A surprise Carpenters appearance on the radio

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Harry

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Philadelphia radio has had a bit of a shake-up in formats. One station, named "Alice" just recently changed over to an older Adult Contemporary format and are calling themselves "Sunny". I wondered if I'd hear any Carpenters, and on day one I did. They played "We've Only Just Begun." It's always pleasant to hear a Carpenters track coming out of the radio!

Today at lunch, while surfing around the radio dial, I had an even bigger Carpenters surprise: I heard "Because We Are In Love (The Wedding Song)" on another station. This FM station's a bit of a flakey one -- it's based in South Jersey (not that there's anything WRONG with that!), and they play a mix of brokered religious programming, and when they don't sell anything, they mix in some pretty eclectic songs. While listening today, I heard:

Ricky Nelson
Ferrante & Teicher
Carpenters
Doris Day

Anyway, it was a nice change to hear a not-so-worn-out Carpenters record on the radio -- even if it is one of my least favorites.

Harry
...surprised, online...
 
Harry,
At least somebody's playing the Carpenters up there. There is a Carpenter void on Atlanta radio...sadly.
Steve
 
Harry said:
Philadelphia radio has had a bit of a shake-up in formats. One station, named "Alice" just recently changed over to an older Adult Contemporary format and are calling themselves "Sunny".

I think Alice has worn out its welcome. Our Alice (to borrow your phrase, a "Cheap Channel" station :D ), was replaced by an obnoxious Classic Rock station that still has circles run around it by our 15-year-old Classic Rock station where all the best longtime local rock DJs have made their home.

Is Philly's former "Alice" now more like an "oldies" A/C format, or is it just geared more toward older listeners (like us) who remember when there was some decent music on A/C stations? (IOW, not a "bare midriffs sing ballads" type of A/C station.)

Other than a weak AM nostalgia station from Canada (CKWW?) that most of our area can't tune in, you don't hear Carpenters on local radio, period. Gotta give credit to Canadian stations, though. CIDR (formerly The River, 93.9 FM, Windsor, Ontario) was like an "adult alternative" station that played music many people never heard of. They switched to a "soft rock" format but still play a few things outside of the normal flow of U.S. radio stations. Carpenters wouldn't be on their playlist, but they'd more likely be the type that would feature The Corrs.

-= N =-
 
The Philadelphia "Alice" change happened August 1. Following the morning show on Classic-Rock-to-today's-best-variety "Alice" on 7/31, the station began playing "Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles over and over again. It was supposed to signal the start of the new "Sunny" format, which began at dawn on 8/01.

The new format is a mixed bag of softer old MOR stuff and some harder edged Motown and early disco. It's supposed to be geared toward an older adult demo who remember these songs from their youth.

Sample songs include:

Fallin' In Love - Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds
Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Diana Ross
Fire - Pointer Sisters
Baby Come Back - Player
We've Only Just Begun - Carpenters
Baby I'm A'Want You - Bread
Get Closer - Seals & Crofts
California Dreamin' - Mamas & Papas
Wedding Bell Blues - Fifth Dimension
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Yesterday - Beatles
Still - Commodores
Midnight Train To Georgia - Gladys Knight & The Pips
Keepin the Faith - Billy Joel
Imagine - John Lennon
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
More Today Than Yesterday - Sprial Staircase
I Just Called To Say I Love You - Stevie Wonder
...

You get the idea. If not, they do have an online stream at http://www.sunny1045.com

For anyone who's lived through the era, the songs which admittedly haven't been heard in these parts sound pretty good the first time you hear them. Once they start repeating, you end up saying, "What? Again?!"

Word is that Cheap Channel will run this thing without jocks for a while, then begin to add some voice-tracked DJs from some other market to avoid having to actually pay someone!

Harry
...amused at some of the "Sunny" songs, online...
 
I still haven't figured out if WLLC (The Drone...er, um, The Drive) voice tracks or not. The DJs are so obnoxious that I can't tolerate listening for long. (They have that typical mass-market DJ type of voice, far from the familiar home-grown talent we're used to.) They do make mention of their Detroit vehicle out cruising around, and a couple of places where they are making appearances, but I'm assuming that, too, doesn't have to be done locally.

I don't think we have a "Sunny" type station like that. The closest Cheap Channel station with an A/C format, that I can think of, is in Ann Arbor...and I quit listening when they changed from a pure Oldies format.

And I'm trying to remember if Jim Harper's old station, WNIC, is a Cheap Channel or not. They've been "soft rock" (Detroit's Nicest Rock) for seemingly ages.

-= N =-
NP: Henry Mancini, Music From Peter Gunn, "Dreamsville"
 
Harry,

So there are some changes in USA Radio Formats -probably not enough for your tastes and many other Radio listeners !

With plays for WOJB and The Wedding Song , perhaps Richard should be persuaded to compile an Album of "Wedding Songs " with a large target audience , plus promos for Radio Stations - to highlight their songs and legacy :)

UK Radio varies from the obvious Carpenters Hits to occasional Medley or rarely played Album track to refresh the audience.

Perhaps A&M Corner plus investors should start up their own Station(s) to vary the Music Menu :?:
 
PJ said:
So there are some changes in USA Radio Formats -probably not enough for your tastes and many other Radio listeners !

Format changes are all fueled on making money, and the formats are pretty much interchangeable. We had a Classic Soul station that got its plug pulled. A great concept, but repetitive programming is what killed it for me. We've seen rock, oldies, A/C (adult contemporary) and alternative stations come and go at an alarming rate. Seems that when one conglomerate drops the format, another picks it up a year or two later...then drop it themselves. As Harry mentioned, many stations are "voicetracked", where the stations don't even have local DJs anymore. All you need is someone with a good radio voice who can insert random dialog suitable to any city, and a few appropriate "local" references to make it sound authentic. And all of the programming is dictated by "suits" who plan the following week's playlist on what "tested well" during the past week.

Any truly original stations are long gone. My own favorite was a long-running jazz station in Detroit, WJZZ, that played a satisfying mix of classic and contemporary jazz. (This was just before the huge boom in $moooth Jazz.) Because listeners dropped off, they shifted their format, and all of a sudden I had Luther and Mariah blaring at me on a "JAZZ" station. Then it was bought out and changed to an R&B/Rap format. :mad:

The last original station in town was The Bear, a classic rock station where the DJs played only loosely followed the "Classic Rock" format. Ted Nugent's morning show was mostly talk, but he'd feature music of other well-known guitar players. Steve Black would play the more esoteric tracks. The DJ who followed him (afternoon drive) would play the harder-edged music. I just can't figure out how nearly everyone I knew listened to that station constantly, and yet their ratings were low enough at the end that they sold out to Cheap Channel.

PJ said:
Perhaps A&M Corner plus investors should start up their own Station(s) to vary the Music Menu :?:

We tried a streaming internet broadcast through Live365, but hardly anyone tuned in. It was a waste having a few of us pumping hundreds of tracks into the station only to find out there were too few listeners to make it worthwhile. When Live365 decided to start charging everyone on Aug. 1, we just decided to let it go off the air.

My only cure would be to start up a local bootleg station and broadcast out of my basement. Then I can e-mail everyone from my federal prison cell. :D (Actually, I'd prefer an FM band station, but with enough power, AM would travel a lot farther. In fact, when I lived across town, I was able to pick up KDKA (Pittsburgh) from the eastern suburbs of Detroit. What a few hundred thousand watts won't do... :wink:

-= N =-
 
Strange:
Even though Carpenters aren't well known in Germany, they often get played on a local adult contemporary station in my area (WDR 4; Westdeutscher Rundfunk 4; West-German Broadcast 4). :)

The WDR is based in Cologne.

WDR 1: todays charts; teen infos
WDR 2: 80s and 90s Charts; political infos
WDR 3: Classical; cultural infos
WDR 4: "Musik zum Träumen"( music to dream); adult contemporary; many instrumentals, too
WDR 5: German folk music

My local radio, RADIO BONN, plays a lot 70s hits, but never Carpenters. :sad:
 
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