movies, Galaxy Quest: NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER.

-Bill Alley
Show Host, Juke Box Gold
WINY AM 1350 / Putnam CT

I have got to listen to this on Sunday.

 

[northwoods]

I just stumbled on this thread...haven't been here in quite some time after being thrashed constantly by some. But I can tell you with 35 years of radio experience, the 'obscurities' are death, certain death for a station. Why would you play a song no one knows or has limited appeal when you could be playing one that everyone loves or remembers? I've been there. I've seen it fail. I've seen it kill sales, lose jobs and force format changes. When in doubt, leave it out. No one ever turned off your station for an off-the-wall b-side song you didn't play.

That depends on how you go about it. You could have a specialty show on a weekend (usually late Sunday afternoon or Sunday night) that features the obscurites. You might even be able play a handful or so of obscurities during the overnight hours, when your listener base is lower since most of your listeners are asleep, and see how it works out. I also agree that the stations needs to be streamed.

 

[uncleDJ]

WINY's JUKE BOX GOLD 4th Anniversary Show - 05.08.2011

Hey everyone...sorry to have been on hiatus on infoboards, but life has been busy..odd..and like so many of us living at the speed of light.

A little update...Juke Box Gold on WINY hit 4 years this past week and Mother's Day was riding right alongside. Got a bit nostalgic, playing more of the late 50s - early 60s things as we did on the first shows. Since then we've been expanding the playlist to the outer limits, finding things covered with dust as it were...and getting incredible feedback from around the world.

The audience keeps loving every minute, and is growing. Several started a fan club (I believe on Facebook - I'm one of those holdouts that does not do the big blab on there or Twitter, prefer the more intimate setting of getting to know others and IM/email - gives me a sense of being aware of who people really are); the fan club president and her members basically told me Bill, we started a fan club in your honor and you have absolutely no say in the matter...knowing I'd protest. Fan clubs are for superstars, I'm about the music and the listener. But they say they've got their reasons, so we let them be. Besides, they're a great bunch of people to know.

The more dusting off I do and playing these beloved tunes - starting to infuse the forgotten 70s to the mix - the more everyone says 'gee, I remember the song still word for word like it was yesterday'. Me too. I turn them up like in the old days, just have to remember the studio speakers could shatter glass if too loud and the station is kinda like my own jukebox for 5 hours on Sunday. That personal touch makes the gig fun, fresh and fantastic.

Headed to the RI Radio Hall of Fame tonight...it's been decades since I've seen and or heard from some there. With the current state of radio, it seems a bit odd that some of those very great and admirable voices (and faces) are retired, or swept out by changes and the bean counters that created such. Sorta makes me think, how many years before I go the way of the dinosaur?

Some talk over the past few years with the pros who listen and chat with me had us all musing, could we do radio the way it truly was and make it work? I believe so, still do, and the success of this show is my evidence. However, the brave who have the means to make that happen don't seem to be around to be gutsy enough to 'just do it'...yet those who have been see remarkable success (as our comrades at WLNG/Sag Harbor NY live as prime example).

For those who wrote in about podcasts - well the powers that be will need to purchase more memory and that may take a bit longer. Just very grateful to be able to do this at all, and friends will download while listening.

Future attractions? I've linked arms with an Australian broadcaster who has become a dear friend who has been preserving and promoting Aussie Oldies. This stuff is wonderful in its own right, and when you hear and see who's behind it, you realize much our ears heard later in life has been borne by these groups. Looking to do some interviews and presentations of this great music, even keeping it on air as part of the tradition of playing some of the best music ever made.

That's a sample from the buffet table as it were. For those of you listening and supporting your local Oldies DJ wherever on this planet, we all thank you. The artists thank you as well, and the combination of our effort will continue to provide what you all love. We are firmly entrenched and keeping up the battle to win radio back into the hearts of the 'lost' out there, one song, one bit, one jingle at a time.

-Bill