Last year, amidst their other challenges, broadcasters tried to figure out whether the ‘90s and early ‘00s were a format (as at “Totally 93.9” WMIA Miami) or a special weekend (as at WKCI [KC101] New Haven, Conn., and numerous others). Clearly, that era is becoming a bigger part of other formats’ music mixes. Alternative WFUZ Wilkes-Barre, Pa., switched to gold-based AC after Christmas as WQFM (Q92.1), billed as “‘90s and more,” but also playing recent music.
While that debate continues, Tony Lorino is staking out the ‘00s. Lorino’s Throwback Nation Radio is a nightly shift-replacement show geared to Classic Hits stations. Last weekend Lorino and Dan Holiday’s Throwback Brands launched Throwback 2K with Chris Cruise, a five-hour weekly show billed as “the first weekly tribute to the 2000s” and targeted more to Adult CHR stations.
The ‘00s are really four eras—the tail end of the teen-pop/dance-driven ‘90s CHR comeback; the early ‘00s Linkin Park/novelty Hip-Hop era; Kelly Clarkson/Pink power-pop and Panic! At the Disco teen punk in the mid-decade, and the “turbo-pop” that incorporated everything before it. The early ‘00s were considered both extremes and doldrums at the time, but they’ve spawned a surprising number of enduring hits. As a whole, the ‘00s are easier than the ‘90s for an Adult (or Mainstream) CHR to play now. And it all sounds pretty good now during CHR’s worst product shortage in nearly 30 years.
Cruise began working in radio in the early ‘00s. I became really familiar with him in recent years through his presence on Twitter. Most syndicated show hosts promise stations customized liners; Cruise will be available to stations for “personal consultation and content creation” to help them promote the show on social media. There’s also a Spotify podcast version of the show made possible by last year’s decision to allow users to combine their talk breaks with Spotify’s music.
Here’s the first hour of Throwback 2K as heard January 2 on WWMX (Mix 106.5) Baltimore:
- Beyoncé, “Crazy In Love”
- Panic! At The Disco, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”
- Black Eyed Peas, “I Gotta Feeling”
- No Doubt, “Hey Baby”
- Ke$ha, “Tik Tok”
- Usher f/Lil Jon & Ludacris, “Yeah!”
- Avril Lavigne, “Sk8r Boi” (“nothing says the 2000s like an emo Canadian girl dating the lead singer of Nickelback,” Cruise noted)
- 50 Cent, “In Da Club”
- Killers, “Mr. Brightside”
- Kanye West, “Stronger”
- P. Diddy f/Usher & Loon, “I Need A Girl (Pt. 1)”
- Lady Gaga, “Alejandro”
- Justin Timberlake, “Sexyback”
- Missy Elliott, “Work It”
And here’s WQFM on Dec. 26 as “’90s and Now” Q92.1
- Green Day, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”
- Savage Garden, “Truly Madly Deeply”
- Imagine Dragons, “Radioactive’
- No Doubt, “Just A Girl”
- OneRepublic, “Counting Stars”
- Black Crowes, “She Talks to Angels”
- Adele, “Rolling in the Deep”
- Marky Mark & Funky Bunch, “Good Vibrations”
- Capital Cities, “Safe and Sound”
- ‘NSync, “Bye Bye Bye”
- Fitz & Tantrums, “Handclap”
- Sugar Ray, “Fly”
- 311, “Amber”
- Spin Doctors, “Two Princes”
- David Guetta f/Sia, “Titanium”
- Cracker, “Low”
- Gwen Stefani, “Hollaback Girl”
- Paula Abdul, “Opposites Attract”
