No no no the champ HAS to be "I Melt With You"
Even though the songs of the 60s are becoming a thing of the past [no pun intended] in my area someone at iheartradio must have a "heart" on for The Foundations' "Build Me Up Buttercup". They play that damn song at least once a day on my local oldies......ooops....I mean "classic hits" station.
As I write this, I'm hearing "Freedom Overspill" by Steve Winwood. Great song. But I don't know of any other station, other than a Classic Rock outlet, which would play this song that peaked at #20 in 1986. Certainly not a Rhythmic AC.
I also hear plenty of vocal songs left over from the old Smooth Jazz years... by Sade, Anita Baker, Norah Jones, Phil Collins, Gloria Estefan, etc. Most AC stations have long abandoned these artists as being too soft, especially Rhythmic AC stations. While KTWV isn't always soft, it certainly goes softer than any other station on the dial. (Now I'm hearing "By Your Side" by Sade.)
I was just up in New York's Capital District, where iHeart's WTRY is still playing plenty of '60s/early '70s alongside the newer classic hits. Got in the car this morning and heard "Lookin' Out My Back Door" segueing into "Lights." Earlier, it was "Oh, Pretty Woman" into "Down Under." Could WTRY be your local iHeart classic hits station, or are there others in the chain still hanging onto a lot of "aged-out" songs?
Nope. Mine's in NE Ohio. "I think most of Iheart's "classic hits" playlist is being dictated by someone from HQ. Oh, and they play "Pretty Woman" about once a day also. There playlist was so predictable at one point that I would amaze friends by telling them what song would be played next.....and 99% of the time, I was correct. They've changed things up since then but still it's the same old songs over and over again that I very rarely listen to the radio anymore unless I'm on the road traveling to other areas of the country.
Nope. Mine's in NE Ohio. "I think most of Iheart's "classic hits" playlist is being dictated by someone from HQ.
Markets the size of Cleveland do their own local music research.
How about Albany, which I assume is demographically similar to Cleveland? And is the aging population a factor in WTRY's keeping 1964-74 songs in the rotation long after most classic hits stations have deleted them? (I wrote 50-60-year-old songs before; that was an error -- pre-Beatles songs get zero spins on WTRY, as far as I can tell.)
How about Albany, which I assume is demographically similar to Cleveland? And is the aging population a factor in WTRY's keeping 1964-74 songs in the rotation long after most classic hits stations have deleted them? (I wrote 50-60-year-old songs before; that was an error -- pre-Beatles songs get zero spins on WTRY, as far as I can tell.)
Winwood's Valerie (released 1982) was a staple of Classic Hits stations for years. It seems like it would fit fairly well in this format.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Chz4V6OOZ90
Interestingly KTWV's first song 30 years ago was Sting and Set them free the song at the time. Sting is a staple on AAA radio though and KTWV in its early years was Just taking over the 94.7FM frequency from KMET at the time. I seen some bumper stickers at the time showing that the Police was also on the old KMET though. Sting has to be one of a few artists who managed to have their songs on both the Old KMET 94.7 and the then infancy of KTWV at the time.
We think of music radio formats and stations as temporary - coming and going within a few years. But it occurs to me that by now, The Wave has lasted about a decade longer than "The Mighty Met." And KIIS-FM has lasted probably 3 times as long as the "legendary" KHJ. Within these formats, I realize there is a lot of evolution and adjustment.
Then there's K-Earth - about 45 years, I'm guessing.
We think of music radio formats and stations as temporary - coming and going within a few years. But it occurs to me that by now, The Wave has lasted about a decade longer than "The Mighty Met." And KIIS-FM has lasted probably 3 times as long as the "legendary" KHJ. Within these formats, I realize there is a lot of evolution and adjustment.
Then there's K-Earth - about 45 years, I'm guessing.
You are Correct Kearth 101 originally KHJ-FM outlasted both KMET and KHJ-AM
And KLOS-FM they somehow manage to outlast KMET-FM though. KLOS has to be 50 years old though from the old KECA-FM and KABC-FM.
Same with KIIS, Power, The Wave, and with less success, KLOS.overall.
I think 94.7 The Wave is a great station, one of my favorites. That was true when the station started as a New Age outlet, then moved to Smooth Jazz and now as a Rhythmic AC/Classic Soul station.
As I write this, I'm hearing "Freedom Overspill" by Steve Winwood. Great song. But I don't know of any other station, other than a Classic Rock outlet, which would play this song that peaked at #20 in 1986. Certainly not a Rhythmic AC.
I also hear plenty of vocal songs left over from the old Smooth Jazz years... by Sade, Anita Baker, Norah Jones, Phil Collins, Gloria Estefan, etc. Most AC stations have long abandoned these artists as being too soft, especially Rhythmic AC stations. While KTWV isn't always soft, it certainly goes softer than any other station on the dial. (Now I'm hearing "By Your Side" by Sade.)
It also goes older than any other station on the dial. One or two 1960s or early 70s songs are heard each hour, often from Motown. Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & The Pips. Not even a Classic Hits station goes this far back anymore. Yet The Wave also plays a handful of current hits and recent hits. The playlist spans from the 1960s to 2017.
One more unique feature... The three major dayparts, AM, midday and PM, are all staffed by women. Again, I don't know of any station where that is true.
But it works. The station is usually #2 in the ratings, and often makes the top 5 in the 25-54 demo. In LA, that's not easy to do.