Posted by disman00911 on February 8, 2026, 1:58 pm
Looks like one of the elements from 103.4 Jams porting to B96 following the flip to simulating 670 the Score has come to fruition. A few days ago on their official FB page, B96 announced they were bringing back the Street Mix, which began airing yesterday. In addition, DJ Flipside's 5pm mix "Flipside @ 5" was also coming back and he uploaded the first mix on his MixCloud page. However, it seems that the Street Mix is only airing on Saturday Nights instead of airing on both Friday and Saturdays like the old days. Also, the new Street Mix is only 2 hours long airing from 10pm-Midnight and not like 6-8 hours like in the 90s/00s/10s or even 4 hours like with the "BMX 4" on 104.3. There's only 2 DJs: DJ Flipside and DJ Metro. Will the other 2 members of the "BMX 4" join them in near-future?
I actually tuned in out of curiosity and heard most of Flipside's 1st mix. He started off with the acapella of Eminem's "Without Me" (using the "Guess Who's Back, Back Again" part) and into Notorious BIG's "Hypnotize" (possibly as a nod to that song being the first played on 104.3 now-defunct classic hip hop format). The rest was what you expect: some of the big pop/R&B/rap/dancehall/reggaeton hits of the late 90s to the early 10s. Hard to believe that most of those Flipside played are over 20-25 years old. I was expecting the 2nd hour to be DJ Metro's mix but instead it was another Flipside mix and he was mixing mainly crunk and trap hip hop. I can tolerate crunk in small doses but I absolute cannot stand trap music as it is way overused these days and I turned it off as I needed to get some sleep.
Overall, seems to be 1 half-hour mixes per hour (one from Flipside and the other from Metro) instead of a single one-hour mix from both. Also, no dance/club music but I shouldn't be too surprised as the earliest year B96 plays on their current playlist is about 1996 and it's too late to mix in those Killer Bee/Party Radio-era songs as those skew even older. Plus, I'm no longer in the station's key demographics. I feel so old now.
I agree. B96 has an identity crisis as they don't know if they want to be Top 40 or Rhythmic throwbacks as younger people these days don't tune in to FM radio that much as they prefer streaming. The idea of playing the latest Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber songs every hour alongside old hits from the late 90s onward from Notorious B.I.G., 2pac, Nelly, Usher, Missy Elliott, Beyonce, Eminem, etc. doesn't mesh that well. Even though I criticize 104.3 Jams for their ultra-repetitive playlist, at least I know what direction they were going for.
Going way back. WDAI had a Saturday night only mix show. Four hours, 3 djs, Lou DeVito, Peter Lewicki and Kenny Jason.
When WBMX 102.7 had the original Saturday Night Live Ain't No Jive Dance Party, it too was only 4 hours on Saturday nights. However, the show and the Hot Mix 5 were so popular, they added a 3 hour Friday Night Jams mix show which featured one of the Hot Mix 5 mixers. A weekday noon mini mix, a six p.m. mini mix and even a eight p.m. mini mix was added.
When that WBMX flipped to V103 and B96 stepped in to fill the void. It started with a 4 hour Saturday night mix show with 3 hours mixed by Julian Jumping Perez and the last hour mixed by Brian Middleton. As that grew popular, B96 added Bad Boy Bill. Frankie Hollywood Rodriguez and Mike Hitman Wilson to the roster abd expanded to Friday nights. They also expanded the mix shows to 5 a.m on both nights and added a 10pm mix weeknights.
The point is that B96 will be looking at how the audience responds to the mix show. If it proves popular, they will extend the hours. With the right results, maybe Friday nights get added.. Remember this is a different audience.
I hate to say it, but there is a GAPING hole when it comes to CHR/DANCE in Chicago. If B96 doesn't do it, why doesn't someone else do it. Shoot, Throwback missed the boat and could OWN that demo playing the Energy 88.7, B96, and Energy 92.7 staples plus new hits from the last 25 years.
It's amazing to see that the city where House started has no dance station in the last 25 years.
Thanks for the history lesson. I realize that it's a new audience that B96 is catering to but it's not that recent generations don't know what mix show content is as they can easily go to YouTube, MixCloud, SoundCloud, etc. to hear DJ mixes. It isn't like the late 1970s and 1980s, where DJ mixing was a fairly new concept and your only options was to either tune into the radio or go to a dance club (if you were old enough that is). Of course, DJ culture is much different these days than what they were in the 1980s and 1990s.
Regarding the old days of B96, Middleton was their only mixer before the WBMX mixers (Julian, Bill, etc.) joined circa 1989 and he only mixed Top 40 dance hits as management wouldn't let him play the house records played on WBMX and WGCI. B96 also had a Sunday night mix show in the early 90s hosted by Middleton but those mixes were syndicated Hot Mix sets that played Top 40/dance pop. Those type of mixes were also heard on 12pm (Lunch Party) and 5pm (Traffic Jam) though I'm not sure when exactly they started those mixes as the earliest mixes I found were from 1993 and the Sunday night mixes began in 1990. The 10pm Remix begam in 1993 and were originally syndicated Hot Mixes but within a year it changed to mixes by Bill, Julian and the other B96 mixers as what was heard every Fri & Sat night. By late 1994/early 1995, the Sunday night mix was discontinued and B96 introduced the "Street Flava", which featured 4 mini-mixes by guest mixers (1 for house, hip hop, freestyle and old school), which lasted until 1999.
The higher ups in the radio industry still see dance/club as a niche genre even back when B96 had success with it during most of the 90s. B96 steadily went downhill when they went from dance to hip hop/R&B in the late 90s (though they flirted with a more "mainstream" sound from 97-01 with all the teen pop that was massively popular during that time). Energy 92.7 could has lasted a bit longer had their parent company hadn't filed bankruptcy. There were "Energy" stations in Phoenix and San Francisco that lasted longer than the one here in Chicago. There was also the "Dance Factory" block that never really caught on it was only airing nights and wasn't a 24/7 station like Energy was. Also, they played too much trance and Eurodance for my tastes I preferred house.
Overall, I agree that B96 dropped the ball when it came to their dance heritage. Most radio listeners of the past 20+ years weren't exposed to B96's dance hits like they were with the rap & R&B hits they also were know for playing back then.
I've talked to the local PDs many times when I was producing mixshows through my company. The big markets followed the majors in saying MIXSHOWS don't work. I would concur and say, sure, if you're playing garbage and not the hits.
School's still out, as to what B96 is doing, but I will say, with the print in the New York times about a resurgence and dominance in dance music recently, it's here to stay.
Sure, you can listen to it on Spotify all day long, but it takes a true talent to really curate it correctly for the masses. This is why it HASN'T worked in terms of mass appeal. It's can't be 140 bpm all day with just EDM artists. You have to sprinkle in crossover CHR/DANCE.
on February 8, 2026, 1:58 pm