The Straight Skinny

 

Catch A New Wave

 

By Carol Archer

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Imagine a music mix that attracts -- and satisfies -- multitudes; take Smooth Jazz during the format's glory days, when it routinely performed top five 25-54 in major markets. How, exactly, does the Smooth Jazz format's remarkable heritage inform its future? Good question. Conventional wisdom holds that you must play the hits. The net effect of this strategy -- short playlists and tight libraries comprised of top-testing (i.e. familiar) songs, especially covers and crossover tunes that turn over so fast they make your head spin -- hasn't panned out under PPM. Ironically, the most recent iteration, on CBS Radio's evolving KTWV(The Wave)/Los Angeles, bears uncanny resemblance to BA's new "feel good" Chillout Radio demo (a misnomer, but let's not quibble). 

      On the other hand, a number of programmers advocate a hipper, more progressive approach which may include format and compatible Triple A-slanted vocals, singer-songwriters and other less hit-driven material for an adventurous, eclectic product similar in spirit to the "discovery" era of early-Smooth Jazz -- not a duplicate, but a contemporary upgrade. This week, we offer a retrospective look at the format's early days with actual air checks that begin in 1987; peruse a list of texturally compatible currents for Smooth Jazz; and hear from Billboard Chart/Research Manager Gordon Murray.    

     Meanwhile, ongoing monitoring of "tweaks" on KTWV(The Wave)/L.A. reveals that the station sounds strangely unfocused. The music is extremely repetitive; and scheduling remains a glaring issue: two Marvin Gaye tracks, one segued into Michael McDonald's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," creating a Motown-heavy imbalance, as well as back-to-back female vocals within 30 minutes. On the upside, heavyweight afternoon driver Don Burns typically elevated a break by tagging trip-a-day "love and largesse." Now, that's smooth.

 

Remember When?                                                       Radio maven Paul Harner worked in radio in St. Louis until 1998, mostly in production and as a show producer. Even though he's been away from the industry since then, it is still important to him. Harner's ambitious archiving and file-sharing project grew out of his enjoyment of the programming he liked long after a station or network disappeared.