Yes they sounded great. It was nice to hear full portions of airshifts from the people that are either no longer living or able to return in person for whatever reason. In between the reruns of the 80's and 90's airshifts, some of the former people were back to do a couple live hours. Musically it sounded like mostly crossover songs heard both on the original station and CBS FM 2: The Sequel. Even some of the pre 64 songs are ones heard on the current CBS FM. Still they did mix in at least a couple pre 64 oldies every hour. They did stay distant from 80's music - They played some but actually less songs than the original CBS FM did back then. Overall a very good review and the station sounded great. It was nice hearing a showcase of what CBS FM was like before 1999.
One thing, though, Jukebox Saturday Night and The Doo Wop Shop was not done the way these shows were back when they were on. I recall Jukebox Saturday Night from 1996 to early 2001 being a mix of Doo Wop, Soul, and Disco from 1955 to 1979. The songs were also very uptempo with tons of deep doo wop and 60's soul cuts played. The show was a cross between the Doo Wop Shop and Soul Of The City. The show we heard last Saturday was a mix of some well known R & B oldies, some well known disco songs, and a mix of soul and non soul pre 64 oldies. All songs were heavily rotated on the original CBS FM and there were no deep cuts. Many of the songs Bobby Jay played still air on the station today.
The Doo Wop Shop I remembered was deep doo wop cuts from 1955 to 1963 with some cuts from before and after those years mixed in a little bit. The original Doo Wop Shop had only a few familiar hits an hour. The rest were deep and sometimes obscure songs rarely heard on the radio way back then. Others were familiar songs sung by other doo wop artists. The version of teh Doo Wop Shop this past Sunday was mostly charting hits...familiar doo wop songs. A few were non charting songs like Walking Along and Tonight Tonight and Babalu's Wedding Day but even those were well known cuts on CBS FM. Also Don even played a couple non doo wop songs one of which was by the Shirelles. So it was hardly the doo wop shop I remembered.
WHY THIS WAS DONE?
Since these shows were one time events, the station picked songs that listeners would likely know. Many of the people listening to these shows for the deep cuts have not listened to this station in years. The deep cuts would confuse most casual listeners. In fact even the more familiar oldies might not exactly be well known to younger listeners so they chose to keep these shows safe. Though I liked the deepness of those two shows, it was the right decision to not get real deep. If these were weekly features that would be different.
Anyhow, I do think CBS FM should continue to play one pre 64 an hour, maybe 2 an hour on overnights. Also they should have a three or 4 hour show one evening a week, preferably Sunday Night like they did 10 months after ending the Doo Wop Shop. Another option would be just a traditional oldies show with only music from 1955 to 1969 with half pre 64 and half post 64. This would only fill 3 or 4 hours a week.
