markv@dartvax.UUCP (Mark Vita) (05/25/84)
Boston's major Top 40 station is WHTT, not WHTZ. A.k.a. "Sh*tRadio" 103".
--
Mark Vita
Dartmouth College
{decvax,cornell,linus}!dartvax!markvgds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (05/26/84)
A HitRadio station is defined as a station that plays its music from an
ordered, indexed (ranked) selection of hits, also known as a playlist or
a hit-list. From these lists usually come the notion of "Top 40" which
is what a station's playlist is referred to in general. (This is to
distinguish from the nation's Top 40.) WROR punted its Top 40 format in
the summer of 1983 and became more-or-less an easy listening station,
*however* they still play a lot of Top 40 music because that's what
comprises a lot of EZ. WROR had been the #1 station in Boston's market
but WHTT which aired in February 1983 took all of its listeners when
they declared themselves to be HitRadio and they zoomed to #1 in the
ratings. I have not seen the ratings in Boston lately but judging from
what the other stations are playing I would reckon that WHTT is still
#1.
In NYC, two stations are competing for the #1 listening audience. They
are WPLJ (formerly an album-oriented station until sometime in 1983) and
WHTZ (yes, I know the difference between it and WHTT). WHTZ is New
York's HitRadio station. When I was last in NYC (December) I tuned to
WHTZ and found little difference in their playlist and WHTT's (excepting
the fact that they play less Boston-based music and more r&b/dance). As
of the issue of Billboard that came out 2 weeks ago, "Dancing in the
Dark" had not been added on WPLJ yet -- I imagine it has been added now.
The history of NYC radio has been a famous one, dating back to when WABC
was the #1 station in the 60s and up until the late 70s (one moment of
silence for WABC which is now a talk station). When disco became big in
NYC, another station, WKTU, took over the market around 1979. It's stay
on top was short-lived, however, as NYC's r&b station, WBLS, topped the
ratings chart and stayed there until recently. Unable to contend with
the new formats of WBLS etc. (they introduced a lot of dance music in
addition to r&b to draw off some of WABC's and WKTU's audiences), WABC
became a talk station in early 1982. About that time, WYNY (an
easy-listening station around 1977) adopted a Top 40 format and gained
attention. In 1983, WPLJ changed formats and WHTZ was created. One of
WHTZ, WPLJ or WBLS must be on top of the ratings charts now.
--
Let fly the bits!
Greg Skinner (White Gold Wielder)
{decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, whuxle, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds
And he who wields white wild magic gold is a paradox ...gs@mit-eddie.UUCP (Gordon Strong) (05/27/84)
Although the "top-40" genre of radio does indeed exist, calling such things "#1" is rather silly. Most people I know would probably consider WBCN the number 1 radio station in Boston. But they play rock music, old and new, not just the same songs over and over. I consider variety to be an important part of a station's format. Actually, I like WHJY in Providence better, but I can only get it at home on my stereo and not at work, where I spend most of my time. About other stations in Boston: I would guess that WFNX is the "up and coming" radio station to watch. It appeared at about the time that WCOZ sold out (went from "kick-ass rock and roll" to "your all-hit station", or something like that -- we all know stations that have wimped out like this). From going to night clubs (rock clubs, dance clubs) it seems that different radio stations are allied with different clubs (they have DJs show up to spin, have promotions, etc). WBCN seems to be allied with the most popular clubs, and therefore has a grass-roots following. WFNX plays more new-wave music and has a growing following. All in all, there seems to be quite a few good FM stations in Boston (the AM stations suck). Listening to "all hit" radio stations that play from a hit list seems to be the most limiting thing that a music affectionado could do. My thoughts from four years in Boston... Gordon Strong decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!gs GS@MIT-XX
lkk@mit-eddie.UUCP (Larry Kolodney) (05/27/84)
The only stations worth listening to in Boston are the non-commercial ones. Conveniently they are all located below 91.5 on the FM dial. After listening to nothing but these stations: WMBR (MIT) WERS (Emerson College) WBUR (Boston U.) WGBH (Public Radio) WMFO (Tufts) WZBC (Boston College) I really can't understand why anyone listens to anything else. You get the absolutely broadest variety of music (new and old) as well as no stupid assinine commercials (be all you can be, join the pepsi generation), or obnoxious DJ's. WMBR is about 25% MIT students and the rest community people (called "Community Radio at MIT"). Broadcasts at only 200 Watts and is the least funded of the college stations. Plays (primaryily) new music during the morning, Early Rock and Jazz in the afternoon, "black" music in the evening, and "weird" late at night (after midnight). Oedipus and Albert O. (famous boston DJ's) both got their starts their. We (I work there) were the first station in New England to play AOR, the first to play Punk, and the first to play disco. Shows tend to be somewhat less slick than other stations, but much more "fun". WERS is all Emerson College students (communications majors), and runs a very professional outfit. They have a great folk music show in the morning, and a nothing but new music show at 11pm. They feature live simulcasts from Passim's (a folk club) and the Willow (a jazz club). WGBH and WBUR are both "professional" public radio. No BU students work at 'BUR. These stations are the radio equivalent of public television. Morning Pro Musica, on 'GBH every morning, offers a very good classical show whose announcer, Robert J. Leurtsma, has become something of a Boston tradition. Both stations carry National Public Radio's All Things Considered (leaves commercial news radio in the dust), and one of them also carries Prarie Home Companion. They both broadcast at 50Kw, so reception is excellent. WZBC sets the standard for Weird Radio in Boston. Most of their shows cater to the Eclectic Music crowd, with lots of experimental and electronic stuff (Birdsongs of the Mezozoic, Tangerine Dream, etc.). WMFO a cross between 'MBR and 'ZBC. Hard to recieve in Boston due to their directional transmitter in Medford. Would somebody please tell me WHY they listen to commercial radio. Most non-top-40 music that you hear on the commerical stations you'll hear on these statins first. If you want to keep hearing the same song over and over again, you can buy the record. ...nuf said. -- Larry Kolodney (The Devil's Advocate) (USE) ..decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!lkk (ARPA) lkk@mit-mc
gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (05/28/84)
> Although the "top-40" genre of radio does indeed exist, calling > such things "#1" is rather silly. I was not "calling" these stations #1 -- I was quoting Arbitron ratings determined month-to-month for radio in selected cities. > Most people I know would probably consider WBCN the number 1 radio > station in Boston. But they play rock music, old and new, not just the > same songs over and over. I consider variety to be an important part of > a station's format. I will give 'BCN credit for being a highly diversified radio station. It is the only rock music station I have ever heard which played a cross-section of music (r&b and some new wave included). 'BCN suffers from the fact that it's frequency (104 MHz) is usually picked up on our data lines for our digital design course :-) > About other stations in Boston: I would guess that WFNX is the > "up and coming" radio station to watch. It appeared at about the > time that WCOZ sold out (went from "kick-ass rock and roll" to > "your all-hit station", or something like that -- we all know > stations that have wimped out like this). To you, it may appear as if they were "wimping out", but to them, it was a clear case of losing audience (=> losing money). Many other former rock stations around the country have done similarly -- not all of them wanted to do this but the times were calling for it. When HitRadio dies out (as it probably will in 2-3 years -- these things are generally cyclic) the rock stations will be back. > All in all, there seems to be quite a few good FM stations in Boston > (the AM stations suck). AM in general is not doing too well these days, for similar reasons (read earlier article on how WABC became a talk show). Most AM radio these days that was rock, pop or other has gone to talk/sports format. Some AM which is r&b has managed to survive, but the stations are mostly local (ie. they don't service the whole metropolitan area of their respective cities). Cambridge has one (WCAS) that has a pretty good selection of current r&b (not just the pop) but you can't get it outside of Cambridge (also due to FCC rules you can't get it after 8:00 pm -- they clear the airwaves for the clear-Canadian stations (WABC NY, CKLW from Detroit) which operate between 700-800 KHz. By the way, does anybody know if CKLW is still on the air and what they're playing? > Listening to "all hit" radio stations that play from a hit list seems to > be the most limiting thing that a music affectionado could do. Why? Some people *like* top 40! That is like saying that programming in one language is the most limiting thing a computer scientist can do. If it suits him, why care? -- Let fly the bits! Greg Skinner (White Gold Wielder) {decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, whuxle, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds And he who wields white wild magic gold is a paradox ...
gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (05/28/84)
I just love flaming about music! Let fly the bits! Anyway ... > The only stations worth listening to in Boston are the non-commercial > ones. Conveniently they are all located below 91.5 on the FM dial. > After listening to nothing but these stations: > WMBR (MIT) > WERS (Emerson College) > WBUR (Boston U.) > WGBH (Public Radio) > WMFO (Tufts) > WZBC (Boston College) These stations may well be good stations, but you can't get 'em 10 miles away from the transmitter! > I really can't understand why anyone listens to anything else. You get > the absolutely broadest variety of music (new and old) as well as no > stupid assinine commercials (be all you can be, join the pepsi > generation), or obnoxious DJ's. Well, some people like to be entertained when they listen to radio. I admit commercials tend to be repetitive (but then again, that's what they're there for, so the station can make money) but some commercials are worth hearing once in a while. As for obnoxious DJs, I'd rather have them than DJs who put me to sleep (the ones on college radio tend to do this). > WMFO a cross between 'MBR and 'ZBC. Hard to recieve in Boston due to > their directional transmitter in Medford. My point exactly. > Would somebody please tell me WHY they listen to commercial radio. Most > non-top-40 music that you hear on the commerical stations you'll hear on > these statins first. If you want to keep hearing the same song over and > over again, you can buy the record. 1. I like it. 2. Have you seen the price of records lately? Most good albums are going for 7 bucks these days! Singles go for at least $1.25. At those prices, it's very easy for me to listen to radio and *not* purchase albums. Boy, am I going to get flamed at for this ... -- Let fly the bits! Greg Skinner (White Gold Wielder) {decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, whuxle, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds And he who wields white wild magic gold is a paradox ...
nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (05/28/84)
From: gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) > Listening to "all hit" radio stations that play from a hit > list seems to be the most limiting thing that a music > affectionado could do. > Why? Some people *like* top 40! That is like saying that programming > in one language is the most limiting thing a computer scientist can do. > If it suits him, why care? That's an incredibly inane analogy! With a decent programing language you can write an infinite (Aleph Null) number of programs, but 40 songs is 40 songs! No one is saying that one shouldn't be allowed to pretend they've had a lobotomy, but some of think that there is something greater that can be attained in the musical artistic domain than 40 (and mostly 10) repetitive, unoriginal, sappy, comercial-jingle-like songs with no lyrical or musical value played over and over again. And maybe we think it's pretty damned sad when that's all 98% of the populous wants. -- -Doug Alan mit-eddie!nessus Nessus@MIT-MC "What does 'I' mean"?
gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (05/28/84)
[isn't it funny where all of these articles are coming from?]
mit-eddie!gs:
>> > Listening to "all hit" radio stations that play from a hit
>> > list seems to be the most limiting thing that a music
>> > affectionado could do.
mit-eddie!gds:
>> Why? Some people *like* top 40! That is like saying that programming
>> in one language is the most limiting thing a computer scientist can do.
>> If it suits him, why care?
mit-eddie!nessus:
> That's an incredibly inane analogy! With a decent programing language
> you can write an infinite (Aleph Null) number of programs, but 40 songs
> is 40 songs!
For one thing, it may not be the best thing in the world to write EVERY
single program you ever write in one language (for example, writing a
program to compute pi to 1 million significant digits in CLU). But I
said this for the sake of argument -- my point is that if the person's
preference is to that one language (like mine is to a weekly sample of
40 songs) who are you or anyone else to question him (me)? Furthermore,
top 40 is not as repetitive as you think -- different stations carry
different playlists (for example, I have a hitlist for an r&b/dance
station which has a fair amount of variety in it -- it's WNTN 1550 am).
It's just a matter of listening to the songs you like for a while, then
turning to the other station when you're tired of listening to the same
things over and over again. People who listen to stations like 'BCN do
not get a full cross-section of music ('BCN is better than most, but I
have yet to hear any jazz on it, when I was in NYC I *never* heard any
r&b on WPLJ). Top 40 offers the widest possible range of music --
classical, jazz, rock, r&b, dance, even gospel. No other format of
music is so widespread.
mit-eddie!nessus:
> ... some of think that there is something greater that can be
> attained in the musical artistic domain than 40 (and mostly 10)
> repetitive, unoriginal, sappy, comercial-jingle-like songs with no
> lyrical or musical value played over and over again. And maybe we think
> it's pretty damned sad when that's all 98% of the populous wants.
Lyrical and musical value is in the ear of the listener. I am tired of
beating a dead horse, but the value of music is that which the listener
attributes to it, it is not globally or universally determined. This
kind of argument is what created net.music.classical and some of the
other subgroups of newsgroups -- the inability of people to see past
their own preferences. These people are under the impression that
"since MY music is a definite category, it MUST be better". Note I have
never said top 40 is better than anything else, just that it offers more
variety of music than any other (it is all music, in a sense). That's
why is called "pop" for popular.
Note: I don't only listen to top 40 -- when I have the chance I go to
Broadway musicals. I also enjoy movie musicals.
--
Let fly the bits!
Greg Skinner (White Gold Wielder)
{decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, whuxle, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds
And he who wields white wild magic gold is a paradox ...dya@unc-c.UUCP (06/06/84)
References: inmet.1476 WRC ain't a clear. It's on a regional channel (980) limited to 5kw. dya
wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (06/11/84)
Agreed. Educational FM stations are SO much easier to listen to than commercial ones; every now and then I spend five minutes or so tuning across the band, and light on a commercial station. As soon as a commercial comes on, I feel irritated and antsy, and soon thereafter retune to one of the educational stations, or put on some form of recorded music, or just forget it and have silence. Sadly, one of the oldest non-commercial stations here [St. Louis], KFUO, sponsored by the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod), and one of the major sources of classical music here, has had to start airing commercials for revenue. (They've been around long enough that they pre-dated the 88-92 MHz educational band, and are on 99.1.) Luckily, they use low-key vocal announcements which are relatively easy to ignore. Educational stations air a lot of junk public-service announcements, of course, but even those are better than the car dealers. Will