Posted by Joseph M on August 02, 2007 at 23:42:32:
In Reply to: Polarizing Music posted by Allan Sniffen on August 02, 2007 at 08:09:18:
The 1980's became known as the me decade, from a music point of view it seems to have become the misunderstood decade.
Plainly stated, there are plenty of top 40 hits in the 80's that can work in this format and this is especially true of the 1980-86 period. The Thriller album in 1982 was considered the rebirth of top 40. It is long forgotton now but but in the early years of MTV the station was a tv version of top 40 radio.
CBSFM listeners and management alike should embrace the 80's music, it will keep the station going alot longer than exhausting the 60 standards again (Good Vibrations, Grapevine, My Girl etc).
This is not to say that anything goes but hits like Borderline, Straight Up, Look Away, Heart of Rock and Roll, Head To Toe span the decade and are just a tiny sample of records that work within the format. I read a post on this board questioning The Bangles being featured in an all girl group weekend promo, are you kidding, they have to be featured.
If the 80 Top 40 music fans are treated the way the 70's music fans were treated back in the 90's by CBSFM then you will lose these folks in short order. Understand, there has to a reprsentative
sample in the CBSFM audience or this "back to the future" format will run into demo issues.
Remember there was not one but two big FM TOP 40 stations in the 80's in this market Z100, and WPLJ. If it is possible too attract some interest from the folks that enjoyed those stations then that has to be addressed.