For a long time, to discover a Classic Country station was to know that it probably wouldn’t be around very long. WMZQ Washington, D.C., and KFKF Kansas City had short-lived AMs during the ‘80s that were part of my education in the genre. But when Classic Country began popping up on FM a decade or two later, even ratings weren’t enough to protect a station from a sales department’s quest for younger listeners.
Morning radio legend Gene Baxter and I both grew up listening to WMZQ at a time when few of our peers did, then he went on to work there. When it was announced last week that KSOP (Classic Country 1370) Salt Lake City was shutting down its AM signal and going online only, he was listening, too. Baxter, who has been a valuable source of column thought starters before, wondered if there was a potential column on disappearing formats, with Classic Country as the latest successor to Easy Listening or Smooth Jazz?
Classic Country is different from those formats because it was always more ephemeral. If anything, Classic Country is taking root now, but on FM. KNAH (Hank FM) Salt Lake City gets a two-share in its crowded, sprawling market. Lotus has followed the launch of the Hank FM format in Seattle with Boise, Tucson, and Las Vegas this year. WNFN (Y’all 106.7) Nashville has had enough impact to force WSM-FM out of its yesterday-and-today Nash Icon branding, although there’s no indication at this writing if it will also alter its mix. KXBL (Big Country 99.5) Tulsa, Okla., is No. 2 in the market and leading a mainstream competitor.
Although it lasted 20+ years on AM, Classic Country 1370 was more akin to those AMs of years ago for me, because of its depth in the ‘70s and pre-Randy Travis ‘80s. It had a greater “oh wow” factor for me than the late ‘80s-through-early ’00s mix often found on FM, something that it could get away with in part because of the heritage of the station. Fortunately, that depth seems to have survived the move online.
For a New Jersey listener, it is a mere technicality that Classic Country 1370 will no longer be available on an AM that I can’t hear (along with large portions of the market). But the historical continuity of the frequency as a Country station of some sort did give it some extra heft. So did being hosted. When the move online was announced, it first appeared that only station veteran Country Joe Flint would make the transition; on Tuesday, the station announced a full staff (mostly doing double duty with KSOP-FM [Z104]).”
Here’s KSOP-AM with Chris Chapman at 4:30 p.m., May 30. The asterisked songs are ones that I’m fairly sure I had never encountered, even on shuffle in my own collection, since they were currents:
- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, “Home Again in My Heart”* (1986)
- Holly Dunn, “You Really Had Me Going” (1990)
- Keith Whitley, “When You Say Nothing at All” (1988)
- Larry Gatlin & Gatlin Brothers, “What Are We Doin’ Lonesome”* (1981)
- Earl Thomas Conley w/Emmylou Harris, “We Believe in Happy Endings” (1988)
- Barbara Mandrell, “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed” (1978)
- Merle Haggard, “Mama Tried” (1968)
- Shania Twain, “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” (1995)
- Atlanta, “Sweet Country Music” (1984)
- Garth Brooks, “Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House” (1991)
- George Jones, “He Stopped Loving Her Today” (1980)
- Crystal Gayle, “The Sound of Goodbye”* (1983)
- Kenny Rogers, “All My Life”* (1983)
- Foster & Lloyd, “What Do You Want from Me This Time” (1988)
- Willie Nelson, “On the Road Again” (1980)
- Kenny Chesney, “You Had Me from Hello” (1999)
- Mel Tillis, “Steppin’ Out”* (1980)
- Reba McEntire, “Let the Music Lift You Up”* (1987)
- Ronnie Milsap, “Prisoner of the Highway”* (1984)
- Travis Tritt, “Sometimes She Forgets” (1995)
Here’s KSOPCountry.com at 8 a.m. on June 3:
- Alabama, “Fallin’ Again”* (1988)
- Waylon Jennings, “Theme from ‘The Dukes of Hazard’” (1980)
- Barbara Mandrell, “One of a Kind Pair of Fools”* (1983)
- Johnny Paycheck, “Take This Job and Shove It” (1977)
- Tracy Byrd, “Holdin’ Heaven” (1993)
- Mickey Gilley, “Stand by Me” (1980)
- Jim Croce, “I Got a Name” (1973)
- Ricky Skaggs, “Cajun Moon”* (1986)
- Larry Gatlin & Gatlin Brothers, “All the Gold in California” (1979)
- Olivia Newton-John, “Please Mr. Please” (1975)
- Lorrie Morgan, “We Both Walk” (1991)
You are more than welcome to listen to the #1 rated station in Topeka, KS for the “classic” format. Full 100kw Class C KTPK. mycountry1069.com 80s, 90’s with a dash of 70’s and early (pre-bro) 2k.