The new krth

[michael hagerty]

Michael said "there's no reason to believe the KRTH air staff is in danger." That's certainly true of Bryan, Kelly, Tuna and Carson. However, in his syndicated radio column yesterday, Richard Wagoner noted that midnight-to-5 host Dave Randall was fired and replaced with voice-tracks of assistant program director Dave Mason. What is the reason? Simply to save money? Do the people who listen to KRTH during those hours not care if there's a live DJ?

If you read Richard's column, the word "fired" doesn't appear in it.

Dave Randall is a weekend and utility player for KRTH. Jhani had been tracking overnights. When Jhani left, Dave Randall stepped in until Dave Mason was ready to do it. Now Dave Randall is back doing what he'd been doing for KRTH...weekends and fill-ins.

It is a cost-cutting move because the PD tracks that shift for no additional compensation beyond his PD salary. Dave had to get at least union scale.

I'd also bet that Dave was voice-tracking that shift. There is no reason to have him do it live. And I'll bet you'd never be able to tell. Voicetracking done right can be very, very good.

Actually, listen to anything outside of morning drive with a critical ear and ask yourself what there is about what Carson, Shotgun, Christina or any of the other KRTH jocks say that they would have to be live to say.

As to whether the people listening during that shift care whether it's live or not, that's irrelevant. Overnights contribute roughly zero to ad revenue. If it weren't for earlier and varying morning commute times and the desire to have a lead-in for your morning show rather than dead air, there's a business case that could be made for signing off at midnight.

 

[michael hagerty]

Same with Debby Boone. Hell, in Chicago Landecker bitched on the air about having to play Lou Rawls' "You'll Never Find Another Love" at night on WLS--no wonder he did that "'You Light Up My Life' on the installment plan" stunt where he played 30 seconds of it in the first hour, 30 more seconds in the second hour, etc.

Those would be records that appeal 70+ today.

 

[semoochie]

Someone liked "You Light Up My Life" in 1977! I know I did and I turned 24 that year. It's popularity certainly wasn't because of the movie, which just lay there!

 

[michael hagerty]

Someone liked "You Light Up My Life" in 1977! I know I did and I turned 24 that year. It's popularity certainly wasn't because of the movie, which just lay there!

Yes, they did. And it was one of those....well, I called them "Wedding Songs". The first one in my career was Paul Stookey's "Wedding Song (There Is Love)". Huge phones, seemingly endless mass appeal but actually very heavy 30+ and female and within a year, replaced by the next thing.

 

[semoochie]

Yes, they did. And it was one of those....well, I called them "Wedding Songs". The first one in my career was Paul Stookey's "Wedding Song (There Is Love)". Huge phones, seemingly endless mass appeal but actually very heavy 30+ and female and within a year, replaced by the next thing.

Somewhat on topic, a friend of mine and I both bought "Love is Blue", an instrumental with undeniable adult appeal but there was just something about it. If anyone heard it now, I'm sure they wouldn't "get it" but to our 15 year old ears, it worked somehow.

 

[michael hagerty]

Somewhat on topic, a friend of mine and I both bought "Love is Blue", an instrumental with undeniable adult appeal but there was just something about it. If anyone heard it now, I'm sure they wouldn't "get it" but to our 15 year old ears, it worked somehow.

I'm 3 years younger than you and bought that one too...and "Ame Caline (Soul Coaxing)" by Raymond Lefevre.

But we weren't typical. And even if we were, we're out of the demo now.

 

[davideduardo]

If you read Richard's column, the word "fired" doesn't appear in it.
Overnights contribute roughly zero to ad revenue. If it weren't for earlier and varying morning commute times and the desire to have a lead-in for your morning show rather than dead air, there's a business case that could be made for signing off at midnight.

And there is another reason for staying on overnight... that goes back to when transmitters were less reliable.

After one-too-many occasions of not having the transmitter go on at 6 AM and losing the audience and revenue from a chunk of AM Drive, managers found it more reliable and cheaper in the long run to stay on overnight.

In my case, I had a transmitter not turn on because a rat got into it and went to sleep... The next morning produced an exploding rat and 3 hours of downtime while I cleaned the rat out of the transmitter. Next day we went 24/7 and I never owned, managed, programmed or consulted a station thereafter that was not on the air nonstop.

 

[semoochie]

How do you know that the rat went to sleep?
"Soul Coaxing" is a great song and I never hear it but it's a "rock instrumental", while "Love is Blue" has more in common with "Theme From A Summer Place". My point was that it appeared to be an "adult friendly" record but definitely had a younger following. I know that I'm not typical but what about my friend? We were just kids; we didn't like each other BECAUSE I would later develop an interest in radio!

 

[michael hagerty]

How do you know that the rat went to sleep?
"Soul Coaxing" is a great song and I never hear it but it's a "rock instrumental", while "Love is Blue" has more in common with "Theme From A Summer Place". My point was that it appeared to be an "adult friendly" record but definitely had a younger following. I know that I'm not typical but what about my friend? We were just kids; we didn't like each other BECAUSE I would later develop an interest in radio!

I think "Love Is Blue" is closer to "Soul Coaxing" than it is to "Theme From A Summer Place", and in the context of 1968 rock instrumentals (Cliff Nobles, Booker T & The MGs, maybe Mason Williams), I don't think I'd call "Soul Coaxing" a rock instrumental.

But even though you and one other guy, two if you count me, liked them, that's not indicative of anything. Those were adult appeal records that some teens (but likely not a majority) liked.

Admitting to having bought those two on my 7th grade playground would have gotten me some harassment from the guys (who were more into "Sunshine Of Your Love", "Born To Be Wild" and "Foxy Lady".

 

[Thomps2525]

Those of you who like pop instrumental hits of the 1960s will be glad to know that there is a CD series, Complete Pop Instrumental Hits Of The 1960s which includes...ummm...all the pop instrumental hits of the 1960s. I bought the first three volumes (1960-61-62) and I'm anxiously awaiting the 1963 set. They include every instrumental to make the Billboard Hot 100 and quite a few more that never charted. Many have never been on CD until now. Here is the first volume, 1960:

http://www.ericrecords.com/C60-instrumentals-1.html

 

[krth101]

I should have said drake influence rather than Drake formatics. His unmistakeable imprint has been an integral part of the stations legacy these last 20 years. My thought was that where jhani, facing a somewhat similar situation ratings wise that Rick faces now, seemed to embrace that heritage. My question - and fear is that rick is turning his back on it.This recollection from jhani *when he took over the program director post at KRTH was quite telling in retrospect. Speaking of drake, he said **“He reminded me how much he loved K-EARTH and that the station is a ‘grand lady’ and I should use all the programming instincts I had learned from him in order to honor the heritage that came along with the position. What a thrill that was".*

 

[michael hagerty]

I should have said drake influence rather than Drake formatics. His unmistakeable imprint has been an integral part of the stations legacy these last 20 years. My thought was that where jhani, facing a somewhat similar situation ratings wise that Rick faces now, seemed to embrace that heritage. My question - and fear is that rick is turning his back on it.This recollection from jhani *when he took over the program director post at KRTH was quite telling in retrospect. Speaking of drake, he said **“He reminded me how much he loved K-EARTH and that the station is a ‘grand lady’ and I should use all the programming instincts I had learned from him in order to honor the heritage that came along with the position. What a thrill that was".*

Jhani got the keys 8 years ago. That's a long time, equal to Drake's entire tenure at KHJ, which ended 40 years ago.

Rick's not turning his back, he's moving to be relatable to his audience, the center of which was born the year Drake left KHJ and RKO.

Time passes.

 

[Thomps2525]

KRTH and Rick Thomas are trying to appeal to an audience who is too young to remember the "glory years" of 93/KHJ, 136/KGB, 68/RKO, The Big 6-10 KFRC and other stations. Before long, all the 1960s songs that those stations played as currents will be gone from KRTH and more 1980s-90s hits will be played. The "'60s throwback" jingles might also disappear. I guess we can say that Rick is giving the "grand lady" a face lift.

 

[michael hagerty]

I mean, this would be like looking at KRTH in 1972 when it started and wanting it to sound like a radio station from 1932. The frame of reference for today's adult audience (in the demo) is KIIS-FM and KROQ, not KHJ.

 

[davideduardo]

How do you know that the rat went to sleep?

Engineers experienced in "critters in the box" know that many kinds of varmints will seek out the warmth of a recently turned off transmitter where they are either converted to "crispy critters" or awakened by someone opening the gear.

Snakes will coil around warm transformers and chokes. Mice will find warm corners. Rats do whatever they want, usually finding that their tail is a great shorting bar.

Most of us have found larger items outside the transmitter but in the building... raccoons, skunks, opossums, snakes large and small as well as all manner of things that fly.

There is a famous story of an engineer and missionary from HCJB, the legendary Ecuadorian shortwave station, who had a pet boa. The snake got several meters long, and one evening defended its master by crushing and swallowing an intruder.

I'll guarantee that the rat was asleep (it had been lying between the poles of a large filter cap in an FM rig). What stays with me till today is the amazingly horrible smell of electrocuted rat.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Those of you who like pop instrumental hits of the 1960s will be glad to know that there is a CD series, Complete Pop Instrumental Hits Of The 1960s which includes...ummm...all the pop instrumental hits of the 1960s. I bought the first three volumes (1960-61-62) and I'm anxiously awaiting the 1963 set. They include every instrumental to make the Billboard Hot 100 and quite a few more that never charted. Many have never been on CD until now. Here is the first volume, 1960:

http://www.ericrecords.com/C60-instrumentals-1.html

Go to the website homepage, then browse around the various offerings...fascinating. Nice that they have audio sample clips for everything...lots of stuff you've forgotten that you've forgotten. Some big memory jogs; amazing what is buried in the brain cells...

 

[oldies76]

Those would be records that appeal 70+ today.

You Light Up My Life was #1 in late 1977 (number one for 10 weeks I might add, based on airplay and sales)...If 18 year olds girls were buying her 45 record that year, they'd be 54 today. 70+ is stretching it, don't you think? I highly doubt just 30 and 40 year olds were scooping up her records that fall.

As for Lou Rawls, heck it's on the CBS-FM and KRTH playlists, so they are appealing to the under 54 crowd, not 70+.

You want 70+, try early Dionne Warwick or Sergio Mendes classics, as good as they are.

 

[davideduardo]

You Light Up My Life was #1 in late 1977 (number one for 10 weeks I might add, based on airplay and sales)...If 18 year olds girls were buying her 45 record that year, they'd be 54 today. 70+ is stretching it, don't you think? I highly doubt just 30 and 40 year olds were scooping up her records that fall.

I think you just hung yourself on your own rope.

A person who was 15 years old who bought that record would be out of the demo next year. Anyone older back then is already out of the sales demos.

So it does not matter... anyone who might have bought the record is out of the sales demos today.

And I can't picture a 15-year-old buying that record or relating to the rather adult lyrics of it.

You notice that Debbie is now selling face lifts to the same 60+ people who might have bought the tune. Her appeal is not to 50-year-olds.

 

[semoochie]

Kids don't buy music for the lyrics. It's because "It has a nice beat and it's easy to dance to."! I think you meant to say"18" instead of "15", which would make the person 51 now.

 

[davideduardo]

Kids don't buy music for the lyrics.

That's a guy response. Women tend to be much more driven by the lyrics.