Fresh Listen: The Wow Factor and the Drive

In the year or so since veteran programmer/morning host Bobby Rich left KDRI (The Drive) Tucson, Ariz., following the station’s sale to the Bustos Media cluster, regular listeners tell me they’ve noticed some changes in the station’s mix — a few more ’80s titles, more Classic Rock. It’s hard to define, in part because Rich’s intent was always for the station to be hard to pigeonhole.

A year after his departure, Rich announced the formation of Bobby-Rich-Radio, specializing in 50-plus formats. In the meantime, The Drive under PD/mornings Matt Gentry has remained a punch button on my car radio (now that having Tune-In on Android Auto has made such things possible.) I cannot as easily listen to John Sebastian’s KOAI (The Wow Factor) Phoenix; it’s still geo-blocked, but it remains an ROR reader favorite. It’s also one of the stations that audience members wanted to talk about at Radiodays North America, both on the Classic Hits panel and in the halls. So it’s time for our annual(ish) First Listen to both stations.

The templates remain the same. The Drive has personalities who remind you of the radio that played those ’70s hits when they were currents. The Wow Factor remains jockless, although Sebastian has added a female voice to the station imaging. Both stations emphasize being locally owned. A Wow Factor drop encourages listeners to spread the word to help KOAI against the “out of state corporations that own the other stations in the valley.”

Despite KOAI’s “Wow Factor” handle, it’s always been the most hit-driven of the two stations — mostly songs that test (or would, if stations still tested them). The Drive continues to have more of a “lost ’70s” feel. KOAI was the more Classic Rock-flavored of the crop of ’60s/’70s Oldies stations that have popped up in recent years, but that’s narrowed as a result of the Drive’s modifications over the last years.

Here’s KOAI just before 11 a.m. on June 5:

• Rolling Stones, “Ruby Tuesday”
• Cars, “Good Times Roll”
• Abba, “Dancing Queen”
• B.J. Thomas, “Hooked on a Feeling”
• Little River Band, “Help Is on the Way”
• Eric Clapton, “Wonderful Tonight”
• Beatles, “Let It Be”
• Rascals, “A Beautiful Morning”
• Simon & Garfunkel, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
• Fleetwood Mac, “You Make Loving Fun”
• Malo, “Suavecito”
• Grass Roots, “Midnight Confessions”
• Queen, “Killer Queen”
• Looking Glass, “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”

And here’s The Drive just before 10 p.m. that evening:

• Eric Clapton, “Let It Rain”
• Sonny & Cher, “The Beat Goes On”
• Dan Hill, “Sometimes When We Touch”
• Miracles, “Tracks of My Tears”
• John Denver, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”
• Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations”
• Dionne Warwick, “Heartbreaker”
• James Taylor, “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”
• Billy Joe Royal, “Cherry Hill Park”
• Climax, “Precious and Few”
• The Band, “Up on Cripple Creek”
• Culture Club, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?”
• Tarney Spencer Band, “No Time to Lose”
• Beatles, “All My Lovin’”
• Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes, “Up Where We Belong”
• Ace Frehley, “New York Groove”
• Sly & Family Stone, “Family Affair”