What WRXP Should Sound Like

[DToTheJ]

Recently, yet another thread about WRXP shouldn't be has sprung up.

So I've taken the time to start one about what WRXP should be - inspired by hearing the playlist of a piped-in radio station at the nw health club that I joined - Planet Fitness Radio.

As I heard mot of the songs during the hour that I was there, I was wondering how such a playlist would stack up to WRXP's minus the Pink Floyd and Van Halen ballads.

Here's just a sample of the songs I heard:

A-Ha - Take On Me
Black Crowes - Remedy
Cake - Never There
The Cars - Let's Go
Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out
Sting - All This Time
Sting - If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free

And (probably because somebody had a feeling I was there )... Stray Cats - Rock This Town

(Don't misunderstand my previous gripe about the Stray Cats on WRXP in another thread: I don't mind that they play them; just don't play the same song within a 12-hour period.)

Of course, the Planet Fitness Radio playlist has its drawbacks: for one, I did hear two Sting songs within the hour; also, I heard Taylor Swift's "Fifteen," as well as a song from Bon Jovi that I did not recognize.

So... does everyone think the PD of Planet Fitness Radio can give Leslie Fram a run for her money?

 

[Dick Skinner]

So... does everyone think the PD of Planet Fitness Radio can give Leslie Fram a run for her money?

No.

 

[WBIMDJ]

I personally, as suggested before, say they should go for a more WFNX sound like here in Boston. Here's an hour sampling of their playlist from a random day this week at 5PM:


Nirvana - Lake Of Fire
5:00pm

Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch
5:03pm

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
5:08pm

Sublime - Doin' Time
5:15pm

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
5:19pm

Phoenix - Lisztomania
5:24pm

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
5:32pm

Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger
5:34pm

Metric - Gimme Sympathy
5:39pm

Weezer - Pork And Beans
5:43pm


The Beastie Boys - Sure Shot
5:47pm


Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
5:50pm


Broken Bells - The High Road
5:53pm


Notice no Van Halen, Aerosmith, or any other classic rock in between. Note a couple alternative rock staples from the past 20 years make an appearance (Nirvana, Oasis), along with some gold (The Ramones, Beastie Boys) along with some newer "indie" acts (Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Broken Bells, Mumford & Sons). To me this is what alternative radio should sound like! I think WRXP would do better going for that audience.

 

[Brooklyndon]

While I agree that WRXP should adapt.  I feel that WFNX in its current form does too much to draw in the ya-dude audience displaced when WBCN went away.  The stream that shall remain nameless was very well programmed until Fresh 102.7 decided to fire their morning team.  It would behoove Emmis to hire that former music director.  With that, I plan on critiquing the WFNX playlist, if for no other reason than the fact that Julie Kramer is old and should be doing the leftover lunch on WODS.

I personally, as suggested before, say they should go for a more WFNX sound like here in Boston. Here's an hour sampling of their playlist from a random day this week at 5PM:


Nirvana - Lake Of Fire Plateau would be better.
Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch Wicked overplayed - should have done some of the new MGMT
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition I don't know it. Insert 80's alt track here.
Sublime - Doin' Time Reminds me of summer of '98.  Which is a good thing, I think.
Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man This band sucks.  They are proof that payolla will get you on the radio. 
Phoenix - Lisztomania Dated now, but still a great song.
The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated Sheeny is a punk rocker
Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger Oasis.  Bah.  How about some Gorillaz? Or, if you are bent on 90's, Blur.  They won.
Metric - Gimme Sympathy I just don't like this band. 
Weezer - Pork And Beans I feel Weezer is just too big.  But I also realize you have to play areana rockers.  I'd lolve to see Weezer moved to the back burner and RHCP brough back to the forefront.
The Beastie Boys - Sure Shot Gold.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll Yeah man!
Broken Bells - The High Road I don't know it.  Play Kasabian instead.


Notice no Van Halen, Aerosmith, or any other classic rock in between. Note a couple alternative rock staples from the past 20 years make an appearance (Nirvana, Oasis), along with some gold (The Ramones, Beastie Boys) along with some newer "indie" acts (Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Broken Bells, Mumford & Sons). To me this is what alternative radio should sound like! I think WRXP would do better going for that audience.

Yeah I mean as far as no classic rock, sure WFNX doesn't play it.  But if you dig around I'm sure you'll find some Alice in Chains, Bush, Soundgarden, etc.  And when you open the playlist up to those bands, without the history of WFNX, then GnR becomes a logical extension, as does Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, as well as Creed, Nickleback, Shinedown, and all the other butt-rockers.  New rock is such a tough call, mostly because the alt audience is richer, but smaller, and the butt audience is relatively poorer, and somewhat bigger.  the other variable is that the butt audience members born after 1980 or so prefer rap and r&b to rock anyway so WRXP is low on the preset list for them.

 

[DToTheJ]

Broken Bells - The High Road I don't know it. Play Kasabian instead.

A few weeks ago, "The High Road" was the most "blipped" song on Blip.fm. Coincidence, perhaps.

 

[hubcity]

A few weeks ago, "The High Road" was the most "blipped" song on Blip.fm. Coincidence, perhaps.

Jeez, I thought you wrote "bleeped", and I thought "oh, man, I didn't notice any f-bombs! I'd better check the lyircs sheet..."

 

[Dick Skinner]

...WFNX sound like here in Boston. Here's an hour sampling of their playlist from a random day this week at 5PM:


Nirvana - Lake Of Fire
5:00pm

Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch
5:03pm

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
5:08pm

Sublime - Doin' Time
5:15pm

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
5:19pm

Phoenix - Lisztomania
5:24pm

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
5:32pm

Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger
5:34pm

Metric - Gimme Sympathy
5:39pm

Weezer - Pork And Beans
5:43pm


The Beastie Boys - Sure Shot
5:47pm


Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
5:50pm


Broken Bells - The High Road
5:53pm

Easy to see why they come in with that tidy 1.1 share.

 

[RockTheGlobe]

Easy to see why they come in with that tidy 1.1 share.

It could also have something to do with that scorching 1700-watt Class A transmitter they have going there...

 

[WBIMDJ]

Easy to see why they come in with that tidy 1.1 share.

Care to elaborate? Not enough Shinedown or Nickelback?

 

[WBIMDJ]

While I agree that WRXP should adapt. I feel that WFNX in its current form does too much to draw in the ya-dude audience displaced when WBCN went away. The stream that shall remain nameless was very well programmed until Fresh 102.7 decided to fire their morning team. It would behoove Emmis to hire that former music director. With that, I plan on critiquing the WFNX playlist, if for no other reason than the fact that Julie Kramer is old and should be doing the leftover lunch on WODS.

I personally, as suggested before, say they should go for a more WFNX sound like here in Boston. Here's an hour sampling of their playlist from a random day this week at 5PM:


Nirvana - Lake Of Fire Plateau would be better. Pretty wishy washy. Either song is not a hit. Your opinion, my opinion is Lake of Fire is better, Plateau is one of the weaker tracks on Unplugged.
Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch Wicked overplayed - should have done some of the new MGMT Agree here, I'd rather have heard "Substitution"
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition I don't know it. Insert 80's alt track here. That's a good thing right? They are playing more bands you probably haven't heard of. BTW, this band is great. Check them out
Sublime - Doin' Time Reminds me of summer of '98. Which is a good thing, I think. Fair enough. It's great this time of year of course.
Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man This band sucks. They are proof that payolla will get you on the radio. Again, your opinion. This song I don't hear on many other stations and it seems to get good feedback. I personally think they are ok.
Phoenix - Lisztomania Dated now, but still a great song. Phoenix's music is one of the reasons I still listen to alternative in 2010. They are awesome.
The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated Sheeny is a punk rocker Or even "Rock n Roll High School"
Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger Oasis. Bah. How about some Gorillaz? Or, if you are bent on 90's, Blur. They won. They play quite a bit of Gorillaz, their new single "Rhinestone Eyes" being one of them
Metric - Gimme Sympathy I just don't like this band. Lots of people would disagree.
Weezer - Pork And Beans I feel Weezer is just too big. But I also realize you have to play areana rockers. I'd lolve to see Weezer moved to the back burner and RHCP brough back to the forefront. I'd rather hear Weezer over RHCP any day.
The Beastie Boys - Sure Shot Gold. Can't go wrong with the Beasties!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll Yeah man! Karen O is awesome. That is all
Broken Bells - The High Road I don't know it. Play Kasabian instead. James Mercer from The Shins and DJ Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley)'s new project. Once again, check it out.

Yeah I mean as far as no classic rock, sure WFNX doesn't play it. But if you dig around I'm sure you'll find some Alice in Chains, Bush, Soundgarden, etc. And when you open the playlist up to those bands, without the history of WFNX, then GnR becomes a logical extension, as does Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, as well as Creed, Nickleback, Shinedown, and all the other butt-rockers. New rock is such a tough call, mostly because the alt audience is richer, but smaller, and the butt audience is relatively poorer, and somewhat bigger. the other variable is that the butt audience members born after 1980 or so prefer rap and r&b to rock anyway so WRXP is low on the preset list for them.

Nothing wrong with AIC or even Bush/Soundgarden in small doses, as they were on Alt radio quite a bit back in the mid 90's and would make ok gold picks. If you compare a station like 92.9 WBOS to WFNX, you'll find 10x more of these types of tracks on WBOS then on WFNX. I think if WRXP went that way mixed with the newer stuff it would work. I mean, they can't really get any worse then they already are!

P.S. With regard to Julie Kramer, yes she may be "old" but she also is a staple of the station that people recognize and tune into. Lots of FNX's listeners are like yourself have been listening for years and it shows when they tune into Julie. Another 10 years, I would say she's ODS material.

 

[mjb1124]

I think the best approach would be somewhere in between WFNX and WRFF/WBOS. A little more mainstream than the former, but with a deeper gold library than the latter, and with none of the Hot AC fare (The Fray) or teen pop-punk (Fall Out Boy) that they play.

 

[Brooklyndon]

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition I don't know it. Insert 80's alt track here. That's a good thing right? They are playing more bands you probably haven't heard of. BTW, this band is great. Check them out
Broken Bells - The High Road I don't know it. Play Kasabian instead. James Mercer from The Shins and DJ Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley)'s new project. Once again, check it out.

I checked out both tracks on youtube. The Temper Trap song is the real deal. The Broken Bell's track retreads the same ground broken on Beck's Mutations, not to say that the time hadn't come, I'd certainly rather hear it than Jack Johnson or some other "mellow artist."

Nothing wrong with AIC or even Bush/Soundgarden in small doses, as they were on Alt radio quite a bit back in the mid 90's and would make ok gold picks. If you compare a station like 92.9 WBOS to WFNX, you'll find 10x more of these types of tracks on WBOS then on WFNX. I think if WRXP went that way mixed with the newer stuff it would work. I mean, they can't really get any worse then they already are!

It's such a tough call. So lets say you were in high school when the whole Grunge thing happened from '92-'95. That now makes you thirty-three, almost out of the demo. I think WFNX has it right using the grunge sparingly. Down here, WXRK leaned on the grunge, and it got them nowhere. Were WRXP to lean on grunge, I have no reason to believe its outcome would be any different.

In New York, the programming issue involves the fact that 1/3 of the city arrived in this country after 1980 and has no history of listening to rock music so you need to put together some sort of coalition of disparite groups of listeners. Q104 has older executives and workers, which it maintains with an extremely tight playlist. K-Rock tried to lump together kids and younger workers, with grunge and butt-rock, without success. WRXP seems to be trying to lump together older executives and younger artists/freelancers with its whole "experience". Of all the three approaches, given that the uneducated audience likely doesn't even speak english and if it does probably listens to Urban music, I think that WRXP's strategy to focus only on educated audiences is the one most likely to support stable ratings.

WRXP's problem is their execution. They should be 50% new alternative (no butt rock), 25% '78-'93 alt, 25% pre-'69 3-chord rock (no-progrock, no-bluesrock). This approach, essentially a twist on the WCBS approach modified for rock instead of CHR, sucks in the boomers and x'ers with familiar tunes from their childhood, turns them on to a new, potentially cheaper product, and uses the new music to clearly differentiate WRXP from Q104. The unanswered question is whether you can get boomers, and even x'ers to like new music/new bands at their stage in life. Certainly WRXP has shown swtching from three chord to progressive to hard rock to acoustic causes tune out. My view is that if the overarching style is the same: three-chord rock, then tune out can be avoided.

 

[Hardrocker9]

I think the best approach would be somewhere in between WFNX and WRFF/WBOS

I agree but I would even take it a step further, make it like a new rock alternative type station with all the modern rock then about 50% 90's grunge/alternative then maybe a some hard active rock feel maybe say like 20% to 30%, then up the rotation in the evening hours. Maybe artists like Disturbed, chevelle, Sevendust, Godsmack ect. Just so the hard rock is heard on the NYC dial. Even once an hour is enough for some exposure. Then both sides of the rock spectrum get served. Just a thought

 

[Brooklyndon]

Just so the hard rock is heard on the NYC dial. Even once an hour is enough for some exposure.

Hard Rock has no place on NYC radio. The demographics don't support it. Haven't since the early 80s.

 

[DToTheJ]

... ironically enough, by a previous occupant on that frequency (WPIX-FM)...