Another Format For Our Times
Written Nov. 20, 2008 by Sean Ross in Content with 1 Comment
For most of this decade, veteran programmer Maxx Myrick has been in the jazz business at XM Satellite Radio. But when he left there last week, following Sirius XM's further realignments, he instead wrote me a format brief on behalf of the blues/Southern Soul format that has flourished in the deep south for years but rarely gets national press. "It is the most underserved format in America with a market of at least 13 million in just 13 out of 23 states with double-digit black populations," he wrote. So since we're running a lot of sample hours lately, I asked for his.
Tyrone Davis, "Can I Change My Mind"
Mel Waiters, "Hole In The Wall"
Betty Wright, "Clean Up Woman"
Big Money, "Da Twist"
Bobby Blue Bland, "Stormy Monday Blues"
Aretha Franklin, "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)"
Los Lobos & Mavis Staples, "Someday"
Sheba Potts-Wright, "Cruise Control"
Johnnie Taylor, "Cheaper To Keep Her"
Sonny Boy Williamson, "Bring It On Home"
Chaka Khan, "Foolish Fool"
Joss Stone, "The Chokin' Kind"
Grover Washington, Jr., "Soulful Strut"
Mick Hucknall, "I Wouldn't Treat A Dog (The Way You Treated Me)"
Ike & Tina Turner, "Dust My Broom"
Otis Redding, "Mr. Pitiful"
Ray Charles w/John Legend, "Touch"
Bobby Womack, "Fact Of Life (Medley)"
Syleena Johnson, "I Am Your Woman"
Muddy Waters, "I Just Want To Make Love To You"
Sir Charles Jones, "Friday"
Beyoncé, "At Last"
Impressions, "It's Alright"
James Brown, "Papa Don't Take No Mess"
Sam Moore, Keb' Mo, & Angie Stone, "Wang Dang Doodle"
If all the titles aren't familiar to you, Myrick's take on the format is not unlike the Southern Soul version of what many programmers have tried to do with Adult Standards in the last 3-4 years, mixing the crossover gold of the genre with the recent practitioners who are lesser known (outside their base) and the contemporary artists who dip their toe into the genre every now and then (like Rod Stewart and standards). And you can't deny the timeliness of the blues.
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I had the pleasure of working with Maxx at XM where I hired him as one of our original Program Directors with the assignment to create our REAL JAZZ channel. Maxx came from a hugely successful and Marconi-award winning career in Urban AC and while he may not have seemed the most obvious choice to develop an amazing traditional jazz channel, we had no doubt he would do so after meeting him and feeling his passion for music. His instincts as a programmer are impeccable no matter what subject he tackles. This concept will prove that once again.