106.7 WLLZ: Detroit's Wheels (Classic Rock) is here

[JLesinski]

WLLZ is designed to compete with both WCSX and WRIF, not just CSX.

WLLZ needs to follow this advice. Quit trying to please everyone and in the process pleasing no one. You cant have it both ways. Either go right up against WCSX and take it to them with kicks ass tunes that they never play from the 70's and 80's or go at WRIF with great tunes from the 80's and 90's. Pick a lane and then rock the crap out of it! What they're doing now is just a mess.

[Mega Hertz]

The irony is, WRIF seems to have really stepped up their 90s and beyond rock titles. Sure, you'll still hear (Roth era) VH, Crue, Def Leppard, but the 90s gold selections have really increased and as far as I can tell, they are even more active then before. There is a giant gap LLZ could be filling here.

I hear Time of Your Life by Green Day quite a bit. So many other selections from that band could be getting spins. Still missing the Local H, I think I've heard Sponge once or twice, Shimmer by Fuel would be a great choice also. They claim to be a new generation of classic rock, then play a song older than CSX plays, then slam directly into a 90s rock song, then into Tom Petty.

If I hear April Wine as the deep cut of the day one more time...

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

WLLZ is designed to compete with both WCSX and WRIF, not just CSX.

WLLZ needs to follow this advice. Quit trying to please everyone and in the process pleasing no one. You cant have it both ways. Either go right up against WCSX and take it to them with kicks ass tunes that they never play from the 70's and 80's or go at WRIF with great tunes from the 80's and 90's. Pick a lane and then rock the crap out of it! What they're doing now is just a mess.

I think the giant swath of music is why they have more listeners. If they played 70 and 80's, I wouldn't listen to them. They are firmly between WCSX and 89X. It makes sense to me. I need to add them as a preset.

[stopnswop2]

It's definitely a mess, and they need to be more honest with the way they present themselves. Call it Rock Variety or something.

I definitely like it though. I cannot stand listening to one certain type or decade of music continuously.
It's nice to hear my favorite rock songs spanning 5 decades, instead of having to switch stations depending on what decade of rock I want to hear that hour.

[JLesinski]

WLLZ is designed to compete with both WCSX and WRIF, not just CSX.

WLLZ needs to follow this advice. Quit trying to please everyone and in the process pleasing no one. You cant have it both ways. Either go right up against WCSX and take it to them with kicks ass tunes that they never play from the 70's and 80's or go at WRIF with great tunes from the 80's and 90's. Pick a lane and then rock the crap out of it! What they're doing now is just a mess.

I think the giant swath of music is why they have more listeners. If they played 70 and 80's, I wouldn't listen to them. They are firmly between WCSX and 89X. It makes sense to me. I need to add them as a preset.

They dont have more listeners though. Ratings show that WLLZ consistently gets its ass kicked by both WCSX and WRIF.

[szmigiel]

It's definitely a mess, and they need to be more honest with the way they present themselves. Call it Rock Variety or something.

I definitely like it though. I cannot stand listening to one certain type or decade of music continuously.
It's nice to hear my favorite rock songs spanning 5 decades, instead of having to switch stations depending on what decade of rock I want to hear that hour.

I fully agree with you, but the problem is WLLZ playlist is too small. I swear it is 200-300 songs, and they only rotate around 50 songs in and out each month, their is a core 100 songs they won't change. If they really expanded their rock playlist to 500 songs or more over 5 decades it would be a H*** improvement.

Early this month the family took a camping trip through upper Michigan and the UP, it was a nice change hearing the playlist on the classic rock stations up north. I'm sure if I listen day in and day out they would become stale, but it felt fresh and new on the trip, better then what the Detroit stations were playing.

[RayQix]

The stale nature is only because that seems to be what works, nowadays.

That goes for both terrestrial as well as the satellite stations.

I still flip between the two plus have other online sources when needed.

That’s how I get my variety of music.... just is how that is.


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[Willie108]

God, I am sick and tired of hearing about stale music. The average radio listener wants to hear songs that they recognize. Back in the heyday of Top 40, some songs were on a 1 1/2 to 2 hour rotation. You folks would be sticking an ice pick in your ear. No programmer worth a damn would program a bunch of obscure album cuts, B-sides, and stiffs in regular programming to cater to a small group of music snobs. It just wouldn't work. It would be radio suicide. It is what it is.

[Deleted User 15342]

God, I am sick and tired of hearing about stale music. The average radio listener wants to hear songs that they recognize. Back in the heyday of Top 40, some songs were on a 1 1/2 to 2 hour rotation. You folks would be sticking an ice pick in your ear. No programmer worth a damn would program a bunch of obscure album cuts, B-sides, and stiffs in regular programming to cater to a small group of music snobs. It just wouldn't work. It would be radio suicide. It is what it is.

Excellent point. Everyone has a ton of alternative platforms to get what you want. Radio is the main source but you have smartphones with thousands of music apps, CD’s, USB flash drives, internet radio, HD Radio, Satellite Radio and don’t forget what Joe Biden says, you can always get out your record players. So this argument is the same one we always have, and I agree it’s getting stale.

[scifi and horror]

God, I am sick and tired of hearing about stale music. The average radio listener wants to hear songs that they recognize. Back in the heyday of Top 40, some songs were on a 1 1/2 to 2 hour rotation. You folks would be sticking an ice pick in your ear. No programmer worth a damn would program a bunch of obscure album cuts, B-sides, and stiffs in regular programming to cater to a small group of music snobs. It just wouldn't work. It would be radio suicide. It is what it is.

I remember when 96.3 WHYT was the "Hot Hits" and basically just played the top 10 or 20 songs over and over, didn't last to long. But at least with the Hot Hits format there was always new songs moving into the top stops and old songs were dropped off. So it wasn't the same songs month after month after month.

I also remember when Classic Rock format was first launched and they would probably announce "no repeats everyday", now the playlist are so small I don't think that is even possible.

I also rememeber when DJs mattered, and they were able to mix in songs and bands they liked into the playlist. Not completely ignoring the stations playlist, but getting a few other songs in the mix to expand the variety. I would look forward to catching certain DJs, purposely tune in. Now other than a change in voice, there is no real difference in DJs.

Is your definition of obscure album cuts anything they don't play on the narrow "classic rock playlist"? Classic rock playlist have been narrowed down to about 20 to 30 bands they may play 5 or more songs, ignoring entire albums and songs that got heavy rotation back when they were released. The rest of the bands are 1 or 2 songs, making Classic Rock, outside the handful of bands getting more than 5 songs played, seem like a bunch of one hit wonders, even if they had multi albums that get heavy rotation. Then you have the strict "genre categories" for bands, if later albums become more "soft rock" then they can't be played anymore even if their albums were a AOR staples back when they were released.

[Deleted User 15342]

My answer to tight a playlist is a USB flash drive. I just downloaded 1400 Classic Rock titles on one 16 gig flash drive on Friday. Plug and play for me is my answer to limited radio playlist. I’m working on a 32 gig flash drive next, that might take over 2500 titles.

[scifi and horror]

Excellent point. Everyone has a ton of alternative platforms to get what you want. Radio is the main source but you have smartphones with thousands of music apps, CD’s, USB flash drives, internet radio, HD Radio, Satellite Radio and don’t forget what Joe Biden says, you can always get out your record players. So this argument is the same one we always have, and I agree it’s getting stale.

Great point, with all the alternative platforms radio should be trying harder to keep listeners. Not giving up and letting the medium become completely irrelevant.

[szmigiel]

No programmer worth a damn would program a bunch of obscure album cuts, B-sides, and stiffs in regular programming to cater to a small group of music snobs. It just wouldn't work.

Just one example off the top of my head. The J.Geils Band they had 11 studio Albums and 30 singles. They considered Detroit their 2nd hometown, their live albums were recorded here. They had plenty of airplay in Detroit when their albums and singles were released. Even if you remove the 70's albums for being outside WLLZ scope, Freeze Frame was still a 3X Platinum album, Centerfold a top 5 hit. Are they some obscure band only music snobs ever heard of? Some B- Side? Only worth a deep cut?