Chicago's newest radio station signed on shortly after noon on Monday by
playing two Chicagoland standards ... "Lake Shore Drive" by Aliotta, Haynes and
Jeremiah and "Take Me Back To Chicago" by Chicago.
Me-TV-FM can best be described as soft rock / easy listening oldies from
the '60's, '70's and '80's.
There are no live dj's yet ... and no commercials ... right now they're simply
setting the tone for the type of music you can expect to hear from the station,
located at 87.7 FM ... so it's an excellent time to listen.
(My initial reaction: I hate the name ... I mean, I understand
that they're trying to capitalize on the success of Me-TV resurrecting some
vintage television shows not normally found in mass circulation in the world of syndication, by following the same mind-set that this station will be playing music long-absent from the
standard, repetitive programming found everywhere else up and down the dial ... and they
obviously feel the need to establish a connection between the two in order to
help reinforce their mission statement ... but I'm hoping they eventually break
from this pattern and allow the station to establish its own identity ... TV is
TV and radio is radio. Their slogan of playing "Me-zy" Listening Music was
already stale the second time I heard it!)
I listened the entire way to and from work yesterday to try and get a feel of
where they're headed ... and it DEFINITELY is a soft rock mix. (Suggestion: An
up-tempo tune here and there might liven things up a bit ... and help keep your audience awake!) They're taking
requests and suggestions at their website: metv.fm ... it's not really clear yet as to how
much impact this will have on their future play list ... but it certainly is a
nice gesture ... and a great way to draw listeners in early and make them feel
part of something new.
I am happy to report, however, that I heard some things that I haven't heard on
the radio in a long, long time. (Honestly, the mix may not be for everyone ...
but I'm one of those who simply enjoys hearing something DIFFERENT and out of
the norm, regardless of whether or not I happen to be in love with the tune
... rather than feeling the constant need to turn off the same music that we're being
force-fed everywhere else.) That being said, I'm not sure how many people out
there have been craving a John Denver or a Helen Reddy tune ... but both were
significant artists of this era and it's nice to hear them FINALLY represented on
the airwaves again. This is something Forgotten Hits has been fighting for for
a long, long time. (A few years back K-Hits counted down The Top 40 Artists of
every decade for the '60's, the '70's and the '80's and left The Carpenters off
the list ... today I got to hear The Carpenters back where they belong ... on
the radio. With twenty National Top 40 Hits, it's flat out WRONG that radio
today ignores them ... and the same can be said for both Reddy and Denver, too
... in moderate doses ... it comes across as a nice change of pace ...
and certainly helps break the monotony of what has come to pass as "classic
hits" radio today here in Chicago.)
Here is a recap of what I heard both to and from work today ... give it a
once-over and if it sounds interesting, tune in to 87.7 FM and check it out for
yourself. (Note: the station is not yet streaming ... but I expect that they
will be soon.)
AM:
Daniel by Elton John / In The Ghetto by Elvis Presley / It's Sad To Belong
by England Dan and John Ford Coley / The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson
/ Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac / This Girl Is A Woman Now (my all-time favorite
song by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap ... and one you NEVER hear) / Galveston
by Glen Campbell / Carefree Highway by Gordon Lightfoot / Sooner Or Later by The
Grass Roots / Kiss On My List by Hall and Oates / You And Me Against The World
by Helen Reddy / A Little In Love by Cliff Richard (when's the last time you
heard THIS one?!? And just try NOT singing along!) / Make Me Lose Control by
Eric Carmen (another personal favorite) / A Taste Of Honey by Herb Alpert and
the Tijuana Brass / Listen People by Herman's Hermits (another seldom-played
gem) / On A Carousel by The Hollies / How Sweet It Is by James Taylor / I Got A
Name by Jim Croce / I'm Happy That Love Has Found You by Jimmy Hall (I'll bet I
haven't heard this one played on the radio since 1980) / Follow Me by John
Denver (evidently an album track I wasn't familiar with) and the Judy Collins version of In My Life
PM:
Another Park, Another Sunday by The Doobie Brothers (NOT one of their WAY over-played hits for a change) / Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is by
Chicago / Beautiful by Carole King (which sounded great, by the way!) /
Yesterday Once More by the Carpenters / Never Be The Same by Christopher Cross / Three Times A Lady by The Commodores /
You're All I Need To Get By by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell / A Groovy Kind of
Love by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders / I'm A Believer by The Monkees /
Shilo by Neil Diamond / King Of The Road by Roger Miller / Leader Of The Band by
Dan Fogelberg / Diary by Bread (another long lost favorite) / Moonshadow by Cat
Stevens / Handy Man by James Taylor / The Longest Time by Billy Joel / Eleanor
Rigby by The Beatles and Taxi by Harry Chapin
Chicago radio veteran Mark Zander (late of The River, one of Chicago's
better Classic Rock stations, which broadcasts out of the suburbs ... and a guy
who really knows his stuff) is helping the station take shape ... and Mark, if it's an
eclectic mix of hits and FORGOTTEN HITS you're looking for, we are more than
happy to help lend a hand. Chicago's been in need of a GOOD oldies station for
awhile now and while we're optimistic that the station will find its way with
the right mix of easy listening and up-tempo tunes to perk up listeners and get
them singing along, (hopefully pleasing them along the way by FINALLY
playing some tracks they haven't heard for awhile ... Lord knows, there are
hundreds if not THOUSANDS of legitimate Top 40 Hits that don't get played
anymore to choose from), a station concentrating ONLY on the soft rock / pop
hits risks branding itself as the 2015 version of "elevator music" ... if you're
not careful, it can get kinda boring rather quickly. At this point, it's still
VERY early in the game ... hopefully they can steer the course and draw a
substantial number of listeners to jump on-board who are fed up with hearing the same
200 songs and artists on nearly every other radio station in town. Word
of mouth can be a very powerful thing ... if the word is good.
(kk)
