When there wasn’t actually an FM broadcast station called KNX-FM Los Angeles, there was KNXfm93.com. It was one of two different online tribute stations to the long-defunct “Mellow Rock” KNX-FM of the ‘70s and early ‘80s. KNXfm93.com had enough of a following among this column’s readers that I spotlighted it last year as “Ross on Radio’s Most Requested Station.”
Now there is a broadcast station called KNX-FM, thanks to the simulcast of Audacy’s heritage all-news station on the FM frequency of former Top 40 KAMP (97.1 Now FM), but not the frequency of the old KNX-FM which is now 93.1 Jack FM. Additionally, Southern California radio writer Richard Wagoner reports a split between the online station’s partners, meaning that the original station has effectively changed formats, while the KNX-FM tribute has a new home. For many readers, it will be a win/win.
The “mellow rock” KNX-FM tribute is now found at TheMellowSound.net. That station is still playing vintage KNX-FM jingles as well as the “Odyssey File” news/info vignettes that were a trademark of the station. TheMellowSound’s music still cuts off around KNX-FM’s 1983 format change and, if anything, seems to go even deeper into ‘70s and early ‘80s soft rock nuggets.
The original KNXfm93.com has rebranded as 97Litefm.com with an AC format that extends past the KNX-FM years into the early 2000s. The new station, billed as “the adult choice for the world” plays a lot of KNX-FM music, but also has a lost ‘80s/’90s AC component that many friends and readers are known to search out as well. (At this writing, Litefm is your default if you try to play the old station through TuneIn.)
Here’s TheMellowSound.net on the evening of January 9:
- Ian Matthews, “A Fool Like You” (1975)—cover of a Tim Moore song as Iain Matthews
- Steve Miller Band, “Seasons” (1969)
- Robbie Dupree, “Free Fallin’” (1981)—from the follow-up album to his “Steal Away” breakthrough
- Paul Williams, “I Won’t Last a Day Without You” (1972)
- Jackson Browne, “Lawyers in Love” (1983)
- Beatles, “She’s Leaving Home” (1967)
- Carly Simon, “It Was So Easy” (1972)
- Simon & Garfunkel, “For Emily, Whenever I Find Her” (1966)
- Stevie Wonder, “You’ve Got it Bad Girl” (1972)
- Chicago, “Little One” (1978)
- Bill LaBounty, “Livin’ It Up” (1982)—a similar groove to Al Jarreau’s “Mornin,’” but earlier
- David Gates, “Clouds” (1973)
Here’s the station the following morning, Jan. 10:
- Atlanta Rhythm Section, “I’m Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight” (1978)
- Danny Douma, “Don’tcha Break My Heart” (1979)—former lead singer of chart act Wha-Koo
- Fleetwood Mac, “Think About Me” (1980)
- Doobie Brothers, “Rio” (1976, from “Takin’ it to the Streets”)
- Commodores, “Oh No” (1981)
- Bread, “The Guitar Man” (1973)
- Cat Stevens, “Father and Son” (1970)
- Tarney Spencer Band, “Lies” (1979)—remake of the Knickerbockers’ hit from the same album as “No Time to Lose”
- Warren Zevon, “Hasten Down the Wind” (1976)
- Maria Muldaur, “Midnight at the Oasis” (1974)
- Michael Jackson, “You Can Call Me Blue” (1980)
Here’s 97 Lite FM on the morning of Jan. 10:
- Vonda Shepard, “Read Your Mind”—from her 1999 Ally McBeal soundtrack album
- Stevie Wonder, “I Wish”
- Sa-Fire, “Thinking of You”
- Michelle Branch, “The Game of Love”
- Ace of Base, “Beautiful Life”
- Peter Cetera & Crystal Bernard, “I Wanna Take (Forever Tonight)”
- John Mayer, “Daughters”
- Billy Joel, “Uptown Girl”
- Linda Ronstadt, “Long Long Time”
- Jefferson Starship, “Miracles”—the album version
- Bee Gees, “Rest Your Love On Me”—the Country chart single that was the flip side of “Too Much Heaven”
