They played We Belong by Pat Benetar on KZOK

[Cobra14]

There is sometimes more art than science that goes into building a playlist, especially since the research isn't anywhere near as good as it used to be. There isn't money to do old style music tests all the time. The company has been trying to make do, sharing what research they can afford across all their stations in a format. Once they even built song scores by scraping PPM data. But you don't want to follow that data blindly, particularly in a format where the variation in regional tastes is much stronger than say country or hot AC.

There is a real risk in playing a clunker. Many more people will sit through six minutes of spots than 30 seconds of a song they don't like. But playing only the very core of a playlist makes the whole station monotonous and fade into the background. It's amazing how much more alive it becomes when you sprinkle in just a few songs that are a little unexpected.

Thanks for your well thought out input on the topic and contributing to the thread. It shows a real world example of how a playlist can be put together without reliance on just “research” and using other sources and info to accomplish it.

 

[fordranger797]

I know some people who work in Americana music. They were trying to get me interested in it. I did research on the audience, and it basically appeals to people over 60. I was shocked first of all that people over 60 listen to music, and secondly that they listen to NEW music. But I was told that there's a large audience of boomers who want new music that relates to them, that doesn't sing about teen angst, or other similar topics. They want new music for adults. And for some, it's Americana. Who are the artists? The Avett Brothers, Margo Price, and Jason Isbell. These are young artists who make new music that appeals to mainly an older audience.

I think this illustrates the need for at least some AAA radio stations across the country. Sure, the demographics tend to be on the older side, but I would argue that this is one of the ways that the older generation “discovers” new music. My parents definitely won’t be finding it via streaming apps. And since I’m not a streamer, I won’t be finding it there either.

 

[TheBigA]

I think this illustrates the need for at least some AAA radio stations across the country.

Keep in mind that AAA is not the same as Americana. There are a lot of AAA stations around the country, but they tend to be non-commercial. Which is fine, because I keep hearing that older people have access to more disposable income. So they should support their radio station, and maybe even volunteer for that station. KEXP is closer to a AAA station than traditional Alternative. Unlike some AAAs, it does well in 18-34. But it also does well in 6+, which may be unique to Seattle.

 

[boombox4]

It was the snobbishness of the purity rocker scene that inspired the rejects to form grunge. And once grunge took over the mainstream, the purity rockers suddenly found themselves as the outcasts struggling to fit into a standard they didn't make the rules to. And the purity tests were gone.

Not so sure about the 70's-80's rockers -- as you described them -- actually being shoved out as outcasts by the grunge movement.... They grew up, and consequently were no longer that into the whole big hair / leather jacket with studs / boombox everywhere thing. Couldn't wear all that to work, you know.

At the same time, such rockers they still went to some shows. Some 70s/80s 'classic rock' bands like Metallica, Van Halen, AC/DC, Rush, and Iron Maiden were still doing tours throughout the 90s and 00s. Some of the 70's/80's rockers got into the harder hitting grunge bands like Soundgarden. KISW still played AC/DC, Metallica, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rush, etc., along with the more contemporary Tool, Pearl Jam, AIC, etc.

One thing I noticed after grunge hit was that there was no 'purity test', as it were. Anything was fine, clothing wise, hair-wise, and music taste-wise. Things really opened up after 1991-1992. There seemed to be less putting people into a box over whatever music they listened to or preferred.

The first grunge fans I ever met, in the late 80s, dressed like hard core punks. Some of the female grungers dressed similarly to the ones in the Singles movie, though. After grunge music hit the big time, guys' fashion (if you can ever call it that) was all over the map. The stereotypical flannel shirt / worn out jeans was pretty standard clothing in this region for years before it became one of the aspects of grunge fashion.

As for the subject of the OP, some songs always got complaints when heard on rock radio. Even in the 80's you'd see comments on it in publications like the Rocket. Radio always takes the hit for 'not playing the right music'. It's rare when the stars align and music fans seem to rave about a radio station. Usually this seems to be when a music fad hits the big time -- the heavy metal thing in the 80s (KISW, naturally), New Wave (KYYX), Grunge boom in 1992-1998 or so (KNDD anyone?).

The rest of the time there will always be people who will complain, like the construction crew the OP mentions. People are complainers by nature. Radio can't please everybody. No genuinely mass media really can.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Not so sure about the 70's-80's rockers -- as you described them.... They grew up, and consequently were no longer that into the whole big hair / leather jacket with studs / boombox everywhere thing. Couldn't wear all that to work, you know.

Not so fast!

I went to a concert in Detroit, MI about 10 years ago. It featured Vince Neil, Skid Row and Poison. It was in a covered pavilion, we had OK seats and paid about $25 each for them. We found out the folks sitting next to us got their tickets for free, just for test driving a car at a local dealership, lol. Anyway, many of the attendees looked and dressed like the 80s rock scene never left..The torn jeans with lycra/spandex underneath, the faded rocker t-shirts, black leather jackets with chrome studs, big hair, the works!! It caused me to wonder 1) What these people did for a living and 2) If they'd seriously kept up this look since the 1980s and/or what rock they suddenly crawled out from under to attend that show. Regardless, it was a great concert, brought back some memories and was a lot of laughs if nothing else.

 

[Kelly A]

Not so fast!

I went to a concert in Detroit, MI about 10 years ago. It featured Vince Neil, Skid Row and Poison. It was in a covered pavilion, we had OK seats and paid about $25 each for them. We found out the folks sitting next to us go their tickets for free, just for test driving a car at a local dealership, lol. Anyway, many of the folks there looked and dressed like the 80s rock scene never left..The torn jeans with lycra/spandex underneath, the faded rocker t-shirts, black leather jackets with chrome studs, big hair, the works!! It caused me to wonder 1) What these people did for a living and 2) If they'd seriously kept up this look since the 1980s and/or what rock they suddenly crawled out from under to attend that show. Regardless, it was a great concert, brought back some memories and was a lot of laughs if nothing else.

We see that textually all the time on this very site. People who strangely still believe that media consumption is just the way things were back in the 80's. If stations I listen to would just play more-XYZ, or less-ABC, have chatty DJ's again, or have less commercials/promo's, then radio will 'be great again'.
Whenever someone points out the decade long move to smart phones, Internet streaming, and smart speakers, it's like these folks have no idea what you're talking about. Living in some alternative universe time warp.

 

[Cobra14]

 

[bobdavcav]

You Belong fits way better on KZOK than Jump Around or Lose Yourself do on KISW, which was the subject of a thread several months back. If KISW can get away with playing the above mentioned songs, then KZOK can get away with playing You Belong.

 

[AuxRSS]

It depends on who you ask. If you ask a boomer who grew up during that period, then that's classic rock.

But that's not who KZOK is currently aiming at.

I think in any of these types of formats, you have to present variety, or it becomes boring. You pick a target, and go for it.

That's the thing, though... There's a huge amount of variety within the "classic" classic rock playlist using the 1964-79 year markers. The doc subjects all had different artists come to mind when trying to pick canonical classic rock acts. They pretty much agreed Elvis didn't qualify, nor did synthy guitar rock from the early 1980s. In between was the sweet spot.

When I moved here in the mid-1990s, the pop/rock stations seems pretty segmented by era. ZOK did classic rock per the classic definition. KISW had classic rock plus current active rock tracks. The End of course was current alternative and grunge. KBSG was oldies from the 50s and 60s. A little later KJR-FM promoted itself as all-70s.

Whether it was Jack FM or the Napster revolution popularizing "playing what we want," it seems radio research went down the road of picking the best testing music for their audience regardless of year, genre, or what we listened to at age 12. Stone Temple Pilots, Nirvana, and Pat Benatar's "We Belong" don't really need any extra exposure on classic rock radio, but there you go. They're classic songs, so they're KZOK songs.

 

[seatownmedia]

On the subject of age determining your music likes and dislikes, I personally listen to classic rock, alternative, soft ac, and top 40. And I am 63.

 

[Kelly A]

On the subject of age determining your music likes and dislikes, I personally listen to classic rock, alternative, soft ac, and top 40. And I am 63.

Sorry dude, you're outside the demo.

 

[seatownmedia]

Sorry dude, you're outside the demo.

 

[seatownmedia]

As you speak of what you know! How is that SS application going? -PR

 

[Kelly A]

As you speak of what you know! How is that SS application going? -PR

Super Sport? Stainless Steel? Soupy Sales?

 

[seatownmedia]

Of course I meant social security. But the Soupy Sales reference was hilarious. Those that remember him are old today. Sorry, but factual.

 

[seatownmedia]

Btw, of course social security doesn’t mean much to some of us but is indeed a nice benefit that democrats produced many decades ago. I certainly don’t need it, but it is what it is. I won’t turn it down obviously, as almost everyone would not. I guess I have been lucky as I inherited an ability to buy a nice condo all cash several years ago. Once you get your home paid off it is easy sailing. I understand not everyone can do this, but if you can you are blessed.

 

[TheBigA]

I won’t turn it down obviously,

Remember that you paid for it. It's your money. Your payment is based on what you paid into it while you were working.

 

[CTListener]

Of course I meant social security. But the Soupy Sales reference was hilarious. Those that remember him are old today. Sorry, but factual.

I tried using "SS" as an abbreviation for "Social Security" in a one-column headline and was told by a superior to use "benefits" instead, because some readers might associate SS with the Schutzstaffel, better known as the SS, Hitler's feared paramilitary organization. This was in the mid-'80s, 40 years after the fall of the Third Reich. That editor -- a Vietnam veteran -- never relented on "SS," although in time he did permit "SocSec," which at least indicated what sort of benefits the story was about.

 

[Kelly A]

Of course I meant social security. But the Soupy Sales reference was hilarious. Those that remember him are old today. Sorry, but factual.

My father used to talk about Soupy Sales and another, Red Skeleton(?) all the time. Some sort of slapstick comedians?

 

[Kelly A]

Remember that you paid for it. It's your money. Your payment is based on what you paid into it while you were working.

Totally correct. Based on the number of 'good ol' days' discussions, I'll bet there are several RD members who are collecting Social Security. Not everyone can be a trust fund baby,