All oldies?  Really?  Not too many folks want to set themselves up to be completely out of touch with at least some of whats happening in the 21st century.  But these clowns'll never get the mix right.  They haven't got a clue where to begin.  They sure as shootin' know how to foul it up though.  Just listen.  Doi-oip-dee-doip.

The problem is in the programming.  People who don't know the product inside out and backwards should not be hired to select anything for an audience they can't even begin to relate to.  And the research they 'do'?  What a jokefest!  The problem ISN'T the commericals.  It's the music.  [which makes up about 80% of the total programming.]  Get that wrong and you're screwed.  People won't even HEAR a great song if it's surrounded by sub-standard and worn out lightweight crap on either side of a rolling set of tuneage.

Oh...and LOSE that incessant barrage of those pre-produced and constantly repetitive liners.  They give you NO credibility.   It's merely ongoing and maddening noise.

[They ALL get it wrong.  Why?  $$$.  Cheapskates.  They deserve to fail.  Lose the 'experts'.  Hire some talent.]

Last edited by Old Codger (September 9, 2015 6:05 pm)

So?  24/7 it'll be a new station in the BIG smoke featuring only specialty shows hosted by experts harvested from Ontario towns big and small?

Can't think of a company willing to do that.  They'd have to pay for the moves...and then offer up enough in the way of wages that folks could actually AFFORD to live in Leaf-Ville.

Just because a host does a first rate/bang-up job doesn't mean that management would have a clue in terms of what to do or how to do it.  My experience is that some mindless p/d - 'mother' will ultimately offer and then force his managerial 2 cents worth on said host.  Due to inflation...THAT's only worth about a pernny.  And those little coppers  have been officially deemed worthless and as such have been discarded.

Judging from what I have heard on previous 24/7 oldies stations over these past 20 years or so...they're all programmed horribly.  1050 was perhaps the WORST offender.  Limited songs to chose from and Elvis singing Early Morning Rain???  WTF!!!  When was THAT ever a meaningful track for anyone not addicted to wearing white spandex?
And again...ONLY oldies is NOT the way to go.  Not 24 hours a day.  There are NEW tunes which fit.  And MANY of those old time stars are still recording some pretty good stuff...and they're still touring.  So?  They've still relevant.  {Just not to Justin Beiber fans.  but Lady Gaga did some REALLY neat shyte with Tony Bennett.  People know that.]

All the suggested radio station would need would be some EARS.  Experienced EARS.

 

Last edited by Old Codger (September 11, 2015 8:24 am)

I guess it shouldn't have to be THAT much work...which is likely why mojo55 made the suggestion about a GTA oldies FM station to begin with.  I agree geo that there ARE good shows to be had...but one has to do some pretty nifty sleuthing to find them all....and then remember when they're all on...and then also hope that they can get 'em all on the car radio as listening in the ol' vehicle is still important in terms of ratings.  Old people are damn sick and tired of being treated like they don't matter.

Who's going to even venture so much as a SHORT set of reasons as to why that MIGHT be true?  The media is GUILTY of elder abuse...pure and simple.  Hells Bells...I try to watch daytime TV every now and then.  Those arseholes are still guilty of cross-the-board MALE abuse after all these decades..  Daytime TV...What a wasteland of bitching and drivel.  [but that's a whole other topic]

There's an oldies station on 1440 from Niagara Falls NY. I think I first heard it mentioned on the old old old SOWNY board and tried it back then but reception was too poor to listen, Recently I tried the frequency in the car and it comes in ok in parts of the city. I rarely listen to AM at home but I put my old Marantz 2235B  receiver back into service yesterday to try and catch the station with a make-shift AM antenna. The station did come in but not as good as in the car. The antenna did significantly improve the reception of other AM stations but this one just does not seem to have enough juice. I tried it during the day and will try again at night. Maybe I’ll pick up a distant station playing interesting music. 

The call letters are WJJL 1440 and they play a wide cross section of music. Some of the old pop and MOR is not my cup of tea but they still play 50's and early 60's music. I heard Rama Lama Ding Dong by the Edsels and some more obscure doo wop that I had actually never heard before. A pretty wide playlist covering music from the 50's up to early 70's.

The station is so retro that they don't even have a web site let alone a internet stream. 

Radiowiz wrote:

Fitz wrote:

There's an oldies station on 1440 from Niagara Falls NY. I think I first heard it mentioned on the old old old SOWNY board and tried it back then but reception was too poor to listen, Recently I tried the frequency in the car and it comes in ok in parts of the city. I rarely listen to AM at home but I put my old Marantz 2235B  receiver back into service yesterday to try and catch the station with a make-shift AM antenna. The station did come in but not as good as in the car. The antenna did significantly improve the reception of other AM stations but this one just does not seem to have enough juice. I tried it during the day and will try again at night. Maybe I’ll pick up a distant station playing interesting music. 

The call letters are WJJL 1440 and they play a wide cross section of music. Some of the old pop and MOR is not my cup of tea but they still play 50's and early 60's music. I heard Rama Lama Ding Dong by the Edsels and some more obscure doo wop that I had actually never heard before. A pretty wide playlist covering music from the 50's up to early 70's.

The station is so retro that they don't even have a web site let alone a internet stream. 

WJJL is 100% independently owned and operated. 
They have no big head office to answer to and therefore are free to play what they want without having to restrict themselves to a mass produced or "cookie cutter" play list.

They had a website for a short time but it went down one day and they never bothered to fix it back up.
At one point the station was able to be heard here: http://streema.com/radios/WJJL 
It would be nice if they could restore that. 

Here is proof that there was a WJJL website back in 2006: http://wjjl.blogspot.ca/2006/03/welcome.html
 

I listen to it all the time. Reception is OK where I live, not great (some splatter from 1430). They only have one Monday-Friday live personality, Tom Darro, in the mornings. Lots of "oh wow" songs from the '50s to the '70s. I'm always surprised by what they play. The other day it was "California My Way" by the Fifth Dimension which didn't chart nationally and barely showed up regionally. I couldn't believe they played such an obscure song, but it was nice.

Between WJJL and Freddy Vette's show I'm covered for oldies on AM. There's also WECK 1230, but their signal is borderline at best.
 

Last edited by Dale Patterson (September 14, 2015 8:32 am)

i recently listened to an old atf show and it reminded me of some of the "crap" (i know, it's a subjective thing) that was played on top 40 radio in the '60's & 70's. yes, those songs had to popular with someone or they wouldn't have charted but (in my opinion a few of these songs don't hold up. i think the perfect example of mixing old and new whithout straying from the overall sound is (little steven's) outlaw country on sirius/xm. it's not uncommon to hear hank sr. followed by his grandson (a rebel if there ever was one) or george jones followed by the stones (country honk). sure satelitte radio can afford to target a niche' format (compared to terrestrial radio) but this niche' is gaining traction (i won't get into the details). in my opinion, a 50's / 60's rock sounding format might have legs. hell, some of the new acts, that would fit this format, are already being played on "outlaw country" and some of the older acts are being played on underground garage. maybe it's time for a hybrid?  j.d. mcpherson's "north side gal"  segues into the beatles "old brown shoe". i'm in!  btw: letterman often featured some of the newer acts that would qualify... then again, he's one of the notable "outlaw country: fans. insert: there have been many aaa format threads on the this board (albeit many years ago) comment here. i'm just sayin'.




 

Last edited by the original hank (September 14, 2015 5:17 pm)

mace wrote:

most of the ads are locally produced for area business. Almost no Professionally produced national ads. Station definitely has a small town feel to it

 . . . which accounts for its charm!
 

geo wrote:

Dale Patterson wrote:

I listen to it all the time.   Between WJJL and Freddy Vette's show I'm covered for oldies on AM

Me too.    Am wondering if Jim Parsons who has the syndicated program that runs on 560 CFOS and used to run on K-Ws Oldies 1090 has a piece of the action.  His voice pops up from time to time (noon hours however not live because announcements are often weeks out of date).     It's been a long time since we heard 50s tunes & early 60s country crossover on Oldies radio
 

Here's a little bit about Jim Parsons, who syndicates his show out of the MPG Network:

http://www.shakerattleradio.com/jim.php

Dale, hope you are catching Freddy's tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis on the occasion of his (Jerry Lee, not Freddy) milestone eightieth birthday today.     Also an excellent interview w. guitarist Buck Hutcheson who toured w. Jerry Lee

Radiowiz wrote:

...but yeah, it does make one wonder why WJJL won't stream!

R/Wiz, if you enjoy the oldies (and who doesn't?) you will relocate to Pickering, Ajax or Whitby, as close to the water as possible, where you can get AM-800 Bay of Quinte (freddy vette), AM -1330 WRXL Buffalo/Lancaster + AM-1440 WJJL over the air.    Don't delay call Frank Leo today
 

geo wrote:

Dale, hope you are catching Freddy's tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis on the occasion of his (Jerry Lee, not Freddy) milestone eightieth birthday today.     Also an excellent interview w. guitarist Buck Hutcheson who toured w. Jerry Lee

Great show yesterday. "All Killer, no filler".
September 29th's show - http://www.cjbq.com/freddy/
 

Dale Patterson wrote:

Radiowiz wrote:

geo wrote:

R/Wiz, if you enjoy the oldies (and who doesn't?) you will relocate to Pickering, Ajax or Whitby, as close to the water as possible, where you can get AM-800 Bay of Quinte (freddy vette), AM -1330 WRXL Buffalo/Lancaster + AM-1440 WJJL over the air.    Don't delay call Frank Leo today
 

I shouldn't have to move anywhere. Nobody should ever have to move just to hear the oldies.
Somehow standards are more profitable than oldies in the Toronto market? (AM 740 = Standards, not oldies)
 

AM 740 hasn't been a standards station in years. Yes, they have a Big Band show on Sunday nights but much of their regular music rotation is a mix of '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s. Oh, they throw in the occasional Sinatra and Nat King Cole tune but to call it a standards station is factually incorrect. They actually play far more oldies than standards, the Big Band show notwithstanding.

http://www.zoomerradio.ca/what-was-that-song/
 

For the two seconds I'm willing to give it I get standards and I'm gone. It ain't no 1050 CHUM...

At last check there was a Johnny Mathis song playing and I never bothered to return.  
 

Last edited by Radiowiz (October 1, 2015 1:52 am)

I noticed the background to their website included pictures of Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Jett, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album and I think I also spotted a cropped-off picture of Led Zeppelin. I'm wondering if they have plans to move in a more rock 'n' rollier direction?


PJ

The Grand 92.9 FM is not a bad station. 
Looks like that will be the go to for those who want Oldies on FM 
As for AM, CKNT is playing some pretty good oldies.
I wish they could be an Oldies station instead of a talk station.