94.9: It's Not Your Father's Oldies Anymore, It's Your Oldies.

In fact, it's not "Oldies" anymore, or the oldies you were hearing as a kid or an infant, or you might haven't even been born yet.

Whatever the case, 94.9, which had been programming oldies from 1955 through the early 70's, has just changed programming mode to playing music of the 1980's and more.

Friday, I mentioned that two radio stations in America already switched formats to 80's programming, but none in San Diego. Well, at press time, 94.9 was still playing oldies, at least up through sometime later that day.

The new handle? B94.9, with the "B" reminding you of something from the old B100 format of 1975-94 that was playing music of the AC genre, but it's not AC. Why they chose the "B" handle I don't know.

In any case, KBZT's website http://www.oldies949.com dumped the whole Oldies design, leaving the streaming audio link intact so you can listen to B94.9 on the Internet.

With the aging boomers that grew up with the "American Graffiti" era 50's-60's music retiring in ever larger numbers, and listening to the radio less as a result of the lack of need to commute regularily, there are fewer listeners who are actively listening to music of their era, and as a result, the ratings of Oldies 94.9 suffered, as well as KPOP 1360's nostalgia format, while the radio stations that are playing the more recent oldies such as 70's and 80's are still viable ratings grabbers for the time being.

In San Diego, we have KJOY 94.1 playing AC hits from the 60's-80's, Magic 92.5 playing mainly R&B from the 70's and 80's and rarely some from the 60's nowadays, and KGB playing rock from the 60's, 70's and early 80's. With Oldies 94.9 leaving the 50's and 60's Top 40 variety format, there are three period piece formats of different genres you can tune in instead; oddly enough, all are programmed by Clear Channel, which also owns the nostalgia oldies KPOP 1360. So you can still tune in mainstream oldies on your radio, but you have to turn the dial around in order to get the variety you want to hear.

Hot Country 99.3, whose classic country hits never got airplay on Oldies even though some of them were Top 40 hits in those days, is another choice to listen to country oldies.

Viacom's Planet 103.7 plays rock oldies from the 60's through the 80's, but on a more pop-rock angle, not the progressive rock angle made famous by stations such as KPRI or KMET.

Now, 94.9 is playing 10,000 songs in a row as a programming stunt to get people to sample the station. The reason for no commercials is so that the station can catch the dial changers switching up and down from one station to another and stop on 94.9 thinking that they punched the wrong station in a way as confusing as thinking you've voted for Al Gore when the hole you punched was really for Pat Buchanan.

94.9 is playing the Best of the 80's and More as its slogan. So far, the "more" part I've heard was from some 70's new wave acts such as The Cars and Blondie to name two. You'll hear acts such as John Cougar, Bryan Adams, Huey Lewis, Van Halen, Pat Benatar, The Police, U2, The Fixx, and many other acts. So far, I've heard a few 80's songs that were not played at their competetors at Star 100.7 or on McMix 95.7, but they seemed to repeat Huey Lewis' "Heart and Soul" twice within two hours.

With the change of format, the legendary Rich Brother Robbin, who had been doing afternoons, and the rest of the Oldies 94.9 staff, were rumored to be let go, but there is no confirmation at this time as the station is running jockless for the time. It's unlikely that the jocks will be retained with the format change 20 years into the future. New jocks will be announced sometime before the 10,000 song in a row stunt ends, about 30 days down the road!

Ready for the Eighties---20 Years Later

It seems like only yesterday they were old, embarrassing news. Shoved aside by rap. Humiliated by grunge. Shunned by the fans who used to swoon at their rock-star feet.

But now they are back. Spandex gleaming, poufy hair wafting proudly in the welcoming breeze. They are the musicians of the '80s, and their time has come. Again.

It's the decade many radio columnists and broadcasters would rather forget.

It's also one of the most innovative decades of music to come about. Compared to tight-playlist corporate-run radio of the 90's, the 80's brought the radio listeners a massive wealth in new music of many genres with minimal crossover problems.

We now have a whole new crop of people who are nostalgic for the good old days of the '80s.

I was a teenager through the 70's. That decade was ok, considering that I wasn't into radio or music at the time, opting to concentrate on high school, game shows, sitcoms, and cruising on the bike all day.

The music of the 70's was a mixed bag ranging from soft adult contemporary to heavy metal to disco to MOR guitar to country crossovers, while boiling underground towards the end of the 70's, there was a new wave of rock going on that would eventually emerge as the sounds of the 80's. Sounds like punk, new wave, British rock/pop, ska, reggae, and other genres would join the U.S. safe mainstream sounds and just blend in.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the 80's!

Every decade brings to us an appreciation of the music that was popular 20 years ago. They say oldies formats come in waves of 20.

In the 70's, it was the 50's music, thanks to Happy Days, MASH, and American Graffiti.

In the 80's, it was the 60's music thanks to the movies and such.

In the 90's, we've been reliving the 70's disco polyester days.

Now come the 00's and we relive the 80's decade. It's the 80's turn to take center stage in the reliving of the oldies.

Hard to believe that when I first heard new wave music, it would become golden oldies 20 years later, so it's old wave by today's decade.

Chicago gets its first all-80's music format lands on WXXY as The Eighties Channel.

Big City Radio Inc., an owner and operator of major metropolitan radio stations, responding to market research that asked audiences to choose the music that inspired them most, and '80's music was the clear winner out of numerous possible formats.

Rich Marston, Vice President and General Manager of Big City Radio's Chicago properties, is quoted of saying, "As the first of its kind in the Chicago market, we've designed The Eighties Channel 103.1 FM WXXY to convey that carefree attitude and fun that made the 80's special"

At least three more stations in the past few months just went all-80's music programming.

And this November 2000, San Diego gets its first full-time 80's radio station as 94.9 launches an all-80's format.

In San Diego, you can also listen to an all-80's format on Star 100.7 weekdays at NOON-1 and Fri at 10am-3pm, but they recently lost the 80's at 8 for some reason. You can hear the station by going to the Star website at http://www.histar.com and selecting the 80's channel to listen to in streaming audio. The 80's music selection pales in comparison to the wider variety of songs I grew up with in the 80's as you can tune in 80's songs on classic rock KGB, soft KJOY, old skool 92.5, R&B Jammin' Z-90, classic rocker 103.7, and hard rocker Rock 105.3.

There is a need here for a true All-80's format in San Diego, spanning the charts to bring you a constant variety of music. The thrill of coolness without the agony of wimpiness. The human drama of musical competetion. This is ABC's Wide World of 80's!

OK, I got carried away with that, but you get the point. Now that 94.9 is playing the eighties, Star should respond by playing more 80's variety and soon!

Yup, I just can't get enough of the 80's.

But what is it about the 80's music that is so special with today's 30- and 40-something adults? The 80's music boom can be attributed to a single event in history: the launching of MTV in 1981.

If it weren't for the then-innovative MTV and the then-cutting edge 91X, we wouldn't be reliving the music of Duran Duran, Culture Club, Flock of Seagulls, Men at Work, Billy Idol, Men Without Hats, Kajagoogoo, Falco, Toni Basil, Missing Persons, Devo, The Cars, INXS, U2, The Go-Go's, Sparks, Adam Ant, and countless other new wave/punk/ska/synth/etc bands MTV, USA's Night Flight, and TBS's Night Trax help make famous enough to relive 20 years later.

MTV, in need of music videos to fill up its 24-hour day, couldn't bear with videos of safe-pop acts such as Neil Diamond and Diana Ross; instead, it got videos from many unknown new wave and rock and roll acts from here and abroad that were trying to get some exposure to the masses, but at first, MTV's cable penetration was small and the music it was playing was basically at cult status at least through 1982.

MTV also introduced countless other acts with synthsizers, funky British accents, weird fashions, and a peppier beat than whatever mainstream Top 40 mush such as B100 was dishing out locally.

But the 80's didn't sound that cool yet. Back in 1980, disco was dead as classic rock and roll, before it was classic, began to rerule with Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, and Van Halen among the teens, but new wave acts such as The Police, Cars, B-52's, Blondie, Devo, and David Bowie were getting prominent airplay on some of the rock and roll and KROQ-L.A. radio stations, plus 13K, a top 40 station, and KIQQ 100.3 were mixing in some new wave songs that were popular enough to warrant airplay on their stations, which played mostly a MOR mix of Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Kenny Rogers, Grover Washington Jr., Cliff Richard, the late Eddie Rabbitt, and other adult-oriented acts that go completely ignored when Star, Mix, and most others play the 80's blocks of music some times during the week.

MTV helped change the landscape of popular music by introducing bands many mainstreamers never heard of before, but they somehow caught on with the younger set (including yours truly) and everybody was chanting "I Want My MTV" to their cable operators. As MTV's penetration into cable homes increased, the new "British Invasion" got louder until they began to dominate the pop charts on a more regular basis in 1983.

MTV was the premier channel when you wanted to not only hear the new bands, but to see them as well with 80's fashion statements splattered in most every video you can find, and the teens were picking up the looks of the singers and bringing them to school. While MTV avoided the sleepy adult acts, it also kept itself from becoming just another Top 40 station playing MOR stuff the teens and young adults didn't care about hearing or seeing.

91X came to being in 1983 as an alternative rocker in San Diego and helped change the course of what you hear on local radio as it began playing many interesting alternative, new wave, punk, synth, English, Aussie, and otherwise modern rock to the listeners in the area, while somehow, KPRI 106.5 tried to do the same but bombed big time, but KGB stuck to its own classic rock course and survived, though KGB was still playing new music as it should back then.

Many Top 40 stations playing 80's music came and went so fast who could count? I was bouncing from one station to another all the time.

I remember 13K going from 1979-82, the Mighty 690 from 1980-84, then I was picking up KIQQ from Los Angeles and listened to that from 1981-85, KS-103 played top 40 from 1983-87, then Q106 from 1987-98. I couldn't get KIIS at the time, but Power 106 was doing something innovative with 80's pop music and playing remixes of them during the day, and that literally put the staiton on the map of the music fans from all over Southern California, as KPWR pioneered the radio club mix concept that has been a staple of several hot hit radio stations for some time now, as well as inspring other genres such as house music, Euro dance, MARS radio 103.1, Groove Radio International, bootleg radio mixes on CDs sold at street corners, and so forth. This itself deserves a radio format of its own.

Back to the 80's, among the other popular choices were KGB, KPRI 1980-83, both rock and roll, B100 playing adult pop, Z90 playing popular 1983-85, then rock 1985-90, XHRM 92.5 playing soul 197?-1993, and KKOS 95.9 playing top 40 1986?-89.

Today, you can still relive the 80's on just about any station in town no matter what genre you want to hear. Pop/rock station Mix 95.7 used to dump the 90s and 70s music and just play '80s songs all weekend for a while in 1999. Star 100.7 plays "Eighties Flashbacks" Monday-Thursday at noon. On Fridays, Star 100.7 goes all-Eighties from 10am-3pm.

91X plays "Resurrection Sundays" Sundays 6am-NOON featuring mostly 80's and pre-80's alternative rock when it was alternative. Soft Rock KJOY 94.1 plays 80's hits not heard on the other stations.

For people who are in their late 20s and 30s, artists like Madonna, U2 and Rick Springfield are instant tickets to their memories. However, listeners of the 1980's radio stations may also be listening to music from past decades and became familiar with the music of Buddy Holly, Elvis, Beatles, Rolling Stones, you name the bands, if it was a top seller, they've probably heard it on the radio.

Even boomers in the 40's and 50's might also appreciate the music for what its worth. After all, music by genre counts more than music by decade, right?

The songs are upbeat and energetic. What's wrong with the 80's music anyway?

Star 100.7 aired an 80's Grudge Match in 1999, where listeners vote for the better of the two bands in a pool of 64 bands in an elimination pairing until one remains and is declared the ultimate 80's artist.

Each day, the station played songs by two artists, then the listeners vote to eliminate one. Eventually, the crowd of 64 artists was whittled down to one, college-basketball-championship-style.

Star also has a streaming audio Ultimate 80's station. You can find it at their website at http://www.histar.com

Just take a look at my 80's Music section at http://www.davesfunstuff.com/index80s.htm as I list and rate the 80's hits that I have heard that were in the Billboard Hot 100 during the period, most of which are not heard on radio stations nowadays, and the ones I rate high on my list are often overlooked for airplay as I defined some of them as being totally cool to listen to.

Among my favorite songs of the 80's of all time: "1999", by Prince, "Addicted To Love" by Robert Palmer. "Beat It" by Michael Jackson with Eddie Van Halen playing lead guitar, "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel, "Cars", by Gary Numan, "Celebration" by Kool & The Gang, "Dancing In The Dark" by Bruce Springsteen. "Don't Stand So Close To Me" by The Police, "Down Under" by Men At Work, "Eat It" by "Weird Al" Yankovic. "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant, "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police, "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears. "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. "Girls On Film", by Duran Duran, "Hungry Like The Wolf" by Duran Duran. "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" by Sting. "Into The Groove" by Madonna. "Let's Dance" by David Bowie. "Money For Nothing", by Dire Straits. "Pump Up The Volume" by M/A/R/R/S "Shout", by Tears For Fears, "Sussudio" by Phil Collins. "Take On Me", by a-ha. "The Heat Is On" by Glenn Frey. "The Reflex", by Duran Duran.

I gave the question earlier whether an all-80's format would work and some of the readers said no. The 80's brought us such as wealth of notable music that it deserves a station of its own as there are plenty of good upbeat songs to program, including hundreds more songs I didn't document since they didn't rank on the Billboard chart.

Offshoots aimed at a particular genre could work depending on the listening audience: New Wave/Alternative Rock, Pop/House, Rock and Roll, Soft Favorites, and Old Skool. Furthermore, songs from the latter half of the 70's could be mixed in such as those from the punk and disco genres since they spawned movements into other branches of subgenres or whole different hybrids.

80s Concerts

Some of the people who enjoyed the music of the 80s were getting their getting their fix at local concert venues, where this past summer's way-back parade included concerts by '80s survivors Pat Benatar, Hall & Oates, Weird Al Yankovic, Blondie, Cheap Trick and Foreigner, Duran Duran, Motley Crue, a reunited Go-Gos and Bangles, Poison; and the "Club '80s Flashback Tour," which brought A Flock of Seagulls, Wang Chung and Missing Persons to Viejas Concerts in the Park.

80s on the Air

94.9 plays 80's 24 hours a day, Z90.3 has the "Old School Show with Tommy T.", Sundays 7pm 91X has "Resurrection Sunday" from 6am-Noon, and "Resurrection Request" Weekdays at 5:30pm. More-FM 98.9 plays an hour of 80's Dance/Rock remixes Fridays 7-8pm Star 100.7 has the 80's at Noon Mon-Fri, with Friday Midday 80's 10am-3pm, Rock 105.3 has "Big Hair Wednesdays" at noon.

80's CD's
"Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the 80's."
"Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Women"
"New Wave Dance Hits of the 80's."
"Kurtis Blow Presents the History of Rap"
"Chuck D. Presents: Louder Than a Bomb"
"VH-1's The Big 80's Series"
"The Greatest Hits of the 80's, Vols 1-3."
"Monster 80's."
"Heavy Metal Hits of the 80's, Vols 1-3."
"Disco Queens: The 80's."

Thanks to such '80s-oriented specialty shows, you can travel back in time without leaving the house.

"I'm not surprised by the popularity of these songs, but sometimes I am surprised by their longevity," says Tracy Johnson, Star 100.7's program director and general manager. "We started playing more '80s music in 1995, and five years later, we're still playing 'Come on Eileen' by Dexys Midnight Runners and people are still turning it up."

At Star 100.7, program director Johnson began adding more '80s-era tunes to the station's adult-contemporary mix five years ago. When KMSX-FM slipped into the 95.7 spot in 1998, its playlist mixed current hits from Celine Dion and matchbox twenty with old favorites from Phil Collins, UB40 and Prince. And while 91X and Rock 105.3 specialize in new rock 'n' roll for younger listeners, both stations make time for retro programming.

Spurred by listener enthusiasm, radio's flirtation with the '80s has heated up in the last year. At 91X, program director [NAME DELETED] expanded Steve West's "Resurrection Sunday" program from four to six hours and added a weekday "Resurrection Request" feature. Meanwhile, at Star 100.7, Johnson is resurrecting the ghosts of Q-Feel ("Dancing in Heaven"), Toni Basil ("Mickey") and Falco ("Rock Me Amadeus") with daily '80s blocks, and the occasional all-'80s weekend.

When he began programming 91X three years ago, [NAME DELETED] considered changing the alternative-rock mainstay to a classic new-wave format. The switch didn't happen, but [NAME DELETED] can understand why music fans are yearning for the sounds of their skinny-tie pasts.

"I find that whatever music people listened to in high school and college is the music that sticks with them for life," [NAME DELETED] says. "When you are 35, you are at a stage in life where you realize that you're not a kid anymore, but you're not old either, and listening to that music makes you feel young again.

For music to move from the discount bin to the "In" list, music fans have to be vulnerable enough to need it again, and good-humored enough to embrace it, flaws and all. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it certainly makes the ears (and eyes) more forgiving.

"There was a moment in the late '80s and early '90s where people could not get enough of Ratt and Poison and all those goofy bands. And there was quite a long moment that began with Nirvana where people didn't want to get anywhere near them," said VH1's Flanagan.

"Then enough time goes by that people can look back on the music and enjoy it for what it was. For some people, that means saying, 'Hey, that record was great! It reminds me of my senior prom!' For others, that means saying: 'Can you believe those idiots! Look how they looked!' If something has been dead and buried for a while, then people can dig it up and decide it's pretty good looking after all."

Which could explain why one of the most popular "Behind the Music" episodes is the one featuring Motley Crue. And why radio stations across the country are devoting precious air time to '80s trivia contests, flashback weekends, "Totally '80s" all-request lunch hours and Friday-night '80s marathons. And why their most-requested song lists include such tacky treasures as Nena's "99 Red Balloons," a-ha's "Take on Me," and Modern English's "I Melt With You."

"There were a great deal of one-hit wonders back then, and an unusual number of them have stuck in peoples' minds," says [NAME DELETED]. "It was a romantic time for anyone who was looking for entertainment. Between the bigger role music was playing in movies and the growth of MTV, all these things made music really relevant to people's lives. It was always there."

80's Fashion and the Marketplace

Whether you think it is weird (Dexys Midnight Runners?), wonderful (Dexys Midnight Runners!) or just disconcerting ('80s nostalgia? Already?), the resurgence of '80s music is nothing if not inevitable. Conspicuous consumption is in again, designer logos are hot, and it's OK to wear high heels with jeans. With its booming economy and love of big cars and bigger houses, the new millennium is looking awfully familiar already. And as the kids of the '80s become the big-ticket consumers of 2000, the hills will be alive with the sound of their musical youth.

"The marketplace is always ready to recognize when a new generation is buying houses and having kids and buying station wagons, and that is a very potent time to hit them with memories of their late teens and early 20s," says Bill Flanagan, senior vice president and editorial director for television's VH1, where subjects for the popular "Behind the Music" documentaries have included Motley Crue, Duran Duran, Boy George and, most recently, the Go-Go's and Bon Jovi.

"Our audience is less interested in the '70s, and it shows a shocking lack of interest in the '60s. But our audience is very interested in the '80s. The '80s were very important to our viewers, so they are very important to us."

80s Debuts

Once you get past "Turning Japanese" and "One Night in Bangkok," some blasts from the past are so powerful, they transcend nostalgia altogether. The '80s marked the recording debuts of U2, R.E.M., Madonna, Public Enemy and Run-D.M.C.; the commercial flowering of Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Talking Heads; and the return of Tina Turner and David Bowie. The list of blockbuster albums released in 1984 alone includes Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A.," Prince's "Purple Rain," Madonna's "Like a Virgin," Turner's "Private Dancer," and Cyndi Lauper's "She's So Unusual" -- enough to give the year a "Behind the Music" episode of its own.

"Music was really terrific in the '80s, and the '80s themselves were great," says Johnson. "The economy was good, the stock market was on a bull run, and people just felt good. When people feel good, music tends to be fun and upbeat and positive. Now, when people hear those songs, it helps them look back with a feeling of contentment."

2010: Reviving the 90's

Nostalgia is a vital part of our pop-culture diet, and when the current batch runs out, there will be a new one to take its place. Not to mention loads of hungry consumers with empty plates and a sudden hankering for leftovers.

"For us, the question usually is, 'What was the most important music to a 30-year-old when he or she was 19 or 20?' And it's a constantly moving thing," says Flanagan. "I think we'll be moving into the place where the late '80s and early '90s crossed over very shortly. Guns N' Roses are probably about five minutes away from being of great interest. By 2005, you'll probably see people saying nothing has been any good since Nirvana. By 2010, people will be wearing baggy cut-offs and having '90s parties, and by 2015, we'll just accept '90s nostalgia as natural."

So when in 2020 it's time to relive the "glory" days of pop music's 2000s, look forward to hearing and seeing the future-middle aged acts of Ricky Martin, 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Eminem, and Christina Aguliera, most of which would have crows feet, wrinkles, and pot bellies!

More on 94.9 Flipping to 80's

Over the course of the weekend, San Diego became the home of two radio stations that are now playing rock and pop music from the 80's decade.

The whole staff at DRW (one person) has been fervently trying to piece together all the news about the two competeting radio stations that is coming faster than the updated election results from Florida!

On Friday at NOON, we witnessed the changing of the format of 94.9 from the oldies from the 60's decade for the most part to the oldies from the 80's decade as KBZT, which played oldies music with the handle of K-Best 95 since 1992 and Oldies 94.9 since January, loses the sole oldies programming format that plays a variety of genres from the 60's.

The new handle? B94.9, with the "B" reminding you of something from the old B100 format of 1975-94 that was playing music of the AC genre, but it's not AC. Why they chose the "B" handle I don't know.

In any case, KBZT's website http://www.oldies949.com dumped the whole Oldies design, leaving the streaming audio link intact so you can listen to B94.9 on the Internet. There is a new design on the 94.9 logo that just went up this week.

94.9 is playing the "Best of the 80's and More" as its slogan. So far, the "more" part I've heard was from some 70's new wave acts such as The Cars and Blondie to name two. You'll hear acts such as John Cougar/Mellencamp, Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, Huey Lewis, Van Halen, Don Henley, REM, Journey, Tom Petty, Pat Benatar, The Police, U2, The Fixx, and many other acts.

Now, 94.9 is playing 10,000 songs in a row as a programming stunt to get people to sample the station. The reason for no commercials is so that the station can catch the dial changers switching up and down from one station to another and stop on 94.9 thinking that they punched the wrong station in a way as confusing as thinking you've voted for Al Gore when the hole you punched was really for Pat Buchanan.

The 80's music is focused on the rock and pop genres of 94.9 as well as Mix 95.7 (more on that in a minute or so).

Mike Bushey remains as the Program Director of KBZT, while veteran afternoon host Rich "Brother" Robbin will return to the air upon the completion of 10,000 songs in a row. He's promoted the viability of an eighties format since the mid-90s. He has a contract until next summer. No other personnel changes from the format will change according to one website source. sdradio.net confirms that Chuck Buell, the morning man at 94.9, is a "former morning man" as he's off the station's on-air lineup.

Where can you go to now if you want to listen to a wide variety of oldies from the 60's era? You could try K-Earth 101.1 (available in many places with good radios) out of Los Angeles, or if you're out of the way of KTYD's 99.9 rocker in Santa Barbara, you could get KOLA 99.9's oldies out of San Bernadino. If you have access to the Internet, log on to broadcast.com and search for one yourself. I have no reccomendations about oldies radio to share with you, so you'll need to judge the playlists of the oldies stations you discover yourself.

95.7 Also Goes 80's

While we had the usual weekend off, except for posting a late-breaking news item about 94.9 going 80's as well as a report on the 80's radio renaissance, Mix 95.7 had decided to go all-80's all the time.

A day after Jefferson-Pilot's KBZT dropped its traditional Oldies format for a pop/rock '80s format as "B94.9," Clear Channel's Hot AC KMSX 95.7 made a "format adjustment" on Saturday by dropping its current titles for an '80s blend as "The New Mix 95.7." Now how long are they going to keep the "New" part of their handle? Three years?

Clear Channel/San Diego GM/FM Stations Mike Glickenhaus told R&R ONLINE that KMSX has been an '80s-based station since its inception and that 80% of the music was already in the station's library. When asked if their decision to go '80s was in response to KBZT's move, he said, "I'm not sure I'd put it that way. We felt this was the best way to defend market changes."

KMSX is promoting itself as "The Best Mix of the 80's and More." That slogan is worded as closely as KBZT's promoting line as "The Best Music of the 80's and More."

More slogan wars:

94.9: "The Only Station Specializing in the Hits of the 80's and More!"

95.7: "An Upbeat Mix of the 80's and More!"

94.9: "The Best of the 80's and More!"

95.7 plays 50 minutes of music per hour.

94.9 plays 60 minutes of music per hour.

Presidential candidate George W. Bush goes even further and on his mythical radio station, he plays 70 minutes of music per hour!

60's Radio in 80's vs. 80's Radio in 00's

Are there more stations playing 80's music this decade than there were stations playing 60's music two decades before?

Let's take a look back at San Diego radio in a Then and Now segment. This list includes radio stations that play 60's or 80's music as part of their playlists on a regular basis. This goes for the FM stations only. The stations that do play songs from two decades before are marked with 60's or 80's.

STATION   FORMAT    1980   FORMAT   2000  OTHER DECADES
-------   ------    ----   ------   ----  -------------
90.3      Spanish   N.A.   Urban    80's  90's, 00's
91.1      Rock      60's   Modern   80's  90's, 00's
92.1      Rock      ???    Classicl maybe
92.5      Urban     no     Urban    80's  70's, 60's
93.3      Christian N.A.   CHR      no    90's, 00's
94.1      Classical N.A.   SoftAC   80's  70's, 60's
94.9      Oldies    60's   Oldies   80's
95.7      OFF AIR   N.A.   Oldies   80's
96.5      Soft AC   60's   Soft AC  80's  90's, 00's
97.3      Country   60's   Country  80's  90's, 00's
98.1      Lite Rock no     Jazz     maybe
99.3      OFF AIR   N.A.   Country  80's  60's - 00's
100.7     A/C       no     Mod AC   80's  90's, 00's
101.5     Rock      60's   Rock     80's  60's, 70's
102.1     Light     60's   AAA80's  60's - 00's
102.9     Easy      60's   Spanish  N.A.
103.7     Easy      60's   Rock     80's  60's, 70's
105.3     Top 40    no     HardRock 80's  70's - 00's
106.5     Rock      60's   Spanish  N.A.

It is also noted that current talkers KOGO 600 and KFMB 760 played AC music. KMJC 910 (now KECR) played current AC Top 40 before switching to Religious in 1980. KGB-AM as 13K played current Top 40 music through 1982, KCBQ 1170 played Top 40, and KSON-AM 1240 played country music.

Star Also Plays 80's Music in Part

Enter 100.7: "The Best Songs of the 80's! All Request 80's at Noon on Star!"

Star 100.7 has been playing its own mix of pop-modern, rock and pop music from the 80's since around 1995 or so, and has occasionally done several all-80's weekends. Visit the Star Ultimate 80's page at: http://www.histar.com/ultimate_80s/ultimate_80s.shtml and you'll see some 80's lists you can vote on.

Some recent lists include:

Best 80's Party Song
3. Love Shack - B-52's
2. You Spin Me Round - Dead Or Alive
1. 1999 - Prince 

Best 80's One Hit Wonder
3. Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles 
2. Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners 
2. Take On Me - a-ha (tie) 
1. Tainted Love - Soft Cell

Best 80's Music Video
3. We Are The World - USA For Africa
2. Take On Me - a-ha
1. Thriller - Michael Jackson

Best 80's New Wave Band
3. The Cure
2. Oingo Boingo
1. Depeche Mode

Best 80's Album
3. Thiller - Michael Jackson
3. Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
2. Purple Rain - Prince
1. Joshua Tree - U2

Most Underrated 80's Artist
3. Psychedelic Furs
2. Talking Heads
1. UB40

Weirdest 80's Artist
3. Cyndi Lauper
2. Devo
1. Boy George

Dumbest 80's Band Name
3. Scritti Politti
2. Haircut One Hundred
1. Kajagoogoo

Best 80's Novelty Song
3. B-52's - Rock Lobster
2. The Buggels - Video Killed the Radio Star
1. Falco - Rock Me Amadeus

80's Radio Programs Online

Retro Rewind, a five-hour radio show specializing in the music of the 80's, is available live online Saturdays from 4-9pm pacific time from their website http://www.retrorewind.com/

BackTrax USA hosted by Kid Kelly is also available online, but only the archives from last year are up. Check it out at http://www.backtrax.com/

Sets Sick of 80's?

Sets 102.1, which plays songs made in the 80's, is airing a promo that doesn't quite fit the musical direction of the station when it comes to playing songs of the past 40 years.

They're airing promos asking listeners if they're getting sick of all-80s. Sets 102.1, the promo says, is for discriminating listeners whose "record albums have grown since high school."

But Sets plays songs from the 80's with acts such as INXS, U2, Elvis Costello, The Clash, and the same old song by the Robert Cray Band. Perhaps people are getting tired of hearing the same 80's songs from the same groups Sets keeps playing and people want to hear more songs from the 80's by tuning in B94.9 or Mix 95.7.

Star 100.7 has been cutting back on playing 80's music blocks as of recent, but still plays the same narrow selection of 80's music. Let's hope that these new 80's decade stations (they're not genres, they're period piece programming formats) give these two stations that start with an "S" an incentive to beef up their 80's selections.

Didn't Tom Campbell, the past spokesman of the old Dow Stereo, mention product sales from brands "It starts with an 'S'!"

80's Formats Charging Like Wildfire

This past month, San Diego witnessed the birth of two new programming formats specializing in the music made from the 80's, also known as period piece programming. A decade is not a format, remember that.

San Diego is not alone in their quest to get the lucrative 18-49 listening demographic as 94.9 dumped the 60's PPP format aimed at the older folks for the 80's PPP format aimed at the listeners who are not so close to collecting Social Security checks for another 25-35 years. A day later, Mix 95.7 changed to 80's PPP format as well. You've been reading on many other radio news websites about stations in other cities changing programming to 80's PPP format in the past month.

In the 80's, oldies stations mainly played hits from the 50's-60's era. In the 90's, it as somewhat from the 70's although a majority of the hits came from the 60's since The Beatle invasion in 1964.

Now the time has come for the 1980s oldies station. In the past month, at least a dozen stations from Louisville, Ky., to San Francisco have jumped on the format. Listeners from the "I Want My MTV" generation can absorb uninterrupted swaths of Pat Benatar, Police and Duran Duran all over again.

KVMX-FM, a Portland, Ore., station known as Mix 107.5 owned by Viacom Inc.'s Infinity Broadcasting Corp., switched in June from a rock oldies format to an 80's PPP format. It surprised the radio industry by jumping to No. 1 in all major demographics in its market from 16th place, according to the summer Arbitron ratings. "Worst to first!" says its 27-year-old program director, Michelle Engel.

To Gen Xers, happy-go-lucky 1980s pop music, ranging from Bon Jovi to Cyndi Lauper, is comfort food. " '90s music was really depressed," says Tom LaLumiere, a 34-year-old Air Force defense analyst in Leesburg, Va. "I want to feel upbeat again."

The only problem with 90's music was that stations kept playing the grunge, rap, and soft pop fluff that as predominant on the playlists of many radio stations who forgot what programming feel-good music is all about in about 1991 or so. While the better songs were being played in Europe and elsewhere outside the States, the American stations stuck with such artists such as Nirvana, Celine Dion, and The Notorious B.I.G. singing forgettable and unimportant songs, rather than to program music that you could listen to such as upbeat rock of any subgenre, dance mixes and electronica, and upbeat new wave/pop heard on only on a few stations where you could find them being played somewhere on the dial.

Some complain that a lot of '80s music was mindless pop by people who thought they were being deep, like Simple Minds. Others treat it as a welcome change back to the days when radio sounded good enough to listen to for longer periods of time.

"I'd rather be listening to fast and cool music than those sleepy ballads anyday," says one anonymous listener. "The 80's music concept of making music that is fun to listen to is lost on today's artists today. Radio just doesn't get it in finding new feel-good/no-bore music that makes people tune to their station in the first place."

Another listener comments, "The 80's had all the great bands such as Springsteen, Go-Gos, and INXS. The only thing about the 80's I didn't like was that the boring singers like Diana Ross kept making stupid love songs all the time."

The roots of this phenomenon can be traced to Kid Kelly, a 22-year-old deejay who decided to mine the '80s when they had barely ended, back in 1991. He shopped around a weekly two-hour syndicated '80s music show called Backtrax USA and persuaded 50 stations to jump aboard. Today, he says the show is played on 250 stations, reaching 20 million potential listeners.

The 1980s revival hit the big screen with the success of the '80s-tinged soundtrack from Adam Sandler's 1998 movie "The Wedding Singer." On the Internet, NetRadio Corp., a Minneapolis online radio company that offers more than 120 music formats, noticed that its '80s station consistently attracted the most listeners.

Radio stations began programming "flashback '80s" lunch-hour shows. A couple of stations tried '80s full time in suburban Chicago and Columbus, Ohio.

Then last December, Infinity introduced the '80s format at KYPT-FM in Seattle, known as "The Point," and grabbed strong ratings. Coupled with the Portland station's ratings success announced last month, radio chains such as Cox Enterprises Inc.'s Cox Radio Inc. of Atlanta and Clear Channel Communications Inc. of San Antonio, Texas, began jumping on the bandwagon. Two stations in San Diego switched to '80s programming within a 24-hour period earlier this month, setting up what looks to be an old-fashioned format war between their owners, Clear Channel and Jefferson-Pilot Corp.'s Jefferson-Pilot Communications Inc. of Greensboro, N.C.

Each station picks 300 to 500 '80s songs to play (which is short depending on the number of listenable songs that were produced in that decade alone), based on the city. Philadelphia's WWDB is opting for a more rock-oriented recipe while Portland's Mix 107.5 sounds like a top-40 pop station trapped in 1986. A recent stretch of music on Mix 107.5 included Billy Joel's "Allentown," Prince's "When Doves Cry," Philip Bailey and Phil Collins with "Easy Lover" and the Thompson Twins' "Lay Your Hands on Me."

About half the tunes on Mix 107.5 are regularly played on soft-rock stations today, perennials that many listeners never tired of such as synth-pop "Tainted Love" and the classic "Every Breath You Take." But much of the playlist includes songs popular in their day but not played much anymore, such as "Perfect Way" by one-hit wonders Scritti Politti and "Missionary Man" by the Eurythmics.

Supporters argue that the format could work long term because, like top-40 stations in the 1960s, those in the 1980s played a variety of music, from rock to dance to new wave, though it all seemed to fit together.

"It's a cohesive sound," says Randy Kabrich, a Tampa, Fla., radio consultant who is crisscrossing the country helping companies launch '80s stations, all marketed as "The Point."

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All '80s, All the Time 
A typical hour of '80s music from WVMX-FM, Mix 107.5 in Portland, Ore. 
Time Song Title/Artist Released 
5:00 Some Guys Have All the Luck/Rod Stewart 1984
5:04 We Got the Beat/Go-Go's 1982 
5:07 Something About You/Level 42 1986 
5:20 I Can't Go For That/Hall & Oates 1982
5:24 Raspberry Beret/Prince 1985 
5:28 Some Like It Hot/The Power Station 1985
5:33 In the Air Tonight/Phil Collins 1981
5:44 (Keep Feeling) Fascination/Human League 1983
5:48 Right Here, Right Now/Jesus Jones 1991
5:51 Tarzan Boy/Baltimora 1986 
5:54 Somebody/Bryan Adams 1985
5:59 Let's Dance/David Bowie 1983 
Source: Broadcast Data Systems 
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In comparison, pop music splintered badly in the 1970s, with soft pop such as the Carpenters, rock such as Pink Floyd and disco such as Donna Summer. Similarly, the 1990s diverted into several directions, from hip-hop to country to grunge, hurting top-40 radio for much of the decade.

But not everyone is swayed by the new strategy. "It's a cookie-cutter format that doesn't need a lot of expensive deejays," says Scott Shannon, an influential program director for soft-rock station WPLJ-FM in New York. Mr. Shannon says '80s music might become the "fad format" of the day. He says there's always the risk of listener fatigue because "there's no new pipeline of new music." His station, which has catered to the 25- to 44-year-old crowd for many years, plays only about one '80s song an hour.

Source: Wall Street Journal