Local (and other) radio news

[RGMike]

on an unusual Saturday in the office, I discovered Sonoma's 102.7 The Wolf, an oldies station that runs Classic AT40 at 9am. They're your typical Classic Hits format, but  they haven't dumped the '60s songs (they play quite a lot) and interestingly they do a "Fifties Flashback" once an hour, which is pretty rare in stations of this type. Lotta old folks in Sonoma?

[RGMike]

For those who've spent time in Sac'to, this might be of interest: the return of KZAP.

http://www.sactownmag.com/Blog/2015/Legendary-Sacramento-radio-station-KZAP-set-for-comeback/

[urth]

For those who've spent time in Sac'to, this might be of interest: the return of KZAP.

http://www.sactownmag.com/Blog/2015/Legendary-Sacramento-radio-station-KZAP-set-for-comeback/

Saw that in my FB feed this morning. Sounds like their operation will be something like what DM has going in Michigan. One of the two guys behind the rebirth, Tom Cale, was one of my fave jocks back in the day. I don't expect it's gonna be 1974 all over again, but I'm curious to hear what they put together.

[RGMike]

I wasn't aware of this because I've been listening to KCSM in the car lately, but apparently there are big changes going on at 98.1 Kiss-FM and Oldies 103.7.  Kiss, in an attempt to compete with that new "throwback" hip-hop station is playing a lot more old-school rap (Dr Dre etc) and the '80s dance stuff has been moved to 103.7 which now does the '80s Hour and Disco Sat Nite features that Kiss had been doing. iHeart are as ruthless as Cumulus, I suppose.

ETA: that new "Throwback" station, Q102 is coming on like gangbusters in the ratings -- from a 1.6 to a 2.9 since Feb; they beat Kiss for the first time this past month.

[radical347]

I wasn't aware of this because I've been listening to KCSM in the car lately, but apparently there are big changes going on at 98.1 Kiss-FM and Oldies 103.7.  Kiss, in an attempt to compete with that new "throwback" hip-hop station is playing a lot more old-school rap (Dr Dre etc) and the '80s dance stuff has been moved to 103.7 which now does the '80s Hour and Disco Sat Nite features that Kiss had been doing. iHeart are as ruthless as Cumulus, I suppose.

Oh, that’s too bad. The addition of 80s stuff made Kiss *just* interesting enough to listen to. But I can’t stomach 103.7 with or without the 80s. Both are off my dial now.

[RGMike]

I wasn't aware of this because I've been listening to KCSM in the car lately, but apparently there are big changes going on at 98.1 Kiss-FM and Oldies 103.7.  Kiss, in an attempt to compete with that new "throwback" hip-hop station is playing a lot more old-school rap (Dr Dre etc) and the '80s dance stuff has been moved to 103.7 which now does the '80s Hour and Disco Sat Nite features that Kiss had been doing. iHeart are as ruthless as Cumulus, I suppose.

Oh, that’s too bad. The addition of 80s stuff made Kiss *just* interesting enough to listen to. But I can’t stomach 103.7 with or without the 80s. Both are off my dial now.

Kiss was my go-to station in the car for a while; I thought that mix of Funk, Disco and danceable (white) Pop was kind of inspired.  But I've zero interest in hearing Ice Cube or Snoop 3 or 4 times an hour.  103.7 has "tweaked" their playlist every 6 weeks for the last year, it seems, so we'll see how long their latest incarnation lasts. They're getting rid of Don Bleu; wonder who'll take over mornings. Wonder if they'd shift Renel over there and hire some washed-up rapper to do mornings on Kiss.

[Lightnin' Rod]

I wasn't aware of this because I've been listening to KCSM in the car lately, but apparently there are big changes going on at 98.1 Kiss-FM and Oldies 103.7.  Kiss, in an attempt to compete with that new "throwback" hip-hop station is playing a lot more old-school rap (Dr Dre etc) and the '80s dance stuff has been moved to 103.7 which now does the '80s Hour and Disco Sat Nite features that Kiss had been doing. iHeart are as ruthless as Cumulus, I suppose.

ETA: that new "Throwback" station, Q102 is coming on like gangbusters in the ratings -- from a 1.6 to a 2.9 since Feb; they beat Kiss for the first time this past month.

I did notice last week that there was no Saturday Morning Beatles on 103.7.  I drive to the golf course every Saturday morning and ended up listening to the Beatles more often than not...

[urth]

Anyone else here had a chance to tune into the reconstituted KZAP yet? Sacramento's original freeform station has been revived as a low-power FM station that's also webcasting. It's masterminded by Tom Cale and Dennis Newhall, a couple of radio lifers who were on their airstaff in the 70s and 80s, and they have a number of jocks from various times in their history involved as well. They say they want to reimagine what KZAP would sound like had it not gone away 20+ years ago. I listened to their sign-on on July 4 (the first song played was Harvey Mandel's Cristo Redentor, which was their first song back in 68, and also the last song they played when they went off the air in 91 or so). Since then it kind of sounds like they're trying to be all things to all people -- I've heard a few songs that made me say "Wow I haven't heard that in years" (Dave Mason's Headkeeper, and Pablo Cruise - Ocean Breeze, for instance) and also a few that I heard on KFOG this morning (Death Cab for Cutie, Pearl Jam). And a few that I've heard way too many times over the years, too (Tom Petty and Eagles for instance). Still worth checking out as they refine their format.

http://k-zap.org/

[RGMike]

Anyone else here had a chance to tune into the reconstituted KZAP yet? Sacramento's original freeform station has been revived as a low-power FM station that's also webcasting. It's masterminded by Tom Cale and Dennis Newhall, a couple of radio lifers who were on their airstaff in the 70s and 80s, and they have a number of jocks from various times in their history involved as well. They say they want to reimagine what KZAP would sound like had it not gone away 20+ years ago. I listened to their sign-on on July 4 (the first song played was Harvey Mandel's Cristo Redentor, which was their first song back in 68, and also the last song they played when they went off the air in 91 or so). Since then it kind of sounds like they're trying to be all things to all people -- I've heard a few songs that made me say "Wow I haven't heard that in years" (Dave Mason's Headkeeper, and Pablo Cruise - Ocean Breeze, for instance) and also a few that I heard on KFOG this morning (Death Cab for Cutie, Pearl Jam). And a few that I've heard way too many times over the years, too (Tom Petty and Eagles for instance). Still worth checking out as they refine their format.

http://k-zap.org/

yeah, I listened a bit on Saturday; same experience.  Heard "Today" by the Airplane which was a delightful surprise. Also a new Ringo tune studded with Beatle references that was co-written by Todd Rundgren.  But also... "White Wedding" which KFOG plays 17 times a week. And Petty.

[urth]

Anyone else here had a chance to tune into the reconstituted KZAP yet? Sacramento's original freeform station has been revived as a low-power FM station that's also webcasting. It's masterminded by Tom Cale and Dennis Newhall, a couple of radio lifers who were on their airstaff in the 70s and 80s, and they have a number of jocks from various times in their history involved as well. They say they want to reimagine what KZAP would sound like had it not gone away 20+ years ago. I listened to their sign-on on July 4 (the first song played was Harvey Mandel's Cristo Redentor, which was their first song back in 68, and also the last song they played when they went off the air in 91 or so). Since then it kind of sounds like they're trying to be all things to all people -- I've heard a few songs that made me say "Wow I haven't heard that in years" (Dave Mason's Headkeeper, and Pablo Cruise - Ocean Breeze, for instance) and also a few that I heard on KFOG this morning (Death Cab for Cutie, Pearl Jam). And a few that I've heard way too many times over the years, too (Tom Petty and Eagles for instance). Still worth checking out as they refine their format.

http://k-zap.org/

yeah, I listened a bit on Saturday; same experience.  Heard "Today" by the Airplane which was a delightful surprise. Also a new Ringo tune studded with Beatle references that was co-written by Todd Rundgren.  But also... "White Wedding" which KFOG plays 17 times a week. And Petty.

Been listening on and off this afternoon, and have heard far fewer of the overplayed songs -- not none, but fewer. And some nice rarities -- In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, for example. And right now the afternoon jock (Jon Russell, who was on KFOG for several stints since KZAP went away the first time) is playing Astronomy Domine. So that's certainly notable.

[RGMike]

And for comparison, I tuned in to The Peak just before the 10@10 replay and heard "Sleepwalker" by the Kinks followed by "Kansas City" from that New Basement Tapes CD (which I think KFOG played for a week or 2, tops).

[urth]

And for comparison, I tuned in to The Peak just before the 10@10 replay and heard "Sleepwalker" by the Kinks followed by "Kansas City" from that New Basement Tapes CD (which I think KFOG played for a week or 2, tops).

Just heard the New Basement Tapes track -- they sound JUST like Mumford & Sons. (And I mean EXACTLY. Not even just sorta.)

ETA: I guess I should look this shit up first. Turns out the NBT is an all-star project put together by T-Bone Burnett, and the singer on that cut is, you guessed it, Marcus Mumford.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_on_the_River:_The_New_Basement_Tapes

[urth]

More KZAP commentary:

They do seem to be getting away from the classic rock "evergreens" a bit, but I've heard a couple of odd segues today so far. Awhile ago we heard Donovan's Hey Gyp followed by Hot for Teacher, and just now they segued from Randy Newman's Kingfish to Dude Looks Like a Lady.

I guess if you're going to span 50-odd years of rock, there are going to be some double-clutch moments. 

[RGMike]

I guess I should look this shit up first. Turns out the NBT is an all-star project put together by T-Bone Burnett, and the singer on that cut is, you guessed it, Marcus Mumford.

Phil Phillips was busy that day.

[RGMike]

And for comparison, I tuned in to The Peak just before the 10@10 replay and heard "Sleepwalker" by the Kinks followed by "Kansas City" from that New Basement Tapes CD (which I think KFOG played for a week or 2, tops).

Just heard the New Basement Tapes track -- they sound JUST like Mumford & Sons. (And I mean EXACTLY. Not even just sorta.)

ETA: I guess I should look this shit up first. Turns out the NBT is an all-star project put together by T-Bone Burnett, and the singer on that cut is, you guessed it, Marcus Mumford.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_on_the_River:_The_New_Basement_Tapes

Decided to listen to a typical (non-10@10) hour of the Peak - just heard that New Basement Tapes tune again and... Petty (he's everywhere, I tells ya!). Also Nick Lowe "...Breaking Glass" which hasn't shown up as a KFOG rotation oldie in forever.

ETA: and here's "Thunder Road" -- not exactly deep, but again, one that never shows up on KFOG anymore outside of 10@10. Oh and they do "Ne Releases Wednesday" -- and here's the new Toad the Wet Sprocket.

BTW, the new Beck ("Dreams") is #1 at Triple-A but KFOG doesn't seem to be playing it much so far, if at all.