I always joked that Dave Robbins never had an original idea when it came to promotions, but I don't mean that in a negative way because I know him and he really is a great guy. He just happened to be in a position where he had the luxury of not having to come up with anything since he was able to leave that to the competition and then better it. What really amused me was when they had the fantastic CVD liners for everything and I wondered how they were able to get his voice on promos quite literally within an hour of a promotion being announced on one of the other stations. It turned out that CVD leased a satellite transponder, so all Dave and company had to do was send a fax to him, then a short time later he would send the material down the bird to them. As for CVD, I don't think there has ever been a better voice on the air anywhere! That golden voice of his was incredible even on his airchecks when he was 19!
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Worst format flips in Columbus radio history
- Thread starter alans613
- Start date
D
Dirty_Harry
Guest
CatFM said:
Charlie Van dyke is probably dos have the greatest voice, but I'm also a huge fan of Bryan James. I think he also has a great voice for radio imaging. The late Ernie Anderson, however, is my all time favorite. The creative way he used his voice to enunciate words (and the fact that he was such a character in real life) made him the greatest in my eyes. WNCI used an old Ernie Anderson top-of-the hour ID a couple of years ago .......... nobody else can say "W-N-C-Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye-Effffffffffffffffffffffffffffff-Emmmmmmmmmmm", "Channel SSSSSSSSevennnnnnnnnnnn. Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye-witness News" or "The Loooooooooooooooooooove Boat" the way Ernie could.
Here is a sample of an aircheck with Ernie Anderson:
http://home.att.net/~tomasheski3/new1989.wav
Who was the voice-over guy for 92-X back in those days. He used to do lots of voice-overs for CHR stations all over the country back in that era.
Here's an aircheck with the voice I'm talking about. This is from WHTZ New York ....... http://home.att.net/~tomasheski3/NEW10.wav
Yes, Ernie Anderson was a classic! Gary Gears also did some fantastic sounding liners for stations around the country in his WLS days. His voice was just made for that kind of work.
Remember John Bartholomew Tucker? Among others, he did Smuckers spots. I saw a piece on him, possibly on 60 Minutes years ago, and he was always so amazed that people were willing to pay him so much to sit in a little room and speak into a microphone.
Getting back to the worst format format flips to stay on subject, can anyone ever forget "Lady Radio" WLRO on 107.1? Gee, how long did that last...six months?
Remember John Bartholomew Tucker? Among others, he did Smuckers spots. I saw a piece on him, possibly on 60 Minutes years ago, and he was always so amazed that people were willing to pay him so much to sit in a little room and speak into a microphone.
Getting back to the worst format format flips to stay on subject, can anyone ever forget "Lady Radio" WLRO on 107.1? Gee, how long did that last...six months?
I have a 35 second sound clip from "92X todays best rock" era if anyone wants it. Email me at [email protected] and I'll send it to you. I don't think you can post files here.
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wrmzfm100
Guest
I still think that NABCO messed up bigtime when they dumped Country on then WRMZ and went Oldies (WMGG.) At the time they were the easily the number one Country signal in town and chances are, no one would of gone up against them. They had the obvious signal advantage over HOK and it sure would of paid off when the big Country boom started a few years later.
W
wrmzfm100
Guest
I think the Mnich kids just didn't think Country was cool. Never mind the millions in revenue you were guaranteed being the Country ratings leader in a market like Columbus. They just wanted to own a rock station. Plus, they were probably trying to protect what was left of WMNI. So they've been fighting head to head with QFM for all these years, when they could of been like HKO in Dayton...just sitting on top, rakin in the cash.
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Radioboy989
Guest
Do you remember the summer of KO-16? That was a hot station, simulcasting WVKO on am and fm...Parliment, Shalamar, Confunction, Ashford and Simpson, some Hall and Oates thrown in for the blue-eye effect...they were jammin! Then, one eventful morning, I awoke to my clock radio playing Here Comes The Sun and "Chuck Martin in the air chair". Sunny was born and the Double Dutch Bus came to a screeching halt.
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Dirty_Harry
Guest
Nu_Roo_2 said:
20 years ago, country music was the domain of toothless rednecks who lived in double-wides. Not exactly the most affluent demographic. Today, country has become mainstream largely because the mainstream rock offerings have shriveled up.
And...country has gotten hipper.
When Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson and the like came into vogue in the early 90's, a younger audience began to listen. Many of the 90's/00's era artists have learned marketing. That's why a lot of today's country shows look a lot like rock shows. The artists learned you can play "Friends In Low Places",
and "Sweet Home Alabama" in the same show, and not insult the audience...a big difference from country in the 80's when I was told the group Alabama would be "the death of country music", because "they're a rock group!"
Some of the best songwriters in the music business are in Nashville...many others moved to Nashville, as the pop/rock market abandoned songs with lyrics for songs with beats. Not long ago, a major recording publication listed the Top Ten things the music business could do to improve sales. One of those ten was
"to immediately hold an American Idol-style competition for songwriters". The magazine suggested the
industry had been almost taken over by the "beat" crowd...that a good song with great lyrics could not get
recorded...or played in the Pop field.
Today's typical country listener could be a trailer park dweller...or a mansion-owning CEO. That's the difference.
When Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson and the like came into vogue in the early 90's, a younger audience began to listen. Many of the 90's/00's era artists have learned marketing. That's why a lot of today's country shows look a lot like rock shows. The artists learned you can play "Friends In Low Places",
and "Sweet Home Alabama" in the same show, and not insult the audience...a big difference from country in the 80's when I was told the group Alabama would be "the death of country music", because "they're a rock group!"
Some of the best songwriters in the music business are in Nashville...many others moved to Nashville, as the pop/rock market abandoned songs with lyrics for songs with beats. Not long ago, a major recording publication listed the Top Ten things the music business could do to improve sales. One of those ten was
"to immediately hold an American Idol-style competition for songwriters". The magazine suggested the
industry had been almost taken over by the "beat" crowd...that a good song with great lyrics could not get
recorded...or played in the Pop field.
Today's typical country listener could be a trailer park dweller...or a mansion-owning CEO. That's the difference.
i totally agree. country music is totally different than it was just 10 years ago! who would had EVER thought you could hear Keith Urban or Rascall Flatts on WNCI?? or Faith Hill or Shania on WSNY? if you told me this would happen in 2007, I would have NEVER believed it...but you would have been CORRECT!
the fact is that there are MANY new avenues for the way music is delivered/listened to. also is the fact that country music itself has changed. btw, i STILL say that the Garth Brooks concert at Cooper Stadium (where he played 5 nights in a row) was the BEST one I've ever attended. i worked at K95 at the time and it was a WHOK/WCOL battle from the start, which made it even more fun.
country music is now more mainstream. it's merged into light rock and that means a wider audience...and that equals more listeners, which equals more MONEY.
regarding 92X...after reading all of your great posts, I started thinking about music itself. do you think perhaps one of the reasons we miss 92X, Z93, Star 107.9, Hot 105.7, etc. is because they played GREAT 80's music?? maybe that's why we're quick to defend stations like these.. because they had the BEST format!
the fact is that there are MANY new avenues for the way music is delivered/listened to. also is the fact that country music itself has changed. btw, i STILL say that the Garth Brooks concert at Cooper Stadium (where he played 5 nights in a row) was the BEST one I've ever attended. i worked at K95 at the time and it was a WHOK/WCOL battle from the start, which made it even more fun.
country music is now more mainstream. it's merged into light rock and that means a wider audience...and that equals more listeners, which equals more MONEY.
regarding 92X...after reading all of your great posts, I started thinking about music itself. do you think perhaps one of the reasons we miss 92X, Z93, Star 107.9, Hot 105.7, etc. is because they played GREAT 80's music?? maybe that's why we're quick to defend stations like these.. because they had the BEST format!
And, of course, stations like WNCI and WSNY plays those songs because:
A.) It may help keep people from switching to the country stations to hear them. And...
B.) It's more and more difficult to find "adult/pop" songs that can work.
As I said in my previous post, New York, and Hollywood have forgotten how to make "Pop" music. Every now and then, a good song comes along...but today, sadly, they are few and far between.
A.) It may help keep people from switching to the country stations to hear them. And...
B.) It's more and more difficult to find "adult/pop" songs that can work.
As I said in my previous post, New York, and Hollywood have forgotten how to make "Pop" music. Every now and then, a good song comes along...but today, sadly, they are few and far between.
D
Dirty_Harry
Guest
jtmichaels said:
Part of the issue absolutely is the music. The 80's was kind of a golden age for rock/pop; that sound would be hard to duplicate right now. But, in today's world my tastes would be satisfied with kind a dance-ish/rock/pop/CHR, pruning out the annoying alternative and black music. Kind of a high-energy mix of music. But I also miss the Billy Idol's, Bon Jovi's and Bryan Adams' of the music scene ..... along with the Asia's, the Motels and the other types of acts that gave stations that "sound".
I also think it's the stations themselves. When I was younger, there were a handful of stations I remember listening to in other cities that really hit my sweet spot musically. Of course, they were 92-X and Z-93 ..... but also Q-102 in Cincinnati and the Power Pig in Tampa ... and Z-95 in Chicago and even WHOT in Youngstown I remember as some of my favorites. You could tell the difference right away whenever you went to places like Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, and Indy which didn't have stations as good (at least according to my ears).
Q-102 started its downfall in the late 1980's, and now go to Tampa and listen to the Power Pig ...... it's pretty much the same thing these days as WNCI. Pathetic.
The final thing I remember is the personality. I know it was just a bunch of listeners calling in and cheesy contests, but for some reason the stations felt alive! The entertainment factor is definately missing today.
On a final note, I like the Drudge Report article about the CC station in Dallas going to "no commercials" ..... I love the brilliant suits that took that station from No. 7 in the market to No. 17 ......... in Tampa, they did the same thing. They took the heritage Top-40, Q-105 and Jacor destroyed it with the Power Pig. Of course the Power Pig is now a WNCI clone ..........
Clear Channel isn't "all that" .......... These guys are ripe for someone to come in and take them down.
J
JimFP2003
Guest
Catawba Scott said:
Yup. Horrible day in Columbus. WCOL-FM at its prime was a tremendous station. The closest to free-form rock radio that the city had never heard. Some great jocks and sounds. For example, Leon Russell's "Concert for Bangladesh" songs followed by Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" (this was 1977).
But QFM came in with its AOR format and took over - literally. And the Q wasn't THAT bad, but it sure was more commercial.
On the last night, Rick West put on Little Feat's "Waiting for Columbus" to segue into the format change.
R
ripwfjx
Guest
I think recently changing WEGE-FM from The Eagle to TED was bad; changing it to FM talk was even worse. I also think changing WFJX from The Fox classic rock to WBWR 80s was terrible; WEGE and WFJX were both great stations; I believe they went out within a year of each other. I know WFJX flipped September 19, 2005. I have not listened to 105.7 since.
T
TheVibe
Guest
I might be in the minority but when Hot 105/107 flipped to Kiss, I was devastated. That to me and still to this day was the best radio station I have ever had the privilege to listen to.
TheVibe said:
That was a fun station to listen too! I miss Hot 105/107 too! I know many will complain for saying this but that is what I think WNCI should be!
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