The best moment in listening to author Stephen King’s soon-to-be-shuttered Triple-A WZLO Bangor, Maine, came in my last 15 minutes with the station. First there was the segue from Steve Earle’s “Guitar Town” to Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” The last segue was Joe Jackson’s “Happy Loving Couples” into Freedy Johnston’s “Bad Reputation.” I’d finally gotten the secret handshake from somebody whose musical flavor profile was similar to mine.
WZLO promises “music beyond the mainstream” and, in their way, all three of King’s stations do that. Even Heritage Rock WKIT (The Rock) and Classic Hits WZON (Z62) play at least a few things you won’t hear on a group-owned, big-market radio station.
When I last wrote about Z62 six years ago, that station had just returned to Oldies (then a ’60s/’70s version) from the more resource-draining progressive News/Talk format. By 2018, the discussions about the survival of both radio and ’60s music and culture were already downbeat. Even as a seeming cost-cutting move, there was still something encouraging about King’s choice. “Don’t get all existential yet,” I wrote.
Okay, now you can get existential. King’s announcement that all three stations will cease operations at the end of the year has been a national news story. King cited the need to “get his business affairs in better order” at age 77. A station spokesman encouraged readers not to cry because it was over, but to smile because a millionaire had spent more than 40 years operating money-losing stations as a labor of love. This, even though WKIT was No. 1 in the spring Nielsen ratings.
Seeing King leave the radio business is a reminder of why we’ve been losing entrepreneur owners for decades. Often, there hasn’t been a logical heir, blood or otherwise, for those operators. Country KRTY San Jose did not indefinitely survive the passing of owner Bob Kieve, and that was a major-market station that had double-digit shares at the end.
King’s stations already had made some concessions to radio reality. WZLO, when I heard it, was jockless. WZON, now based in late-’70s/early-’80s gold, was running the syndicated Rick Dees. WKIT does have a staff of area veterans, but when I listened on Wednesday, the syndicated night maven Greg Beharrell was running in mornings, then I heard Superadio’s Alice’s Attic with Alice Cooper.
The Zone Radio cluster is again conducting a toy and gift drive for area families, a promotion it has been doing for years. WZLO, in particular, had a variety of local retailers as sponsors. The sponsor for the coat drive is Downeast Direct Cremation — on a large-market, group-owned station, I’d put that in the same category as having a studio sponsorship from 1-800-INJURED. On a horror author’s cluster of stations, it’s part of the legend.
WZON’s jingles are modeled on early-’80s WNBC New York. One sweeper refers to it (correctly) as Bangor’s Heritage Radio Station, another announces, “Throughout the galaxy, there is but one guardian of the retro.” Here’s Z62 at 9 a.m., December 4 with Dees.
- AC/DC, “You Shook Me All Night Long” — the perfect first song to encounter for AC/DC’s biggest celebrity fan
- Electric Light Orchestra, “Hold On Tight”
- Elton John, “Island Girl”
- Kool & the Gang, “Too Hot”
- Kim Carnes, “Bette Davis Eyes”
- Time, “Jungle Love”
- Bread, “Lost Without Your Love”
- Seals & Crofts, “Get Closer”
- Toto, “Africa”
- Eddie Money, “Think I’m in Love”
- Pointer Sisters, “Neutron Dance”
- Go-Go’s, “Head Over Heels”
- Foreigner, “Cold as Ice”
- Bob Seger & Silver Bullet Band, “Night Moves”
- Marshall Tucker Band, “Heard It in a Love Song” (long version)
Here’s WKIT at 10 a.m.:
- Scorpions, “The Zoo”
- Black Sabbath, “Iron Man”
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Give It Away”
- Sammy Hagar, “I Can’t Drive 55”
- Pearl Jam, “Waiting for Stevie” — their current single
- Journey, “Lights”
- Dave Matthews Band, “Too Much”
- Eagles, “Take It Easy”
- Black Sabbath, “Smoke on the Water”
- Tom Petty, “Running Down a Dream”
- Gin Blossoms, “Hey Jealousy”
Here’s WZLO at 11 a.m.
- Goo Goo Dolls, “Name”
- Charley Crockett, “Trinity River”
- Sting, “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart)”
- Tears for Fears, “Shout”
- Red Clay Strays, “I’m Still Fine (Live)”
- Nashvillains, “Christmas in a Bottle” — with a holiday music sweeper
- Inhaler, “Your House”
- Lucinda Williams, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”
- Lana Del Rey, “Say Yes to Heaven”
- Beabadoobee, “Beaches”
- Steve Earle, “Guitar Town”
- Darlene Love, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
- The Head & the Heart, “Arrow”
- Joe Jackson, “Happy Loving Couples”
- Freedy Johnston, “Bad Reputation”
