New Wave Outpost Forum

by **MikeP** » Thu Jun 19, 2003 2:06 am

And now for my inevitable rant against KROQ (pronounced "CROCK"! "L.A. and Orange County's only new rock!" they boast. More like "Station of a Down" to me!)

[Spaz wrote:
How do people treat YOU and your affection for '80s music? Half of my office loves it (they're all the same age...roughly) while there are a few 20-somethings who can't believe the KROQ played such crap 20 years ago. They think that KROQ is so much better now!!!!]

I can't believe they play such crap now! Just a couple years ago, they were actually playing more diverse music (e.g., Mighty Mighty Bosstones, No Doubt ... hell, even bands like Air and Mono!) with discernable melodies, and actually playing bands with actual females in them (the only current exception being Evanesence, which, let's face it, sounds like Sarah McLachlan fronting Linkin Park). KROQ has become so astoundingly hard-edged yet dim-witted, catering only to angry middle-class 14 year-old white boys. I can't even believe teenage girls can tolerate this music! It's a shame that KROQ's only--and sadly short-lived competitor--Cool 94.3 is gone, because they challenged KROQ to diversify its playlist. They went beyond being a KROQ clone by playing more indie/britpop/electronica bands like Wilco, Frou Frou, Doves and Pinback. They even supported local OC bands and had a show on Sunday nights dedicated to the local music scene. One of the bands I worked with on my stint as one half of <a target="new" href="http://www.rofpromotions.com">ROF Promotions</a> (mostly inactive now) was Mudbath, a cool all-female band that were the only unsigned band being played in regular rotation on 94.3. When's the last time your local non-university or public radio-affiliated station supported a local unsigned band?

It's just that everytime I tune to 106.7 (KROQ), I'm reminded of how awful things have gotten and how the younger generation is being cheated, duped and brainwashed. I'll probably have more to say later.

Let the ranting begin!

by **whenthemachinesrock** » Thu Jun 19, 2003 9:57 am

well, being a member of the younger generation (i'm 19), i'm in complete agreement with you about the youth of today being cheated. there are three 'new music' stations in my area (upstate NY), and they all play the same stuff over and over, and i can't s

by **MikeP** » Thu Jun 19, 2003 10:39 am

I should probably qualify myself by stating that I actually really dig some harder-edged bands like Filter, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age--they can actually write melodies. It's just that I've never encountered so much blandness and sameness in

by **Jason²** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 4:43 am

Mike, where do I start to reply to this. I have been sad over the direction KROQ has been heading for YEARS. The irony is, of course, that the station that once played the music that was OUTSIDE the mainstream now IS the mainstream. In addition, the angry

by **MikeP** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 5:12 am

You know what else is equal parts amusing and infuriating? When it comes to rock radio, there are these clear seemingly unshakeable delineations that have been forged, where you have:
--Oldies (pre-psychedelic rock 'n' roll and soft rock thru approx. '7

by **Plata66** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 5:28 am

Okay so it's been determined that there's a butt load of one time good sations that are now defunct.I'm across the state from Chicago and the only "Alternative" station we have only plays angst metal re-treads (93.5 KORB).I ride a a BIG Yamaha Venture Roy

by **Frau_Blucher** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 10:35 am

So true re everything KROQ. I've been banished from LA to Connecticut, but recently visited family for a month in Cerritos. Yes, I reveled again in Tommy Burger, Balboa Beach and Edwards Newport, but CRIPES, KROQ absolutely BLOWS now!!!

It's like anxio

by **gazebo** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 11:57 am

CFNY here in Toronto went down that same road as KROQ did.
It was such a great station, and now it's crap.

by **Spaz** » Sat Jun 21, 2003 1:32 pm

Speaking of the KROQ audience of today, isn't it ironic that the labels cater to the same exact demographic that prefers to download their music 'illegally' instead of buying it? What's the point of spending millions to sell to an audience that doesn't gi

by **bruiser** » Sat Jun 21, 2003 2:46 pm

During the late 1990s there were at least two of the top 40 stations in Salt Lake City that had 80s retro shows on weekend evenings. Not the retread shows playing Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Def Leppard either, they dug deep into the vaults and played

by **DJ UNO** » Sat Jun 21, 2003 6:04 pm

I guess I'm biased, since I'm a DJ, but I do know what you're talking about. We have a pretty bland assortment of stations around me, but my station (see sig) has probably done good things for the state of radio here. We usually are the first to play a

by **Jay242** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 2:10 am

It's a shame that KROQ seems to be a shell of its former self. I remember visiting LA in 1984 and 1985 and being very impressed with KROQ and the new music situation in LA at the time. Being from New York, things had pretty much died out here by then (

by **EchoBeach** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 3:55 pm

A lot of you mention how cool KROQ was in the mid eighties. Is mid-eighties pop/synth music considerd new wave??? What about those of you who remember KROQs golden age - 1978-1983. That was KROQ. The KROQ playlist consisted mostly of the "new" bands Rodne

by **iceage3** » Tue Jun 24, 2003 2:43 pm

I can't believe it took this long for this subject to pop up! I agree with everyone that KROQ sucks. And can you believe they still call themselves "World Famous" even though they no longer play the music that made them world famous in the first place! I

by **Frau_Blucher** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 4:27 am

You're dead on EB! Those years were truly the cream of the crop. I seem to recall it flavored with more power pop than the later synth-driven stuff - 20/20, Plimsouls, heck even the Cars and Pretenders were big on KROQ before going mainstream. Some of my

New Wave Outpost Forum

The state of radio today (aka KROQ blows!)

The state of radio today (aka KROQ blows!)

Who is online