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WBBM-FM B96 Aircheck Paul Donovan, December 8, 1986 ~ 4PM = The WORST AC I ever heard!

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 10, 2023, 9:23 pm

Unscoped. Decent audio.

This is the worst B96 (pre 2k) I have ever heard. Still a CHR, but lot of downtempo tunes and adding Urban titles (not dance), as they were starting to go after WBMX. Their ratings were crap at this point and Z95 was trending up.

No jingles
AC heavy
Cold segues
Urban tunes (not dance)
Very little Voice guy imaging

Comments???

Z

Link: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mhe-W9MAw20&feature=share

Re: WBBM-FM B96 Aircheck Paul Donovan, December 8, 1986 ~ 4PM = The WORST AC I ever heard!

Posted by John from Wisconsin <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=John+from+Wisconsin' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 11, 2023, 8:32 am, in reply to "WBBM-FM B96 Aircheck Paul Donovan, December 8, 1986 ~ 4PM = The WORST AC I ever heard!"

Without even listening, "No jingles AC heavy Cold segues Urban tunes (not dance) Very little Voice guy imaging Comments???"

Sounds like Today's CHRs! IE: Horrid, NO energy, TALK:don't say calls/slogan, sweepers never refreshed. I might add "people who don't know/get/have a passion" for radio.

Re: WBBM-FM B96 Aircheck Paul Donovan, December 8, 1986 ~ 4PM = The WORST AC I ever heard!

Posted by Z-92 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Z-92' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 11, 2023, 9:09 am, in reply to "Re: WBBM-FM B96 Aircheck Paul Donovan, December 8, 1986 ~ 4PM = The WORST AC I ever heard!"

Honestly, I think that's the way CHR was in 86. My hometown Lansing MI had a95FM WVIC. No jingles at all, same songs MINUS the R and B, no rhythmic songs at all until Z-92 came on the air in 87. It all sounds very AC to us now but the Jets and Bobby Brown, never played on our CHR.

This was the same time Hot 103 NYC came on the air and when CHR and dance started to mix and jingles became a real thing, at least in my non-huge city experience. Even in 86 when I traveled through Chicago with my walkman in the back seat, B96 sounded so good with rhythmic titles I never got to hear. Were they ever called Chicago's Hot Mix???

That's my memory talking and when B96 moved toward dance. 37 years ago! A lot has changed. Still the early 90s, best time to listen to radio, especially B96 and Hot97 NYC.

Re: WBBM-FM B96 Aircheck Paul Donovan, December 8, 1986 ~ 4PM = The WORST AC I ever heard!

Posted by WYTZZ95FM <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=WYTZZ95FM' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 11, 2023, 9:47 am, in reply to "Re: WBBM-FM B96 Aircheck Paul Donovan, December 8, 1986 ~ 4PM = The WORST AC I ever heard!"

Z95 Chicago was *nothing* like this. They were slamming jingles, very happy jocks, pretty mainstream music down the middle. This was not the norm at the time for CHR in major cities. B96 was on a bend to be "in between" Q101 and WBMX. Aka 25-54 numbers. This phase did not last long as it was their worst numbers since going CHR in 82.

The HOT MIX moniker is registered and can't be (legally) freely used. I *think* 102.7 WBMX-FM at one point referred to themselves as Chicago's Hot Mix station due to their dance mixes. If Sal A from 102.3 The Beat & WMBX Online was here, I know he would be able to clarify this.

Z

Re: WBBM-FM B96 Aircheck Paul Donovan, December 8, 1986 ~ 4PM = The WORST AC I ever heard!

Posted by Jeremy Andrews <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/chicagomediachat/info/user=Jeremy+Andrews' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on March 11, 2023, 11:00 am, in reply to "WBBM-FM B96 Aircheck Paul Donovan, December 8, 1986 ~ 4PM = The WORST AC I ever heard!"

Jock is good. Presentation is bland. There were a lot of stations that did a jock only presentation around that time without any imaging.

Looking over the charts from that time period, most of it is from the chart, but there's a lot of golds and they seem to have borrowed a few from the Urban chart.

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