Phil Collins, Elton John, and Gloria Estefan dominated Adult Contemporary radio back in the 1980s and '90s, yet have disappeared from modern radio. Seemingly, the only time you ever hear them is at the grocery store or your local CVS. This blog remembers the music, the stories and the quirky characters from my days working in Adult Contemporary radio.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Hanson - "MmmBop"
Radio stations became hot commodities after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 passed. No longer were there strict ownership restrictions (companies could only own 20 radio stations and/or 2 per market). National ownership caps were removed allowing companies to buy up as many stations as they could afford. Suddenly, radio stations changed owners faster than you can say "deregulation". Mom and pop stations started to cash out and sell to big radio companies. The station where I worked was sold three times over the course of a year (making for a fun tax season!). At one such meeting with the new owners, the General Manager announced the sale of the station to a room filled with dozens of people nervous about losing their jobs. Without making any promises or revealing many details about the future of the station, the General Manager proclaimed the mantra to be "business as usual". At the end of his speech, the afternoon jock raised his hand and said, "Chuck, I got a question." Chuck said, "Sure. What's your question?" The afternoon jock cleared his throat and said, "Are we still gonna play Hanson?" (long pause) "Yes, we're still gonna play Hanson," the General Manager replied. "Oh, good," the jock replied. A few weeks later, the afternoon jock was fired.