Airchexx.com

Don’t ask where we get some of these obscure airchecks, some of these are from stations that aren’t around anymore and weren’t memorable enough even for basic mentions on the web. We had to do some digging to figure out that this station apparently WAS airing the syndicated Real Country format in 1996 under the call letters KCWW. On air, it was simply referred to as KCW. Wikipedia apparently has the call letter timeline wrong, listing 1580 as KNIX during this period (Listeners feel free to post corrections in the comment section)

1580 in Tempe has been part of Walt Disney, Inc., airing it’s syndicated “Radio Disney” format since 1998 under the call letters KMIK

Showcasing what, in your webmaster’s opinion, was the best year for Country radio in terms of both the music and how the format sounded, here’s Tommy C on Phoenix’s KNIX. I especially like how the jingles sounded that year. In a format where the jingles seem to always have a similar sound no matter what station you listen to, something about this period in time… stations really did try to be unique in sound and thats one thing I remember, having worked in the format for a decade. There was a sense of creativity, here at the height of modern Country’s popularity.

Note the incredible number of spots… KNIX was VERY sold out! Course, one would expect this, just days before the Christmas holiday. One somewhat negative observation is similar to the one I made of the KLUC Las Vegas aircheck, the format hasn’t evolved much past this particular year, other than to become more generic in every market since 1996.

If you’re a Country radio fan, I think you’ll very much enjoy this recording… one where the music and the format were at the very top of its popularity and creativity.

Here’s a brief moment in time of a station I’ve never heard of before – KQXE. I had to look it up. There is apparently an FM station in Texas with those calls today, but in 1977, judging from this all-to-short recording, this was a kick-butt sounding hit radio station.

The jock is Phil Gardner, a name which rings familiar somehow. Gardner is an excellent jock, does produced skits for his show as was customary for the mid/late 70s (kinda hokey by todays standards) and… The first jingle cut sings Phil Gardner Superstar! Is he? That’s for you to judge. And, was that a 70s Gwinsound or TM cut? Somebody out there knows.

Description by Contributor

The original “Kid Corona” first hit the airwaves in 1989-90 as one of the premiere jocks on Southern California’s new Jammin’ Z-90/San Diego. After winning the nighttime battle against KKLQ-FM; Q-106, Corona was recruited by Edens’ KOY-FM; Y-95/Phoenix for the 6-10 p.m. shift at the height of the Phoenix CHR wars. In 1993, Kid Corona was the top rated night jock in the Phoenix market as heard here on KKFR-FM; Power 92. At that time, the line up also included veteran jocks Bruce Kelly in the morning and Supersnake in the afternoon. Steve Smith was PD.

Sent in by Mr. Garrett himself, he and Kid Corona are obviously one in the same, heard here doing CHR and Oldies in one of our rare Phoenix market presentations.

Jason writes:

Kid Corona first hit the Phoenix nighttime airwaves in 1991 on Edens’ KOY-FM; Y-95 as part of an all-star line up that included Bruce Kelly, Jackie West and Steve Goddard. After winning the PM ratings battle, Corona moved briefly to the legendary KOOL-FM 94.5 as Jason Garrett. A short time later he returned to CHR as Kid Corona on KKFR-FM; Power 92 where he dominated the nighttime ratings until 1994. One year later, he produced and hosted, “70s Saturday Night with Jason Garrett” at Nationwide-owned KVRY; Variety 104.7. The 4-hour weekly program was a disco parody, “…broadcasting live on the Polyester Radio Network (PRN).” The public relations and ratings success of that show lasted for two more years until 1996 when KVRY flipped formats and returned to its heritage KZZP calls. Steve Elliott was PD.

Its scoped and short, but definitely showcases some great talent in this early to mid 90s composite. Thanks, Jason!

KZZP. During the 80′s, those call letters were synonymous with what was great about Phoenix radio. KZZP was the market’s legendary CHR during that decade. However, in April 1991, like many CHRs across the country, KZZP was forced to make big changes due to declining ratings and the polarization of the CHR format; they flipped to Hot AC as KVRY. Almost 5 years later, with KVRY on its death bed, owner Nationwide Communications decided to bring back the KZZP calls. But the format, while positioned as a CHR (the slogan was “Your Hit Music Station”), was actually a Modern AC — one of the first Modern ACs in the country. At the time, the move made sense. KKFR (Power 92) was a broad Rhythmic CHR that played a lot of the songs that KZZP as a CHR would have played. Instead of competing with KKFR directly, KZZP carved out its own niche and tried to appeal to the audience that grew up with the station in the 80′s.

Prior to the Spring of 1996, KBZR was one of the many frequencies statewide that was carrying “The Blaze”. “The Blaze” was a bizarre Alternative/AOR/CHR hybrid format. In either March or April 1996, KBZR broke off from the other frequencies and began airing “old school” music…i.e., Hispanic-oriented Gold selections from the R&B, Hip-Hop, Rap, Freestyle, and Disco genres. As it turns out, the music selected and the audience it targeted were both premonitions to the eventual format and target audience.
There were no jocks, but an interesting stunt that is best described as a radio version of the “Where’s Waldo” book series. Promos and sweepers (voiced by station owner Jerry Clifton) claimed that the station was looking for “Steve” as they were “moving in from the desert”. To make a very long story short, the meaning of “Steve” was revealed in October, shortly before the sign-on of the new format…”Steve” was actually an acronym — “S-T-E-V-E” — which stood for “Songs That Everyone Vociferously Enjoys.”

The “moving in from the desert” phrase referred to the station waiting to upgrade its signal. After 6 months, when it became clear that the upgrade wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, the station made its debut. On October 30th at 3:30 pm, following several hours of stunting with “Party! Party! Party!”, KBZR signed on with a Hispanic-targeted Rhythmic CHR format as “The New 103.9, Arizona’s Party Station”. They made it clear from the very beginning that they wanted to go after the “safe” Rhythmic CHR in town, KKFR (Power 92).

Our first offering from Phoenix. KZZP was and is a monster CHR, and Clarke Ingram sounds really young here. It’s a show that moves along lightning fast, with lots of high energy elements that 80s CHR was known for.

Cick HERE to Listen!