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WDBC playlist shift - back to MOR/Standards?

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ChrisWL1980
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WDBC playlist shift - back to MOR/Standards?

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:55 pm

Sounds to me, from listening during my trip up north yesterday, that 680/94.5 WDBC has shifted its music back to Adult Standards (the modernized version centered in the '70s, similar to the America's Best Music format they had before), but are still using liners suggesting a Soft AC format (i.e. "today's best music and your all-time favorites"). Not so long ago I was hearing Maroon 5 and Bruno Mars on WDBC, so there's definitely been a U-turn back to what they were before. Some of the songs I've heard on recent trips included:

Close to You - Carpenters
The Air That I Breathe - Hollies
These Boots Are Made for Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra
You Needed Me - Anne Murray
Sometimes When We Touch - Dan Hill
Anything for You - Gloria Estefan
I Am a Rock - Simon & Garfunkel
How About Us - Champaign
Have You Never Been Mellow - Olivia Newton-John
Yesterday - Beatles
I Can Love You Like That - All-4-One
You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban
Somewhere in the Night - Barry Manilow

Sounded like local automation to me, as I didn't hear any DJs. It was not America's Best Music, as the playlist didn't match known ABM stations like WTLO.



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TC Talks
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Re: WDBC playlist shift - back to MOR/Standards?

Post by TC Talks » Thu Feb 09, 2023 7:11 pm

Didn't their soft ac consultant pass away?

https://ramp247.com/programming/remembe ... e-sommers/


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ChrisWL1980
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Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:36 am

Re: WDBC playlist shift - back to MOR/Standards?

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Thu Feb 09, 2023 11:48 pm

That's the first I've heard of it. Probably explains the music shift.



EdWalker
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Re: WDBC playlist shift - back to MOR/Standards?

Post by EdWalker » Fri Feb 10, 2023 6:59 am

TC Talks wrote:
Thu Feb 09, 2023 7:11 pm
Didn't their soft ac consultant pass away?

https://ramp247.com/programming/remembe ... e-sommers/
He passed away in 2019, per the article, so I doubt his passing has much to do with a shift happening nearly 4 years later.



WC8KCY
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Re: WDBC playlist shift - back to MOR/Standards?

Post by WC8KCY » Fri Feb 10, 2023 2:22 pm

Tuned in today at 12:35 PM and for the next hour, here is what was aired:

If – Bread (1971)
Longer – Dan Fogelberg (1979)
Save the Best for Last – Vanessa Williams (1992)
The Lion Sleeps Tonight – Robert John (1972)
Rocket Man – Elton John (1972)
Leaving on a Jet Plane – Peter, Paul and Mary (1967)
Heaven – Bryan Adams (1985)
It's Not Unusual – Tom Jones (1965)
Endless Summer Nights – Richard Marx (1988)
Emotion – Samantha Sang with the Bee Gees (1978)
Rock with You – Michael Jackson (1979)
(You're My) Soul and Inspiration – Righteous Brothers (1966)
Islands In the Stream – Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers (1983)
Georgia on My Mind – Ray Charles (1960)
What Would You Do For Love – Jonathan Butler (1999)

I wouldn't call it a complete 180 to what they were before. I continued to listen until 2:15 PM and Frank Sintra, Bobby Darin, Elvis, Nat King Cole, the Every Brothers, Buddy Holly, and the like were notably absent. This was a playlist I'd expect to hear on WDOR.

Also notably absent: The TOH news briefs by USA Radio Network.



ChrisWL1980
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Re: WDBC playlist shift - back to MOR/Standards?

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Sat Feb 11, 2023 3:36 pm

That playlist is pretty much like what America's Best Music airs now give or take a few songs. They've cut back on pre-'70s music even more than they already had. If it's not a complete 180 to what it was pre-2019, that's because the Adult Standards format has moved ahead musically during those four years. America's Best Music actually sounds a touch more contemporary than WDBC does now.
I don't know exactly when the playlist shift occurred. I haven't gotten a chance to listen very often, but I think it may have been as early as 2020, since I remember hearing Simon & Garfunkel on 680 back then. Thus my sense is that the shift may indeed be related to the consultant's passing.
Incidentally, I did hear a USA newscast on Wednesday.



WC8KCY
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Re: WDBC playlist shift - back to MOR/Standards?

Post by WC8KCY » Sat Feb 11, 2023 4:49 pm

I'll have to tune into an America's Best Music affiliate to compare and contrast the playlists. In about seven hours of listening over the last two days, the "crooners" have been absent on 680. I distinctly recall hearing Sinatra/Bobby Darin/Nat "King" Cole standards on WDBC on a UP road trip last May--September Song was playing as I traversed the Cut River Bridge--so there has been a significant playlist shift since then.

It's been pleasant having 680 on as background music, but it'd be nice if they'd inject a little more soft rock into the mix, a la WDOR.

The USA Radio Network briefs are still there, just not on every TOH as they once were.



ChrisWL1980
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Re: WDBC playlist shift - back to MOR/Standards?

Post by ChrisWL1980 » Sat Feb 11, 2023 6:26 pm

Regardless, I'm glad they don't play Maroon 5 anymore! :rollin



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