No Detroit CHR from 1994-98?

[drew10219]

I remember 95.5 making a big change in 89ish. I recalling phoning in a request for Batdance by Prince back then and being told they no longer play that. Was that the change from CZY to KQI?

About August 1989 they made the change from CHR to Hot AC. since they were basically HOT AC during Purton's show and dayparted, it made little sense to continue since The Fox and WHYT were leading the CHQ war at the time. it actually worked out quite well until Purton departed

[MWmetalhead]

95.5 was in the upper echelon as measured by revenue throughout the 90s, so I definitely agree. Even after Purtan departed, revenue remained strong.

93.1 eventually throwing in the towel on AC reinforced the sensibility of the decision to go with a workplace friendly format at 95.5.

[drew10219]

95.5 was in the upper echelon as measured by revenue throughout the 90s, so I definitely agree. Even after Purtan departed, revenue remained strong.

93.1 eventually throwing in the towel on AC reinforced the sensibility of the decision to go with a workplace friendly format at 95.5.

you will have to admit that after Purton's departure they tried to be more edgy Adult Top 40.
at night they used to do "Club 95" which was disco and more upbeat music vs the softer stuff they played in the daytime
after Purton, they opened that music up to the entire day and hired Danny Bonaduce for mornings
that is when the station tried to be fringe CHR. by the time DRQ rose to higher ratings around 1998, they fell out of the top 10

[MWmetalhead]

"Detroit's 11-in-a-row Continuous Hit Music Station."

[armchair pd]

As someone who was on both Q955 and 93-1 DRQ in the era being discussed, I'm enjoying the Hell out of this thread. Great memories.

Detroit's 11 in a row Continuous Hit Music Station. Cringe. That was the brainchild of Guy Zapoleon, who was format captain.

Even when they rebranded to Channel(March 2002 my brain is telling me), they didn't explode in the ratings at take DRQ out.

DRQ took DRQ out. Channel was an accomplice.

They brought in Steve Kosbau as GM. He didn't get the station, the air talent, the format or the market. He ran off TikTok, their top personality, and replaced him with Man At Large, who is an outstanding jock, but not a night guy.
Channel brought in Buckhead.
In 2002 DRQ was more or less a rhythmic CHR.
Within a year of milk toast Kosbau getting there, they were basically a HOT AC, handing Channel the format.
You know the rest.

[Mega Hertz]

I still remember the night DRQ flipped to Doug, 95.5 was playing a track from 50 Cent's new album every 20 minutes because DRQ got so milquetoast that they wouldn't touch it. They were playing Maroon 5 while Channel was playing 50 and stuff like that.

God I miss when top 40 was top 40 and not the same song 40 times over.

[Mike]

They brought in Steve Kosbau as GM. He didn't get the station, the air talent, the format or the market. He ran off TikTok, their top personality, and replaced him with Man At Large, who is an outstanding jock, but not a night guy.

Funny, as nights are where I can earliest recall Large from, up here in the Tri-Cities (99-2000).

[Mike]

They were playing Maroon 5 while Channel was playing 50 and stuff like that.

In fairness, there was reason to play Maroon 5 at that point (albeit, their debut album had basically wrapped singles-wise by the time of the Doug flip).

[Mega Hertz]

They were playing Maroon 5 while Channel was playing 50 and stuff like that.

In fairness, there was reason to play Maroon 5 at that point (albeit, their debut album had basically wrapped singles-wise by the time of the Doug flip).

Absolutely. But it became their identity. As they became whiter and more vanilla, CHR (and, by proxy, 95-5) was getting a lot more rhythmic and hip-hop based.

[stopnswop2]

I still remember the night DRQ flipped to Doug, 95.5 was playing a track from 50 Cent's new album every 20 minutes because DRQ got so milquetoast that they wouldn't touch it. They were playing Maroon 5 while Channel was playing 50 and stuff like that.

God I miss when top 40 was top 40 and not the same song 40 times over.

Don't pretend Channel didn't play This Love constantly

[MWmetalhead]

I'm sorry, but DRQ was starting to slide before Kosbau permanently ruined the station.

The upbeat, cheerful and sometimes campy sounding DJs sounded out of place alongside the increasingly hip hop flavored music. It sounded like mom & dad trying to be hip. Tic Tac was the exception; he was a decent fit.

The formatic elements failed to evolve to match the style of music being played.

[Mega Hertz]

https://youtu.be/wIAI4KejuPU?si=OH13oTboPuqojQMW

DRQ, Lisa Lisa, early 2005