The Infinite Dial

When Bob- and Jack-mania took hold five years ago, our friends at Entercom did a version of Adult/Variety Hits that often enforced the "we play everything" mantra more zealously than a lot of their counterparts. Some Adult Hits stations were grounded in the late '70s and '80s with just a little bit of everything else for plausible deniability. Stations like WSMW (98.7 Simon) Greensboro, N.C., and WMKK (93.7 Mike FM) Boston seemed to cover a wider span of years with a deeper center.

Now there's WNTR Indianapolis, formerly the Track, returning to its one time My 107.9 handle, but adding the positioner "We Play Everything You Want" and making more of a virtue than ever out of being aggressively broad. Unlike the format's first-gen stations, there's more of a '90s Rhythmic Pop component here. But there's also more '70s Soft AC than you might hear on comparable stations. It's (Dallas' "Platinum 96.7" + "Movin'") x "Bob-FM." And then some.

And although crosstown WJJK (Jack FM) has long abandoned both the "playing what we want" format and Jack's initial eclecticism for a more mainstream Classic Hits approach, WNTR is heavily emphasizing the listener-driven/request angle with drops like "call now and pick out the next song" or others to the effect of "don't blame us, it was a request." There's also a list of three "core values" on the Website and on the air: "We play the widest variety in Indianapolis"; "We listen to you"; "We play everything you want."

And while wacky attitude drops are part and parcel of this format, the liner about taking off your shoes at airport security and having holes in your socks actually preceded "Double Dutch Bus," which does have a line about having holes in your socks.

Here's the station today, just before 10 a.m. It's actually less provocative than some of the stretches I was hearing a few days ago -- to the extent that you can say that about an hour that includes "Blame It On The Rain" (which did ignite the expected discussion among inhabitants of Edison's third floor), "Mmmbop," and "Double Dutch Bus." But you can tell that this is going to be a personal favorite of a lot of industry people for a while -- particularly those who grew up in the late '80s/early '90s and are waiting to hear their songs again.

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Hanson, "MMMbop"
Keith Sweat, "I Want Her"
Verve, "Bittersweet Symphony"
Bobby Brown, "Don't Be Cruel"
Police, "Don't Stand So Close To Me"
Cher, "I Found Someone"
Milli Vanilli, "Blame It On The Rain"
Cars, "You Might Think"
Dire Straits, "Sultans of Swing"
Montell Jordan, "This Is How We Do It"
Kenny Loggins, "This Is It"
Earth Wind & Fire & Emotions, "Boogie Wonderland"
Blind Melon, "No Rain"
Frankie Smith, "Double Dutch Bus"
Lisa Stansfield, "All Around The World"