merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) (12/09/84)
> A question on the side: With as many people as there are around here, > why are all the radio stations so much the same? > -Warren Moe > houxf!wrmoe Well, now that I am working down in New York (it's a loooong story) I was wondering about that, too. Also, most of the Top 40 outlets are so far behind that it is rediculous! Now, I don't dislike Top 40, but I can see why people down here do: Every Top 40 station in the area is basically a Top 10 station that plays the same stuff over and over again! They never even come CLOSE to the lower lower end of the 40. Argh! However, the question arises: Why do all the radio stations sound the same? Because most people in New York prefer Top 40 music. Tah dah. Two stations that sound exactly the same to me are WAPP and WPLJ. I haven't seen arbitrons for ages, but I would assume these two are battling it out. There's also Z-100, which I just find to be obnoxious. "The Morning Zoo" likes to scream and yell and carry on. I hate people yelling at me in the morning. But enough of this random prattle. If you don't like the music in New York, there are three stations that I have found to be very good: WLIR -- A "new wave" station. Kind of fun to listen to, if you are really into listening to the music on your radio. WNEW -- Standard AOR...a little metallic. "Two For Tuesday"s and such liven things up. WYNY -- A very nice AC station. Not all "love songs" but very mellow. I was exceedingly happy to find they played "Left in the Dark" by Barbara Streisand and written by my favourite, Jim Steinman. Too bad the song is bad. Other then that, you have the standard KISS station for a more "Urban Contemporary" sound. -- "I just need some love Peter Merchant so turn out the lights and I'll be left in the dark again."
gregbo@houxm.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (12/15/84)
> From: merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) >> A question on the side: With as many people as there are around here, >> why are all the radio stations so much the same? >> -Warren Moe >> houxf!wrmoe Simple. They are all competing for the same audience -- 18-35. > Well, now that I am working down in New York (it's a loooong story) > I was wondering about that, too. Also, most of the Top 40 outlets > are so far behind that it is rediculous! Now, I don't dislike Top 40, > but I can see why people down here do: Every Top 40 station in the > area is basically a Top 10 station that plays the same stuff over > and over again! They never even come CLOSE to the lower lower end of > the 40. Argh! This is a sad fact of New York radio. It has been like this ever since I can remember -- even back in the glory days of WABC. A New York Times article of a few years back criticized WABC of really being a Top 18 station which filled the rest of their airtime with music which had been out for more than three months. Judging from WHTZ (Z-100's) hit lists, I tend to agree, since out of their top 30 at least 10 have either fallen off the real top 40 or are about to. > Two stations that sound exactly the same to me are WAPP and WPLJ. > I haven't seen arbitrons for ages, but I would assume these two > are battling it out. There's also Z-100, which I just find to be > obnoxious. "The Morning Zoo" likes to scream and yell and carry > on. I hate people yelling at me in the morning. I haven't seen any Arbitrons lately either (I won't get bitten on this one again -- remember "Is Springsteen losing it?") but WHTZ claims that they are New York's #1 radio station. As Peter says, they are also New York's #1 ob- noxious station. They have gotten in lots of trouble over the past year for things they have said on the air. > But enough of this random prattle. If you don't like the music > in New York, there are three stations that I have found to be > very good: ... he describes WLIR, WNEW and WYNY ... I would like to add WKTU (was once known as Disco 92) to this list. They play a wider variety of music than the standard top 40 stations in NYC, and they also get good hits earlier. (Example -- they were playing "Hello Again" by The Cars over a month ago, and no other top 40 NYC station is playing it yet.) > Other then that, you have the standard KISS station for a more > "Urban Contemporary" sound. WRKS. Mostly r&b/dance music. I don't listen to it much, but some people I know claim it is good. We've also forgotten a station which was tops in NYC for a long time -- WBLS, which also plays r&b/dance music. I read another newspaper article once in which the programming directors of WPLJ and WHTZ explained their reasons for not playing most of the real top 40. They claimed that in order to keep their ratings up they had to play music that was pretty much guaranteed to be popular -- that they couldn't take many chances. They admitted to taking a few chances and premiering some singles, one of these, "Sea of Love" by the Honeydrippers actually turned out to be a major hit, but mostly they wait until songs reach a certain level of popularity and then they play them. One more quickie -- I don't know how popular Bruce Springsteen's stuff was outside of the NYC area, but they play it to death around here. Was "Jersey Girl" played anywhere else? Springsteen may be losing it, but he was defin- itely winning around NYC. -- Baby tie your hair back in a long white bow ... Meet me in the field, behind the dynamo ... Greg Skinner (gregbo) {allegra,cbosgd,ihnp4}!houxm!gregbo
gwr@cord.UUCP (GW Ryan) (12/17/84)
I'd also recommend WRSU - rutgers state university station. It's a little on the low power side so you may not get it anywhere except the rutgers area and south-western NYC, but... God it sure beats WAPP!!!!!
strock@fortune.UUCP (Gregory Strockbine) (12/17/84)
>One more quickie -- I don't know how popular Bruce Springsteen's stuff was >outside of the NYC area, but they play it to death around here. Was "Jersey >Girl" played anywhere else? Springsteen may be losing it, but he was defin- >itely winning around NYC. I heard "Jersey Girl" only once on the radio out here in San Francisco, it made me laugh because I'm from jersey. Which reminds me of a similar situation. While in SF I once called a mail order house in Florida, they put me on hold, and piped in some music to ease my wait. The song I heard was Tony Bennett singing "I Left My Heart In San Francisco"!
merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) (12/18/84)
> I'd also recommend WRSU - rutgers state university station. > It's a little on the low power side so you may not get it anywhere except > the rutgers area and south-western NYC, but... > God it sure beats WAPP!!!!! { Oh no! Not again! } Well, that depends. Musicwise, perhaps. I try to avoid many college radio stations. I dislike being at the total mercy of some person who really likes "The Amazing Sex Puppies" and just plays their stuff over and over. Also, the quality of the announcers tend to vary widely. I go crazy when I hear stuff like "That was...uh...shit. I forgot. Hang on a sec. Oh yeah. The Kinks. Right. I forgot. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh...I have to play a PSA now." At best, a well run college radio station has three or four really good jocks who realise that they are sitting in that little room playing music for ME, not for THEMSELVES. Who think about what they are going to say next and who put on very good shows. The problem is: I'm not going to bother to switch the dial every two hours, no matter how good the jock may be (with the exception of Don Imus). So, hey. I'll stick with WAPP. I'm not in my office much, anyway. -- Peter Merchant
MCGREW@RUTGERS.ARPA (12/20/84)
I'd also recommend WRSU - rutgers state university station. It's a little on the low power side so you may not get it anywhere except the rutgers area and south-western NYC, but... God it sure beats WAPP!!!!! ... but it doesn't beat WDHA (Dover, (northern) NJ), which can be received at least as far away as Rutgers (where I hear it). Charles -------