Sigh. The Oldies have died in New York.
I’m not really big into music. But when I wanted to listen, I’d turn to WCBS-FM, as I happen to favor the oldies. In particular, I’ve come to like Micky Dolenz (the former Monkee) who was doing the morning drive show.
That all changed on Friday. At 5PM, WCBS suddenly changed formats to something called “Jack FM.” It’s a mix of old music and new. It’s been described as “an Ipod on shuffle.”
What’s particularly bad about this is the fact that all the hosts got about one hour’s notice. These are hosts such as “Cousin” Brucie Morrow, Bob Shannon and others who have been with the station upwards of thirty years. You’d think they deserve more than an hour’s notice.
What’s even more galling (to me anyway), is that that very morning, Micky Dolenz celebrated his 100th show with a live broadcast from Times Square. Cousin Brucie appeared on the show as well. Little Dolenz know that the 100th show he was celebrating was going to be his last one.
I understand that radio is a fickle business. Heck, I graduated with a degree in TV/Radio production - I understand the business aspects - if oldies wasn’t bringing in the right ratings or demographics, then by all means dump it.
But at the very least you could have been kinder to the fans and the hosts. WCBS has been the oldies home in NYC for over 30 years. They had a real hardcore base of fans. They certainly deserved a chance to say goodbye to thier station and thier favorite hosts. And the hosts certainly deserved better than to be let go like that.
Zev Steinhardt