University Daily Kansan / Friday, January 29; 1988 Jacque Janssen, arts/features editor 9 Arts & Entertainment An L.A. Wave rolls in to K.C. Local station's format change brings new age to local radio Ruth Jacobson/KANSAN New-age music recreates dreamy scenes with such album titles as "Western Spaces," "Natural States" and "The Velocity of Love." Kansan staff writer By Jeff Suggs In the late 1970s, a new kind of music established itself in the United States. With its aggressive sounds, performers such as the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello and Talking Heads brought together a movement known in its early stages as new wave. Welcome to the mellow sounds of the Wave. This movement offered an alternative to listeners who had grown tired of album rock radio darlings such as Boston and the Electric Light Orchestra. Since its beginning in Los Angeles last February, the Wave format, with its combination of new age, light pop music and a major radio markets like a high tide. Now, there is a different wave of music in the United States that is offering an alternative to album rock radio, but it has about as much in common with new wave as Karen Carpenter did with Johnny Rotten. That tide has rolled into the Kansas City area. In July, KZZC-FM 98.9, a radio station based in Leavennorth, traded in the old hits of Elvis Presley and the Rolling Stones and changed its call letters to KCWJ, the Wave. The station was an oldies station and, before that, a top-40 station known as ZZ-90. It changed its format because the audience wasn't there, said program director Todd Chase. However, Chase said the new format was bringing in more listeners. He said the station, which is going through an ownership change, had done very well for not having a high-profile media campaign. He said the Wave was for people who wanted a different type of music that could be heard. "It's for a non-mainstream audience," Chase said. "It's the kind of music for people who are sick of mainstream music." Chase said that he would like to appeal to a wide audience but that statistics had shown people with upper incomes enjoy the format. "It's not a totally mass-av product," Chase said. But calling the Wave a new-age format is a misnomer, Chase said. "The new-age part seems to get everyone's attention," he said, "though we play it only 20 percent of the time." The Wave started at KMET-FM, a major rock station in Los Angeles. It surprised many of its listeners last February when it announced that it was changing formats. It fired its disc jockeys, became automated and changed its call letters to KTWV, the Wave. But there are some detractors of the Wave format. Music critics have been harping on this brand of laidback tunes since the Wave was created in February. In a week's time, the station went from playing Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin to playing David Sanborn, Dionne Warwick, Andreas Vollenweider and Kitaro. It also retained rock performers such as Sting and Steely Dan. It was quite a change for a station that was one of the pioneers of album rock. Robert Hilburn, pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times, is one writer who hasn't been a big fan of the Wave. He said he didn't like listening to Wave stations and was depressed that the format was gaining popularity. "My impression of it is this vacuous background music." Hilburn The rising popularity of the Wave, though, is bringing increased record sales to music that hasn't been played on a national scale. Rich Schmidt, director of national promotion for Windham Hill Records, said he thought that the Schmidt, whose company specializes in new-age music, thinks the Wave has affected record sales for artists such as Sanborn and Larry Carlton. Wave format raised people's consciousness about his company's records. "I think that the artists that have most benefited are the fusion artists that have been around 10 to 15 years," Schmidt said. Managers of local record stores also said that the Wave made record buyers more aware of that kind of music. Steve Wilson, manager of Kief Discount Records and Stereo Supply. 2100 West 25th St., said the Wave helped increase new-age record sales in a general way. Peter Gray, manager of Penny Lane Records and Tapes, 844 Massachusetts, said that "New Age has always been real strong. It's been a pretty stable market." Gray said the lack of song identification on the Wave kept many customers from knowing what artist they wanted to buy. But the station, Gray said, influences people to search for new records. "I'll tell you this," he said, "I have people come in the store and say I heard this on the Wave." New alternatives playing at KJHK get mixed reviews By Jeff Suggs Kansan staff writer Last Tuesday. KJHK-FM 90.7 launched its new format. "I'm pleased with the change, myself," Nash said. "The emphasis is on the new stuff." Dave Nash, a disc jockey for the student-run radio station, is happy about the change. He actually gets to play "Pleased to Meet Me" by the Replacements, an album that was released last spring but was virtually ignored by the station. That's essentially what has happened to the format this semester at KJHK. In the past, DJs got to play most of what they wanted to. Depending on the DJ's taste, he could play hard-core punk or older records throughout his whole shift. This, said Brad Schwartz, station manager, and Lon Payne, program director, attracted a cult following, but it didn't bring in new listeners. "We found we were alienating our potential listeners," Schwartz said. IDEA FOR KANSAN MAGAZINE STORY To bring in the more listeners, the station stopped the free-for-all habits of the DJs, and created a new format. Schwartz and Payne said the station's format would play a variety of new and recent alternative music, along with some older classics. KJHK's newer music will be based partly on charts by College Media Journal and Rockpool magazine, leaders in determining what's hot and what isn't in college radio. KJHK, however, said Schwartz and Payne, wouldn't accept the charts as gospel. The station will have the final decision to determine whether a certain album will fit into its format. Payne said the newer material would be played at an average of twelve songs an hour, with the rest being reserved for classic materi- Playing new material, Nash said, is what radio is all about. "You hear something new," he said, "it can make you go out and buy it." In the past, the college charts have been dominated by such recording artists as R.E.M., the Replacements and the Cure. But, Schwartz said, new releases by bands such as these were shunned by past KJHK DJs as being too commercial for the station to play. That philosophy also has been changed. A band such as R.E.M. Schwartz said, may be creeping toward major band status, but it doesn't mean the station has to turn its back on it. Payne pointed out that the station played records by R.E.M. and the Cure before they were popular. There are some people who aren't crazy about the format change. Christie Fleek, a former DJ at the station, said basing KJHK's playlist on Rockpool and CMJ charts would allow the stage to play bands such as Gene Lopes Jezabel and Swing Sister出 Fleek said that many college stations across the country were basing their playlists on the college charts, which prevented many bands on independent labels from being played on college radio. Schwartz said that if a band they'd supported for some time hit a song on the top 40, that band wouldn't necessarily be cut from the station's format. Just because a song is somewhat commercial, Nash said, it doesn't mean it's a bad song. Schwartz said he hoped that more people would listen to the station. "We want to make sure to do what we're set to do," he said. "And that is to appeal to the students of the University of Kansas." Arts and Entertainment Every Friday in the KANSAN Super Bowl Party Washington Redskins Denver Broncos 40" Big Screen 75¢ build your own hot dogs $1.00 draw $1.75 well drinks FREE popcorn and pretzels 200 McDonald Drive Holiday Inn and Holidome Lawrence, Kansas 66046 (913) 841-7077 200 McDonald Drive awrence, Kansas 66046