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The Vulcan: The Worst Station in the History of B'Ham?

Y

yankeefan

Guest
Now granted, I moved away from the market over a year ago, so I don't get to hear the station everyday. That being said though, my wife and I were back in town for a friend's wedding over the weekend and I kept the dial on 105.5 pretty much the whole time.

HOLY CRAP CLEAR CHANNEL HAS BOTTOMED OUT. Where to begin? First of all they've ripped off B&K with the whole replacing "f**kin'" with "Vulcan." Their imaging sounds like it was made for a high school audio production project. And perhaps the most confusing thing - a station in Brimingham called "The Vulcan" has no local morning show, no live jocks, and basically no local identity? That is ridiculous.
 
I'll say this. The attitude has a lot to do with the format. At least it's a step up from the X and the crap they played constantly. Sure the Vulcan's playlist could be fresher, but come on. There is only so many times you could hear The Fray or [EDIT]crap on the X before you wanted to shoot someone.

Also, Lex and Terry are a lot funnier than that piped in crap ------ and Ken were sending from New York. All in all I'd say, CC needs to get off their asses and get a decent staff in as well. But for the love of god they need to stay away from the old X staff. Pure poison.


[EDIT-vulgar]
 
Oh, and by the way, the whole Vulcan instead of f***ing thing. It wasn't ripped off from B and K. Jocks in Birmingham such as the late Andy Spinosi had been using that years before B and K ever did. They just pounded into the ground.
 
Sup Guys

Being that I am a CHR/Urban jock I don't know alot about the rock format. I remember when the X first took off under Dave Rossi it was a flame thrower here in the Market. What do you guys think would make the Vulcan a better rock station. I would really like to hear what you guys think

Peace
The Shady Nation
 
I'm just outside of Vulcan's coverage area...but here's what I see from their playlist on Mediabase:

1. They spin almost nothing but "gold" titles
2. Their playlist is just over 200 songs

I wonder if true rock fans think their playlist is too conservative. A lot of their titles are popular on Hot AC stations (even though Birmingham doesn't have a Hot AC). Maybe expanding the playlist and adding some new rock titles would help?
 
I think it's a pretty decent station for what they have to play with. I think the problems with it is a problem that the station can't really fix. It's a problem with the state of music. There isn't any good music out there at the moment.
 
that is one thing that infuriates me.

there is lots of great music.

there may not be music that you like but don't denigrate music of other genres.

i am 50 years old and i still listen to all kinds of music. just because your palate has gotten stale and there is no new (ozzie, beatles, snoop dogg, who, NIN, STP, et. al) music to your liking does not mean there is no good new music.

beyonce's "irreplacable" is one incredible example of pop/soul music that harkens back to the heyday of motown and that is just one example of new music that is a-1 in composition, recording quality, etc.

you do yourselves a diservice intoning the stoic "there just isn't any good music anymore" mantra.

music evolves. get with it or get out of the way.
 
homer29 said:
I think the problems with it is a problem that the station can't really fix. It's a problem with the state of music. There isn't any good music out there at the moment.
Click to expand...

It's more than just that. I can't get over that the station will only have one live jock! They have a great opportunity to build that staff. I have been pushing for Brother Van (formerly of the Point and the Spot) to find a home on that station for quite some time. And no local morning show? It doesn't have to be B&K. It would just be nice to see Birmingham give someone new a chance to thrive, but then again that's why I left for greener pastures after only a year and a half in the market.

So yes, there is a lot that is out of the Vulcan's control (alternative is not really a profitable format, Birmingham's aversion to new talent, Clear Channel's aversion to locally staffing anything), but imaging is something they can fix. So why don't they?
 
The genre of music the vulcan is playing is what I'm referring to. Much like Country died, had a re-birth, died, another re-birth, etc, etc.....

It's the cycle. I too believe there is other good music, but in my opinion, the rock format is suffering due to a lack of good music for that format. It's just a cycle.

That's why I said that, we were talking about the Vulcan. A station that plays ROCK.
So I apologize for the generalization, i should have been more specific.
 
Hmm interesting thoughts guys. someone said the vulcan's playlist was mostly golds. seems like I read that the OM's comments were that the vulcans core artist was going to be centered around 1997 rock music. I agree they should have a live staff and whoever made the comment about getting fresh blood in the market you are so right. Do you guys think maybe clearchannel is trying to generate the same reaction that WRAX got in its hay day?
 
Of course that's what they're going for! When the X was at it's peak with Rossi, Hurricane Shane, and the rest they could sell out any show they brought to town. They could sell out every copy of that lame Live in the X Lounge CD. Any event they put they're name on was packed. The X in it's hey day was the peak of a cult brand in Birmingham radio.

I don't know that there are many stations in the country that have that following, but certainly we all want to get there.
 
Music-wise Vulcan may have the "sound" of the X from ten years ago, but what made the X the X was its personalities.

Rossi, Shane, and everyone else involved was truly involved in the community both in and out of the music scene. With how radio is, CC will NOT hire that many people. You'll be lucky if that station is truly programmed in Birmingham or even the state of Alabama for that matter.
 
I couldn't agree more. Look at some of the bands the X helped to break in it's heyday: Train, Matchbox 20, the Verve Pipe. None of them were good, but we were all willing to buy their albums and give them a chance because these guys we trusted told us that these bands were worth our time and money.
 
Worst station ever? I don't know, but I definitely think it has the worst imaging ever. Those liners started getting on my nerves on day 2 and they've grown steadily more annoying each day.

It's a mediocre station in a box. This market deserves better, but with only 4 FM owners (three of whom do nothing but mediocre stations in boxes and one that doesn't do rock) and no real opportunity for anyone to put another station on, we won't get it.
 
Clichemoth, it'll come back, good radio isn't dead...the creativity has just been temporarily drowned out by greed. Eventually some brilliant individual is going to realize that you have to spend money to build continuous long term profits rather than cut costs for 5% more this quarter. Think of it this way, the cut throat corp. ladder climbers are beginning to see that they've reached the top of the ladder that they built...and it was a lot shorter than they expected. Now they panic and we can watch with sadistic, voyeristic delight because "WE TOLD YOU THAT'S WHAT WOULD HAPPEN".
 
Stewy said:
Clichemoth, it'll come back, good radio isn't dead...the creativity has just been temporarily drowned out by greed. Eventually some brilliant individual is going to realize that you have to spend money to build continuous long term profits rather than cut costs for 5% more this quarter. Think of it this way, the cut throat corp. ladder climbers are beginning to see that they've reached the top of the ladder that they built...and it was a lot shorter than they expected. Now they panic and we can watch with sadistic, voyeristic delight because "WE TOLD YOU THAT'S WHAT WOULD HAPPEN".
Click to expand...

Oh, good radio will make a comeback somewhere, just not in Birmingham. There isn't enough room to mess with what works and people here have grown so accustomed to bland radio that it is what works, even though it wasn't that long ago that we had three stations at the top of their respective formats (the X, the old A. G. Gaston-owned WENN, and WZZK before it had all the life sucked out of it.)
 
Vag's Coffee House....LOL, that's a good one. I will have to remember it.

Sorry you don't like the show or the music I play Homer29. Wish you had the nuts to say your name instead of hiding behind a screen name. My show must suck hard since it has stayed on the air for over ten years, is syndicated on a dozen stations and has ratings through the roof for Sunday radio. Just imagine what the ratings would be if someone put the music I play on during the week.

What am I thinking, I don't know a damn thing about music. I need to just quit right now and let you take over my show Homer. Thanks for shining the light on me.

Peace,
Reg
 
regscoffeehouse said:
Vag's Coffee House....LOL, that's a good one. I will have to remember it.

Sorry you don't like the show or the music I play Homer29. Wish you had the nuts to say your name instead of hiding behind a screen name. My show must suck hard since it has stayed on the air for over ten years, is syndicated on a dozen stations and has ratings through the roof for Sunday radio. Just imagine what the ratings would be if someone put the music I play on during the week.

What am I thinking, I don't know a damn thing about music. I need to just quit right now and let you take over my show Homer. Thanks for shining the light on me.

Peace,
Reg
Click to expand...

Well, a true AAA would likely do better here than what Vulcan's doing, which begs the question "Why hasn't anyone actually tried it yet?" Something like the old WOKI in Knoxville(which I believe your show was also on) would be the way to go.
 
Well, a true AAA would likely do better here than what Vulcan's doing, which begs the question "Why hasn't anyone actually tried it yet?"

The reason is quite simple. In radios current corporate phase, companys are not going to use a viable signal for a format that a field study says there is no hole in the market for. Now while I agree with you whole heartedly that a AAA/Hot AC format would work well here, the music required for the format doesn't test well. Not because it isn't good, but because for the most part its unfamiliar to the masses. Plus a station like these described would require a programmer who has an ear for music, something thats pretty rare anymore. And even if you could get all these things in a row, the most important thing would be for the company to allow its programmer to "program", not just manage a playlist sent from corporate. As long as radio companys are publicly traded companys, it just won't happen. We need some rich old bugger with cash to burn to buy a stick, hire the right folks and then just sit back and enjoy the prosperous ride he or she would be about to embark on. Gettin a little testy up there Reg, is John Tesh eating your snacks out of the Citadel refrig again?
 
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