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What ever happened to Z-Rock format?
- Thread starter dfwrunner
- Start date
I miss that station. ROCK AND ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I listened as well.
But even Z-Rock was silly at times.
For a station that was supposed to be so Heavy.... they played some of the lightest Led Zeppelin, and not the Heaviest. And mostly the Hit Parade, and nothing much deeper than that.
Funny, I remember sometime in the early 90's when Z-Rock proudly announced their "discovery" of one the world's Heaviest tunes:
Bloodrock's "D.O.A." ---- a song from the 70's, that was already well known, at least around here anyways....
But even Z-Rock was silly at times.
For a station that was supposed to be so Heavy.... they played some of the lightest Led Zeppelin, and not the Heaviest. And mostly the Hit Parade, and nothing much deeper than that.
Funny, I remember sometime in the early 90's when Z-Rock proudly announced their "discovery" of one the world's Heaviest tunes:
Bloodrock's "D.O.A." ---- a song from the 70's, that was already well known, at least around here anyways....
TheRover said:
The format frequently descended into Junior High immaturity. And unless you were a committed headbanger, I imagine average TSL could be pretty short.
Funny, I remember sometime in the early 90's when Z-Rock proudly announced their "discovery" of one the world's Heaviest tunes:
Bloodrock's "D.O.A." ---- a song from the 70's, that was already well known, at least around here anyways....
Ah, yes, very early 70's for that. How many other songs have you ever heard that deal with the last moments of a plane crash survivor? The song actually got some late night play on Top 40.
I've heard about Z-Rock (through their bumper stickers on some cars) in my childhood, but never really listened to it.
While Capital Cities Communications (who ran ABC Radio at the time) shut it down in late 1996, ABC Radio/Citadel Media launched a similar satellite-driven format last year known as "The Nerve". It's not available here in Dallas/Fort Worth as we still have 97.1 The Eagle (revived in 2008).
While Capital Cities Communications (who ran ABC Radio at the time) shut it down in late 1996, ABC Radio/Citadel Media launched a similar satellite-driven format last year known as "The Nerve". It's not available here in Dallas/Fort Worth as we still have 97.1 The Eagle (revived in 2008).
back in the day z-rock was supposed to player the heavier stuff while kzps, kzew, and q102 played classic rock and album rock
97.1 was closer to what kiss fim 106.1 is today...after all that where kid craddick got his start i think
I still miss kzew and q102
97.1 was closer to what kiss fim 106.1 is today...after all that where kid craddick got his start i think
I still miss kzew and q102
An alum of KZEW and ZRock on the local affiliate front here, as well as the network..
Z Rock did not die when ABC took it over. It died when network sales could not sell markets on the concept, which included some great marketing inspired by a surprising old guy who was brilliant, Bill Dunnigan. The format had to move towards the mainstream to make it more palatable to marketing, hence the lite Zep and other classic material, as well as grunge and alt material. Lee was (and in all likleihood, still is) a very savvy programmer but to have the once incredibly metal format was watered down, it went the way of the dinosaur, losing it's 18-25 appeal. A few markets kept the torch burning, but without as much network programming or success. The market I currently work in was one that enjoyed a massive amount of success with Z Rock, but even it eventually bled out.
Of all my years in the business, I miss the KZEW days the most. Radio then was maverick and we all behaved in a randy cavalier fashion. Tom Owens brought renewed success to the station (he lives in Dallas again now and is very highly placed in the Clear Channel organization) but when he left, it started a very long and slow death. Sad that. I make lots more money now, but there are trade-offs. I certainly don't have as much fun every day.
Z Rock did not die when ABC took it over. It died when network sales could not sell markets on the concept, which included some great marketing inspired by a surprising old guy who was brilliant, Bill Dunnigan. The format had to move towards the mainstream to make it more palatable to marketing, hence the lite Zep and other classic material, as well as grunge and alt material. Lee was (and in all likleihood, still is) a very savvy programmer but to have the once incredibly metal format was watered down, it went the way of the dinosaur, losing it's 18-25 appeal. A few markets kept the torch burning, but without as much network programming or success. The market I currently work in was one that enjoyed a massive amount of success with Z Rock, but even it eventually bled out.
Of all my years in the business, I miss the KZEW days the most. Radio then was maverick and we all behaved in a randy cavalier fashion. Tom Owens brought renewed success to the station (he lives in Dallas again now and is very highly placed in the Clear Channel organization) but when he left, it started a very long and slow death. Sad that. I make lots more money now, but there are trade-offs. I certainly don't have as much fun every day.
I loved Z-Rock, and would still listen today if they were still here...as long as they didn't talk about t & a between every song.
C
crow
Guest
THE ZOO in Dallas? Damn. That was a long time ago for me. I remember moving to Arlington in 86 or 87 and it was around Christmas, because they were doing a 12 guitars of Christmas promotion, I had my clock set to them and then one morning... the clock went off and it was EASY LISTENING! At least... that's how I remember it. As for Z-ROCK. I never had much of an opportunity to listen to it for some reason. It was always that station that people would talk about, when I was a kid, and you wanted to hear it. But... for whatever reason... I simply never had the chance. It was one of those things where people were always "Man! Z-ROCK... RULED!" "Z-ROCK this... Z-ROCK that!" Luckily, there was THE EAGLE, KZPS & Q102 and they were actually great stations at the time.
December of 1989 was when The Zoo died. I was listening at the time and heard the format switch. The last song was Down Boys by Warrant. The song cutoff midway through, there was a few seconds of silence, station id "KZEW Dallas-Ft. Worth", then Christmas music. The Christmas music lasted into early January, when the new calls and format debuted, Light Rock KKWM "Warm 97.9."
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