For years, they were called Z93, and played a healthy amount of Stones, Zep, Floyd, etc.

Then they changed to more of an "adult alternative" format of U2, the Police, Dave Mathews, Elvis Costello, Bob Marley, etc., and the occasional deep cut Stones tune.

They have about two more months left, and they're gone.

We have a station called Project 96.1, which pretty much just plays metal.

Another station, called The River, plays a "classic rock hits" format, mostly songs that make we want to throw a shoe at the radio ("Hotel California," "Dream On," "Fly Like an Eagle"......you get the idea). If they play a Stones tune, it is usually "Start Me Up."

A lot of this is just the new technology of internet radio (such as Jango, where you can hear MY band, the Amazing Mongooses.....sorry for the shameless plug there!), Pandora, and so on. Also, streaming services such as Spotify.

All of this to ask a simple question: if the Stones release a new album for whatever comes out of the next year or so, what stations would play it? Here in Atlanta, I no longer have any idea.

Here is the article on the station.


[blogs.ajc.com]

A few years ago, a decades old rock station in New Orleans went conservative talk-radio.

Who says rock-n-roll is here to stay ?

That's a shame, Mongoose. I remember that station from many years ago when I lived in Atlanta. Here is the DC area there is only one station, 100.3 WBIG FM, that still plays what is called classic rock. But even that station tends to play the same familiar stuff that you mentioned is on The River station. The one good thing about WBIG is their Saturday night concerts where occasionally they will feature a Stones concert. I hardly listen to radio anymore, it's completely predictable and boring.

"...baby, baby, baby that stuff is driving me crazy..."

clear channel is the devil

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Edith Grove
A few years ago, a decades old rock station in New Orleans went conservative talk-radio.

Who says rock-n-roll is here to stay ?

Neil Young does

End of an era - I remember when Z93 and 96 Rock were doing battle for the rock audience - ah, the good ole days.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2012-08-06 02:51 by Max'sKansasCity.

Haven't listened to Z-93 or WQXI "Qwixi" since they stopped the Chattahoochee raft race and Gary McKee was the morning lord of radio.

Circa 1979>

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GADAWG
Haven't listened to Z-93 or WQXI "Qwixi" since they stopped the Chattahoochee raft race and Gary McKee was the morning lord of radio.

Circa 1979>

My sister won a contest on WQXI back in the '60s.

The prize was a letter from George Harrison............................to some executive at the station about some kind of promotion.

Needless to say, my sister was heartbroken when she discovered the letter wasn't to her.

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Mongoose
All of this to ask a simple question: if the Stones release a new album for whatever comes out of the next year or so, what stations would play it?

None. A "classic rock" station might mention the fact that there is a new Rolling Stones record .... then they would play Start Me Up.

prolly 100.5 if the single's a 'rock' song but i'm hoping for hip-hop.

whatever radio noise the market will support is what's going to be, same as it ever was.

[blogs.ajc.com]

Same thing happened around here. WAOR in South Bend, Indiana, was one of the pioneers in rock FM radio. The AOR stood for album oriented rock, and they used to play cuts off of albums you would never here anywhere else in the area. They evolved into a classic rock format and for decades was my number 1 button on my car radio. They were 95.3 on the dial until they were moved to 95.7 and a much-reduced broadcast power, so that the higher power 95.3 could be turned into talk radio. About 2 months ago the outfit that bought out the management switched the station over to a sports talk format. We have a couple of oldie stations in the area, but I find it unsettling to hear some Disco Inferno thrown in between Brown Sugar and Hey Jude.

Terristial FM radio is dead.

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Edith Grove
A few years ago, a decades old rock station in New Orleans went conservative talk-radio.

Who says rock-n-roll is here to stay ?

Who says stuffy radio execs and jaded programmers get to decide what music lives or dies--leave that to the musicians who write and play the stuff.

Yes, this has been a nationwide corporate trend in recent years. Little Steven on his syndicated weekly underground garage radio show first began bemoaning the absence of rock music from mainstream radio (at least as far as top 40 goes) since the early 2000s. Here in Boston, there are just 2 mainstream rock stations left--one a classic rock mainstay and the other an annoying meatball hair-metal band station that took over when the long-time institution WBCN bit the big one a few years back. Lately, they just sold off the independent-run WFNX (an alt-rock station since 1983 that played PiL, Julian Cope, The English Beat, the Psychedelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen and all the other stuff mainstream rock stations avoided) to the corporate sharks. They even recently got rid of the local oldies station that had been on air for over 25 years.

Myself, I haven't even listened to these types of stations for the better part of 10 years, and who needs them anyway? Mainstream rock radio with its obnoxious DJs posing with their faux rockstar attitudes, all the dopey commercials, and not to mention the narrow, repetitive programming formats. The internet (courtesy of Youtube), iPods, and the era of CD bonus tracks have all contributed to the decline in the communal experience of terrestrial FM radio, the format of which ultimately proved too limited for those who truly enjoy a wider variety of music.

But rock-n-roll is in no danger--just as there will always be a place for country, jazz, blues, and et al. There are college radio stations that play hours per day of new rock music and bands without ever repeating a song over an entire week of airplay, the concert listings for local rock clubs are always booked solid year round, and guitar shops are still doing good business.

So get that lips logo out and wear it proudly. We're all still here and there's plenty more rockin' at midnight!

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stonesnow

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Edith Grove
A few years ago, a decades old rock station in New Orleans went conservative talk-radio.

Who says rock-n-roll is here to stay ?

Who says stuffy radio execs and jaded programmers get to decide what music lives or dies--leave that to the musicians who write and play the stuff.

Uh, I don't like rock stations going away, but those stuffy radio execs, who are responsible for their companies profitability, get to decide whether we like it or not.

Looks to me like RnR radio can only survive with local, independently owned stations, and many are willing to take that risk just to keep the tradition alive ?

Rock/Metal listeners aren't nearly as well-heeled as sports-talk listeners and there aren't nearly as many of them. Plus, most sports talk is just rebroadcast from a satellite feed so the station needn't employ as many local personel. It's a business and owners and management want the biggest audience with the most money in their pocket for the lowest price. THAT and the fact that most well-heeled rock listeners have switched to Sirius or XM, is why Conservative and Sports Talk are the only growing radio formats. Even Country has stalled and is losing ground.

OH, and by the way, the local Classic Rock FM in my town is running ads for a retirement village. That should give you an idea where THAT market is headed.

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R
OH, and by the way, the local Classic Rock FM in my town is running ads for a retirement village. That should give you an idea where THAT market is headed.

years ago in my final stint as a radio announcer, i worked for a big band-oriented station. my production work for ads seemed like it was primarily for mortuaries....that's the next stop for classic rock fm....

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R
OH, and by the way, the local Classic Rock FM in my town is running ads for a retirement village. That should give you an idea where THAT market is headed.

LOL

I now find the soundtrack of my youth on the Oldies station.

Interesting article, considering what's happening to rock radio, but it all boils down to price.




Why classic albums are selling more than new ones

Bieber fever boils tweens’ brains. The “Glee” cast crushes all comers on the Hot 100 chart (203 singles and counting, topping the Beatles and Elvis combined). In just 16 months, Adele’s “21” has become the best-selling album of the millennium.

And despite the music industry frantically pushing fresh blockbuster acts, old albums will outsell new ones in 2012 for the first time.

In the first half of 2012, catalog albums — the industry’s term for discs released more than 18 months ago — sold 76.6 million units. New albums tallied 73.9 units. It’s a narrow victory, but the margin will increase slowly, steadily over time. New will never top old again.

What’s going on? Industry executives point the finger at online piracy, streaming and the death of radio. Huge chunks of fans complain there has been nothing worth listening to since the Beatles broke up or Led Zeppelin called it quits or Kurt Cobain killed himself. Those explanations are bogus.

While radio stations tend to play older artists instead of breaking deserving new ones, there’s no evidence people are stealing and streaming “21” more than “Abbey Road.” And anyone who thinks old music is better than new music isn’t listening to new music. Neko Case, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire and a hundred other young acts are delivering brilliant art.

There is a simple, straightforward reason so many catalog titles dot Billboard’s album charts this summer: price cuts.

Labels and retailers have slashed prices on catalog releases, making them, on average, $5 cheaper than new releases. This has had a dramatic effect. Phil Collins couldn’t be less hip, but last week, when Amazon’s MP3 store cut Collins’ “...Hits” to 99 cents, Mr. Sussudio popped in at No. 6, ahead of such contemporary stars as One Direction, Chris Brown and Maroon 5 on the Billboard 200.

But price cuts only sped up the inevitable. Recorded pop music is more than a century old. It’s reached a tipping point. There will never be enough Beliebers, Gleeks or Adele enthusiasts to outweigh the buying power of fans of Louis Armstrong, Elvis, Bob Dylan, ABBA, U2 and a thousand other classic artists.

The music industry has made a big deal out of the milestone that had to come. It should focus on other numbers. Even with Adele’s global conquest and deeply dis-counted classic titles, total album sales slipped 3.2 percent in the first half of 2012 as compared to a year ago.

New vs. old doesn’t matter much. What matters is total sales. Right now, people aren’t buying like they used to.

Hard to believe that hearing those first Stones tunes like "Tell Me," "It's All Over Now," "Satisfaction," and more, were on AM radio.

I still have nostalgia for all of that......hearing singles on the radio, running over to the local record store and trying to buy one of the ones that came in a color photo sleeve, if you were lucky.

The Winn-Dixie grocery store in Martinsville, Virginia, actually had a record section, albums for about $4.00, singles for about a dollar. I remember once my grandmother gave me a $5 gift, and I went there and bought "The Beatles Second Album" and a 45 by the Dave Clark 5.

Dang I feel old now. To a teenager, all of that probably sounded like "when I was your age, we had to hike ten miles in the snow to go to school, didn't have electricity," etc.

I know we don't want to let go of the things of our youth, but we've been damn lucky. Let's say you were a swing band enthusiast of the late 30s/early 40s. Some of the best music made. You couldn't even hear it on radio only ten, fifteen years later. I remember visiting my grandfather in 1986. In the background was this staticcy AM station playing swing music. It seemed old and kind of sad and creepy.

But hey, our music, rock and roll, got to dominate radio for 50 years. They even catered to our sensitivities by calling our oldies 'Classic Rock'. It was a great run. Try and catch the Stones if they come to your neighborhood soon. It really could be The Last Time.

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24FPS
I know we don't want to let go of the things of our youth, but we've been damn lucky. Let's say you were a swing band enthusiast of the late 30s/early 40s. Some of the best music made. You couldn't even hear it on radio only ten, fifteen years later. I remember visiting my grandfather in 1986. In the background was this staticcy AM station playing swing music. It seemed old and kind of sad and creepy.

But hey, our music, rock and roll, got to dominate radio for 50 years. They even catered to our sensitivities by calling our oldies 'Classic Rock'. It was a great run. Try and catch the Stones if they come to your neighborhood soon. It really could be The Last Time.

Are you kidding? The Mozart era only lasted for 25 years, then went our of fashion for more than 100 years. Yes, it's true: Most people throughout the 1800s didn't even listen to Mozart or classical music of the late 1700s--not until the neo-classical movement revived that particular music form in the 1920s. A 50-year run of rock-n-roll illuminated music and culture for the last half of the 20th century is going to be awfully hard for future music historians and music enthusiasts to ignore. Rock-n-roll will go on forever--consider that Lips Logo already engraved in stone [and I don't mean tombstone!].

Radio stations change formats all the time. I repeat: All the time.
It's nothing new. In a perfect world, KMET, KHJ, and KRLA in Los Angeles would still be on the air and the Real Don Steel would still be alive ranting and raving. I have a few friends in radio and I don't know whether to feel sorry for them or admire them. It's a dreadful business to be in, but they love the medium.