Rush To Judgement: NOW 97.5 FM, Philly’s Newest Radio Station
So, just this morning, the venerable smooth jazz station WJJZ, seemingly a fave with every non-English-speaking cab driver in Philly I’ve ever encountered (apparently smooth jazz just screams “assimilation,” who knew) flipped to a new format. Let’s tune in, shall we? This is the first thing we hear:
“A younger approach to today’s soft rock: 97.5 FM!”
Followed by… WILSON PHILLIPS! I shit you not. But it’s not all irony. After that shock, this new format seems to settle in: Kelly Clarkson, John Mayer, a random ’80s chestnut (OMD, “If You Leave,”), etc. First thought: We can see where they’re going with this — B101 for people who (wrongly) believe that they’re just a little bit too cool to give up completely and get one of those locked-on-B101 office radios. Second thought: We may have found a place where WXPN could finally, once and for all, put Helen Leicht out to pasture. I mean, throw in a little Mutlu here and there, and let’s not kid anyone: This is pretty much Helen’s steez, minus the philosophical shackle that, you know, WXPN music is supposed to be good for baby boomer brains in the same way that playing classical music for your baby will get him into Princeton later. But that’s not the half of it. Somewhere, there’s a voiceover department at NOW 95.7 that just keeps cranking out these hilariously straight-faced voiceovers:
“Soft rock has been around forever! NOW, it’s time to upgrade!”
“Soft rock has been around since you were a kid. NOW, isn’t it time to change it?“
This is basically the equivalent of saying, “Geritol is for OLD PEOPLE! But hey, wouldn’t you like some new… GERITOL?” But whatever. If Hootie (now playing) has to live so that Kenny G can die, I suppose that is compromise we can all live with. You don’t go into war with the army you want, you go into war with the army you have.
September 8th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I don’t think I’ll be able to get into a non-English speaking cab without the dulcet tones of Candy Dulfer or Sade. As a former Tower employee, I’m surprised that JJZ finally tanked, as we used to sell a TON of their annual comps to dudes from North Philly to Narberth.
As for Mutlu, even if Helen Lecht decided to up and quit tomorrow or come to work and play nothing but Mincemeat or Tenspeed, I think the likes of Mutlu would live on at XPN. While XPN’s gotten tons better over the years, the dreaded S-S has always been their bread and butter, like it or not. Plus there’s always a ton of good-for-you Boomer stomp coming from Gens X and Y ready to fill the airwaves.
Sorry, but the much hipper Feist makes me wanna kill myself just as badly. Kill myself in the face, even.