michael hagerty said:
ChannelFlipper said:
Now that I think about it, when KTWV first went on the air in 1987 with their new age format, "You're Latest Trick" was on the playlist for quite awhile. They also played plenty of Steely Dan, particularly all seven tracks off the Aja album.
There are a few airchecks of The Wave's first year in circulation. I heard them earlier this year and was reminded why I liked the station in the first place...they played great stuff from artists like Steely Dan, Dire Straits, Joe Jackson, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Van Morrison in addition to the jazz base.
It seems like once the "smooth jazz" label was affixed, the music got narrower. It's been successful, but I think of the format now as being intended for women older than me...and I'm a 53 year old male who loved The Wave at age 31.
I used to love The Wave, circa late-80's. They had a feel that was similar to the old Mellow Rock KNX-FM and an eclectic playlist of Pop, Rock, New Age, Jazz, and R&B. In addition to the above-mentioned artists, one could also hear Chet Atkins, Level 42, Sting, Robbie Robertson, Michael Tomlinson, Santana, Stevie Wonder, Michael Franks, etc. I remember the format being labeled "Adult Alternative" for a short while. But it wasn't long before programmers had to choose whether they wanted to lean rock and be AAA or lean rhythmic and be Smooth Jazz. The Wave went the latter route and succeeded but I do miss the original. I can still hear that baritone TOH ID, "KT...WV...Los Angeles...Ninety-Four Seven...The Wave."