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A Radio April Fool's Joke That Drove Some Listeners To Distraction
A lot of radio stations don't really do April Fool's bits anymore, but when one pulls off a real winner, it's a major coup.
That happened six days ago, when KLOS-FM in L.A., which has been a Q107-like mainstream and/or classic rock station since Marconi was a baby, made an announcement that left listeners in shock. They adopted a totally new format for several hours, leaving fans of the station either in on the joke or going crazy with anger. And then there were those who actually liked the new format and wanted it to stay. (The Pole anyone?)
Here's the story of how one radio station pranked listeners on a single day in April and may have accidentally created a legit new format.
KLOS went all-in on SoCal’s Yacht Rock, one of radio’s best on-air pranks
- Evuguy
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Re: A Radio April Fool's Joke That Drove Some Listeners To Distraction
Reminiscent of CHUM-FM's format flip in 1985 from album rock to yuppie music, leaving the Toronto rock market to the mighty Q107. Scruff's 1984 CHUM-busters tune obviously did the trick and Q won the war. Then there was 97 Rock's brief attempt at the yuppie demographic in 1988. We all know how that went.
Some "interesting" background info on the 104 flip:
R.I.P. 104 CHUM-FM
- Paul Jeffries
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Re: A Radio April Fool's Joke That Drove Some Listeners To Distraction
Reminds me of a station ID that 97.7 HTZ-FM used to run during the 1990s:
"Vote now for the Top 9 at 9...or we'll play Michael Bolton!!!" 
PJ
ClassicHitsOnline.com...Classic hits done right!
- Evuguy
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Re: A Radio April Fool's Joke That Drove Some Listeners To Distraction
Nice. I remember when they flipped (think it was '86) to HTZ they initially played Madonna. That didn't last long either. Top 40 was a no-no on FM back then. CKFM found that out the hard way!
- Paul Jeffries
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Re: A Radio April Fool's Joke That Drove Some Listeners To Distraction
Evuguy wrote:
Nice. I remember when they flipped (think it was '86) to HTZ they initially played Madonna. That didn't last long either. Top 40 was a no-no on FM back then. CKFM found that out the hard way!
Yeah, I think that was the reason they changed their call letters to CHTZ from CJQR because they were hoping to play as many hits as was allowable per Canadian regulations at the time (which wasn't many). I remember around 1987 they were still playing the likes of Paul Young and Level 42 mixed in with harder stuff like Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith (which CHUM-FM wasn't playing at the time). I think they may have slowly started transitioning towards a more harder-sounding format around 1988 or so.
I always thought HTZ-FM ("Hits FM") seemed like a strange moniker for an AOR/Mainstream Rock station. But I guess the name stuck over the years and listeners knew what the station was about, so I guess that's all that matters.
PJ
ClassicHitsOnline.com...Classic hits done right!
- mace
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Re: A Radio April Fool's Joke That Drove Some Listeners To Distraction
Reminiscent of CHUM-FM's format flip in 1985 from album rock to yuppie music, leaving the Toronto rock market to the mighty Q107. Scruff's 1984 CHUM-busters tune obviously did the trick and Q won the war. Then there was 97 Rock's brief attempt at the yuppie demographic in 1988. We all know how that went.
Some "interesting" background info on the 104 flip:
R.I.P. 104 CHUM-FM
Aw yes. The wretched WRLT. It lasted from January 1985-September 1988.
- Evuguy
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Re: A Radio April Fool's Joke That Drove Some Listeners To Distraction
Wow, I'd forgotten that WRLT was around that long. I can remember some of their ads had folks dressed in some very preppy sweaters.
Found a TV ad from its last year with the format in 1988:
- Chrisphen
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Re: A Radio April Fool's Joke That Drove Some Listeners To Distraction
During its heyday HTZ-FM had some fair stones in its sack. I commend the better parts of its existence.
- kevjo
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Re: A Radio April Fool's Joke That Drove Some Listeners To Distraction
A lot of radio stations don't really do April Fool's bits anymore, but when one pulls off a real winner, it's a major coup.
That happened six days ago, when KLOS-FM in L.A., which has been a Q107-like mainstream and/or classic rock station since Marconi was a baby, made an announcement that left listeners in shock. They adopted a totally new format for several hours, leaving fans of the station either in on the joke or going crazy with anger. And then there were those who actually liked the new format and wanted it to stay. (The Pole anyone?)
Here's the story of how one radio station pranked listeners on a single day in April and may have accidentally created a legit new format.
KLOS went all-in on SoCal’s Yacht Rock, one of radio’s best on-air pranks
One time in the early 80's Q107 pulled an April Fool's "format flip" to all comedy. They even announced new call letters, CJOQ or C-JOKE. They fielded on air calls from irritated listeners, some of whom caught on to the gag. It was done convincingly until noon when they fessed up then went into the Who's Long Live Rock. those were the days when some stations were allowed to be creative.