Behind The Groove
Written Jun. 18, 2008 by Sean Ross in Content + HD Radio + Internet Radio + Terrestrial Radio with 1 Comment
There wasn't much written when Clear Channels WXRA Lexington, Ky., switched from Latin to R&B Oldies last month -- it's a format that doesn't get much press, particularly in a small market. But the new WGVN (Groovin' 1580) is particularly interesting, not only because there aren't a lot of full-fledged terrestrial R&B Oldies stations, but also because this one is a Clear Channel Format Lab offering making its way from the broadcaster's HD-2 multicast stations to a terrestrial outlet.
Groovin' 1580 uses the same "old school hits from the '80s, '70s, and '60s" imager as the Format Lab's "The Groove," currently running on the HD-2 multicast channels at WWSW Pittsburgh, KOHT Tucson, Ariz., KALZ Fresno, Calif., and WMKS Greensboro, N.C. (The only time the two formats diverged when we heard both this afternoon was when WGVN was running spots; it also runs Tom Joyner in mornings.)
What's most interesting here is hearing the format in a different context. In between the format mainstays, Groovin' 1580 has been offering up a few songs that wouldn't be so unusual on a Web-only R&B Oldies station. But when was the last time you heard a terrestrial station play "So" by War? "Higher Plane" by Kool & the Gang? "Cissy Strut" by the Meters? "We Got The Funk" by Positive Force (outside New York, anyway)?
Here's an hour or so of the format, taken from WGVN, at 12:45 this afternoon:
KC & the Sunshine Band, "Keep It Comin' Love"
Commodores, "Machine Gun"
Isley Brothers, "Fight The Power"
Maze, "Joy And Pain"
Bootsy's Rubber Band, "Bootzilla"
Aretha Franklin, "Freeway Of Love"
Taylor Dayne, "Tell It To My Heart"
Van McCoy, "The Hustle"
Patti Labelle, "New Attitude"
James Brown, "Night Train"
Rose Royce, "Car Wash"
Archie Bell & Drells, "Tighten Up"
Wild Cherry, "Play That Funky Music"
Debbie Deb, "Look Out Weekend"
Erick Sermon, Keith Murray, Redman"Rapper's Delight"
Ready For The World, "Oh Sheila"
Barrett Strong, "Money (That's What I Want)"
Barry White, "What Am I Gonna Do With You"
Reader Comments
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What's even more surprising, to me, is an **AM** station taking the chances of playing artists like Debbie Deb and Taylor Dayne, when we long ago wrote that audience off to FM; Heck, we're even putting Talk and Sports on FM nowadays as if there's not much that works anymore on AM. Not a bad 'daring move', should be interesting to see how this fares.