Vintage tweaks

[mike]

We've implemented a few musical updates on the Vintage channel starting today. To some, they may seem subtle, to others a big deal. Please listen & decide for yourself.

Always working to build a better mousetrap - the Future & Vintage channels of WOXY.com.

[Smoker29]

Cool. I can't wait to listen. Thanks for keeping the old stuff fresh. Did that make sense? :)

[twentyshots]

i have to say, with all of this CRB crap going on one of my first concerns was for the vintage channel.
as for the changes- i hope to listen today.

[Buzzstein]

Hmmmmmm I am intrigued.

[The Big Crunch]

No offense to the DJs, but when it comes to WOXY, I probably listen to the Vintage 90% of the time. I'm intrigued by the changes, but I'm not sure what needs to be done - it seems so perfect as it is :)

(I will say that adding more stuff from the '60s and early '70s would be cool ;) )

[mike]

No offense to the DJs, but when it comes to WOXY, I probably listen to the Vintage 90% of the time.

None taken.


(I will say that adding more stuff from the '60s and early '70s would be cool ;) )

Move in the other direction and you'd be more accurate.

[The Big Crunch]

Move in the other direction and you'd be more accurate.
That's kind've what I figured based on what's been played today.

I hope you won't get rid of all the older stuff. One of the things I love (loved?) about the Vintage station was how it opened up the doors to a whole world of synth and new wave stuff that I either missed or dismissed when I was younger. In the '80s I was aproaching my 'teens and I liked classic rock with good guitar. Synth stuff sounded whimpy to me. Somehow I never really went back to listen to it. The large doseage of new wave, new romantic, and plain old synth-poppy stuff from the '80s on the Vintage has opened my ears up in the last year to a whole "new" world of stuff that I've totally fallen in love with - hell, my Lala "want list" is littered with albums from '80s acts like OMD, Psychedelic Furs, Howard Jones, Book of Love, Human League, etc..., as well as some of the '80s guitar-pop stuff like The Primitives and Let's Active. These all came about from listening to the Vintage station.

Most of my CD collection is '90s college rock stuff, so it's not like I'd hate a greater emphasis on it - but it also seems like the idea that the Vintage could be a provider of cool older things to discover (a radio classroom on the history of underground rock) might be slipping away with a decreased emphasis on older stuff.

I'm curious, what sparked the decision to move towards an emphasis on more recent stuff, if there really has been such a move? If one of the ideas behind the Vintage station was to help folks learn (and enjoy) all the past music that makes up the "canon" of independent/underground rock music, then why move towards focusing on a decade that folks may be more familar with? Maybe I'm incorrectly dating the majority of WOXY's listening demographic as being younger than than they are, but I'd bet a move towards heavy emphasis on '90s-'00s stuff would basically be playing stuff that isn't all that "new". Sure, it'll be enjoyable, you guys do a great job of creating a giant "historical greatest hits" stream on the Vintage, but I'm worried that the diversity that is so enteraining may become less of a factor. Adding some more REM, NIN, Oasis, Blur, Beck, etc... would be fine, but why not also add some more Mott The Hoople, Blue Cheer, Faust, T. Rex, Brian Eno, Pretty Things, Love, Swans, Stiff Little Fingers and Parliament? I think a lot of folks have heard of some of the older artists that are constantly referenced in rock music writing and discussion, but may never have actually heard any of it. It seems luike the Vintage channel should be there to let people know about the independent music that paved the way for stuff that is played on the main WOXY channel and not just serve as an outlet to play back catalogue stuff from artists who are fairly current.

Either way, just my $.02. Hopefully this didn't come off as a mad tirade. I was just trying to present a thoughtful critique and suggestion. :)

[mike]

That's kind've what I figured based on what's been played today.

I hope you won't get rid of all the older stuff. One of the things I love (loved?) about the Vintage station was how it opened up the doors to a whole world of synth and new wave stuff that I either missed or dismissed when I was younger. In the '80s I was aproaching my 'teens and I liked classic rock with good guitar. Synth stuff sounded whimpy to me. Somehow I never really went back to listen to it. The large doseage of new wave, new romantic, and plain old synth-poppy stuff from the '80s on the Vintage has opened my ears up in the last year to a whole "new" world of stuff that I've totally fallen in love with - hell, my Lala "want list" is littered with albums from '80s acts like OMD, Psychedelic Furs, Howard Jones, Book of Love, Human League, etc..., as well as some of the '80s guitar-pop stuff like The Primitives and Let's Active. These all came about from listening to the Vintage station.

Most of my CD collection is '90s college rock stuff, so it's not like I'd hate a greater emphasis on it - but it also seems like the idea that the Vintage could be a provider of cool older things to discover (a radio classroom on the history of underground rock) might be slipping away with a decreased emphasis on older stuff.

I'm curious, what sparked the decision to move towards an emphasis on more recent stuff, if there really has been such a move?

I dunno, I guess it's what you define "older stuff" as. I don't think that you'll see so much of a reduction of any of the 80's artists that you mention here, Crunch, but more of an allowance for a time shift forward & an update accordingly.

If one of the ideas behind the Vintage station was to help folks learn (and enjoy) all the past music that makes up the "canon" of independent/underground rock music, then why move towards focusing on a decade that folks may be more familar with?

No, that's not right. The Vintage channel was always meant to be for listeners who grew up with the station and loved its music but don't necessarily feel the desire or need to hear the lastest 'it' band(s). A lot of people hit a wall, musically, and we understand that.

Maybe I'm incorrectly dating the majority of WOXY's listening demographic as being younger than than they are, but I'd bet a move towards heavy emphasis on '90s-'00s stuff would basically be playing stuff that isn't all that "new". Sure, it'll be enjoyable, you guys do a great job of creating a giant "historical greatest hits" stream on the Vintage, but I'm worried that the diversity that is so enteraining may become less of a factor. Adding some more REM, NIN, Oasis, Blur, Beck, etc... would be fine, but why not also add some more Mott The Hoople, Blue Cheer, Faust, T. Rex, Brian Eno, Pretty Things, Love, Swans, Stiff Little Fingers and Parliament?

I think we have always felt and operated with the notion that '75-'77 was/is 'ground zero' for this format: Ramones, Pistols, Clash, etc., with an allowance for seminal artists like VU, Bowie, Roxy Music, Marley and the like. These are artists that we, as a station, have always supported throughout our history. Those others, while contemporaries, aren't anybody we've familiarized our audience with over the years and frankly, there's really not been much of a call for any of them.

One thing I've learned in doing this for a while is that listeners are usually willing to give a station some latitude on airing unfamiliar music that's new because, well, it's new. But it usually needs to be paired with a fair amount of familiar music. For the most part listeners, even ours, are of the 'play-something-we-know' variety. That said, the main channel will always be the place where 'anything can go' musically. Vintage was designed to be a little more narrowly defined.

I think a lot of folks have heard of some of the older artists that are constantly referenced in rock music writing and discussion, but may never have actually heard any of it. It seems like the Vintage channel should be there to let people know about the independent music that paved the way for stuff that is played on the main WOXY channel and not just serve as an outlet to play back catalogue stuff from artists who are fairly current.

The Vintage channel is all about comfort food. To some, it may be a master class in Modern Rock but we're still trying to keep it a 100 or 200 level class. Introducing unfamiliar music from artists we've never played as a station doesn't strike me as being something we'd be inclined to do.

But let me use someone like Liz Phair as an example. Exile In Guyville was a fairly important alt-indie record, released in 1993. Now is Liz Phair very relevant to our main listening offering today? Not really, so it stands to reason that her music is exactly what we're looking to place on the Vintage channel. How about the Beastie Boys? D'ya need us to play "Sabatoge" much more than the few times a year we do?

Either way, just my $.02. I was just trying to present a thoughtful critique and suggestion. :)

VERY MUCH SO. We want to make both channels a great listening experience for casual & serious music lovers alike.

if anything - and this is JMHO - Vintage reflects the history of the Future of Rock & Roll (being our station). In the last few years, we've shifted music genres as the music itself has shifted slightly. What once was Punk & New Wave begat College and Modern Rock. With Nirvana, it became Alternative, and is reinventing itself as Indie, which is closer to the spirit of Modern Rock than what Alternative became (watered down hard rock). I like to say that we're an eclectic Modern Rock station but as soon as that gets questioned, I say Indie.

[DaHood]

What once was Punk & New Wave begat College and Modern Rock.There's no such thing as 'new wave'. Prole told me so.

[vivalamusica]

Interesting discussion here. Personally, I haven't listened to the vintage channel all that much. There's always so much new music coming out, and that's where I usually focus my listening attention.

Mike's description of the evolution of the station probably reflects, to some extent, my own evolution as a listener, which was always dependent, of course, on the availability to me at the time of good music. As a youngun, I missed the punk/postpunk/new wave era, but I remember stumbling into awareness of the college modern rock scene, and then becoming excited as 'alternative' music seemed to become more prevalent during the grunge era, and then slowly becoming disappointed and disillusioned as to where it all went. Until I rediscovered woxy, and stumbled into the 'indie' scene.

I can relate to The Big Crunch's comment, though, about rock writing stimulating curiosity. I've read much more music writing in the last few years than ever before, mostly due to its easy availability on the inter-webs. And I've come across all these references to these bands that are supposedlly so influential, but that I've never heard. Slint? Can? Brian Eno? Kraftwerk?

What might be a really interesting addition to the Vintage channel would be an occasional show, introducing listeners to some of these older bands. Maybe, like Mike said, more of a master's level course in the history of underground music, or some such. Something like that, I would tune in for.

Of course, I know, right now you guys have to be overwhelmed just keeping the station running with a small staff, and I'm certainly not expecting anything like this soon. But long term (and I AM optimistic about the station's future, royalty copyright boards notwithstanding) this may be an idea to throw around.

And yes, I know I can hunt down older artists myself, buy their albums, find samples here and there to check out. I've got no excuses for not doing so, other than limited time and resources, most of which go to trying to keep up with the newer stuff.

Anyway, enjoying the discussion...

[markalot]

I like the new mix, very well done.