I happened to be looking at the website for WRIT Milwaukee. It's #3 in that market, owned by iHeart. And unlike most stations playing the hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s, they aren't running away from the term "Oldies." The station's handle is Oldies 95.7 and the web address is www.milwaukeeoldies.com
But what caught my eye is that the playlist is almost all white. Milwaukee is a city with many people of different backgrounds. But if you want to be heard on WRIT, you'd better not be a minority. Here's the list of songs airing between 7 and 8 pm on Thursday...
Ozark Mountain Daredevils -- Jackie Blue
Simon & Garfunkle -- Mrs. Robinson
Kansas -- Dust in The Wind
Heart -- Crazy on You
Neil Diamond -- Sweet Caroline
Sweet -- Ballroom Blitz
ELO -- Strange Magic
Supertramp -- Long Way Home
Bee Gees -- Jive Talking
Elton John -- Your Song
Rod Stewart -- Maggie May
Bob Segar -- Night Moves
Melanie -- Brand New Key
CCR -- Looking Out My Back Door
Some Classic Hits stations are really pop-leaning Classic Rock, such as WROR Boston and WXGL Tampa. For those stations, I'd expect a playlist with little or no rhythmic songs. But WRIT isn't one of those stations. In this hour, it played Brand New Key by Melanie, Jive Talking by the Bee Gees and Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, hardly a Classic Rock sound.
I looked at other songs on the playlist. After seeing maybe about 40 or 50 songs, I spotted a song by The Spinners. Everything else I saw was by white artists. I wonder who's choosing the songs and why he thinks Oldies listeners in Milwaukee want to hear almost no minority artists, even though they grew up with plenty of Black performers on their Top 40 stations when they were young.
But what caught my eye is that the playlist is almost all white. Milwaukee is a city with many people of different backgrounds. But if you want to be heard on WRIT, you'd better not be a minority. Here's the list of songs airing between 7 and 8 pm on Thursday...
Ozark Mountain Daredevils -- Jackie Blue
Simon & Garfunkle -- Mrs. Robinson
Kansas -- Dust in The Wind
Heart -- Crazy on You
Neil Diamond -- Sweet Caroline
Sweet -- Ballroom Blitz
ELO -- Strange Magic
Supertramp -- Long Way Home
Bee Gees -- Jive Talking
Elton John -- Your Song
Rod Stewart -- Maggie May
Bob Segar -- Night Moves
Melanie -- Brand New Key
CCR -- Looking Out My Back Door
Some Classic Hits stations are really pop-leaning Classic Rock, such as WROR Boston and WXGL Tampa. For those stations, I'd expect a playlist with little or no rhythmic songs. But WRIT isn't one of those stations. In this hour, it played Brand New Key by Melanie, Jive Talking by the Bee Gees and Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, hardly a Classic Rock sound.
I looked at other songs on the playlist. After seeing maybe about 40 or 50 songs, I spotted a song by The Spinners. Everything else I saw was by white artists. I wonder who's choosing the songs and why he thinks Oldies listeners in Milwaukee want to hear almost no minority artists, even though they grew up with plenty of Black performers on their Top 40 stations when they were young.