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"Straight Up" on The Villages' radio station

vchimpanzee said:
Nevertheless, this station is all over the road. It should have its license taken away because it's lucky there hasn't been a wreck yet. Actually, there has. Plenty of train wrecks.

"Union of the Snake" Duran Duran
"New Sensation" INXS
"I Heard a Rumour" Bananarama
"Breakfast at Tiffanys" Deep Blue Something

That's all from one "last songs played" list and I didn't even have to scroll down.

The only real hints retired people are listening?

"Cherish" Association
"That's Old Fashioned" Everly Brothers (not familiar with that, but it sounds like it could fit with a true "Get Off My Lawn" format)

There are other songs that would fit an adult standards format, but they could also be on a conservative AC.
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The four songs you listed at first would be fine with most people in their 50s today and a good number of people in their 60s. People do retire early, you know. I'm 65 and have no problem with any of them, even though I had stopped listening to CHR for the most part by the time "Breakfast at Tiffany's" came out.

The Everly Brothers song is the true outlier here: a really obscure (No. 9 hit in 1962, forgotten by oldies radio in future years) single by a duo whose primary appeal now is to people in their late 70s and 80s. I can understand playing "Cherish," which was a favorite at oldies stations for years and has a timeless sound to it, but just about everything the Everly Brothers ever recorded is a museum piece now. I hope that station has "That's Old Fashioned" in once-in-a-blue-moon rotation.
 
CTListener said:
I hope that station has "That's Old Fashioned" in once-in-a-blue-moon rotation.
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My first thought was songs like "Straight Up" are rare but that's not true, as it turns out.

I hope people understand by "license" I mean the station is driving all over the road.

Looking for information to change their obviously outdated Wikipedia article I saw a recent obit that mentioned the 91-year-old woman's radio station.
 
According to radio-locator; I’m 30.7 miles south of the WVLG 640 towers (used to be 28.4 miles before WVLG moved their AM towers from Wildwood to within The Villages for better nighttime coverage. (A lot of Cuban interference at night).

They are live and local during the day, overnight, they seem to be automated, but with their own announcers; not a satellite service. WVLG is to the Villages, what Radio Disney was/is to Disney; a promotional tool and there was a big uproar several years ago, when WVLG lost their autonomy to the Village Daily Sun and now the newspaper pretty well selects the ads for WVLG; which almost all fall into three categories; real estate ads for homes in the Villages, auto dealer ads, and ads promoting the Village Daily Sun. (Printed 7 days a week).

I haven’t been inside The Villages since January of this year; but seeing the people in the restaurants and in Publix (went to several); they act and dress young for their ages. Every shop I have ever been in, in the Villages has WVLG piped in; Publix (large S.E. Grocery chain, headquartered in Lakeland, FL )is a notable exception.

At 6PM, they have the 60’s at 6, 7PM, the 70’s at 7 and eighties at 8 from 8 -9PM. During the day- the AM has better coverage than their two translators combined; but at night between the slight power drop (930 to 860 watts) and the massive Cuban interference, the translators have better coverage.

As far as music, it is a diverse mix; have heard Dan Fogleburg, Elton John, the Bangles, Survivor and the Classics Four within the last 30 minutes; prior to this year, WVLG has had summer interns from the Villages Charter High School and during those times, the students would introduce the music they liked and some of those songs made it into the WVLG playlists.

The Villages cover three counties; Sumter, Marion and Lake.

Just 73 miles south-south-west at my St. Petersburg location, WVLG is completely obliterated by the 640 out of Cuba day and night.
 
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vchimpanzee said:
So? This is a station that plays Anne Murray and Barry Manilow. Guns 'n Roses was also popular at that same time.

People get older and they want softer music. I'm sure of it.

And yes, this is a radio station for The Villages.

I'm listening to ex-"AM Only" right now and they never get that bad.
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Getting old doesn't mean you want to listen to softer music. It means you want to listen to the music of your generation. Paula is 58 and is doing commercials for arthritis medicine.

Many of her fan base has grand children or great grand children.
 
drt said:
According to radio-locator; I’m 30.7 miles south of the WVLG 640 towers (used to be 28.4 miles before WVLG moved their AM towers from Wildwood to within The Villages for better nighttime coverage. (A lot of Cuban interference at night).

They are live and local during the day, overnight, they seem to be automated, but with their own announcers; not a satellite service. WVLG is to the Villages, what Radio Disney was/is to Disney; a promotional tool and there was a big uproar several years ago, when WVLG lost their autonomy to the Village Daily Sun and now the newspaper pretty well selects the ads for WVLG; which almost all fall into three categories; real estate ads for homes in the Villages, auto dealer ads, and ads promoting the Village Daily Sun. (Printed 7 days a week).

I haven’t been inside The Villages since January of this year; but seeing the people in the restaurants and in Publix (went to several); they act and dress young for their ages. Every shop I have ever been in, in the Villages has WVLG piped in; Publix (large S.E. Grocery chain, headquartered in Lakeland, FL )is a notable exception.

At 6PM, they have the 60’s at 6, 7PM, the 70’s at 7 and eighties at 8 from 8 -9PM. During the day- the AM has better coverage than their two translators combined; but at night between the slight power drop (930 to 860 watts) and the massive Cuban interference, the translators have better coverage.

As far as music, it is a diverse mix; have heard Dan Fogleburg, Elton John, the Bangles, Survivor and the Classics Four within the last 30 minutes; prior to this year, WVLG has had summer interns from the Villages Charter High School and during those times, the students would introduce the music they liked and some of those songs made it into the WVLG playlists.

The Villages cover three counties; Sumter, Marion and Lake.

Just 73 miles south-south-west at my St. Petersburg location, WVLG is completely obliterated by the 640 out of Cuba day and night.
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From what you're saying it sounds like the information on Wikipedia is outdated and someone needs to fix it. Is there any place I can find these details? Your list of artists sounds more like what this station should be playing. I'm guessing that obituary I mentioned wasn't referring to the person's CURRENT favorite station at the time the person was still alive.
 
Vchimpazie: “ From what you're saying it sounds like the information on Wikipedia is outdated and someone needs to fix it. Is there any place I can find these details? Your list of artists sounds more like what this station should be playing. I'm guessing that obituary I mentioned wasn't referring to the person's CURRENT favorite station at the time the person was still alive.”
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If you’re able to stream from your area; I started listening to the stream to a few minutes ago, was following the OTA songs and commercials and FOX news at the top of the hour. ��
 
drt said:
Vchimpazie: “ From what you're saying it sounds like the information on Wikipedia is outdated and someone needs to fix it. Is there any place I can find these details? Your list of artists sounds more like what this station should be playing. I'm guessing that obituary I mentioned wasn't referring to the person's CURRENT favorite station at the time the person was still alive.”
—————————————————
If you’re able to stream from your area; I started listening to the stream to a few minutes ago, was following the OTA songs and commercials and FOX news at the top of the hour. ��
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I can stream, but wouldn't want to. I saw lists of "last songs played" that were completely outrageous given who the supposed target audience is.
 
TheBigA said:
You should probably look at their website. The Villages promote themselves as an "active adult 55 & over" community. That's a very different concept from what you're thinking about.

https://www.thevillages.com/
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Maybe it was here that I heard it was a retirement community. Someone on this site said WVLG wasn't as soft as one might expect based on that.

On the station I am hearing online which sounds like a station for old people should sound, a commercial that explains what people with Medicare should do at one drug store chain has music by Dire Straits. Really?
 
vchimpanzee said:
On the station I am hearing online which sounds like a station for old people should sound, a commercial that explains what people with Medicare should do at one drug store chain has music by Dire Straits. Really?
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Dire Straits had their hits 35-40 years ago. That's the equivalent of hearing music from the late 1920s in the 1960s. That sounds right to me.
 
vchimpanzee said:
Maybe it was here that I heard it was a retirement community.
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55+ IS a retirement community. My parents, both in their 90s, lived in a 55+ community for five years. The other residents of their building ranged from about 60 to about 90. People do retire early, you know. And the musical entertainment occasionally provided in the building's dining room consisted of individuals and duos performing everything from Sinatra to Elton John. I'd imagine the Tin Pan Alley specialists will be booked less frequently as the older residents die off or move into assisted living facilities or nursing homes.
 
CTListener said:
I'd imagine the Tin Pan Alley specialists will be booked less frequently as the older residents die off or move into assisted living facilities or nursing homes.
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We mentioned Dire Straits before, and its leader Mark Knopfler is 71. That makes him retirement age. Most of those stars from the 80s are now in their 60s. Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran is 61. Paula Abdul is 58. They could all live in the Villages. Why can't their music get played there too?
 
I would assume that the America's Best Music affiliate list is small. MOYL was toast by the 2000's and several online "Martini" formats have come and gone. The demand isn't there.

Ask a 25 year old to name 5 Duran Duran or 2 Paula Abdul songs. I know I'm officially old.

Back in 2013 we had about 100 1970's songs on our AC/variety station. Today We have about 40 in a very light rotation during the workday.

Being in a small market, we have flexibility. In larger markets the 70's have disappeared on AC stations.
 
Not to get off topic, but this station appears to be a lot like Zoomer Radio 740, a clear channel signal out of Toronto, Canada. They daypart, so there is something for everyone (over 50). Zoomer also has the '60s at 6:00, the '70s at 7:00 and the '80s at 8:00. They used to have the '90s at 9:00 but they discontinued that a couple of years ago, maybe because it skewed too young? And on Sunday evenings, there is a gentleman whose show features artists like Benny Goodman and Rosemary Clooney. The key to satisfaction is tuning in at the time that features the music of YOUR life.
 
Cordelia Chase said:
Not to get off topic, but this station appears to be a lot like Zoomer Radio 740, a clear channel signal out of Toronto, Canada. They daypart, so there is something for everyone (over 50). Zoomer also has the '60s at 6:00, the '70s at 7:00 and the '80s at 8:00. They used to have the '90s at 9:00 but they discontinued that a couple of years ago, maybe because it skewed too young? And on Sunday evenings, there is a gentleman whose show features artists like Benny Goodman and Rosemary Clooney. The key to satisfaction is tuning in at the time that features the music of YOUR life.
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I thought Zoomer Radio was actually adult standards.

I want to add "Open Your Heart" by Madonna to the list too. I have heard that one and it's pretty bad.

I haven't listed everything in the "last songs played" but so far it appears my Good Time Oldies station is more conservative than this one. How should WVLG be categorized on Wikipedia? The first thing to do is drop "easy listening" from the description because there's more "easy listening" on Good Time Oldies.
 
Groove1670 said:
I would assume that the America's Best Music affiliate list is small.
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I don't know about that, but the list is smaller than it once was.

It does have a good mix of soft adult contemporary (sometimes too contemporary in recent years for my taste, though), easygoing oldies and even actual standards from back when the songs were popular and from recent years.

If a place like The Villages didn't have something like WLML in West Palm Beach at least it could have something like America's Best Music.
 
Nothing outrageous that I know of in the latest "last songs played", but I did see "Maria Elena" by Los Indios Trabajaras.

If The Everly Brothers belong in a museum, that song is an amazing discovery uncovered by archaeologists.
 
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