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| Saturday, November 18, 2006 |
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The Way Things Should Have Stayed
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 I like to think of myself as a person living in the now, who can appreciate changes when they're for the better and accept them without protest. Lately, however, a few things have changed in Atlanta that just weren't meant to change -- ever.
The Big Chicken - The first was this fella to the left. The Big Chicken was built in the mid-`60's, before the interstate system, to be a beacon to Florida travelers passing through Georgia. Along with Stone Mountain it became one of our greatest landmarks and was frequently referenced when giving directions.
In the mid-`90's it was restored and everyone was excited except...it now has a Pepsi Cola logo on it's side. Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta, was an economic boon to the city in the early 20th century and remains a large employer. Even if you're drinking a Mr. Pibb it's called Coke around here. So scoring space on a big local landmark must be a big "neener-neener!" for Coke's number one rival, Pepsi.
Z-93 -- Z-93 was the most-listened-to Top 40 station in Atlanta from the late `70's to mid-`80's. Then they switched to classic rock to take on heritage rock station 96 Rock (addressed below). After a good start Z-93 slid further and further downhill until I recall them once being beaten by a 2,000 watt jazz station. Not good for a 100,000 watt FM with a good dial position.
So Z-93 decided maybe it was time to stop playing Steve Miller's "The Joker" every 45 minutes and instead pop the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" into that slot. They then made the mistake of changing their name to...Dave FM. Like other radio stations using names like "Fred" elsewhere in the country I guess they thought this made them more memorable, but in fact I had already memorized "Z-93." And I don't think changing their name to Dave has helped their ratings one iota.
Monica Kaufman - Monica Kaufman was Atlanta's first black TV newscaster, a newspaper reporter transplanted here from St. Louis in about 1974. WSB-TV had already been the ratings powerhouse of the Southeast since it's inception and adding a black anchorwoman in the Chocolate City did nothing to dim it's fortunes. Monica legendarily beat Oprah Winfrey out for the job and has Oprah-like status around town.
But the other night I turn WSB on and now, after two or three marriages where she remained Kaufman, I see she nows goes by Monica...Pearson. Who the hell is Monica Pearson?! "We have Monica Pearson coming to speak to our Rotary Club tonight." Who?
Another problem is that Monica Kaufman's trademark was changing hairdos every other week, some of them not great ones. If Monica Kaufman showed up with a POW haircut it was allowed to slide because, hey, it's Monica Kaufman. But Monica Pearson? Monica Pearson doesn't get the same slack, all you think is, "Can't they get some young, hot chick to read the news to us?"
96 Rock -- This is the most recent, and the one that prompted this little essay. 96 Rock was Atlanta's first hard rock n' roll station, beginning back in the early `70's. Through the `70's and `80's radios everywhere were tuned to 96 Rock for concert announcements, the Five O'Clock Whistle, Smash or Trash, rock star interviews, the King Biscuit Flour Hour, Rockline, the Perfect Album Side, the Dark Side and the pre-concert warm-ups. Later in the `90's their music aspect went downhill but the Regular Guys morning show kept them alive for at least four hours a day.
The Regular Guys got fired for the second time, as detailed here about a month ago, and then at work Friday a guy tells me he heard 96 Rock was about to change its format. This guy is always pulling "made ya look!" jokes so I figured he had to be kidding.
So last night I got in my car after Scott and I attended a Umphrey's McGee concert at the Tabernacle and sure enough, I'm hearing a much more steady river of shitty nu metal than I ever heard on 96 Rock. Then the break comes and they're...Project 96-point-1. Project? A project is an experiment, like, "Yeah, I'm working on a project in the back yard; we'll see how it turns out." Or maybe it could be an Urban station, "Yo, baybee, you in da Project now! Project 96-point-1, boyeeeee!"
I had already bought most of 96 Rock's playlist, minus the Lynrd Skynrd and .38 Special songs, but...that name is stupid and I always held out hope new ownership would return 96 Rock to form. Good thing I taped all those old Regular Guys shows.
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Posted by Art | 11:33 AM EST |
4 comments
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So now all of the stations I grew up with are gone: Z-93, 94-Q, Power 99, 96 Rock, Peach...Are we getting older or is radio getting shittier?
I have the 96 Rock flip on tape if you want a copy.
I used to love listening to Z93 when they were a classic rock station. One thing I always looked forward to was the Five O'Clock Whistle every Friday afternoon. I didn't know that most of the recording was originally from 96Rock until I heard that same, scratchy, throaty voice on there one Friday evening on the way home from work.
The only decent radio stations still left are all Cox stations: AM 750 WSB, B98.5 FM, and 97.1 The River. One thing I do miss is Randy and Spiff from Fox 97 and later Cool 105.7 (was originally Mix 105.7). They were a bit more wilder than Kelly and Alpha are.