Classic aircheck from WGRD in January 1995

[MWmetalhead]

This aircheck is from January 1995. WGRD's format at the time could perhaps be best described as Modern CHR. The air check is imperfect; there are some reception drop outs during the second half of it. I'm guessing the broadcast was recorded off-air in eastern Wisconsin or perhaps northern MI somewhere, where WGRD was (and perhaps still is) a common DX catch.

The second artist on this aircheck is John Mellencamp (yes, he was still putting out new music in the mid 90s). The song actually was pretty decent.

Was also great hearing "Infected" by Bad Religion on this aircheck. I don't recall ever hearing WGRD play that artist (I definitely remember 92.3 Radio X in Kalamazoo playing them, though.)

"Seether" by Veruca Salt was one of my favorite songs from this era of music.

"I Alone" by Live and a song from the Stone Roses can also be heard on this aircheck.

Wouldn't it be nice if WGRD could play these songs on occasion today?

The absurdly pitched up music was common across modern rock formats at the time (WPLT in Detroit and 92.1 The Edge in Lansing did the exact same thing, although I believe WPLT and WGRD went more overboard with it than WWDX).

https://archive.org/details/wgrd-fm-97. ... nuary-1995

Rick, Darla & Scott would begin at WGRD in late September of 1995, which was a total game changer for the station and for the market in general. Interestingly, the changes at WGRD in the mid 90s created a wide lane for WSNX to take advantage of CHRs resurgence in the late 90s, allowing that once also-ran to become a major player for the 18-34 demo by 1997.

I liked how WGRD sounded when Alex Tear was at the helm (despite his absurd pitching-up of the music) much better than when Allan Fee was at the helm.

Fee turned GRD into a sissy sounding Modern AC / indie rock hybrid. Yuck. The ratings were outstanding during his time there, though, I must admit. As much as I disliked that direction, it clearly was the right position for the station for a time. Fortunately, KLQ sounded terrific in the late 90s (loved the Paul Turner-voiced "Shut Up and Rock!" liners that the station began using circa 1998).

[Mega Hertz]

"Dance Naked" was the name of the song (and album) and was the first Mellencamp album I didn't get into.

That said, the music being that pitched up hurt my ears lol. Quite an interesting playlist. Traces of Q95 to me.

[MWmetalhead]

Listen to how awful Nirvana sounds at the very end of the aircheck thanks to the excessive pitching.

The briefly lived 97.1 K-Rock in Detroit also pitched up the music to ridiculous levels.

[Deleted User 15835]

I was in the 8th grade in January of 1995. I recall Strong Enough by Scheryl Crow being played quite a bit on Vh1 and 93.9 The River. Dead eye dick New age girl, I have not heard that one years! " She don't meat but sure likes the bone! "

Growing up in Monroe County, I was just outside of Toledo Ohio, about 35 minutes or so from Downriver Detroit. I was fortunate to be able to pull in Detroit stations, because Toledo radio literally at the time, only had oldies, top 40, and country. CIMX was a godsend and I really enjoyed 98.7 WLLZ in its last 6-9 months it was on.

WGRD sounded sort of like the early days of planet 96.3. Trying to remember, did K-rock in Detroit have the same voice over guy?

Regarding WKLQ, a friend of mine (back in the day) went to school in West Michigan, I remember him coming home on a weekend and just raving about how much better WKLQ was then WIOT and WBUZ. This was in 1998.


Thank you for sharing MW, that was a nice trip down memory lane.

[ChrisWL1980]

Mellencamp had just had a major CHR hit with his remake of Van Morrison's "Wild Night." He'd have a few more, including one more Top 10 CHR radio hit with "Key West Intermezzo" in '97.

The impression I got of WGRD during the '90s is that they seemed to be a mirror image of whatever WHYT in Detroit was doing. They seemed to follow the same trajectory - CHuRban to Alternative/CHR hybrid to Modern AC/AAA (which is where they were when I started at Aquinas in '98).

This was WGRD's full playlist as published in the 01/06/95 issue of R&R (they were still a CHR reporter). Most of these songs were also on WHYT's playlist except that GRD was playing a lot of heritage rock artists that Planet wasn't, and Planet filled those gaps with Real McCoy and other dance/indie material.

PPW Song - Artist

42 Better Man - Pearl Jam
42 I Alone - Live
41 Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
41 Bang and Blame - R.E.M.
41 Seether - Veruca Salt
40 Rain King - Counting Crows
40 You Don't Know How It Feels - Tom Petty
40 When I Come Around - Green Day
40 Cover Me - Candlebox
39 Fell on Black Days - Soundgarden
33 She Don't Use Jelly - Flaming Lips
32 Supersonic - Oasis
31 Buddy Holly - Weezer
31 If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself) - Pete Droge
31 The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana (Add)
28 Supernova - Liz Phair
27 Vasoline - Stone Temple Pilots
26 Plowed - Sponge (Add)
25 Blind Man - Aerosmith
24 Dance Naked - John Mellencamp
24 Doll Parts - Hole
24 You Got Me Rocking - Rolling Stones
21 A Conspiracy - Black Crowes
21 Ode to My Family - Cranberries (Add)
20 Closer - Nine Inch Nails (Add)
20 Strong Enough - Sheryl Crow (Add)
19 Welcome to Paradise - Green Day (Add)
13 New Age Girl - Deadeye Dick
12 A Murder of One - Counting Crows (Add)
12 Bad Reputation - Freedy Johnston
11 Self Esteem - Offspring
10 Allison Road - Gin Blossoms
9 About a Girl - Nirvana
7 You Suck - Murmurs
7 Ceiling - Royal Jelly

[bmw]

Key West Intermezzo was a staple on Hot AC stations in the late 90s...I remember being burned out on the song. Just Another Day, I'm not Running Anymore, and Peaceful World are other songs I remember from that era....all songs that are largely forgotten today (unfortunately).

[Mega Hertz]

Mellencamp is all but forgotten either way now. I remember hearing his stuff on AOR in the 80s and 90s. Now you're lucky to hear maybe Jack & Diane or Small Town.

I put Lonesome Jubilee up as one of the best albums of the rock era.

Anyway, back to GRD, yes, Planet was like that. It was alternative and rock your parents could listen to, also. Les hard stuff from stations like Wheels and Riff, and less "out there" stuff from 89x. "Trimming the fat" as I call it. We were watching playlists and discoveries get cut down and didn't even think about it.

[Deleted User 15835]

I remember 94.5 in Toledo's brief stint with AAA/Modern rock around 1996-1997, they played John Mellencamp's music that was popular at the time. A lot of Counting Crows, Soul Asylum, REM, Collective soul, stuff like that.

They gradually morphed into something like what this aircheck from WGRD sounded like. They flipped back to classic rock after just shy of 2 years. I wish I could go back in a time machine and just stay in the 90s sometimes.