Toad the Wet Sprocket "Walk on the Ocean"

A visit to Bradenton, Florida means another chance to listen to Tampa's WDUV-FM "The Dove". With its no-hype delivery and playlist that rarely exceeds the year 1989, The Dove is a time capsule of Adult Contemporary radio from yesteryear. As per usual, I'll be cruising around Florida in my dad's Buick LeSabre with The Dove riding shotgun. 

Heatwave "Always and Forever"

Another trip to Florida meant another chance to drive my dad's Buick LeSabre and cruise to The Dove. What's The Dove, you ask? It's home to Tampa Bay's Continuous Lite Favorites (favorites which only seem to span the years 1975-1989). This radio station features core artists like Lionel Richie, Madonna, Chicago, and Billy Joel and is consistently Tampa's most-popular radio station. The format is symbolic of the rise in Soft Adult Contemporary radio stations we saw in 2018.

Prince "I Wanna Be Your Lover"

A recent eight-day trip to Florida to renovate a beach house forced me to live like a Florida local and, for once, not a tourist. There were no trips to the pool, Gulf of Mexico or miniature golf, but rather lots of trips to the hardware and tile store. With a long list of things to do and limited time, I went to work each morning and even borrowed my dad's 1998 Buick LeSabre to make my first of a half-dozen treks to the local Home Depot. Trying to remember where I parked isn't easy in the first place, but when every other car in the parking lot is a Buick, it's that much harder.

One morning, I tuned on the Buick's radio and ended up listening to WDUV-FM "The Dove". The radio station clearly targeted an older audience as it didn't seem to play anything beyond the mid-1980s. The station was a time machine to what Adult Contemporary radio stations sounded like in 1988--minus any elevator music. Just lots and lots of soft rock. You know what? I actually found myself enjoying the no-nonsense and music-intensive delivery. One particular ride down Cortez Road in Bradenton featured The Dove spinning Christopher Cross, Lionel Richie, Chicago, and Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (and odd choice but, again, I'm not complaining). I even caught a bit of Delilah on my ride home and found myself having my own Calgon moment.