CBS RADIO WOMC (OLDIES 104.3)/DETROIT has chnaged its name to "MOTOR CITY’S 104.3 WOMC." Despite the name change, WOMC will not be tweaking the format. The station will continue to play music of the 1960s and 1970s. "We are proud of our heritage in the MOTOR CITY and ‘Oldies’ seems too limiting for what WOMC is overall," says WOMC PD STEVE ALLAN. Commented VP/GM KEVIN MURPHY, "This is a natural progression for an ‘Oldies’ station. Along with our new logo, our new positioning statement is ‘Dick Purtan Mornings and The Hits You Loved Growing Up.’"Dropping "oldies", ok. New logo. Ok. But that positioner...very awkward to say.
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WOMC Gets A Name Change
- Thread starter VODood
- Start date
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OldiesCat1
Guest
WOMC
agreed- very clunky.
agreed- very clunky.
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fred flintstone
Guest
They will be tweaking the format - moving the playlist ahead in time.CBS Radio wants to avoid the flack they got in other markets when dropped "Oldies" for "Variety" (i.e., not-so-Oldies). Look for a different format designation in Arbitron ratings; something that re-positions the station for media buyers (who don't like to buy Oldies because it appeals to Old people).And like most group-owned stations, the station has a standardized sound - stripped of any local flavor - that could be anywhere. So they have to localize the positioners to convince people this is really a local station.It was wonderful when Detroit had radio stations that sounded uniquely Detroit and couldn't be anywhere else. Top 40 JBK, Wixie and Keener and some of the most distinctive personalities ever. (God bless Mickey Shorr.) The Great Voice of the Great Lakes with JP, booth announcers, a live band, an hour of classical music, a daily documentary, a daily talk show, MOR music, tons of sports and play by play - a real hodge podge and somehow they made it work. The stodgy but endearing Duh-Troy-ette Neu-ez station, Double-You, Double-You, Jay. Detroit radio is deader than downtown. They moved the stations to downtown Hudsons before they blew it up.
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fred flintstone
Guest
Maybe they used it, too. But in Detroit it was 1270 WXYZ.In the early 50's, channel 7 adopted the radio nickname for a morning quiz show with Marv Welch called Wixie Wonderland.Late 50's WXYZFred WolfPaul WinterJohnny SlagleEd MacKenzieMickey ShorrJack SorrelEarly 60's WXYZFred WolfDave PrinceJoel SebastianLee Allen
Not that it may actually happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if CBS is setting them for a possible flip to Jack. I'm basing this off of what CBS did with WJMK in Chicago last year. They stopped using the Oldies 104.3 name and started calling itself 104.3 WJMK. A few months later, it became Jack.
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OldiesCat1
Guest
Change
other than the fact they're both owned by CBS, what they did in Chicago has nothing to do with their Detroit station. WOMC has always been a much stronger, better positioned station in Motown than WJMK ever was in Chicago.And, yes, WDRQ is already here.
other than the fact they're both owned by CBS, what they did in Chicago has nothing to do with their Detroit station. WOMC has always been a much stronger, better positioned station in Motown than WJMK ever was in Chicago.And, yes, WDRQ is already here.
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MarvinMiles
Guest
Noticed that awkward slogan came from the GM. Oh Puuuulease not another GM that knows programming :'(
I agree with Fred about Detroit radio being able to be anywhere...with one big exception...Dick Purtan.I didn't grow up around Detroit, but I was hooked when I first heard CKLW and its incredible mix of Detroit R&B, Detroit rock and (after 1970), Canadian content. The Big 8 sounded bigger than anything in NYC to this kid growing up in NJ and Connecticut.Why wouldn't someone tap into that heritage today? I would be loyal forever to a station that would occasionally, between the hits, play stuff like The Fabulous Counts, Detroit Emeralds, early Alice Cooper, Mitch Ryder/Detroit, Funkadelic/Parliaments, and, yeah, even an occasional Guess Who album cut or Five Man Electrical Band or Fludd, etc. from north of the border. Now THAT would sound like The Motor City to me.
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OldiesCat1
Guest
CKLW
no doubgt CKLW was THE top 40 station, period (local bias accepted, of course).However, having a "bringing back that sound" is fantasy. We're almost 40 years later and while the music remains near and dear to our hearts (even some of the Can Con was cool), that was then and this is now. It NEVER works when you try to re-create the past for use in the present. I have a great collection of Big 8 airchecks and visit www.reelradio.com to hear more- but the style and lauguage that worked so well back in the day was for when we were teenagers and young adults. We're all past that and that style would be nostalgic for a minute or a day or two but not for everyday, regular use. Sorry.
no doubgt CKLW was THE top 40 station, period (local bias accepted, of course).However, having a "bringing back that sound" is fantasy. We're almost 40 years later and while the music remains near and dear to our hearts (even some of the Can Con was cool), that was then and this is now. It NEVER works when you try to re-create the past for use in the present. I have a great collection of Big 8 airchecks and visit www.reelradio.com to hear more- but the style and lauguage that worked so well back in the day was for when we were teenagers and young adults. We're all past that and that style would be nostalgic for a minute or a day or two but not for everyday, regular use. Sorry.
We wouldn't miss it if it never went away! The 8 was my favorite back in the day, but if they had never stopped doing what they were doing in 1968, they'd be bankrupt. The past is a nice place to visit, not live. I'm trying to imagine just how appealing a WLS revival would be with 53-year-olds calling in "boogie checks".
I agree that you can't go back, however...if today's WOMC dropped in a song from that heritage on occasion, the "oh wow" s would be heard for miles.
I've always believed in the "Oh, wow!" philosophy, too, and Detroit would be the perfect place to do it. There were so many records by local artists that were huge in the Motor City but not as large or mere blips elsewhere. Skim the cream from that crop, add some other "spice" that wasn't quite Top 5/Top 10 but got heavy national and local airplay, air one, say, every two hours and it should do more good than harm. Playing those songs when they were Number 15 (or better) didn't hurt you years ago when they were currents, so why would they harm you now?Sure, there were songs that were "of the moment," but you avoid them because nobody wants to hear them, anyway.On the subject of Dick Purtan, we're far enough away that we don't get to hear WOMC, but I can't imagine Dick being anything *but* local. Well-deserving of his recent honors, too.
OldiesCat1 mentioned Uncle Ricky's reelradio.com. If you're not familiar with it, Dale Patterson's Rock Radio Scrapbook has a page dedicated to Big 8 airshots:http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/bigeight.htmlThere are a few other CKLW airchecks to be found under "ROCK RADIO HISTORY... IN SOUND" to the left as you scroll down on the home page at http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/ and the infamous Chuck McKay 1975 self-destruction tape under the "Recent Airchecks Of The Week" heading.
Re: CKLW
Agreed. In the early 90's, CKLW-FM tried to recapture the good old days with an Oldies format and rebilling themselves as "The Legend", complete with the music, the jingles and everything else that made the AM the powerhouse it was in its halcyon days. If the market was more conservative, it would have fared better. As the Motor City, Detroit has always been a 'forward momentum' kind of market. It had to evolve.
OldiesCat1 said:no doubgt CKLW was THE top 40 station, period (local bias accepted, of course).However, having a "bringing back that sound" is fantasy. We're almost 40 years later and while the music remains near and dear to our hearts (even some of the Can Con was cool), that was then and this is now. It NEVER works when you try to re-create the past for use in the present. I have a great collection of Big 8 airchecks and visit www.reelradio.com to hear more- but the style and lauguage that worked so well back in the day was for when we were teenagers and young adults. We're all past that and that style would be nostalgic for a minute or a day or two but not for everyday, regular use. Sorry.
Agreed. In the early 90's, CKLW-FM tried to recapture the good old days with an Oldies format and rebilling themselves as "The Legend", complete with the music, the jingles and everything else that made the AM the powerhouse it was in its halcyon days. If the market was more conservative, it would have fared better. As the Motor City, Detroit has always been a 'forward momentum' kind of market. It had to evolve.
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fred flintstone
Guest
Re: CKLW
CKLW-FM was still subject to Canadian content regulations, so they never would have been able to come close to the 60s era playlists. Magic happens sometimes and then it's gone. It almost never can be recreated.
I grew up in Detroit. Went to school outside Philadelphia. Listened to New York, Baltimore-Washington and Harrisburg-York radio (plus radio from all over at night). Detroit's four Top 40 stations were magic. Other markets had competent jocks, played the same music (although Detroit was two to four weeks ahead of other markets - even before Rosalie), had jingles from the same companies, hired the same consultants, and sometimes even had the same owners. But something came together in Detroit Top 40 radio (all four stations) that I never heard elsewhere, and it went beyond formula, beyond production skills and beyond announcing ability. By the end of the 60s, I was in radio and had lived and worked in other markets including Flint, Lansing and Denver. Everywhere people had a special attachment to their local top 40 station. But the only other market I've come across where radio had that same lightning-in-a-bottle, this-couldn't-be-happening-anywhere-else quality was Chicago (and Top 40 got a late start there). Philly radio was dull and plodding. New York radio was corporate (former Wixie people ran WABC but when they got to New York they had to work with the bosses right upstairs and maybe that killed things). Denver radio had its moments but never quite got there. Detroit Top 40 radio was unique and unpredictable - every day.
kenhawk1160 said:Agreed. In the early 90's, CKLW-FM tried to recapture the good old days with an Oldies format and rebilling themselves as "The Legend", complete with the music, the jingles and everything else that made the AM the powerhouse it was in its halcyon days. If the market was more conservative, it would have fared better. As the Motor City, Detroit has always been a 'forward momentum' kind of market. It had to evolve.
CKLW-FM was still subject to Canadian content regulations, so they never would have been able to come close to the 60s era playlists. Magic happens sometimes and then it's gone. It almost never can be recreated.
I grew up in Detroit. Went to school outside Philadelphia. Listened to New York, Baltimore-Washington and Harrisburg-York radio (plus radio from all over at night). Detroit's four Top 40 stations were magic. Other markets had competent jocks, played the same music (although Detroit was two to four weeks ahead of other markets - even before Rosalie), had jingles from the same companies, hired the same consultants, and sometimes even had the same owners. But something came together in Detroit Top 40 radio (all four stations) that I never heard elsewhere, and it went beyond formula, beyond production skills and beyond announcing ability. By the end of the 60s, I was in radio and had lived and worked in other markets including Flint, Lansing and Denver. Everywhere people had a special attachment to their local top 40 station. But the only other market I've come across where radio had that same lightning-in-a-bottle, this-couldn't-be-happening-anywhere-else quality was Chicago (and Top 40 got a late start there). Philly radio was dull and plodding. New York radio was corporate (former Wixie people ran WABC but when they got to New York they had to work with the bosses right upstairs and maybe that killed things). Denver radio had its moments but never quite got there. Detroit Top 40 radio was unique and unpredictable - every day.
Re: CKLW
Agreed on the Can Con rule...there's only so many Canadians that had hit records in those days. You can burn out Joni Mitchell, Terry Jacks, The Guess Who, and the Stampeders mighty quick. I'm a native "East Sider" myself, Fred (born in Madison Heights, lived in Warren and Mount Clemens), and it was kind of hard to describe the makeup of the market that always made Detroit radio what it was. I think it's one of the few markets left that's still personality-driven to some degree...even outside of AM drive.
fred flintstone said:CKLW-FM was still subject to Canadian content regulations, so they never would have been able to come close to the 60s era playlists. Magic happens sometimes and then it's gone. It almost never can be recreated.
I grew up in Detroit. Detroit's four Top 40 stations were magic. Other markets had competent jocks, played the same music (although Detroit was two to four weeks ahead of other markets - even before Rosalie), had jingles from the same companies, hired the same consultants, and sometimes even had the same owners. But something came together in Detroit Top 40 radio (all four stations) that I never heard elsewhere, and it went beyond formula, beyond production skills and beyond announcing ability. Detroit Top 40 radio was unique and unpredictable - every day.
Agreed on the Can Con rule...there's only so many Canadians that had hit records in those days. You can burn out Joni Mitchell, Terry Jacks, The Guess Who, and the Stampeders mighty quick. I'm a native "East Sider" myself, Fred (born in Madison Heights, lived in Warren and Mount Clemens), and it was kind of hard to describe the makeup of the market that always made Detroit radio what it was. I think it's one of the few markets left that's still personality-driven to some degree...even outside of AM drive.
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fred flintstone
Guest
CK and Keener were great stations in their day, so was JBK and KMH had its moments, too. But my favorite was always WXYZ. I liked Wixie II - post payola scandal (Lee Allen, Dave Prince, Joel Sebastian) but I really loved Wixie I (Fred Wolf, Paul Winter, Johnny Slagel, Ed MacKenzie, Mickey Shorr, Jack Surrel - especially Mickey Shorr. Mickey Shorr was probably the best nighttime Top 40 jock that ever lived, and his run was all too short.
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