True Oldies radio - new to central Maine

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a new radio station in central Maine that has adopted the True Oldies format. Participants share their experiences with the station, reminisce about music from the '50s and '60s, and express their preferences for radio formats and programming. The conversation touches on personal memories associated with music and radio, as well as the impact of local programming on listener engagement.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that the station plays predominantly music from the '60s and late '50s, evoking nostalgic memories.
  • Another participant expresses a dislike for Christmas songs but acknowledges enjoying a particular rendition.
  • Some participants question whether the station would attract more listeners if it were on AM, with one noting that FM is the only option after sunset.
  • Several participants share personal anecdotes about their early music experiences, including listening to their parents' or relatives' music collections.
  • One participant believes the station is locally programmed, as its playlist differs from the True Oldies Channel's website stream, which includes more '70s music.
  • Another participant comments on the growing popularity of the station, noting an increase in local business advertisements, suggesting a connection between the music and the demographics of the advertisers.
  • One participant reminisces about the freedom of listening to distant AM stations and the unique music they provided.
  • Another participant reflects on vintage radio shows and their influence on personal tastes in music and storytelling.
  • There is a mention of the recent passing of Fred Foy, the announcer for the Lone Ranger, highlighting a connection to the nostalgia of radio history.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of personal preferences and experiences related to music and radio, with no clear consensus on the effectiveness of the station's format or its programming choices. Some participants believe the station is locally programmed, while others question the accuracy of that assumption.

Contextual Notes

Some participants reference specific music and radio shows that shaped their experiences, indicating a variety of influences and personal histories that inform their views on the current station. There is also mention of the differences in programming between local and network feeds, which may affect listener expectations.

turbo
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There is a radio station (93.5) that has been flipping around like a fish on a deck for the last couple of years, trying to come up with a winning format. Today I checked it and found it had become a True Oldies affiliate. No local talent, etc - just a remotely-programmed channel like so many others. The nice thing is that except for a few forays into the '70s, the music is almost all from the '60s or the late '50s, and it's pretty non-stop. It's like listening to the radio in my old man's Impala when I got my license. Simon and Garfunkel, The Spinners, The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Everly Brothers, Orbison, Beatles, and on and on. Once in a while, they throw in something early '70s stuff by the Eagles, John Lennon, Wings, etc, but it's predominantly a '60s mix. Pretty nice background stuff.
 
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Bing is singing White Christmas on True Oldies right now. I hate being bomarded by Christmas songs, but this is the first one I've heard this afternoon, and it's a really good one. If they follow up with Nat (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire) I won't *****.
 
wouldn't they get more listeners on AM?
 
Proton Soup said:
wouldn't they get more listeners on AM?
Only during the day. By sunset FM is the only game in town.
 
I was trying to remember what I listened to before I got a radio and was able to pick up an underground station. I listened to my mother's music! Records in French, opera and classical music. My mother didn't listen to pop music so I was never exposed to it. A couple of girls would mention Elvis when I was in grade school and I knew I had heard the name somewhere.

My mom would bring home some 45s (she loved funny songs)so we had flying purple people eater, itsy bitsy teeny weenie yellow polka dot bikini. The morning kiddie show host Cadet Don, would play those so we got hear them. (I think my mom liked cadet Don, I think ALL of the moms liked Cadet Don, in his tight, clingy, space cadet suit. Uh-huh)

I have since listened to some cool old songs like my favorite



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLu_UK_MpfA
 
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Before I has a radio, I was stuck with the music that my great-uncle had given to my mother when he sold his house. We had the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers, Johnny Cash, etc. When I got my own AM radio, I could listen to stations in Boston, Albany, and Buffalo all night long. That was freedom!
 
I wish that we had a station like this in my town. We have an all rock station (lots of 70s and 80s stuff) and a mostly alternative station (90s and 00s. no rap). An all oldies station would complete all of the music I like :)
 
When I was a kid in the early sixties my dad gave me a stack of 45s that he got from a radio station. One of them was "the lion sleeps tonight". I love that song also. The sixties is my favorite decade for music. But I guess that's because it's the decade that I grew up in.

I just recently moved to a new area and I found a radio station that plays nothing but oldies from the sixties, and maybe a few from the early seventies. And it's AM only. All I need now is a sixties transistor radio.
 
I believe the station is locally programmed as the playlist is entirely different than the True Oldies Channel website stream. Strangely, the network feed plays far more 70s.
 
  • #10
Sal Teshio said:
I believe the station is locally programmed as the playlist is entirely different than the True Oldies Channel website stream. Strangely, the network feed plays far more 70s.
Interesting. The station has grown so popular with the new format that they have gotten a LOT of local businesses buying ad-spots. At first, it was almost wall-to-wall oldies, and now, it has as many ads as the other stations. Oh, well. At least the music is the standard radio fare that I grew up with in the 50s and 60s.
 
  • #11
The mix of advertisers is interesting, and perhaps indicative of the ages of the people who own the businesses. A local (and very large) car dealership owned by a couple of brothers who are a year or two older and younger than me. A local building-supply/lumberyard chain owned by a family with lots of members in my age group. A locally-owned business that sells tractors, mowers, snowmobiles, tillers, etc, that is owned by a husband-and-wife team who are a couple of years older than me, and the list goes on. I haven't visited any of them, but I'll bet that they are piping this station into their showrooms and work-areas.

The car-dealers in particular could benefit from that background music. People who walk into the show-room and are browsing and who can easily afford to make an impulse-buy are probably my age or older and would love to hear that music piped in, even if they didn't realize it consciously.
 
  • #12
Did you ever listen to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAAY" ?

KAAY's cult status was forged in the late 1960s, when, after 11:00 each evening, the station abandoned the standard Top 40 format for three hours of underground music with the program Beaker Street hosted by Clyde Clifford.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaker_Street" was outstanding back in the day.
 
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  • #13
I don't think we could get that signal in Maine. I felt fortunate to be able to get the stations in Boston, Albany, and Buffalo. My great-uncle used to drive his taxi to the top of a large hill in Mayfield, so he could tune in Wheeling WV and get his nightly fix of country and bluegrass while sipping a beer or two.
 
  • #14
Hmmm, when I read the title, for some reason I started thinking about radio shows of the vintage variety. The Green Hornet (the real deal), The Shadow*, TNAoSH, The Lone Ranger, a couple dozen others, and of course, The Fat Man: ""There he goes, into that drugstore . He's stepping onto the scale: Weight 237 lbs. Fortune: DANGER. Who is it? The FAT MAN!"

But yeah, oldies music is great too. :blushing:Anyway, the reason I bothered mentioning it: I was introduced to talk-radio and audio books when they were still something obscure, but my Grandfather just randomly gave me a copy of 'Farewell My Lovely.' and, 'The Maltese Falcon', and a couple cassettes of The Green Hornet. I was hooked... sometimes those formative experiences set our tastes for life. My tastes in music followed similar patterns, but I have nothing interesting to add regarding that sadly. *While it's true that many intros included: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The SHADOW knows!" for which it is justly famous, my favorite line is the more commonly uttered, "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit; crime does NOT pay!"
 
  • #15
BTW, Fred Foy - the intro announcer for the Lone Ranger radio and TV shows died just before Christmas at age 89.
 
  • #16
turbo-1 said:
BTW, Fred Foy - the intro announcer for the Lone Ranger radio and TV shows died just before Christmas at age 89.

I know... a golden throat for a golden age of radio... Requiescat in Pace.

edit: I should, for 89, give the full form: "Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace."
 
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