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More Holy Crap (Split from Surprise you're dead)

Johnny Dickshot Jul 12 2007 12:50 PM

Jack, dead at 2.

Benjamin Grimm Jul 12 2007 12:54 PM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Jack, dead at 2. Yes! Although I wasn't able to find it in the archives, I can remember that one of the first posts at our previous forum (after the move from ezBoard) was entitled "Holy Crap! CBS-FM" about the format change. And now, when we move here, CBS-FM reverts to something like its previous format. Why do they seem to change whenever we do?

DocTee Jul 12 2007 12:57 PM

Wow-- during a recent visit back to NYC I was sorry to see CBS FM had changed format, but Jack grew on me during my two weeks in purgatory (in laws).

Edgy DC Jul 12 2007 01:01 PM

Find that thread.

Willets Point Jul 12 2007 01:07 PM

Holy crap, CBS FM! Oldest thread in NBF Classics.

Batty31 Jul 12 2007 01:08 PM

I couldn't be happier that Jack is dead. I'm a disgruntled ex-DJ who despises jockless radio stations. I guess I'm still bitter that I lost my DJ job to a computer. The "new" CBS FM is adding the 80's to their mix...so their focus will now be the 60's-80's.

Willets Point Jul 12 2007 01:10 PM

Pity. There should be a place on radio for the 50's Doo Wop era stuff too.

metirish Jul 12 2007 01:10 PM

Will CBS bring Imus back for that station?, cool reading the old thread. Who was swan swan?

Edgy DC Jul 12 2007 01:16 PM

He was the best.

Batty31 Jul 12 2007 02:56 PM

I agree, Willets. The station I worked at had a weekly "Doo Wop" show that was extremely popular with the listeners and brought in a good chunk of ad revenue. They even had groupies! I followed them so I got to witness the um...weirdos...all the time. metirish wrote: Will CBS bring Imus back for that station?, cool reading the old thread. Who was swan swan? That would be brilliant, irish. There are still rumours of Imus ending up back at WFAN. From today's Newsday: Still some buzz about Imus' return to WFAN Neil Best SPORTS WATCH July 11, 2007 CBS Radio admitted a huge mistake this week, saying it would bring back the oldies format on WCBS-FM after a failed two-year detour into something called "Jack." Might this portend a second chance for another of the company's oldies that had been phased out? Of course, Don Imus' situation is different. Neither Cousin Brucie nor anyone else at WCBS is known to have called anyone a "nappy-headed ho." Nevertheless, the fervent wishes of Imus fans and many people at his old home on WFAN - which CBS owns - will not let this story die. (See the many comments on my WatchDog blog for proof.) Mike Francesa and especially Imus sidekick Charles McCord hinted at a possible return by Imus as they signed off June 29. And for a while now, it has appeared that WFAN is stalling in filling the morning drive slot in hopes CBS has a change of heart. That, in turn, has left everyone in limbo. This week, the station has resorted to the midday team of Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts in the most important time slot in radio. The week of July 30, it plans to dig even deeper into its roster for Chris Carlin and Kim Jones, who have demonstrated strong chemistry as midday fill-ins and have opened eyes (and ears) at the station for future roles - but not as permanent morning drive-time hosts. Dan Patrick, set to leave ESPN on Aug. 17, is not believed to be interested in a morning gig. And his New York radio resume mostly consists of getting buried in the ratings by Chris Russo and Francesa. Boomer Esiason, who would be on WFAN's short list if Imus is through, said Monday he enjoyed his fill-in duty in the spring and would be "more than willing to listen" if the station wanted to discuss with him a morning drive-time job. (He had no interest in a temporary role this summer.) Esiason also said given his busy autumn schedule, which includes CBS' NFL studio show, he would have to know soon whether he is wanted or needed by the station come September. Soon? That word seems to be foreign to this process. The strange thing about the apparent uncertainty over Imus is that Les Moonves, CEO of CBS, seemed definitively to put an end to the matter just last month. During a Newhouse School breakfast interview in New York on June 13, journalist Ken Auletta asked Moonves whether there was any chance Imus could return. He said, "No." He then repeated that answer when prompted by Auletta. Yet people within WFAN and even some outside it who know Moonves seem not to be so sure. And why, by the way, if this relationship is irretrievably broken, have no lawsuits apparently yet been filed over Imus' contract? This mystery, and the speculation it continues to generate, will not be solved until Imus either returns to WFAN or finds another job. Or perhaps if Moonves issues an even more emphatic, detailed denial that the I-Man never will be back. Meanwhile, WFAN continues to suffer the aftershocks from one poor attempt at humor in the middle of one slow April news week, a combination that spawned a frenzied political and media firestorm. One sequence in the drama continues to echo: On April 10, Rutgers' women's basketball players said they didn't want Imus fired. On April 12, he was fired anyway, just before meeting with them. On April 13, the Rutgers women said they forgave him. This time CBS should listen to them.

G-Fafif Jul 12 2007 03:21 PM

Liked Jack. Got sick of CBS-FM in its dotage. That said it was uplifting to hear human voices introducing songs this afternoon on said frequency.

sharpie Jul 12 2007 03:44 PM

Jack was whack. Not a huge fan of the oldies format but otherwise no Beach Boys on the radio.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 12 2007 06:55 PM

I enjoyed some Jack at the gym. They do 80s on Saturday mornings when I go. I don;t understand why some other frequency didn;t just pick up "Jack" now or oldies when CBS left it for them. I'm a bigger channel flipper on the radio than the TV, and it would be nice to have them both as options. That said I agree with YSG in the other thread -- "oldies" stations have to change with the times. What they ought to be doming is programming different stations as folks age up the demographic curve. The problem is all demographics don;t spend and listen alike.

Frayed Knot Jul 12 2007 08:17 PM

One thing I always got a kick out of was that when CBS-FM first went on the air it was 1971 and their playlist was essentially the birth of Rock-n-Roll (1955) thru the British invansion (1964); in other words, stuff that was approx 7 to 16 years old. Then, by the end of WLIR in the late '90s, their "New Music" stretched back 20-some years to the early Elvis Costello era stuff. No way does Imus wind up on this new CBS-FM. The corporate CBS is the one who fired him in the first place (they own WFAN) and if they relent on take him back they'd put him there and not on a strictly formatted all-music station. I always thought the whining over the death of CBS-101 was more than a bit overblown and was largely driven by a bunch of aging NY DJs mourning the fact that those losing their jobs at CBS were former friends & collegues even though the station represented everything those aging jocks spent much of their time railing against: strict formats, bean-counter driven playlists, etc.

Edgy DC Jul 12 2007 08:33 PM

I've been away, but, as I understood it, the station was the last in New York to let the DJs and the music directors do the programming.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 12 2007 08:36 PM

That's a pretty wild exaggeration. They may have had shows alllowing for certain leeway but by the end 101 was as predictable as any station on the dial. Maybe more so.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 12 2007 08:38 PM

By the way I'm just gonna come out and say it -- Mike and the Dog have been the best am Imus replacements by a long shot. I have to admit they bring a certain energy that might work better in the morning than the afternoon.

Edgy DC Jul 12 2007 09:19 PM

="Johnny Dickshot"]That's a pretty wild exaggeration. They may have had shows alllowing for certain leeway but by the end 101 was as predictable as any station on the dial. Maybe more so. Predictable, sure. I didn't mean to suggest they were particularly imaginative at all. Only that, for a while, they were the ones who didn't have an out-of-town computer generating their playlists. Their favorites were so heavily looped that it wasn't something you could appreciate until you left town and listened to digitally programmed oldies radio and the four-Supremes-songs-per-hour loop. I remember on K-Rock. Stern's show would come to what should have been its conclusion. He'd say something like, "That's it, let's get out of here, put on a record." You'd hear the first two chords of "Brown Sugar," and he'd stop the song and cry out, "Oh, Jesus Christ, not that again." Dell'Abate would insist that it was the record the computer said to play at that minute of that hour, and Stern would stick around another 20 minutes, and if the chestnut that the computer spit out was just as played out and/or annoying, they'd keep barricading in until they could leave with dignity.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 12 2007 09:23 PM

I miss old Howard.

Batty31 Jul 13 2007 01:11 PM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: By the way I'm just gonna come out and say it -- Mike and the Dog have been the best am Imus replacements by a long shot. I have to admit they bring a certain energy that might work better in the morning than the afternoon. I hate to say it, but I agree with you. And I think Fatcesa is more tolerable when he's talking about topics other than sports, and the morning spot gives him more opportunity for that. ="Edgy DC"] remember on K-Rock. Stern's show would come to what should have been its conclusion. He'd say something like, "That's it, let's get out of here, put on a record." You'd hear the first two chords of "Brown Sugar," and he'd stop the song and cry out, "Oh, Jesus Christ, not that again." Dell'Abate would insist that it was the record the computer said to play at that minute of that hour, and Stern would stick around another 20 minutes, and if the chestnut that the computer spit out was just as played out and/or annoying, they'd keep barricading in until they could leave with dignity. Ahhh...yes, I remember those tirades as well. Vintage Stern. I was famous for not sticking to the playlist when I worked at radio, so I could appreciate Howard's rants. I also remember him complaining to Meg Griffin about the station's playlist.

Edgy DC Jul 13 2007 01:33 PM

No doubt, CBS's DJs were old men who hadn't bought a new disc in decades, and the playlist had grown predictiable in the narrow context, but the exchange between the programming staff and the audience in building a rock 'n' roll preservation society was notable, and almost unique in corporate-owned radio. If you grew up in the CBS listening area, you may be sick of hearing "In the Still of the Night," but I've never heard it on any oldies station since I left New York, much less Little Anthony and the Imperials doing "The Ten Commandments of Love" or great forgotten novelties like "Beep Beep."

Centerfield Jul 13 2007 01:53 PM

I liked Jack. I hope some other station taps into that type of music.