Why is Sunny afraid to mention the 90's?

[eGillCVI]

Sunny continues to position itself as a "60's, 70's, and 80's" station while playing songs that were released in the 90's. What's so scary about the 90's?

Today, I heard a promo in which the announcer proclaimed the station's proclivity for the 60's [sound clip: "Twist & Shout" by the Beatles], 70's [sound clip: "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston], and 80's [sound clip: "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" by Bryan Adams]. That's particularly ballsy considering the Bryan Adams song was a hit in the summer of 1991.

They also play Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You" from 1992...when they could certainly get away with playing Dolly Parton's original version from the mid 70's.

Perhaps the most interesting choice is Gloria Estefan's "Everlasting Love" cover--which I believe is from 1995! The 1974 Carl Carlton original, by the way, would fit their playlist perfectly.

What's with the stigma attached to 90's music? Considering how the absolute crap released during the 80's has come into retro-popularity, I can't imagine what folks have against music from the 90's.

 

[OldNumber7]

> What's so scary about the 90's?

There is nothing "scary" about the 90s, but Sunny doesn't hype 90s music for one simple reason: Math. The P-1 Sunny listeners are 35-54; the oldest were high school freshman in 1965 and the youngest were high school seniors in 1988. In other words, the music of the formative years for these folks was from the 60s, 70s and 80s. That doesn't mean a few killer songs from the early 90s won't fit the format, but it does mean that they are not the focus of the format. OTOH, I suspect that will change in a few years as the station welcomes the new 35 year-olds and says goodbye to people who age past 54.

P.S. By the way, Carl Carlton's '74 version of Everlasting Love was NOT the original. It was a cover of Robert Knight's late 60's hit. It was covered in the 80s, too, by Rex Smith (with Rachel Sweet). It seems we're overdue for another cover!

 

[eGillCVI]

> P.S. By the way, Carl Carlton's '74 version of Everlasting
> Love was NOT the original. It was a cover of Robert Knight's
> late 60's hit. It was covered in the 80s, too, by Rex Smith
> (with Rachel Sweet). It seems we're overdue for another
> cover!

Too bad Britney's not making music anymore. Ha ha.

As for the other stuff...I guess I understand why they won't mention 90's but doesn't it seem odd to use a 90's song in a promo and refer to it as an 80's song? Why not just use one of the other 74 billion songs that actually were were released in the 80's? And "Everlasting Love" by Gloria Estefan was so far into the 90's (only ten years ago), I can't believe they play it at all!

(BTW, you're like an encyclopedia where that song is concerned!)

 

[OldNumber7]

> As for the other stuff...I guess I understand why they won't
> mention 90's but doesn't it seem odd to use a 90's song in a
> promo and refer to it as an 80's song? Why not just use one
> of the other 74 billion songs that actually were were
> released in the 80's? And "Everlasting Love" by Gloria
> Estefan was so far into the 90's (only ten years ago), I
> can't believe they play it at all!

Everything you hear on the radio is usually done for a reason. I suppose it's possible someone screwed up by picking a 90s song to represent the 80s in the promo, but I think it was probably deliberate. Most people aren't going to notice the "error" and it reinforces a subtle message to folks on the younger end of the demo that the station plays THEIR music in the middle of this sea of fossils from the 60s and 70s.

 

[westlife]

> Everything you hear on the radio is usually done for a
> reason. I suppose it's possible someone screwed up by
> picking a 90s song to represent the 80s in the promo, but I
> think it was probably deliberate. Most people aren't going
> to notice the "error" and it reinforces a subtle message to
> folks on the younger end of the demo that the station plays
> THEIR music in the middle of this sea of fossils from the
> 60s and 70s.

A 46-year-old female coworker of mine recently referred to "Macarena" as an "'80s" song. The popular English remix of it was released in 1995 and became a #1 hit in 1996. Even the original Spanish version wasn't recorded until '93 or '94, IIRC.

Some songs do sound "out of their time": for example, I was shocked to learn that "Come On Eileen" is an '80s song and "It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over" (Lenny Kravitz) is a '90s song, because both sound exactly like they came out of the early to mid '70s. And many people would probably refer to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" as a '60s song, but it was actually released in 1980! Not to mention Phil Collins' latest AC hit, "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away", which was released for radio airplay 22 years after it was recorded!
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[DStroyerNEPA]

> I suppose it's possible someone screwed up by picking a 90s song to represent
> the 80s in the promo, but I think it was probably deliberate.

I think most of Bryan Adams' big hits were in the 80's, so he might just be considered "an 80's artist", no matter when he had other hits.

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