 I am an East Coast expatriate hiding out in the Midwest... I am an urban gal living in the suburbs and occasionally hiding in the country I am a yoga practitioner, fitness enthusiast, believer in the mind-body-spirit connection... I am a mid-life "revert" to the Roman Catholic faith in which I was raised and which has become an enormous source of support, encouragement, inspiration, and joy in my life... I am a mom, sister, daughter, and wife... I am an explorer; adventurous and curious about the world and people around me... I am educated in the formal sense but I gain insight through everyday living... I created this blog at a time of great fear and apprehension in my life. I chose to sustain it because of the discoveries about myself and the world around me that it has revealed. What you can expect to find here: the documentation of a love-hate relationship with the greater Philadelphia area
reminiscing about the good-ole-days (the 80's!)
complaints about my various ailments and injuries, both real and imagined
pictures and stories of gardening, decorating, shopping, sewing
my love of irony
links to kooky news stories
way too much scatological musing for sane people
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Sunday, June 05, 2005
Help! We've been JACK'ed!
Oh no.
Venerable (if not slightly predictable) Oldies station 104.3 WJMK-Fm, an Infinity (Viacom) station, has adopted the moronic JACK "we play what we want"/ "its like your IPOD on shuffle" format.
I am so saddened by this abrupt and seemingly needless change. Oldies 104.3 was one of the few stations I could comfortably listen to with my daughter - what is more family-friendly than Herman's Hermits, The Monkees, Motown hits, 50's classics and the occasional 70's pop tune????
I'll be honest - I loved singing along to many of the karaoke-destined hits found on Oldies 104.3. And like oldies stations around the country, it had its own unique take, playing songs that were hits in CHICAGO at the time of their initial release. For example, when I visit home, WOGL 98.1 FM (Philadelphia) plays much more 50's doo-wop, and east-coast hitmakers than you'd hear on WJMK. Here you'd have likely heard plenty of hits by 60's era midwest garage-pop bands like Shadows of Knight, The Buckinghams, and New Colony Six.
For the oldies purist in Chicago, there is still, thankfully Real Oldies 1690-AM - but its station ID is the root of my problem with it: poor reception in many parts of the region (i.e. when driving in my car, which is when I listen to radio.) Not to mention they are fairly "strict" in keeping their music eras confined to mid-60's and earlier. Its a great ation and if anyone in blogland wants to give a listen at home or work you can check them out in live streaming audio- especially my fave DJ, "Herb Kent, The Smooth Gent" at www.realolides1690.com
Posted at 11:40 am by brandy101
 | Posted by Greg @ 06/11/2005 10:47 AM PDT | | | Our local "classic rock" station went JACK in the middle of the day a coupla months ago. Bastards. Their competitor has had a blast with it though, saying "The other guys play what they want... we play what YOU want to hear." Heh heh. | |
| Posted by Adam @ 06/10/2005 11:38 AM PDT | | DAMMIT - I started blogging again for the first time in several weeks and THEN I start reading.
You stole my blog idea! :D | |
| Posted by selfindulgence @ 06/09/2005 08:18 PM PDT | | Holy cow. I love when I don't actually read the things I write, it makes coming back to them such a joy. I'm glad you were able to get the gist of my last comment, the beginning was fairly nonsensical.
Anyway, the Lounge Axe went under about five months before I turned 21, so I (not being the fake ID type) never got to see a show there. Jim DeRogatis of the Sun-Times says it was the greatest Chicago venue ever. Based on things I've been told, I'm inclined to believe him. | |
| Posted by brandy101 @ 06/09/2005 10:09 AM PDT | | | Yes, Adam, I did hear that the landlord wants to turn the site of the Double Door into a Banana Republic (!) However, DD was just after my college days; in "my time" it was the Lounge Ax, hands down, for the most AWESOME shows in a really intimate atmosphere. That club got gobbled up in Lincoln Park-ism years ago, :( | |
| Posted by raejane @ 06/08/2005 10:57 PM PDT | | | I freakin' love Herman's Hermits!!!! | |
| Posted by selfindulgence @ 06/08/2005 05:25 PM PDT | | My mom went absolutely nuts the day when she realized that WJMK had gone the way of the doo-doo. She hasn’t sworn like the since the day the Cubs blew against the Marlins. Seriously, it was like the death of an old friend. And, to be quite honest, even though I’ve never liked music from the 50's and early 60's I feel bad too. Elvis is okay, though.
When I was in elementary school (3rd, 4th grades), my mom used to play 104.3 on the radio while she prepared eggs or oatmeal for my sister and I as we got ready for school. Even then I disliked the Leslie Gores of the world, but I came to associate the station with a very happy period of my life. It's such a tragedy that such an iconic station has been lost to...well..whatever.
On a separate albeit quasi-related note: it appears that the Double Door is on its last legs. I don't know if you saw any concerts there during your wild and wonderful Wildcat days, but it truly is a Chicago landmark and the idea that it's being destroyed is more than a little disheartening. Kids today will never have the opportunity to see a show in very the same venue where Kurt Cobain lost his shoe. Sad.
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| Posted by AbbyNormal @ 06/08/2005 03:13 PM PDT | | Hit the road, JACK!
Sorry you lost your oldies station. | |
| Posted by Nic @ 06/05/2005 10:52 PM PDT | | | Gee there's a JACK in KC but I prefer to keep it OFF. Start worrying when you turn on Steve FM or Burt, this is almost like naming hurricanes | |
| Posted by Michelle @ 06/05/2005 05:35 PM PDT | | | HA they did that to a station out here to only instead of Jack wwe fot Mike. Mike FM "we play it all, all the time." I kind of like it actually especailly bc there are not some morons on in the morning every morning doing some driveling morning show with NO music. Oldies FM was a good station. I wonder if our OLDIES FM went Jack too? | |
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