This is a montage of Albuquerque’s longtime Rhythmic CHR at the height of the boy band/girl band craze, when it had a very Mainstream CHR-sounding approach. (The logo shown above is not necessarily from the era when this aircheck was recorded.)
The post KKSS (Kiss 97.3) – Albuquerque, NM – 2001 – Johnny B, Jammer appeared first on FM Airchecks.
For over two decades, 99.9 FM in Salisbury/Ocean City, MD has been a Country station known as “Froggy 99.9” with the call letters WWFG. But prior to that, according to Wikipedia, it was a CHR/Hot AC station known as “100 KHI”, “Mix 99.9 KHI” (as heard on this aircheck – not mentioned on the Wikipedia article), “99.9 KHI”, and “Power 99.9 KHI”.
The post WKHI (Mix 99.9 KHI) – Salisbury/Ocean City, MD – 8/20/92 – Chris Kelly appeared first on FM Airchecks.
Following the “worst-to-first” success of New York’s WKTU in 1996, a number of stations around the U.S. attempted similar formats (essentially Rhythmic AC) in their markets. B100 was one example – but the station never came close to achieving KTU-like numbers. This aircheck features B100’s “All about the 80’s Weekend”, from Labor Day Weekend 1997, hosted by longtime Southern California air personality Benny Martinez.
About 2 months later, B100 flipped to Rhythmic Oldies as Mega 100. With its instant (but ultimately short-lived) success, the station became the “KTU” for its own format — numerous clones popped up nationwide as part of the “Jammin Oldies” fad.
A decade later, Emmis jumped on the “Movin” bandwagon, bringing an updated version of the Rhythmic AC format back to Los Angeles (Movin 93.9 – KMVN) – but once again, it failed.
The post KIBB (B100) – Los Angeles – 8/31/97 (LABOR DAY WKND ’97) – Benny Martinez appeared first on FM Airchecks.
WBLI was (and may still be) an upbeat, fun-sounding CHR outlet, offering Long Island a locally focused alternative to similarly formatted stations from New York City.
The post WBLI (106.1 ‘BLI) – Long Island, NY – 9/6/98 – Kramer appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is a montage of New York’s Hot 97 from its days as a high-energy Dance CHR. The station debuted with the same format as Hot 103.5 five years earlier, moved to 97.1 in 1988, and began evolving into a hip-hop-oriented station in early 1993.
The post WQHT (Hot 97) – New York – 9/17/91 – Jeff Thomas, Fast Freddie Colon appeared first on FM Airchecks.
In the late 80′s, and the very early 90′s, Phoenix was one of the best markets for fans of the CHR format. Nationwide Communications’ heritage KZZP found itself in a heated battle with The Broadcast Group’s Power 92 (KKFR) and Edens Broadcasting’s Y95 (KOY-FM).
KZZP dominated for most of the 80′s. But with changes in management, personalities, and pop music tastes — ratings dropped significantly in the early 90′s, leading to a format and name change in April 1991.
Y95, capitalizing on the changes and later demise of KZZP, enjoyed ratings success at the start of the decade. This is a station composite from early 1992 (most likely originating from an official version, but edited by yours truly), when it adopted a policy of playing “no hard rap”. (Ultimately, this decision may have played a part in Y95’s downfall.)
The post KOY-FM (Y95) – Phoenix – 1992 (featuring Mitch Craig sweepers) appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is a brief aircheck of Jeffrey T. Mason on 80′s-formatted 94.7 the Zone (WZZN Chicago), playing a jingle from the station’s days as Mainstream CHR WYTZ “Z95”.
A similar aircheck (flashing back to the station’s days as “Musicradio WLS”) can be heard here.
Note: Please have your speakers at a minimum before beginning to play this aircheck; the audio is very loud and begins suddenly.
The post WZZN (94.7 the Zone) – Chicago – 2000/2001 – Jeffrey T. Mason appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is an official station composite of “99 and a half, WZPL” during its Mainstream CHR days. The aircheck was produced and mailed to me personally by someone at the station (presumably a Johnny George – that name is printed on the cassette label), after I wrote them a letter telling them how much I missed listening to them (I had recently moved from Indianapolis to Phoenix, and had not yet become accustomed to the idea of CHRs emphasizing hip-hop and R&B.)
The post WZPL (99.5) – Indianapolis – 1992 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
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 exactly one month before the stunt ended. By this point, the station had begun simulcasting on additional frequencies through Central and North-Central Arizona (presumably to compensate for the extended delays in upgrading the 103.9 signal), and it was revealed that “Steve” was actually an acronym (S.T.E.V.E.) who had been shot dead. (Yes, you’re supposed to be confused). In addition, a few Rhythmic currents had been added to the playlist.
The post KBZR (103.9 FM) – Coolidge/Phoenix, AZ – 9/30/96 (S.T.E.V.E stunt) appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is a montage of the station that went to worst to first in one rating book, about 2.5 years after its debut.
The post WKTU (103-5 The New ‘KTU) – New York – 10/19/98 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
Most likely recorded sometime in 2004, this is a brief sample of the long-running Saturday night program “Open House Party” as heard on KRQQ (93.7 KRQ) in Tucson, AZ. Included is an interview with JC Chasez, formerly of teen act N*SYNC, at the point when he was in the midst of his solo career.
The post Open House Party – from KRQQ (93.7 KRQ) – Tucson, AZ – 2004 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
“Today’s best music mix…the new sound of Eagle 106”. This is a great example of pure Mainstream CHR for its era, recorded just before Halloween 1991.
The post WEGX (Eagle 106) – Philadelphia – October 1991 – Bobby Willis appeared first on FM Airchecks.
After having been granted the call letters WHHH a couple of months earlier, 96.3 FM in Indianapolis hit the air on October 28, 1991 — making it the first new FM signal in the market in over 25 years. This aircheck was seemingly recorded overnight following the station’s first full day. A video of the actual sign-on is posted on Youtube (the logo shown above is a screen shot taken from that video.)
In these earliest moments, the station referred to itself multiple ways:
Today, the station calls itself “Hot 96.3” and offers a very different sound than what’s heard on this montage.
The post WHHH (Hoosier 96) – Indianapolis – 10/29/91 – RJ Miles appeared first on FM Airchecks.
On October 30, 1996, at 3:30pm, following more than six months of stunting, KBZR officially launched as “The New 103.9, Arizona’s Party Station”. Shown here are the following:
(1) YouTube video: A news story about the debut that aired on the 10pm newscast of local Phoenix TV station KTVK (Channel 3).
(2) Aircheck (below the video): the actual sign-on along with a mix show that immediately followed. Please visit Formatchange.com for more details about the history of the station.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdkP1lp6EOc
The post KBZR (The New 103.9) – Coolidge/Phoenix, AZ – 10/30/96 – Krazy Kid Stevens (DEBUT/FIRST DAY) appeared first on FM Airchecks.
At the start of the 90’s, as mainstream pop music became much more fragmented, many formerly “Mainstream” CHRs chose to lean towards either Adult Contemporary or Rhythmic/Dance music. WPST, along with some of its other neighbors in the Philadelphia region like “Y102” WRFY Reading and WSTW Wilmington went in a Rock 40 direction.
When was the last time a station ran an all-request show at 3am?
The post WPST (97.5) – Trenton, NJ – November 1991 – Andy West appeared first on FM Airchecks.
This is a sample of Philadelphia’s longtime CHR, hosted by one of my favorite personalities of all time — Terry “Motormouth” Young (who was most famous in the market for his time at Hot Hits! 98 WCAU in the early 1980’s.)
In early 1998, after several years with a pronounced Rhythmic lean, Q102 moved in a more Mainstream direction. However, as heard on this aircheck, the station still had quite a few few dance selections (mostly recurrents/classics) in rotation at this time.
The post WIOQ (Q102) – Philadelphia – 11/19/98 – Terry Young appeared first on FM Airchecks.
With the pending demise of KSWD “100.3 The Sound” later today, here’s a look back at the final day of a previous format/station on the same frequency, from almost exactly 20 years ago.
Following the “worst-to-first” performance of New York’s WKTU in 1996, a number of stations around the U.S. attempted similar formats (essentially Rhythmic AC) in their markets. B100 was one example – but the station never came close to achieving KTU-like numbers. It debuted in the Fall of 1996, emphasizing 70’s and 80’s Dance/R&B selections and positioning itself with the slogan “LA’s Hot FM.” Several months later, Viacom sold the station to Chancellor (which became AMFM). During the Spring of 1997, Chancellor tried to improve the station by making it more current-intensive and modifying the station’s slogan to “The Rhythm of L.A.”, among other changes, but the ratings didn’t improve. By the Fall, rumors of KIBB’s demise surfaced.
This aircheck represents the final couple hours or so of B100. A few days prior, the station went jockless and began airing announcements teasing a major event to take place in the near future. Also featured were calls from listeners inquiring about the changes – more genuine-sounding than the painfully obviously scripted versions heard a couple of days earlier.
This montage takes us to the start of the final song on B100. You can hear the end of that final song, and the subsequent launch of “The New 100.3” (eventually “Mega 100” with the KCMG call letters), on our sister site, Formatchange.com. The new station enjoyed instant ratings success — not to the degree of WKTU, but enough to cause the format to spread rapidly to markets all across the U.S. — which is ironic given the premise upon which B100 came to fruition.
The post KIBB (B100) – Los Angeles – 11/19/97 (LAST DAY) appeared first on FM Airchecks.
“Today’s Hottest Music is on Power 92”. This aircheck, recorded on the night before Thanksgiving 1995, represents the sound of KKFR (92.3) Glendale/Phoenix that led the station to an all-time high 7.0 Arbitron share (12+). At this time, Power 92 offered superb all-around music, air talent, and production values. Hosted by Roxanne Steele (who later spent over a decade at Chicago’s B96).
The post KKFR (Power 92) – Phoenix – Nov 22/23, 1995 – Roxanne Steele appeared first on FM Airchecks.
Mega 93.3 was a great-sounding but short-lived Dance CHR, serving the Austin market from 2001 to 8/15/03, when it flipped to Urban as “Hot 93.3″. The station’s spirit lives on via the HD2 signal of KBPA 103.5 FM as “Mega 103.5 HD2“.
The post KXMG (Mega 93.3) – Austin – November 2001 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
In October 1996, following more than six months of stunting, KPTY (still KBZR at the time) officially launched as “The New 103.9, Arizona’s Party Station” with a hip-hop-friendly Rhythmic CHR format. Despite having a very limited signal, the station gained an impressive following in the Phoenix market and forced heritage CHR KKFR (Power 92) into a format change less than 8 months later.
The stars of the station – and this aircheck – were Krazy Kid and Ruben S. They continued to have great success in the market with stops at KKFR, KZZP (104.7 Kiss-FM) and KZON (101.5 JamZ).
Many thanks to Robert Martinez and Ricky Salazar for this contribution!
The post KPTY (The New 103.9) – Phoenix – Krazy Kid and Ruben S – December 1997 appeared first on FM Airchecks.
