and this is the rest of the columndjdianeNovember 5 2005, 17:55:54 UTC
Ted Nugent warned us in February that fans of the Bon Jovi's of the world were keeping up with the George Joneses, and vice versa. The Motor City Madman came to Hulman Center and shared a concert bill with political pal Toby Keith that month. And, in his own poignant way, Uncle Ted insisted that wasn't completely weird.
“They use all rock licks for every country hit there is out there,” Nugent said. “Some of them are a little bit too twangy and a little bit too stinky for me. But overall, they're emoting and emulating a more grinding and soulful, R&B-flavored rock than it is blatant country, I think, today.”
Nugent opened for Keith, but later they joined each other onstage. Putting such artists on the same radio playlist, Edge said, is an idea fostered by the tradition of stations' sticking to a very tight format. Now the tide is turning, he said.
“And what we've seen in the last few years is radio going the other way,” Edge explained.
Terre Haute has a large number of stations for a small market, Sabaini said. But WTHI-FM 99.9, or Hi-99 as it's known, dominates with virtually a quarter of the market's listeners tuning into their country format.
“Nobody, but nobody, is going to beat Hi-99,” said Sabaini, who teaches broadcasting to ISU students. And that's because, he added, “Nobody does it better than Hi-99. And basically what the rest of us are left with is whatever is leftover.”
But he's impressed by the innovative effort. “My personal opinion is this will be a tough way to go,” Sabaini said. “But if anybody can pull it off, it's the people at Crossroads. They have some progressive people on their staff.”
The Crock targets the 35 to 54 age bracket first, followed by the 18 to 35 crowd. Edge said the perception that the audience will be male-oriented may be accurate, “but we think our female listeners will be pleased.” And their repertoire of 1,100 songs is male-artist dominant, Edge said, mostly because a lot of the popular '70s and '80s rock acts were guys.
The focus isn't gender, Edge said. Instead, the plan is to play hits. On the rock side, they'll “stay away from the real heavy, head-banging stuff.” And the country won't include “stuff that is really slow and draggy, because that doesn't blend well with rock.”
The station's originators researched the format. And the segues from Fleetwood Mac to George Strait will be carefully done.
“This is a big production, more than anything else. And it has to be,” Edge said. “Otherwise, it's going to sound like a train wreck.”
Instead, though, he's anxious to see this coming spring's Arbitron ratings. “I think this could be pretty huge when it's done,” Edge said.
What did that honky-tonk waitress tell the Blues Brothers about the variety of music played there? “We have both kinds - country and western.”
WSDM listeners can change that to “country and rock.”
“They use all rock licks for every country hit there is out there,” Nugent said. “Some of them are a little bit too twangy and a little bit too stinky for me. But overall, they're emoting and emulating a more grinding and soulful, R&B-flavored rock than it is blatant country, I think, today.”
Nugent opened for Keith, but later they joined each other onstage. Putting such artists on the same radio playlist, Edge said, is an idea fostered by the tradition of stations' sticking to a very tight format. Now the tide is turning, he said.
“And what we've seen in the last few years is radio going the other way,” Edge explained.
Terre Haute has a large number of stations for a small market, Sabaini said. But WTHI-FM 99.9, or Hi-99 as it's known, dominates with virtually a quarter of the market's listeners tuning into their country format.
“Nobody, but nobody, is going to beat Hi-99,” said Sabaini, who teaches broadcasting to ISU students. And that's because, he added, “Nobody does it better than Hi-99. And basically what the rest of us are left with is whatever is leftover.”
But he's impressed by the innovative effort. “My personal opinion is this will be a tough way to go,” Sabaini said. “But if anybody can pull it off, it's the people at Crossroads. They have some progressive people on their staff.”
The Crock targets the 35 to 54 age bracket first, followed by the 18 to 35 crowd. Edge said the perception that the audience will be male-oriented may be accurate, “but we think our female listeners will be pleased.” And their repertoire of 1,100 songs is male-artist dominant, Edge said, mostly because a lot of the popular '70s and '80s rock acts were guys.
The focus isn't gender, Edge said. Instead, the plan is to play hits. On the rock side, they'll “stay away from the real heavy, head-banging stuff.” And the country won't include “stuff that is really slow and draggy, because that doesn't blend well with rock.”
The station's originators researched the format. And the segues from Fleetwood Mac to George Strait will be carefully done.
“This is a big production, more than anything else. And it has to be,” Edge said. “Otherwise, it's going to sound like a train wreck.”
Instead, though, he's anxious to see this coming spring's Arbitron ratings. “I think this could be pretty huge when it's done,” Edge said.
What did that honky-tonk waitress tell the Blues Brothers about the variety of music played there? “We have both kinds - country and western.”
WSDM listeners can change that to “country and rock.”
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