Somethin’ in the Air…

I have always tried to release those “what if” moments we all have over the course of our lives along with the inevitable, accompanying sense of regret. But there are a few whatiffers that somehow manage to cling to us no matter how determined we are to evict them. One of the few that I have never been able to sufficiently expulse from my soul was born from the decision I made long ago to walk away from a promising career in broadcasting. Yes, I was once a rising star in the world of radio, schlepping my way up the ladder of fortune and fame as I stroked my aspirations of becoming the next Steve Dahl.

Augmenting the anguish of that decision were two irrefutable facts. First, I actually loved everything about it, in spite of my claims to the contrary. Second, I was blessed with the gift of gab and a great set of pipes, a combination that strengthens one’s arsenal of talent in that particular industry. I quickly climbed from small market to medium and finally to the big leagues, but the pursuit of success in this field requires the acceptance of a lack of geographic or residential stability, and that got the best of me.

I had moved three times in just 18 months. This was at a time when FCC rules of acquisition had finally been relaxed and stations were being scooped up left and right. It had become quite common for a GM to gather staff together at which time it would be revealed that the station had been sold and everyone was subsequently dismissed—with the exception of a lucky few who would be retained by the new owners, but would be assuming similar roles at one of their other venues in, say, Louisiana—or in my case, Duluth, Minnesota where I was being sent to take over the afternoon drive at the station that “Rocked the Shores of Lake Superior.” Or something like that. Listen, I have nothing against Duluth. In fact, I hear it’s a beautiful city, but I had already served my time enduring the brutal winters of the upper Midwest after seven years of gracing the airwaves in the likes of Flint, Lansing, and Marquette, Michigan, thank you very much. So I decided to walk away and pursue a career more closely related to my degree. But as the saying goes, “you can take the boy out of radio, but you can’t take the radio out of the boy.” The result is that I remain a die-hard radiophile all these years later.

I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to do occasional voice-overs, and have a little on-air fun with some of my pals whose voices still grace the airwaves of Denver. One thing that hasn’t changed is that I still get nearly as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve anytime a new station is launched or when an another changes format, gets a new PD, switches up the morning show team or, as has been known to happen, bites the dust and quietly slithers off into the sunset. Yes, folks. I’m a geek.

A while ago on Facebook, I sang the praises of a relatively new non-commercial radio station in the Denver market, OpenAir at 102.3 FM, airing a very loose Indie/Adult Album Alternative format, somewhat reminiscent of free-form or college radio. Well, the other evening as I drove up to attend a friend’s birthday celebration in Longmont-ish (that unclaimed area in between Longmont, Boulder and Niwot), I happened upon yet another broadcasting gem that just hit the airwaves this week.  It’s called The Colorado Sound  and like OpenAir, it is also an arm of a public broadcasting outlet. It hangs out at 105.5 FM with a format that is best classified as Music Discovery, one of the new kids on the programming block, offering a sound that doesn’t follow the more traditional and strictly formatted playlists. The blend of music on The Colorado Sound (TCS) is truly different—similar to what we used to get from KBCO before it succumbed to corporate kidnapping—with a unique combination of emerging and established artists in a mix of rock, blues, soul, classics and acoustic. Even more interesting, it’s educational. The other day, I heard Blondie’s “The Tide is High,” but only after learning the Blondie version is a cover and the original, which they also played, was recorded by The Paragons in 1967. I never knew that—and I’m something of a music aficionado. Best of all, it’s non-commercial and listener supported, with corporate underwriters similar to what you’d find on most public broadcasting stations. But that’s about the extent of any similarities to other NPR affiliates.

Most stations utilizing the Music Discovery format have that unmistakable public broadcasting sound—and I say that with no intended disrespect to NPR or CPR. The best example I can present is the now-famous “Schweddy Balls” sketch from Saturday Night Live, a parody of the typically flat and emotionless NPR mainstays. I love public radio, but let’s be honest—they just don’t exhibit that polished quality that you find with most large market commercial stations. Or at least they didn’t until now.

TCS has an impressive signal with 50,000 watts, is staffed with top-notch programmers and features a full-force, seasoned air staff, including a few names you may recognize such as former KBCOers Keefer, and Ron Bostwick. I especially enjoy Margot Chabinian who handles mid-days and is well-known from the many years she was on the air at Atlanta’s Dave-FM.  Female voices are often paired with the likes of soft rock, adult contemporary, and hot hit formats. Stations airing a harder rock or country sound—whether classic, mainstream or alternative—tend to favor a predominantly male on-air team. But regardless, it’s always a treat when you find a woman whose voice works in either situation, offering that smooth and sultry quality that cannot be learned or even acquired (think Detroit’s Karen Savelly, whose voice could send any testosterone-driven, heterosexual teenager into a fervent frenzy). They either have it or they don’t. Margot has it.

TCS is the first of its kind in the country to utilize on-air imaging— the specific marketing and branding stylings used to give a station its own unique identity and sound. Best local example would be the robotic-voiced “KBPI Rocks the Rockies” moniker that’s been around since Mother Nature was an infant. TCS is less than a week old and already has a competitive brand that is the perfect blend of the edgy polish of a commercial AAA station and the free-form music selection of the tiny internet station run out of a garage by your nephew Morris, known to all eleven of his listeners as “Axeman.”

The Denver-Boulder market has had some great stations that saw their demise long before any of us were ready to say farewell, including alternative contenders 92X and 96.5 The Peak, and Denver’s first FM mainstream rocker, KAZY. They all pulled great ratings, consistently breaking the top ten. But that wasn’t good enough in this highly competitive rat race, which is why so many great music outlets have bitten the dust or tend to change format every six months, as has been the case with whatever station is currently occupying the 107.1 position on Denver’s FM dial. I’ve given up trying to follow that one.

But for stations like The Colorado Sound, it isn’t about the ratings. It’s listener supported with a playlist that is heavily influenced by listeners as well. And because of its listener-oriented bias along with its commercial-free format, TCS has the potential to perform better than many of the commercial stations in this market. Or all of them. A few cities across the country have witnessed public broadcasting venues performing extremely well in the ratings, such as Ann Arbor’s WUOM, which actually annihilated the commercial competition. So wouldn’t it be fun if a non-commercial station became Denver’s king of the hill, essentially turning the local broadcasting world upside down?  Far-fetched, you say? Impossible? KBCO has been the victor in the Denver-Boulder radio war on several occasions over its nearly 40-year existence, and the format was a helluva lot looser the first time that happened. Come to think of it, it was a lot more like—oh, what’s that station I’m thinking of? Oh, yeah. 105.5 The Colorado Sound. That’s the one.