Commentary: Oldies Music on San Diego Radio (Apr 5, 2008)

Just hearing a Buddy Holly, Platters, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, and Elvis Presley song gives me a thrill; these are artists whose hits were released before I was born, yet I can hum "Rock Around the Clock" and "Hounddog".

Its great to hear the good old hits every once in a while, but therein lies the problem with music that old: it's just old and doesn't generate long term listeners as they tire out or they just listen for a few hours a month, then go back to listening to other genres or stations.

Under ownerships that preceded the radio buying craze of the late 90s, we would still be listening to oldies and standards formats to this day on local radio in San Diego if it weren't for the fact that the kids running Clear Channel decided to ditch whatever made perfectly good background music while we worked into a talk station that requires far more brainpower to enjoy such as Air America and XTRA. Putting on talk in the background while you work is just not the same as putting on the classic hits on the radio.

What we get for music stations on the Clear Channel stations today remind me of the devolution of radio music programming since the golden era.

In the 1950s, we got your appetizers. Holly, Presley, Haley, etc.

In the 1960s, we got your dinner buffet. Beatles, Kinks, Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, etc.

In the 1970s, we got the desserts. Led Zeppelin, CCR, Elton John, Lynard Skynard, KC and the Sunshine Band, etc.

In the 1980s, we got the indigestion. Barbra Streisand, Kenny G, etc.

In the 1990s, we got to head to the toilet.

In the 2000s, as you look down in the toilet, you see it swirling around and down the drain. That's what radio music has turned into, and for that, just tune in any Clear Channel music station for predictable dreck, monotonous bands, and acts that don't appeal to anybody over the age of Ryan Seacrest.

Turn up and down the dial and the only place for oldies music is AM 1040, a weak radio station that relies on a satellite feed for its format. Boring!

Rumors keep swirling around that a new oldies station will be coming to San Diego, but again, what station would be an ideal candidate for such a format? Should 103.7 have stayed with the oldies format that it stunted for two hours, only to change it to a disastorous format that goes nowhere?

What about 105.7? They can carry the Padres and NFL telecasts with 1090, but flip to oldies music during the other times. Three sports talk stations are just too much for one market; there's just not enough listeners for this genre.

What about 100.7? Sure, they're playing the closest thing to oldies, Jack, but that station could go oldies from the 50s through the 80s and play whatever still works today. Nothing from the 00s that Jack plays rings a bell because the 00s music is corporate selected by suits from the big labels, and nothing is sticking with me.

Let's not forget KPRI 102.1. Their AAA format is going nowhere, and AAA as a format had its day in the 90s, but with a city-grade signal, they should consider flipping the format to oldies with a lean towards classic rock.

New radio music for the most part isn't what it used to be back in the 60s or 70s. Back then, we had, well, real talent that didn't appeal to a narrow segment of the audience. Today, everything Channel, Star, and Sophie plays has to cater to females 25-34. Screw the men, sez the radio stations.

Try as the stations might, they are failing to consider and play bands that appeal to a broad audience, hence, they're not broad-casting anymore, they're narrow-casting, limiting their ratings potential.

With the Internet, people are discovering bands that radio just won't play, and radio isn't fooling anybody by saying that they're playing bands they found on Myspace when all they're really playing is music that matches the Hot AC or AAA genres the station is formatted for.

With so many Myspace and Soundclick bands out there, you would think that somebody would create a format that embraces the bands that are out to be the next Elvis, Beatles, Zeppelin, Prince, or Nirvana. Instead, we get bands that sound like Maroon 5 or Alicia Keys.

So when are we going to get a radio station that plays the fun hits of today and the past?