Adulting in the UK: The Gold/AC Wars

In the UK, it was one of the biggest radio stories in recent memory. Even on Valentine’s Day, I heard from U.S. readers who enjoyed ROR’s First Listen to the debut of Boom Radio, the DAB/online national station launched in apparent response to the modernization of BBC Radio 2.  Boom Radio wasn’t just contrarian musically, but also in openly targeting and celebrating a 60-plus audience that is, as the station declares, “still busy living.”

Boom is only one of a handful of recent UK radio stories that I’ve been meaning to share with Ross On Radio readers, especially those who’ve enjoyed the resurgence in recent years of Soft AC and ‘60s/’70s-based outlets such as KDRI (the Drive) Tucson, Ariz., or the syndicated Me-TV-FM. UK radio has been an active place recently for various reasons — increased nationalization, DAB’s relative viability, a busy formatic chess board on which broadcasters constantly seem to be responding to each other. 

One major story in broadcast radio is that London is finally poised to get its first Classic Hits FM, after being one of the few world capitals without one. Bauer’s rollout of its Greatest Hits Radio format has finally brought the format to FM throughout the country, after years of existing primarily on AM and DAB; now it’s waiting on regulatory approval to replace Absolute Radio on its FM frequency. 

Ironically, one of the stations now carrying the Greatest Hits Radio format is the former The Breeze Southampton. More than a decade ago, that station was media giant Celador’s foray into radio ownership, and an early proponent of both the Breeze name and the sort of variety-based Soft AC discussed here. That station’s architect, Kevin Stewart, is now music and programming consultant to Radio Jackie, a suburban London gem that has also had a following among ROR readers over the years. 

There were a lot of First Listens and Fresh Listens in order. I did most of my listening in the 11 a.m. hour on Feb. 15. The mood that day was optimistic; the :00 news on every station was about the relatively successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination program and a possible end to lockdown. 

Boom Radio: I went back on the second day of regular programming to hear David Lloyd. Like the first-day presenters I heard, Lloyd was making a point of explaining the station to listeners. “It’s a wide variety, from the sublime to the ridiculous,” he said in going from ‘80s OMD to ‘50s Kay Starr. In keeping with the station’s advocacy for its audience, there was a related promo that promised “every song a page in the diary of life, and still new pages to be written” as well as “every song a surprise.”

It’s not a major part of the mix, but one of the notable differences on Boom from its U.S. counterparts is the MOR component; some of it is rock era, but some is positioned as the music your parents like that you came to appreciate. On Tuesday’s “Easy Hour,” there was music from Shirley Bassey, Pat Boone, and Clint Eastwood’s left-field UK hit, “I Talk to the Trees.” (There was also “Sad Sweet Dreamer” from Sweet Sensation and “Jesus to a Child” by George Michael.) But here’s the station in middays:

• Queen, “You’re My Best Friend”
• Tornados, “Telstar”
• Lesley Gore, “Maybe I Know”
• Andy Gibb, “I Just Want to Be Your Everything”
• OMD, “Joan of Arc”
• Kay Starr, “Rock and Roll Waltz”
• George Michael, “Heal the Pain”
• Simon & Garfunkel, “Cecilia”
• Nino Tempo & April Stevens, “Deep Purple”
• Gary Barlow f/Beverly Knight, “Enough Is Enough”
• Charlie Dore, “Pilot of the Airwaves”
• George Benson, “Lady Love Me (One More Time)”
• Beatles, “Your Mother Should Know”
• Buddy Holly, “Raining in My Heart”
• Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman, “Stumblin’ In”
• Love Affair, “Bringin’ On Back the Good Times”

To some extent, Boom Radio is being boldly old because its competitors weren’t that young to begin with, at least by U.S. radio standards. UK and European broadcasters have always been more willing to test listeners above 54, something rarely done here. BBC Radio 2 is two years into its modernization now. At the time, the stated intent wasn’t to abandon the network’s 35-plus target as much as to acknowledge the 35-54 audience within. And the update was considered successful enough that there were at least two convention panels worldwide that used it as a case study. (On Sunday, I joked that some Radio 2 listeners might still think Clean Bandit is a person; on Tuesday, my dentist [who is my age] was streaming a Clean Bandit artist channel. But Boom seems aimed at listeners who are older still.)

Radio 2’s franchise has always been its full-service elements, as much as the music. In the hour I heard, Gary Davis’ topic was “memorable blind date stories.” (Only a few involved being stood up. Most ended with “ … and we’ve been married for 29 years now.”) In fact, as U.S. broadcasters despair for listeners willing to participate in anything other than “Impossible Question” features, many of the UK stations I heard had some invitation to “join the conversation” at some point in or throughout the hour. Here’s Radio 2 just before 11 a.m.:

• Fine Young Cannibals, “Good Thing”
• Texas, “Hi” (like their ‘90s hit “Say What You Want,” it’s a collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan, but the rappers weren’t evident on the radio version)
• Cardigans, “My Favourite Game”
• Marisha Wallace, “Fame,” house music and the previous week’s record of the week
• Neil Diamond, “If You Know What I Mean”
• Brett Eldredge, “Good Day 2021” (with a “New to 2” sweeper; Radio 2 also played the previous “Gabrielle”)
• Sheryl Crow, “All I Wanna Do”
• Sia, “Save My Life” (from the “Album of the Week,” the Music soundtrack)
• Womack & Womack, “Love Wars”
• Olivia Rodrigo, “Driver’s License”
• Queen, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (the first of two Tracks of Our Years from comedian Adam Hills)
• Adam & the Ants, “Antmusic”
• Ariana Grande, “34 + 35”
• Martha & the Vandellas, “Dancing in the Street”

Greatest Hits Radio’s planned launch in London will give owner Bauer both that station and gold-based AC Magic 105.4. It was great to hear Mark Goodier, the voice of BBC Radio 1’s top 40 countdown when I managed to listen regularly in the ‘90s in the 11 a.m. hour: 

• Real Thing, “Can’t Get By Without You”
• KC & the Sunshine Band, “Give It Up” (the first song out of 11:00 news)
• Roxy Music, “Dance Away”
• Kim Wilde, “Kids in America”
• Ace, “How Long”
• Shalamar, “A Night to Remember”
• Van Morrison, “Brown Eyed Girl”
• a-Ha, “Take on Me”
• Pink Floyd, “Money” (another “what this song means to me” feature, this one featuring a 20-year-old introduced to Pink Floyd by her grandfather)
• Wet Wet Wet, “Sweet Little Mystery”
• Aerosmith, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
• Hues Corporation, “Rock the Boat”

A onetime pirate broadcaster that eventually obtained a broadcast license, Southwest London’s Radio Jackie always had some fans among ROR readers. Stewart says the recent freshening of the station is a reaction to the UK’s ongoing consolidation, so that there’s always local personality, and an expanded list of 2,000 titles, all uptempo. Jackie’s topic was “what song title described your weekend?” Answers included “Coffee and TV” (because who could go anywhere or do anything else)? Also, “Reminiscing,” “Happy Birthday,” and “I’m So Excited” (from a newly engaged listener). Here’s the station just before 2 p.m.:

• Camila Cabello, “Havana”
• Supremes, “You Can’t Hurry Love” (with a “Radio Jackie classic” stager)
• Tanita Tikaram, “Good Tradition”
• [Detroit] Spinners, “The Rubberband Man”
• Keane, “Everybody’s Changing”
• Tom Jones, “No Hole in My Head” (his new song, a rocked-up ‘60s folk remake)
• Furniture, “Brilliant Mind” (late ‘80s Euro)
• Simple Minds, “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”
• S Club 7, “Don’t Stop Movin’”
• New Musik, “Living by Numbers”
• Beat, “Mirror in the Bathroom”
• Texas, “Black Eyed Boy”
• Beatles, “All You Need Is Love”

Global’s Smooth Radio is the station that most resembles America’s current Breeze stations — mostly ‘80s and ‘90s titles with a relatively controlled cheese factor. Bauer’s Magic 105.4 is more mainstream, but even Mainstream AC is gold-based now as well. There are times during the hour where both stations could be Classic Hits stations, but also places where they clearly are not. 

Here’s Smooth as heard on “London’s relaxing music mix” just before 11 a.m. with Myleene Klaas:

• Emili Sandé, “Read All About It”
• Fleetwood Mac, “Dreams”
• Simply Red, “Stars”
• Michael Jackson, “Man in the Mirror”
• Take That, “Rule the World”
• Wilson Philips, “Hold On”
• Luther Vandross, “Never Too Much”
• Real Thing, “Can’t Get By Without You”
• Pet Shop Boys, “West End Girls”
• Kool & the Gang, “Get Down on It”
• Carpenters, “Rainy Days and Mondays”
• Labi Siffre, “Something Inside (So Strong)”
• Elvis Presley, “Suspicious Minds”

On Magic 105.4 during that same stretch, Nick Snaith’s topic was “are you doing what you wanted as a kid?” Those stories, prompted by running into a childhood friend who was now a firefighter, also often ended with “ … and for the last 29 years … ”-type payoff. Here’s the station just before 11 a.m.:

• Duffy, “Mercy”
• Madness, “It Must Be Love”
• Donna Summer, “Hot Stuff”
• Lady A, “Need You Now”
• Pet Shop Boys, “What Have I Done to Deserve This”
• Lighthouse Family, “Lifted”
• Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, “Together in Electric Dreams”
• Dido, “White Flag”
• Queen, “I Want to Break Free”
• Deniece Williams, “Let’s Hear It for the Boy”
• Four Seasons, “December 1963 (Oh What a Night)”
• Corrs, “Runaway”
• Terence Trent D’Arby, “Sign Your Name”

Did you listen to Boom or any of these stations this week? Please leave a comment.