In Nashville, our local oldies station is 96.3. They play songs from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. At my two jobs, we always listen to this station and it does not bother me at all, because I like oldies. However, has anyone noticed that they only have about 25 songs and they play them over and OVER again? I understand the radio system and that you have to pay for the rights to songs; but, honestly, could they be that poor? I doubt that they are since they continuously have give-aways and stuff that is only sponsored by 96.3. They have a segment called "Forgotten 45" ", where they spin a rarely played song. This segment rules me, because I don't have to listen to Yesterday, You're So Vain, Rhonda, Let It Be or Dream for the sixth time of the day. Unfortunately, many songs that I once considered to be good are not pleasurable anymore because they get played as much as they do (with the exception of the Beatles cover of Twist and Shout). Gallatin has the most excellent Oldies station (1560) that I have come across, due to a wide variety of songs. Unfortunately, the reception isn't that great at the UPS Store and we don't have AM at the tobacco store. They play non-surfer era Beach Boys, Kinks songs other than All Day & All of the Night and You Really Got Me, and enough different Beatles songs to keep the selection fresh. I love this station. Oldies 96.3 bothers me, because I find it hard to believe that the 50s only offered Elvis, and that the 60s and 70s only had 30 songs worthy of playing. I was just wondering if any of you feel the same. I wish they would revamp their playlist.

(Edited by richarddawson at 10:55 am on Jun. 3, 2003)

Hmmm...I guess I just don't listen to 96.3 enough, because every time I turn it on, I hear a gem. And I find it to be one of the few stations in Nashville that doesn't play the same 30-40 songs over and over. I'm sure that there are "standards" that do get played more often than everything else, but in general, I find that they mix it up pretty well. I will agree with you that they don't play a big enough variety from the 50s, but I find their 60s selections to go pretty deep. But I'll have to check out 1560 next time I'm up Sumner County way.

By the way, the licensing fees that radio stations have to pay to ASCAP, BMI, etc. are technically done per spin of a given song. So you don't have to "pay for the rights" to any given song like you would for a commercial or a movie, you theoretically just pay a fee for each song that you play. For public performance purposes, all songs "cost" the same. So if you play 30 songs 100 times, it costs the same as playing 100 songs 30 times.

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 10:28 am on Jun. 3, 2003)

Ah, thanks for clearing that up.

I think that I may just listen to the Oldies station too much. Regardless, I would like some different songs to be added.

I think if you listen to most any station (especially more commercial ones), you find that they have a standard rotation emphasizing certain songs. I've felt that way about every station which I would listen to for long periods of times. 96.3 is no different.

I like to go to Knoxville and Chattanooga because their oldies stations have rotations that are different enough that I'll hear some great gem every time I drive through.

My car radio usually only goes between oldies and NPR.
I'm curious about this AM station. I will check it out.

96.3 is the only station in middle TN that I can stomach now, which is odd since I used to make fun of my cousins for liking oldies. Looking back, I realize that they were listening to the Beach Boys and the Beatles while I was turning up Sugar Ray in my parents car. I'm glad I came around.

Back to 96.3, it is the only non-college radio station that I could seriously listen to. Matter of fact, I heard "Paint it Black" yesterday and that was a nice treat. Lightning 100 has either gotten worse or my musical taste has just drastically changed over the past year. It seems that they are solely a hippie station now. I don't need to explain why The Buzz or the River are evil. I also have 101.1 and 106.7 programmed in for comedy value.

I personally like close to half of the songs that they play on these stations, but they are rotated so horribly that a couple of days are all that I can spend listening to them.

I agree with you, Digsy. Lightning 100 was always pretty good. Never as good as Thunder 94, but always pretty good. Now, though, I think that they've gotten way too mellow. I was flipping through the other day, and paused on 100.1 just long enough to hear the DJ say, "After the break, we have music from Gillian Welch, the Indigo Girls, and something new from James Taylor." Nothing against any of those artists, but what exactly is this radio station going for? I need some electric guitars in there somewhere, you know? It's just too adult now. And too singer-songwriterly. I do support them, though, because they're locally owned and operated, and they do a lot to support local music.

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 11:56 am on Jun. 3, 2003)

I never listen to Lightning long enough for anything to grab my attention and make me listen longer. Oh well.

They do support local music, but they should support the Features more...and they should let them play at 3rd & Lindsley for Nashville Sunday Night again sometime soon. It's been too long.

I used to be obsessed with Lightning 100. They played a lot of Oasis that wasn't "Wonderwall" as well as Travis and Stereophonics. They also gave Semisonic a lot of airtime past "Closing Time" which I respect. But now...I don't know what has happened. That music has always been a part of the station, but it has recently just become the station. It's sad. But I listen to CDs when I'm in the car, so it's okay.

Actually, most large stations just pay for blanket licenses, so they're allowed access to anything in the performing rights organization's repertoire. The situation you're describing (fee payment for each song they play) actually falls into my line of work here at BMI (I'm in the "Radio Per Program" department, which is meant for the smaller stations (AM, talk, etc. that might only play music on the weekend, so it makes more sense for them to pay BMI per BMI song they play, instead of purchasing the rather costly blanket license). Boring, I know...Sorry.

For some reason, this is all very fascinating to me. So, you don't have to apologize for being boring.

(Edited by richarddawson at 1:02 pm on Jun. 3, 2003)

I feel like this is generally how oldies stations are. I think YDDD said Chattanooga's was good. I've always thought 107.9 sucks, and they ALWAYS play the same songs. Same old Beach Boys crizap that I wouldn't mind so much if they just didn't play it all the damn time. And they go too far back. My Dad has complained of this, as well. They never play anything but "She loves you" or "I wanna hold your hand" Beatles. Usually, on the radio I can rely on only NPR or R&B stations when they DON'T play Luther Vandross. Other than that it's just country and stations that play "yeeeaauuhhhh" bands, as I call them.

Hmmm...thanks, Smee. You would know. I thought only venues bought blanket licences.

In general, I agree with you JC. However, I just took a trip from Sylvan Park to Green Hills, tuned to 100.1 and had enough time to listen to 4 songs on the way. The artists were Green Day, Ben Lee, Flaming Lips, and R.E.M.

Lightning 100 runs hot and cold (usually cold), so you never know what you are going to get. I generally stick with CDs though.

ive been listening to straight npr for the past few weeks. i keep telling myself that if i listen to enough classical music that eventually ill be able to id all of it, as if it were pop. its just so easy to listen to non-actively, though. but in the mornings they repeat what time it is like every 10 minutes and it makes me freak out that im going to be late for work/school every time.

96.3 got old. they do play way too much of the same songs over and over again. every now and then i get excited with "love child," "walk away renee," "suspicious minds," or something classic from the stones, although "paint it black" is actually getting stale for me. "twist and shout" makes me smile. i would be fine with never hearing "hey jude" again though. same with "love shack," but thats a different radio station.

I too am getting kind of tired with the number of "Paint It Black"s that they play in one day. I wish they would use "Play With Fire", "Under My Thumb" (my favorite), or gasp "Citadel"...ever. But, they don't. Though, for some reason, I think that I may have heard "Wild Horses" on Super Gold or something. I like this song as well.

As far as "Hey Jude" is concerned, all I can ever think about while listening is Ringo's drumming. It has that typical continuous tapping of the brass. This and the sheer number of times that they play it have absolutely ruined that song for me, forever.

If they would play "Little Red Book" by Love, they could be forever redeemed in my ears.

survey of recording industry - john dugan

You will begin to recognize things and the movements they fall into (baroque, classic, romantic, modern, etc.) with perseverence. I agree about the non-active listening element, though. Sometimes 2 or 3 pieces can go by without me even noticing if I'm not paying attention.

I hardly ever listen to classical music on NPR anymore, and I miss it. I used to be a big classical music buff.

When I moved to Chattanooga, I really enjoyed 107.9 because I was hearing different songs than I was used to, songs that 96.3 never played. What I came to understand is that every oldies station in the country has its own list of regular songs, (probably closer to 100 than 30) that they play all the freaking time. The only reason one seems better is because you aren't used to it. But you get used to it and then you get sick of that station too...

Will

Yeah, that's what they play at my work, too...96.3. I'm very happy with it because it's better than 107, country, or 100, in my opinion. The other day I heard "I Should've Known Better" and "Twist and Shout", and was very happy. Usually it's just "Hey Jude" or "Let it Be", which I love, but they're not my favorites.

I'm getting very sick of hearing "Spinning Wheel" and all those other terrible Earth, Wind, and Fire songs...I hate that song. They do play the same thirty or so songs over and over again.

I hate the radio. I never listen to it...except for Ray Davies' show, of course.

Ah, Sadie sees it my way. It's a shame that it took a family member to agree with me.

Yes, I am the smarts of this message board, after all...

You mean, we am the smarts. Eh, cousin? They learned us something in Gallatin.

Oldies stations all tend to play the same exact songs over and over. I noticed that a long time ago. Lightning 100 has gone soft. I seem to remember hearing Soul Asylum and Matthew Sweet on there, but now it seems like it is all adult contemporary. I like college radio, but it is still hit or miss, too many college kids being silly alot of the time. On college radio, you will usually get your requests played though, which is nice. I have a radio show on a college station in Richmond, VA this summer and I try to play good music not talk too much. I always play the features. If you are not in Richmond but near a computer from 3-5 on Tuesdays you can listen at http://www.wdce.org.

My biggest regret about my time at college is that I didn't pursue a radio show. My freshman year at Vanderbilt, I was dead set on getting a britpop show together for my sophomore year on WRVU. But it never happened. Regrets...

My friend Sam and I almost got a show at the Belmont station, but it turned out to be a big waste of time. For one thing, they only broadcast over Belmont's television network, not on the actual radio. For another, it was a huge ordeal to bring in any outside music. We decided not to bother. Belmont sucks.

I agree. Although, I did hear Fight Test on it the other day. I know to turn it when I hear the Brit say, "We play all kinds of music for true variety".

Which apparently translates into American as: "We're about to play middle-aged white man blues."

Yum.

(Edited by foldsfan at 4:19 pm on Jun. 5, 2003)

I've actually been to 96.3 and seen their whole setup...their dj's don't have to do much b/c the playlist is already programmed in the computer! Which would explain why we have to hear the same 25 songs everyday. I too listen to 96.3 at work b/c it's the only station that we all can agree on in the workplace. However, if you have a job in the evening it isn't as bad as during the day. They have a call in show w/ Tom Samoray where you can request all of your oldies that you WISH they would play during the work day. They funny thing is, he just touches the screen to input what song you request and it goes along w/ all of the crappy rotation ones. So....if no one calls...we hear the same songs as always! The more times a song is requested it is added to the ranks of the others and if requested enough, it would be added into the regular rotation. So in order to get all of the songs we wish they would play...we will have to CALL!!! 737-9696 Make me proud! haha

That's Blood, Sweat, & Tears. Get it right.

Yeah, I just reread my post, actually, and noticed my typo. I was just about to correct myself. I don't know what I was thinking. Stupid three-worded band names....

You are a genius! Get ready to hear more than a heavy dosage of "Dedicated Follower of Fashion"!

i hate lightning 100 because i hate david gray. he has spawned an overflow of annoying 35 year old singer songwriters with cheesy songs featuring grand piano, accoustic guitar, and a drum machine.
this is the downside to home studio technology

fold's fan is right about "modern whiteboy blues"

does anyone remember when lightning used to actually have pavement on rotation?

Ahem, that's FOLDSFAN. I am not a fan of fold. I don't even fold my clothes.

Stupid jungle people.

are you trying to push my buttons white boy? i have seen many posts where people explained that correcting spelling on message boards is in bad taste and looked down upon. after all you gave me my first lesson in message board manners, you know, how posting somewhere only once is a big no no and that since i had planned on not posting here again at the time, i might fall out of favor. cut me some slack. i was just agreeing with you anyway