Re: even more format changes...

[Norm Rosen <inorm99@earthlink.net>]

SteveOrdinetz wrote:

> I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but they definitely have become more
> current-intensive.  They sound pretty mainstream to me (definitely compared
> to WKSS, which I would call more rhythmic)...maybe the rhythmic stuff is
> more noticeable because they never played any of it before.  What a
> difference a new PD makes!
>
> >I'My one complaint of 80s formats is that (from sample hours I've seen
> posted..never actually heard one) they seem to lean Alternative.  Granted,
> that genre was hip and new then, but there was so much other good music
> around--especially '82-'86.  I hope this format doesn't become as narrow as
> the unlamented 70s format did.

Despite what one feels about the  80's alternative scene,

It is, and was a wonderful format.

It was the most innovative, and interesting, and daring

since FM Progressive rock was formed in the mid-60's by Tom Donahue, B.
Mitchell Reed and

then others.

It caught on quickly in larger markets, and more slowly in medium and smaller
markets.

It began with the Punk scene in Britain, and America simultaneously, and added
new life to

a horribly polluted corporate rock  format in America.    ie:  Styx, Kansas,
Kiss etc.

Around 1979, with Rick Carroll's " Rock of the 80's  consultancy, many AOR
stations that

had up until then played only Kansas, Styx, and Kiss, and Lynyrd Skynyrd in
heavy rotation,

added Devo, The Pistols, The Ramones, Police, and XTC, etc.

This format flourished in different Permutations throughout the 80' and mid-
nineties,

now suddenly, the still hip, youngest boomers ( Myself), and MTV generation
has nothing to

listen to,

because the alternative stations are now saturated  with hip hop and metal
music,

and have dropped the punk, pop, and electronica for the most part.

I say, 80's alternative is a great format, and will make a more lasting
impression than

a compromise that insists on playing Madonna, Air Supply, Poison, Great White
with The

Police.

You may disagree, but if you want to add simple numbers to your argument,

an 80's oldies hit oldies format will die faster because soon you will have to
share it

with the hit oldies, classic rock, and any station that uses " the best of the
80's and 90's"

in their slogans



Norm