The Infinite Dial

One of the challenges for the '90s/Gen-X formats that have proliferated over the last year is trying to put together a wide variety of music that was never played together at the time. CHR in the '90s--what there was of it--changed direction every few years, only returning to all-the-hits for a few years around 1997. So is all-'90s an hour of "Impossible Segues"? What about other gold-based formats?

I was looking through this sample hour of an all-'90s station from last year and began thinking about whether any of the segues could have actually happened on Top 40 radio at the time of the newest song. And the answer was almost always no:

Sublime, "Santeria" into Johnny Gill, "Rub You The Right Way" - Gill and his New Edition colleagues were long gone by the time "Santeria" came out. And, of course, that song got most of its exposure at Modern Rock, not CHR, at the time. Followed by . . .

Sheryl Crow, "My Favorite Mistake" - Again, Gill was long gone in 1999;

311, "Down" - Could have happened: not on CHR, but perhaps on a harder rockin' Modern AC that hadn't yet cleared out 311 by the time Crow was out;

Arrested Development, "People Everyday" - "Ease My Mind," the first single from their second album, was a career killer, but this song and "Mr. Wendell" actually did pop up in a number of Mainstream CHR libraries throughout the '90s. But generally not the same rock-leaning stations that would have played "Down";

OMC, "How Bizarre" - This, however, could have happened, probably on a more mainstream/smaller market CHR;

Stone Temple Pilots, "Interstate Love Song" - Probably gone from most CHRs by the time of OMC. Could have still happened at the right Modern AC;

En Vogue, "Hold On" - Could have played next to STP at the right pop-leaning, medium/small-market CHR in 1994.

Santana, "Smooth" - En Vogue was still in play through the late '90s when "Smooth" came out, thanks to "Don't Let Go (Love)," but "Hold On" had pretty much disappeared.

Alanis Morissette, "You Learn" - Santana/Alanis is the most likely segue here. Probably happened at CHR and all the time at Modern AC.

Notorious BIG, "Hypnotize" - In Canada, where "Hypnotize" was a pop hit, and Alanis was Cancon, it probably happened all the time. In the U.S., despite the songs being only a few years away from each other, probably not at all.

Tom Petty, "Mary Jane's Last Dance" - Probably gone from CHR by the time "Hypnotize" was out, but wouldn't have happened for the same reasons as Alanis/Biggie.

Sarah McLaughln, "I Will Remember You" - Again, Petty was pretty much gone from CHR by now. Could have happened at the right Modern AC.

So were all these records really not meant to be played together, as some contend?

Well, now consider this 2 p.m.hour of very successful Greatest Hits outlet KLUV Dallas, courtesy of BDSRadio.com.

Three Dog Night, "An Old Fashioned Love Song" into KC & the Sunshine Band's "Boogie Shoes" - Limited by the relatively small number of stations that actually played "Boogie Shoes" as a "Saturday Night Fever"-era current. And Three Dog Night was rarely a CHR act by 1978.

Mamas & Papas, "California Dreaming" - Same issue

Elton John, "Daniel" - Mamas & Papas was very much still in many Top 40 libraries in 1972, so probably;

Pat Benatar, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" - Elton was also likely to still be in certain Top 40 libraries in that almost-Hot-AC period for the format in 1980;

Eagles, "Peaceful Easy Feeling" - Same as Elton/Pat Benatar, could have happened at the same type of station.

Climax Blues Band, "Couldn't Get It Right" - Eagles were at the height of their "Hotel California" popularity when this was out in early '77. Would have certainly happened.

Beatles, "Get Back" --- Would have still been in certain types of Top 40 libraries in 1977, it was actually a few more years before anybody dared suggest that the Beatles were not the No. 1 image artist, even at Top 40;

Jimmy Buffett, "Margaritaville" - From a few months after Climax Blues Band, so would have happened for the same reasons;

Carole King, "I Feel The Earth Move" - Finally a little less present at Top 40 in 1977, would have still happened at AC, of course;

Bee Gees, "How Deep Is Your Love" - Another 1977 song. Yes at AC. Probably not at Top 40;

Rolling Stones, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - Hung in as a CHR gold until the Mike Joseph early '80s era where most older songs finally went away;

Stevie Wonder, "Part Time Lover" - Would have been unlikely in 1985-86, since libraries had been gutted by that time.

Loggins & Messina, "Danny's Song" - Wouldn't have happened in 1985-86 on CHR. Loggins was still hot, post-"Footloose," but '70s soft rock was in short supply and research hadn't brought this version (as opposed to the long-exiled Anne Murray hit) back to the fore yet.

Okay, one more, the 2 p.m. hour of Mainstream AC standard bearer WBEB (B101) Philadelphia:

Prince, "Little Red Corvette" into Deep Blue Something, "Breakfast At Tiffany's" - Prince's "When Doves Cry" was one of the handful of '80s songs that still popped up at CHR in the late '90s but "Corvette" wasn't.

America, "Sister Golden Hair" - Long exiled to AC by the late '90s . . .

Daughtry, "Home" - . . . so wouldn't have played next to Daughtry as a current on any other format either;

Gloria Estefan, "Everlasting Love" - Never that big a CHR hit at the time and never lasted in CHR libraries. Its utility was allowing AC to play a newer version of this perrenial than Carl Carlton;

Maroon 5, "This Love" - Gloria/Maroon wouldn't have happened at CHR for the same reason as Gloria/Daughtry'

Lionel Richie, "All Night Long" - Lionel's current hitmaker status faded out after the late '80s;

Eddie Money, "Take Me Home Tonight" - These two would have just made it on the CHR format together, however, being about three years apart;

Rob Thomas, "Someday" - Minor CHR hit and Eddie was, of course, long gone;

Madonna, "Into The Groove" - Probably hung in at CHR until the early '90s. Now her representation is, if anything, the Madhouse remake of "Like A Prayer";

Train, "Calling All Angels" - Again, "Into The Groove" was gone by 2003;

Pat Benatar, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" - One of the few early '80s oldies that endured for a few extra years when CHR PDs cleared the deck of all gold in the Hot Hits years, but disappeared after her career faded in the late '80s;

Huey Lewis & the News, "If This Is It" - But when this was a current, Benatar was at her peak as well and "Hit Me" was still represented at Top 40;

Taio Cruz, "Dynamite" - Huey, however, fell off CHR by the early '90s and, of course, was long gone by last year. This is an "only on AC" segue.

So, to review, Oldies/Greatest Hits stations have the "shared experience" that CHR represented even in the '70s on their side, along with the tendency of most CHR stations in the '70s to play some gold. Some stations had a three year rule on libraries, as the '70s went on and CHR softened, those rules were relaxed considerably.

AC stations cover such a wide swath that it would have been impossible for most of it to play next to each other at CHR. In fact, if you have impossible segues, you're probably delivering on the variety front. The strength and durability then becomes the unifying factor.

'90s/Gen-X stations have an interesting job in trying to create a coalition that existed mostly on MTV and in some listeners' music collections at the time. CHR in 1997 should, of course, have played "Hypnotize" and "You Learn" together. It's a format that probably wouldn't have been possible in the pre-Bob/Jack-FM era when the diversity of listeners' own collections hadn't been proven. But it is interesting to see that segueing a '90s one-shot like Deep Blue Something into an '80s or '70s song is easier, so far, than playing it next to a song from a few years away.