97.1?

[romer979fm]

close...but 101.1 was KQ101 (WAKQ) , running automated CHR before becoming WBVR..."The Beaver"...
when they moved to the Cross Plains, TN tower.  In a classic case of bad karma...the station became
WJCE "The Juice" (adult urban AC) around the time of the OJ Simpson slow-speed chase thru LA.
Next was WJZC...smooth-jazz "Jazzy 101"...running the Jones satellite feed.  Ahhh...those wonderful
odd-timed "live" PSAs Dave Benzig had to produce and run to make things time out!  Why the station
wasn't just called "Smooth Jazz 101" is beyond me...as the Jones announcers used the phrase "Smooth
Jazz" repeatedly.  WJZC became WZTO "101 The One" contemporary christian in a surprise flip that
never really clicked...followed by the current WUBT "The Beat" urban station...by far the most successful
of all the formats...in Nashville, anyway.  WBVR was huge in south-central KY...and reportedly billed well.

BTW...the flip from WZTO to WUBT was brutal.  One minute a contemporary christian song...followed by
lyrics "gangsta thugs love monsta jugs".  oops

[Tenn Radio Boy]

One point of interest; why would anybody give a rat's patoot whether Cumulus changes 97.1 to another format.

They have proven time and time again, they do not know what they are doing in this market with that frequency.  They are probably making some money with the Wolf and WTN but can't get it right with 97.1.

Who is at fault here?  The OM, PD, GM or the rocket scientists in Atlanta?

[courier37027]

Chris,

Thanks for the clarification.  I forgot 101.1 was a Christian station before the change.  A married couple friends of mine recall that flip.  Their clock radio was set to 101.1 expecting Christian music at wakeup. The first song they heard was more of the "lite thug" variety with some rapper softly extolling the virtues of a woman's nice booty.  This rap music selection was light like many Christian songs.  But listeneing to the lyrics got a WTF look from my friends.

KQ101 was a good CHR station.  I worked at The Beaver in 1989 and they were very successful. Sometimes we made the Nashville ratings book.  Now The Beaver occupies 96.7 and 100.3 (old WZZF Hopkinsville frequency location) with western Kentucky as dominant target audience.

[LouP]

What are the chances of WRQQ-HD's being called the Eagle?

Could it happen?  I suppose so, but I'd highly doubt it.  Cumulus has at least four classic hits/classic rock stations nationwide with "The Eagle" in the station name: Rockford, IL; Topeka, KS; Temple, TX; and Dubuque, IA.  I would think that if they were going with that name, it would be in rebranding WRQQ's primary signal, not any of its HD channels.

Lou Pickney
LouPickney.com/VarietyHits.com

[SwissVol]

Some other people that post in here have given some first hand information on the notorious flip from album rock to elevator music.

I knew the change was coming because I used to phone in requests and generally BS with Hunter Harvey at that time. Hunter told me that the new owners were dropping AOR to Jack Jones and Montivani tunes. At that time, I was devastated. This was pre ipods, pre satellite radio era and for those of us who thirsted for deeper cut rock, we were **** out of luck.

I know I will catch some grief from hard core KDF rock fans for saying this, but I thought KDF's brand of album rock was too top 40ish or too mainstream. The people who threw Rock 106 together knew they had a pretty loyal base of hard core rock fans.

Speaking of Hunter Harvey. Is he still knocking around Nashville?

[Tibbs2]

KQB out rocked KDF across the board. You're spot on Swiss. As much as I'd like to see KDF return as a real rock
station vs. the waste it is today, KDF was always sort of an embarrassment to lots of people because it was
a "redneck" rock station...but, when it went more Top 40 and then more New Wave, it wasn't well received by
anyone. Go figure. The Tower is just lifeless. Plus, maybe in all reality, 30 year old songs played one hundred
zillion times aren't going to impress many people, huh?

[courier37027]

Tibbs, don't forget the expanded mid-80's KDF playlist.  How can we ever forget the social conscience that was Phil Collins?  "Another Day in Paradise" really rocked the airwaves (sarcasm).  Add some Bananarama "Venus" and Prince "Let's Get Crazy" and KDF sounded eerily similar to Kicks 104 back in the day. U2's "Joshua Tree" album and Mellencamp were also worn through to the other side of the vinyl.  There's your template, Tower.

[SwissVol]

Ohhh, those mid eighties on KDF were brutal.   lol

After hearing Bannana Rama played, I called the program director to basically ***** about the music direction KDF took . I seem to remember speaking with Smokey Rivers and airing my displeasures.  He said:  When you get to 1975, call me back and then he hung up on me.  I had spent part of the summer out in LA and was used to listening to KMET FM, which in my book might be the best album rock station ever. So naturally coming back to KDF was disappointing.

[scottwmro]

I hate to come here and sound hateful, but everytime I come to this board, all I see is crap about 97.1, WRQQ.  Don't some of you have better things to discuss than the decisions that Lou Dickey and Cumulus have made for that station? They could give a rats butt about what you, I, or the Nashville area thinks.

Ever since they fired the morning crew and change format, it seems that's all (especially you 50-70) year olds have to dicusss on this and other boards. It's dead and gone, get over it.

Cuss me out all you want, but the 97.1 topics are getting old. That's why I don't post much here anymore unless it concerns tech stuff, not programming.

It won't do you good to respond to my comments, I won't be seeing them anyway, due to I do look at this board much at all anymore, PERIOD!

[SwissVol]

>>>>>They could give a rats butt about what you, I, or the Nashville area thinks.<<<<<

Oh I know!

I keep hoping that someone will call me and ask for my input, but quite frankly there is a better chance of Rosie O Donell going on a diet than anyone calling me for my input.

Seriously, I do not think I made any negative commentary about 97.1 other than it was pretty much the same ole same ole. I think of couple of us did a routine about Free Bird or something such as that.

But point taken. People who are in positions to make these sort of calls have given their time and efforts and know nothings such as myself make remarks without knowing the hard work spent going into this.