Re: WODS jingles, songs-in-a-row

[Eli Polonsky <elipolo@earthlink.net>]

on 1/5/02 3:15 PM, boston-radio-interest-digest at
> Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 00:19:14 -0800 (PST)
> From: "Bob Nelson...WMWM" <bobonradio@yahoo.com>
> Subject: WODS jingles, songs-in-a-row
>
> The music mix sounds the same, for now. I was going
> back and forth between 'ROR and 'ODS and found that
> most of the songs they were playing were probably
> on each other's playlists, with some exceptions
> ('ODS was playing Dion's "Teenager in Love", which
> I don't think 'ROR would play). They seem to be going
> for "Beatles to mid-Seventies" time wise, though
> 'ROR also has some late 70s in the mix, and 'ODS
> has some early 60s in the mix. (WODS and WROR tend
> to ignore disco/ 70s bubblegum, though both do show
> up on Oldies 103's "Lost 45s").
> 
> So, does it seem like WROR and WODS are trying
> to woo each other's listeners?

The big difference is that WROR plays absolutely no black artists except for
an occasional rock crossover such as Sly & The Family Stone or a Jimi
Hendrix hit once in a blue moon. This is generally true of Classic Rock
(rather than Oldies) formatted stations.

WODS plays the biggest Motown hits often and hits of other major black
artists such as Aretha Franklin. The new regime at WODS has been working in
some major mainstream disco hits in lately as well, the Bee Gees "Stayin'
Alive" has been frequent the past few weeks, and I've heard "Rock Your Baby"
by George McCrae and "Love Train" by the O'Jays recently. Only a few major
pre-1963 enduring warhorses remain, such as "La Bamba", "Teenager In Love",
and the only early Elvis song left seems to be "Don't Be Cruel". I wouldn't
be surprised if those disappear soon.

It sounds to me like WROR has tried to niche themselves somewhere between
WODS and WZLX, by playing the big rock (only) hits of the late 60's through
the 70's "without the heavy metal" (trying for WZLX listeners who may not
want to hear Van Halen, etc...), and the pop-rock hits that WODS plays
without the R&B. As someone else on this list once called it, "Classic Rock
Lite". 

WODS has appeared to be concerned with competing with WROR and WMJX (Greater
Media's only station that plays lots of Motown and 70's soft-rock) for quite
a while now. 

I still think the time may be coming once again for niche formatted
50's/early to mid 60's rock oldies stations to appear in some markets. There
is now no one in commercial radio in Boston proper playing Chuck Berry,
Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, 50's Elvis, etc... this music is
too uptempo to appear on "Adult Standards" stations. It wouldn't be a
ratings topper, but with the major FM Oldies stations no longer competing in
this era, perhaps it could keep some failing AM stations afloat is some
areas. 
  
> From: "Chuck Igo" <Chuckigo@worldnet.att.net>
> Subject: RE: WODS jingles, songs-in-a-row
> 
> When Oldies formats first hit the air back in the late 80's (format as we
> know it currently: 54-74), and i went to work for the one in Portland in 89,
> the concept was to play nothing "newer" than 15 years old.

I recall oldies formats first hitting the commercial air in the early 70's
with the "American Graffiti/Happy Days" 50's nostalgia era, the first in
Boston being the original 98.5 WROR circa 1973 with a great DJ lineup. It
began as all pre-Beatles/pre-Motown 1954 through 1963, and added the early
to mid 60's before becoming a gold-heavy AC and eventually flipping to WBMX.

WCOP-FM 100.7 then made a brief ill-fated mid-70's attempt to get a piece of
the pie with automated pre-'63 oldies before flipping to country/rock WTTK
and eventually, after many various ownership and format changes, WZLX.

Oldies were also briefly tried in the mid-70's on WCAS 740 AM before their
folkie days, also there was an oldies format on the old WEZE 1260 AM for a
while in the mid-to-late 70's, and I think oldies was the last "format" on
1550 AM WNTN in the early 80's before going mostly brokered ethnic.