CD 101.9 becomes WXRP

[Jen Keenan]

I was flipping up the dial and instead of Kenny G I heard Arcade Fire. The twenty-year-old "smooth jazz" station has just flipped to "Adult Album Alternative", whatever the fuck that means. The first hour of airplay, according to their web site:

1. The Velvet Underground - Rock and Roll
2. R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious
3. Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
4. Tom Petty - Mary Jane's Last Dance
5. Blondie - Call Me
6. The Bravery - Believe
7. Bruce Springsteen - Blinded By The Light
8. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize
9. U2 - Angel Of Harlem
10. Nickelback - Rockstar
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Zephyr Song
12. The Black Crowes - Hard To Handle
13. The Killers - Somebody Told Me

I know most of you are hip to the iTunes et alia but I am broke, old and lazy and this is about the closest NYC radio has gotten to not sucking in a long, long, long, long time. Who else is happy? Just me? All right!

 

[mikelibrarian]

I'll try it out.

 

[Scotty561]

Thanks for the heads up.
That playlist looks similar to my ipod, so I'll definitely try it.

There's a Philadelphia station, 104.5, made a similar format move recently.
Benefit of living in Central Jersey, I get both cities radio & tv stations!!

Notice that the call letters are 1 away from WKRP??
I was expecting Dr. Johnny Fever, Venus Flytrap & Les Nesman when I first saw the thread.

 

[d_chadwick]

Look for some angry, un-mellow smooth jazz fans out there.

 

[Jen Keenan]

Everyone knows the cool livery drivers listen to BBC World Service. The kind of people who like acid jazz are the kind of people who pay for satellite radio.

Dangit, Scotty - that is so cool. How much does it suck that I mistyped that? It's RXP, which stands for "Rock Experience". I'm baffled. Every time they piss me off with a DMB tune they sooth me with Spoon or Beck.

I know Central Jersey fairly well, esp. that radio benefit. I used to be able to tell you the exact point on Route 1 where you had to switch from Philly to NY radio stations. Oops, you must excuse me now - something about a Radio Clash going on.

 

[HairballofDoom]

Radio 104 in Connecticut has just returned to their old programing which is pretty much along the same lines as WXPR. I got a call from an old friend in CT when this happened and it made my day.

I remember the day 104 changed to being a pop-hip-hop (i.e. crappy hip-hop) station all of my friends (myself included) shed a few tears. I think I mainly wept because that meant the 104 crew wouldn't be able to play kick ball against the college radio station I was with at the time (we had words during a club fair).

 

[Jen Keenan]

Brass monkey? That funky monkey!

 

[Scotty561]

I know Central Jersey fairly well, esp. that radio benefit. I used to be able to tell you the exact point on Route 1 where you had to switch from Philly to NY radio stations. Oops, you must excuse me now - something about a Radio Clash going on.

Depends on the station.
I live in Lawrence and work in Princeton. Some stations I get at work from NYC I can't pick up at home and vice versa for the Philadelphia stations.

I even went to 101.9's website and didn't pick up on the misspelled call letters till I read your new post!!

(and some of us like DMB. Hope I don't piss you off. )

 

[mikelibrarian]

I've been listening to this station for most of the day. The most common commercial, and often only commercial during the breaks, is for HD radio. If your main sponsor wants to put you out of business, you're in trouble.

 

[Dr. Figby]

Look for some angry, un-mellow smooth jazz fans out there.

Right here. The greatest city in the world and we don't have any jazz stations? Now we don't even have a smooth jazz station? When I would cab it downtown after a set at the Comic Strip or Stand-Up NY, I would ask the driver to throw CD101 on just smooth out the adrenaline rush.

If this is a truly a good rock station, fine. But why does it have to be at the expense of the only jazz(ish) station we have?

New York radio sucks giant elephant dick.

 

[MichelleD]

Right here. The greatest city in the world and we don't have any jazz stations? Now we don't even have a smooth jazz station? When I would cab it downtown after a set at the Comic Strip or Stand-Up NY, I would ask the driver to throw CD101 on just smooth out the adrenaline rush.

If this is a truly a good rock station, fine. But why does it have to be at the expense of the only jazz(ish) station we have?

New York radio sucks giant elephant dick.

There is a jazz station on the far 88 end of the dial.

 

[Jen Keenan]

WBGO, 88.3 FM. God was that bloody station burned into my brain. My dad would buy cheap radios and carry them through the house because they got it in better. Also, he is cheap.

Dr. Figby, might I suggest Lite FM for your mellowing needs?

mikelibrarian, HD radio is the pumped-up version of commercial radio. It is not like satellite - the high def just provides room for more/secondary channels. It is how you can still find Jack if you were not happy about the return of the oldies, or how you can get your Smooth Jazz on if you still need that fix.

But have you heard the plastic surgery commercial yet? Guys bragging about their wives' new boobs? Now that's disturbing.

 

[John_Frusciante]

This station kind of reminds me of Q104.3 when they first switched from Classical music to alternative/underground rock. Remember that? Oh man that format was so kick-ass. They started out on NYE of like '93 or '94 by playing the entire AC/DC catalogue in alphabetical order. There were no DJ's for at least three months and their playlist included Type O Negative, The Toadies, The Afghan Whigs, Sponge, Hum, and a bunch of other awesome shit you couldn't hear anywhere else on the radio. Then they got DJ's, and it was fine for a while until, one day, I heard them do something for the first time that I knew would be a harbinger of the format's demise: a giveaway. They were starting to give away prizes in a desperate attempt to attract listeners. It was painful to listen to. Within a few months, the station switched to classic rock, and the days of blasting "Gentleman" from my car radio were over.

This format is kind of like that, but not as cool. If they play "Christian Woman," I'll be sold.


John.