Re: WROR/WZLX

["Sean Smyth" <ssmyth@suscom.net>]

Steve Ordinetz writes:
> There were a few attempts at an 80s format a couple years ago...imho
> it was way too focused on new wave/altrock with almost no pop artists
> (Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Culture Club, etc).  Maybe the world wasn't
> ready for the 80s yet?  Not sure why...I always considered the 80s to
> have been every bit as interesting musically as the 60s (and more so
> than the 70s).  When the Talking Heads are a core artist, you know
> you're in trouble.

Culture Club as pop? I would consider them a fusion of pop and new-wave. A
good deal of their work, IMHO, has a new-wave tinge to it.

The '80s station here in Harrisburg has a limited playlist. They will air
some Cyndi Lauper, a good deal of the new-wave stuff, but nothing from the
likes of Peter Gabriel, Huey Lewis, GNR, Genesis, U2, etc. All put out some
good music in the '80s (specifically, say, from '83 or '84-'88) but Z102-3
doesn't play them at all. The playlist is extremely tight and filled with
too much Cheap Trick, Robert Palmer, etc. ('Take on Me" and "Come on Eileen"
don't even get that much play, and I would consider those two of the bigger
'80s songs.) The weird thing is Z102 stretches into the early '90s with a
couple offerings, though (REM's "Losing My Religion" being the most
notable).

A good '80s station is WTPT (96.5 Philadelphia), they seamlessly weave a
bunch of stuff into their playlist. It can't be characterized as strictly as
new wave or pop or hair bands...they occasionally even sneak a late '70s
disco/funk tune in there. Unfortunately, they do not stream.