My
niece got married last weekend in Big Bear. AT the reception there was a
DJ who was quite good, mixing songs together that one would think could
not be mixed, and playing a variety of songs some of which I have not
heard in a long time.
And then it hit me. Oldies are not dead, they are just in hibernation.
Yes
I know the arguments. I’ve made some of them. Songs from 1965 would be
50 years old today. Imagine listening to KRTH (101.1 FM) in 1972 -- the
year the station launched as an automated oldies station -- and hearing
“My Buddy” by Henry Burr, Edie Cantor’s “Oh, Is She Dumb,” or “April
Showers,” by Al Jolson ... all top hits in 1922.
But
here I am at the reception of my niece Erin and her new husband Collin
watching people of all ages dancing and singing to songs spanning the
years from the 1940s to today, with a seeming focus on the 1960s and
1970s. Suddenly it all made sense: the time is ripe for a station owner
-- perhaps one of the new owners of whatever stations CBS decides to
sell (if they do, and I think they will) in Los Angeles -- to play songs
older than 1980 again. “Dusties,” as KGFJ (now KYPA, 1230 AM) used to
call them.
Imagine
this: take a low rated random station that no one has tuned in at all
for the past five years. KFWB (980 AM), for example. Dump the CBS sports
format that no one will miss, bring back a revised contemporary version
of the old KFWB jingle ... in short form for modern attention spans ...
get some good DJs (I know a few) and play music focussing on 1955 to
1975. You can play more, but those two decades would be the focus. Pure
gold.
Don’t
be afraid to play oldies. There is a reason people still love Art
Laboe, the creator of Oldies But Goodies, and remember fondly stations
like KFWB, the original KRLA (now KDIS, 1110 AM), KHJ (930 AM) and yes,
the early years of KRTH. A good variety of oldies would not only span
the decades, it would span generations. Before KRLA was ruined by inept
management, listeners would include grandparents, parents, and children
... all at the same time.
Like at my niece’s wedding. Teenagers to seasoned citizens were all dancing to songs from the 1940s to today.
The
music would be a chance to build an audience on AM radio as well, which
frankly has not had much going for it in about a decade itself. (One of
my dreams is to program an AM music station just to prove it can still
be done successfully; I’m still holding out for KHJ, but KFWB or a
revised KRLA would be a start ...)
Would
the audience skew old? Probably, at least at first. But that’s great:
older listeners still buy things and respond to advertising, if the ad
agents actually feel like selling. Skewing older is better than having
no listeners, as is the current situation with almost all AM stations
right now.
And
I think the format would indeed bring in younger listeners as they
discover AM radio for the first time, many of whom have tired of today’s
negative radio vibes. Oldies sound great on AM anyway, the way they
sounded when they were first played.
I think I could beat KRTH with it. And I’ll work cheap (for a while). Any takers?
Automatic Sound
In spite if even my own pronunciations, AM radio is not dead. How can it be when it can be received so easily?
Such
as when my son plays guitar in the garage ... and KNX (1070 AM) and
KRFM (1280 AM) get picked up by either his guitar, his amp, the foot
pedals, or whatever. Between strums I can hear the news and the gospel
at the same time. It’s quite fascinating.
I
am sure it has much to do with the transmitter locations being so
close. KRFM is licensed to Long Beach and must be close; KNX has their
transmitter site off of 190th Street in Torrance, mere miles from my
house.
It
reminds me of the stories of the original KDAY (now KBLA, 1580 AM),
which sent most of its daytime power of 50,000 watts down one of the
streets of Santa Monica. It seems home water pipes picked up the signal
so well you could hear KDAY fairly well without a radio.
The joys of AM radio, now celebrating 93 years of service to Los Angeles.
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