Throughout the 80’s, KZZP/Phoenix enjoyed incredible success, establishing itself as one of America’s legendary CHRs. Per the station’s Wikipedia page, it “produced a long list of future stars in the radio business”, and offered a music mix that was adventurous for a Top 40 station – as illustrated by the other KZZP montages posted here.
But, like many of its peers in the format, KZZP struggled to adjust to changing pop music tastes in the early 90’s. By the Spring of 1991, the station had morphed into an Adult CHR, as heard on this aircheck. (It reminds me very much of what was playing on cable’s VH1 at the time, when it still focused on showing music videos.)
Not long after this recording, KZZP’s 11-year run sadly came to an end – owner Nationwide Communications flipped it to AC (making it the fifth station in the market to offer some variation of the format) as KVRY “Variety 104.7”.
Chicago’s Hot 94-7 FM represented the high-energy, but short-lived aftermath of “Hell 94.7”, and the final (as of this writing) attempt of this frequency to compete with heritage Rhythmic CHR WBBM-FM (B96). Please visit this page (scroll about halfway down) for more details.
In the mid to late 90’s, CKEY offered a dance music-heavy Rhythmic CHR format branded as “FM 101 The Planet”. This is a sample of the station during mixshow programming, hosted by Dance music expert Chris Sheppard.
This is a sample of the Gateway City’s longtime CHR station (at this point it was somewhat of a CHR/Modern AC hybrid) a couple of years after it moved from its longtime home at 106.5 FM.
At one point, a legal ID voiced by the late and great Casey Kasem is heard, even though the station was featuring regular programming at that point.
This aircheck of KKFR, during its peak in the mid-1990’s, features morning show hosts Bruce Kelly & Maggie Brock broadcasting live from Majerle’s sports bar in downtown Phoenix, giving away tickets to games in the the Portland Trailblazers/Phoenix Suns first-round NBA playoff series.
KMGQ (which referred to itself as both “106.3 KMGQ” and “Magic 106”) offered an upbeat Adult Contemporary format. More information about the history of the station can be found at Wikipedia.
Generally speaking, at least in the U.S., the larger the market, the less interesting (musically) the radio stations become. Fortunately, towards the end of the 90’s, Z100 — a heritage Mainstream CHR in Market #1 — was an exception to this rule. While the station’s music mix was perhaps not quite as diverse as it had been two years prior, it still stood out among its peers.
KMGQ (which referred to itself as both “106.3 KMGQ” and “Magic 106”) offered an upbeat Adult Contemporary format. More information about the history of the station can be found at Wikipedia.
In early 1986, Emmis Broadcasting flipped 105.9 FM in Los Angeles from KMGG “Magic 106″ (apparently some form of Hot AC) to Rhythmic CHR (then a relatively new format) as “Power 106″. The station became an instant hit, surpassing heritage Mainstream KIIS in all dayparts except Morning Drive, where Rick Dees continued to dominnate.
The beginning of this aircheck contains various snippets of KPWR from what appears to be approximately 1989. It is then followed by a special mix featured on the station in 1995, titled “Blowin’ Up 10 Years of Flava.” However, as stated above, KPWR did not actually hit the airwaves until 1986.
Another tribute, correctly celebrating the station’s 10-year anniversary, aired in January 1996.
“I can still hear the voice of the late Chuck Riley…the same voice on the legendary WNAP “Wrath of the Buzzard” ID.
“72,000 watts of music power (…music power…music power…) KPWR Los Angeles. Power 106.”
I think back on how Emmis struggled with moribund LA AC radio station “Magic 106.” Not even LA radio great Robert W. Morgan in morning drive or using Lakers great Magic Johnson in their advertising helped. Then one day I walk into the production room at the old WENS Landmark Center studios. For some reason Emmis VP of Programming Rick Cummings was carting up dance music. He quickly admitted it was for a format change in Los Angeles.
Cummings and WENS production assistant Darla Coop carted music. Production Director Eric Edwards produced those Riley IDs in Indianapolis — and eventually moved to LA. Those carts left the building in an re-cycled paper towel box. Overnighted and on 1/11/1986, Power was born. Doyle Rose was GM. Jeff Wyatt was PD. Jay Thomas (yeah, from “Mork & Mindy” and Carla’s hockey player husband on “Cheers”) worked morning drive.
Power beat Kiss FM in their second book – only talk KABC did better that spring of 1986. In the fall of ’86, Power was number one. From there on, every book was a battle between Kiss and Power for number one. Seeing that LA opening for a hispanic focus dance leaning CHR was Emmis’ first great success on a national level.”
Throughout the 80’s, WBSB/Baltimore established itself as one of the top-rated stations in Baltimore. But, like many of its peers in the format, B104 struggled to adjust to changing pop music tastes in the early 90’s. This aircheck was recorded in May 1990 — shortly before the station adopted a policy to no longer play rap or any hard rock.
In February 1992, B104 was shelved in favor of “Variety 104.3”, with a Hot AC format. Check out the audio of the flip on our sister site, The Format Change Archive — and see this Baltimore Sun article for more details on what led to the change.
In the mid to late 90’s, WBLI was a dance-leaning CHR outlet, offering Long Island a locally focused alternative to similarly formatted stations from New York City.
Courtesy of “bigdreams97” on Youtube. (Note: the image shown above for KHFI is not representative of what the station was using at the time this aircheck was recorded.)
For six months in 1996, KBZR (103.9 FM)/Coolidge, AZ offered one of the most creative stunts in radio history. In between an automated Rhythmic Oldies format was a series of clever interstitials (voiced by station owner Jerry Clifton) indicating that the station was “moving in from the desert” (referring to a pending signal upgrade to allow for better coverage in the metro Phoenix area) and looking for someone — or something — named “Steve”.
This aircheck was recorded in the early days of the stunt (probably about six weeks in) — KBZR was referring to itself as “The Space Station” at this time.
Included is a commercial for the infamous “J.J., The King of Beepers”, whose advertising was heard throughout multiple Southwestern markets at this time.
During the mid-90’s, KIDR (740 AM) in Phoenix was one of several radio stations across the U.S. affiliated with the childrens’-targetted “Radio AAHS” network. Ten of these stations were owned by Radio AAHS.
By January 1998, with Radio Disney having launched its own competing network, Radio AAHS ceased operations. They put the ten stations up for sale (KIDR had joined this group not long before the sale was announced). Until a buyer was found, the affiliates (both the AAHS-owned and non-owned stations) aired a mix of random music and paid programming for 12 hours (4am-4pm PT), and all-dance “Beat Radio” for the remaining 12 hours (4pm-4am PT).
In May of that year, KIDR program director Matt Miller elected to begin airing an hour of locally originated programming during the 2pm-3pm hour, three days a week. With the lack of a Mainstream CHR station in Phoenix at the time, and with some help from yours truly, Matt constructed a playlist that consisted primarily of contemporary dance and pop/rock hits — along with a few Rhythmic classics.
This aircheck represents what I believe was the first installment of this program. The hour eventually came to be known as “The Afternoon Fiesta”, and it continued for a few weeks that summer.
For more information on Radio AAHS and Beat Radio, visit these Wikipedia pages:
This is a sample of the “ZPL Hitzone” mixshow from a Saturday night in May 1997. This was a high-energy program broadcast live from an upscale beach-themed nightclub (now defunct) named Gators on the fourth floor of the Circle Center Mall in Indianapolis. At this time, the station’s primary voice was the late and great Brian James.
In September 1997, shortly after a sale from Nationwide Communications to Jacor (now Clear Channel), Classic Hits-formatted “96.9 K-Hits” rebranded itself as “Eagle 96.9”, and brought on legendary radio/TV voice talent Charlie Van Dyke to host mornings. Nine months later, it was announced that the station would be undergoing a format change in the near future, and all of the station’s air talent would be out of a job. Van Dyke, having served as the radio columnist for the Arizona Republic newspaper in the past, decided that the audience deserved to know what was happening, and have some fun with the situation at the same. On this aircheck, he and co-host Mary Reilly explained the situation, took calls from disappointed listeners, and temporarily changed the music to (primarily) Rhythmic Oldies (a.k.a. “Jammin’ Oldies” – the fad format spreading across the U.S. at the time).
Cyber Radio 92-7 was a brokered Dance CHR format that aired on weekends from approximately May to September 1997 on the suburban WCBR signal. According to this message board posting, it was the first radio station in the Chicago area to broadcast on the Internet.
Cyber Radio debuted around the same time that longtime heritage Rhythmic CHR WBBM 96.3 FM “B96” shifted its focus from Dance music to a more traditional Rhythmic CHR approach, yet continued to position itself as “Chicago’s Dance Beat”. Cyber Radio poked fun at its competitor, featuring liners such as “This is a dance beat…(insert dance song)…this is not (insert R&B song)” and “We’ve Got the Beat”.
Also from the aforementioned message board posting, legal issues took Cyber Radio off 92.7 FM. It returned to the airwaves for a brief period the following year, airing Friday nights on WCKG 105.9 FM. It later became Cyberradio2000.com, and now lives on as addictedtoradio.com.
WCBR became Mainstream CHR “92.7 Kiss-FM” near the end of the following year, and (ironically) back to Dance CHR as “Energy 92.7 & 5” in early 2001. Dance music is still heard nightly on this frequency via Dance Factory Radio.
This is a sample of WIOQ during its Dance-leaning CHR days in the mid to late 90’s. The station was a favorite among U.S. dance radio enthusiasts (such as yours truly) at this time.
