Mixes are no longer a hot thing on CHR stations. The luster of it is gone. The days of the big mixer names, allowing them to mix whatever was hot on the streets, gone. Today they are handed down a sanitized playlist. Cue up beat box. Nonsense.
The closest thing you can get is on Friday Nights on V103 between 7p and 1a. Some House mixed and some R&N mixes. On 106.3 WSRB they also have mixes on Friday night and it's all house.
WPNA also has some mixes on Fri/Sat nights. Behind a beatbox. They cycle through he same mixes often. They all sound the same even if there is a broad music mix. It wears off quickly.
Lumpen radio tends to lean dance 80s and has mixes often. 105.5 inside the city, I think the signal is off a cell phone tower and it is really not uniform and it is erratic.
For those that want the closest thing to B96 including Pop dance, house, freestyle? As we said before on this board, follow the link below.
Original Hot 97/103 is a good alternative for those who still crave the old school B96 sound. There are actually two Hot 97 stations online based on pre-hip hop WQHT. The originator (which you linked to) and the "imitator" on Live365 (which lacks the mixes and the other special programming)
As far as online stations go, there aren't too many options out there in regards to that classic B96 sound. Also, Dance Beat Radio, a B96 tribute online station, had shut down earlier this year. If you want a more Chicago-based classic dance experience, there is Dance Music Experience Radio, which plays classic dance, disco, R&B and pop music from the latter half of the 1970s to the early 2000s. The highlight is that they play classic dance of the 80s/90s/00s every night and air mixes every Saturday night, which are later uploaded to their MixCloud account. This station is based in Chicago as they play several of the songs played on 102.7 WBMX during the 80s, B96 during the 90s, and Energy 92.7/5 during the early 2k and most of their mixers come from Chicago. My main issue with the station is the song playlists during each music block can get repetitive and there are still several notable songs from that era that I haven't heard yet on DMER. https://www.dancemusicexperienceradio.com https://www.mixcloud.com/DanceMusicExperienceRadio/
Another option is Da Beat 106, another Chicago-based online station which plays mixes and old school music. However, they are all over the place musically as they play both mixes and songs randomly. One moment, they are playing B96 music (i.e. dance/house/freestyle) and the next moment they are playing WGCI music (i.e. urban, quiet storm). They also play salsa/reggaeton/Latin music as well. In comparison, Dance Music Experience Radio is more consistent in what they play during music blocks. Another issue I have with Da Beat 106 is that they often play explicit hip hop. Also, the versions of certain tracks they play seem to come from remix service labels (think Select Mix or X-Mix) instead of the actual 12 inch versions or radio edits. Furthermore, some songs randomly cut off before the next song plays. Da Beat 106 also has a MixCloud account but they don't really update it. https://www.dabeat106.com
As for classic dance/rhythmic stations outside Chicago or NY (as in the case of original Hot 97), there are two Miami-based classic dance stations named Rewind 103.9 and Miami One Radio, both of which are based on Miami's WPOW Power 96. Both of them play mixes. Since this is Miami-flavored, expect to hear more booty bass, freestyle and hi-NRG music rather than the more familiar Chicago house. https://onlineradiobox.com/us/rewind1039/?cs=us.kola https://onlineradiobox.com/us/miamione/?cs=us.miamione
Finally, there is YesWePlayIt, a Jack FM/adult hits station that plays classic dance and mixes on Friday nights I think. I haven't tuned in that much to confirm it. https://www.yesweplayit.com
On a side note, I was surprised to learn that iHeart actually had both a 90s dance and freestyle station on their website but I wouldn't recommend them as the playlists are extremely limited (only 100-150 songs!) Way too repetitive for my tastes as I desire lost hits and deeper cuts and don't want to just hear the more familiar bigger hits from the era.
Alternately, go search for some YouTube or Spotify playlists if you are in a mood for classic dance/B96/WBMX music.
Remember The Beat Chicago? They recently relaunched but only stream on MixCloud.
I forgot Sal! Yes, he is on MixCloud. Him and I were recently discussing his weekend stream, it is more "fun" and "party" as opposed to strictly dance. You need those other titles in between to prevent burn.
He also has great programing during the week, notably his 70s R&B, Motown days.
on October 24, 2024, 6:11 pm