kds@intelca.UUCP (Ken Shoemaker) (09/04/84)
I'm curious, about how prevalent "new" music radio stations are
in the rest of the country. Perhaps I should explain what I mean...
They play music that might be tagged "New Wave" but that isn't really
appropriate. Groups here tend to go more towards electronic music
and away from guitar ego trips. Examples might include Thomas
Dolby, Bananarama, Elvis Costello, the B-52s, etc. Groups like
Van Halen, AC/DC, etc. are right out. These stations might
call themselves "(progressive) rock of the 80's" or something like
that.
I know of at least two stations in the Bay area (San Fransisco)
that are doing this: KFJC and KQAK: KFJC is from Foothill Junior
College, and KQAK is commercial. There was one in LA
(KROQ) and a clone in San Diego (91 X, it's really in Mexico) but
I have no idea what they have been doing lately. A friend tells
of one in Detroit that went out-of-business and changed their
format (which is surprising, since as far as I can tell, KQAK is
doing very well out here). I don't know of anything in Chicago
(although WXRT seems to play a little of everything). The rest
of the world is shrouded in mystery (although there was an
FM station in Paris that seemed to have a "playlist" much like
KQAK.)
Anyway, anyone else out there get this stuff regularly?
--
I've got one, two, three, four, five senses working overtime,
trying to take this all in!
Ken Shoemaker, Intel, Santa Clara, Ca.
{pur-ee,hplabs,amd,scgvaxd,dual,idi,omsvax}!intelca!kds
---the above views are personal. They may not represent those of Intel.jtm@syteka.UUCP (Jim McCrae) (09/05/84)
I'd like to take this opportunity to officially plug KFJC, the best radio station in the known universe. Where else can you get Fred Astaire sandwiched between Eddie Cochran and the Sex Pistols? We're talking Phil Dirt doing surf music, Glen Livet doing the Blues, Brian Entropy doing swami music, African rhythms, hard core, cartoons on Friday morning (that's right), and Modern Violents on Saturday afternoon for those of you who haven't crawled out of bed by 1PMN I actually heard a Beatle song this morning on the way to work. If you can't hear it anywhere else, you can hear it on KFJC. "oooooo look! there goes the Concorde...again!" Jim McCrae - Sytek - Mountain View CA ...!hplabs!sytek!jtm
dave@rocksvax.UUCP (09/06/84)
We had one in Buffalo that used to get into Rochester but they changed format
to Jazz. The only new music station now is RIT's campus station and 2 hours
from midnite to 2AM on one of the commercial stations in Rochester.
There was a "day" station in Salt Lake City that played a fair amount of
good new music, but they didn't seem to have a large selection of tunes,
you heard X's Wild Thing about a bunch of times a day. They went off the
air around 1AM I think.
My brother tells me there is a station in Toronto, can't hear it here so
I don't know what they play typically.
Dave
arpa: Sewhuk.HENR@Xerox.ARPA
uucp: {allegra,rochester,amd,sunybcs}!rocksvax!davemwschwarz@watcgl.UUCP (Michael W. Schwarz) (09/21/84)
Well up here in Southern Ontario there is a radio station called CFNY-FM @ 102.1
that I think fits the required description quite nice. This station is actually
located in Brampton, Ont. (a suburb of Toronto) and recently obtained a liscence
to broadcast from the CN tower (a very big ariel). In the old days (2 or 3
years), I too would not have hesitated to brag about the "best radio station
in the universe". Nowadays, unfortuately, success has taken its toll on what
used to be an wonderful radio station. Not that the station isn't unique any-
more, it's just that the forces of economics have played havic and the sounds
coming over the airwaves are much less "radical" than they used to be.
Some of the interesting features that have remained intact over the years
include:
- a considerable degree of disk jockey freedom. Each jock's show
sounds different to a degree.
- a willingness to listen to their audience (and not to the record
companies). The best example of this is a regular feature called
"All-request Saturdays/Weekends". EVERY song played is taken off
the request lines. During regular programs a lot of what is played
comes from requests. A regular event is for the DJ to pick up the
phone randomly and have a chat with a listener for a minute or two.
- a wonderfully crazy audience. Even to this day, "Friggin in the
Riggin" the old Sex Pistols classic is THE MOST requested song during
the all-request features! Foreigner and Rod Stewart and Def Leopard
and Fleetwood Mac and Quiet Riot and Journey and Asia and Pat Benetar
and Michael Jackson ... etc are considered taboo. David Bowie and
David Byrne and Peter Gabriel are considered Gods.
- A mandate to NOT sound repetitive. In fact, one of the favorite
contests is where listeners are paid MONEY if they can catch the
DJ's playing the same song more than once in the same 24 hour period.
- A definite bias towards European music. This in spite of the fact
that they are required by law to play 30% "Canadian Content".
Actually anything that SOUNDS European is bound to a success.
In spite of all this, I must confess I have trouble listening to the radio
for long periods these days. As i said, part of the blame rests on the evils
of success. The fact that most of you in other parts of North America will
find interesting is that this station is now THE MOST POPULAR RADIO STATION
IN TORONTO !!! (I'm sure the netlanders in Europe will find this quite
humourous). Remember this is the place that brought you likes of Rush, Triumph,
and April Wine! Also (for my tastes) the "new" music these days is not nearly
as innovative as it was 2 or 3 years ago! Sigh.
Oh, and I should give a plug for CKMS-FM the student station here at the
Univeristy of Waterloo (the second most popular student run station in Canada).
Where else can you listen to the occasional Residents special!