Van Zandt tells what's wrong with rock radio

[musicradio77]

By DAVID HINCKLEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Amid the rumors about what Infinity Radio will do with WXRK (92.3 FM) after Howard Stern leaves for Sirius Satellite Radio in January flows an undercurrent of concern about what it could mean for rock radio in New York.

K-Rock has been a rock station for a decade, the only one in town besides classic-rock WAXQ (104.3 FM). K-Rock has shifted emphasis a couple of times, mostly recently moving some newer bands to its Web stream, K-Rock2, and keeping more familiar material on K-Rock itself.

The looming issue, however, is this: K-Rock's audience has always dropped sharply when Stern goes off the air, which has tended to support the long-standing axiom in radio that New York is a rhythm town, not a rock town.

So while program director Tom Poleman of top-40 WHTZ (100.3 FM) says Z-100 does better when it can put some good rock into its mix, there's also a theory that the weak start for the Jack format on WCBS-FM (101.1) is due in part to playing too much rock.

But a prominent jock on WAXQ says the problem with rock on radio - in general - is simply that radio in recent years has been too wimpy to push it and sell it.

Little Steven Van Zandt, host of the syndicated Sunday night "Underground Garage," told a Radio & Records convention this summer that radio has shortchanged rock for decades.

"In a real sense, the last big [rock] band through the door was U2, 25 years ago," Van Zandt said. "When our generation stops touring, it's over. Rock 'n' roll is a living, breathing animal that needs to be fed. With new blood."

That new blood is out there, too, he said, but has too few outlets for exposure on broadcast radio. "Hip-hop and pop can be heard. New rock 'n' roll had nowhere to go. [Our show] has played more new bands in three years than anyone since the '60s."

Moreover, he said, new bands can be played right alongside the classics.

"Everybody told us you can't combine old with new. But of course you can. ... When you properly combine old and new, the old records give the new ones a sense of depth, of belonging to an eternal continuum, carrying the flag forward. The new ones give the old ones relevance, keep them vital."

Radio's rock mistake started, he said, with abandoning its '50s and '60s roots.

"Everything we do, everything we are, comes from those decades," he said. "And if you want younger people listening [to early rock], you can get that done. Who is cooler, early Elvis or Elton John? What appeals more to kids, Gene Vincent's black leather attitude, Little Richard's cry of liberation, Dion's total 'Sopranos' coolness - or the Eagles?

"But you have to explain that. Show it, illustrate, educate, sell it."

To save rock, he said, "Someday somebody will have to put the Underground Garage format 24-7 on broadcast radio."

No one's betting heavily, however, that this will be the new K-Rock.

[ABlairican Pie]

I'm really afraid for the future of rock and roll. It seems like it's being phased out for trendy crap. And you have to admit it, REAL rock and roll, the kind that was the staple of 50's and 60's music, is almost outmoded in favor of RAWK.

[TJL]

David Hinkley makes some good points about the state of radio here in NYC.

Rock radio is becoming extinct here. K Rock tried to keep it going, but they didn't know what they wanted to be; do they play only contempory rock, or do they mix old an new? And even the "new" stuff they played wasn't anywhere near the type of variety that Steve Van Zandt is talking about.

I wish K Rock luck with this "free FM" thing they're going to try in January.

WNEW, New York's premiere rock station for decades, went to an all talk format a few years ago (after switching formats for a few years), and that was a dismal failure.

[musicradio77]

That's right! According to Allan Sniffen on "Board Reflections", "New York City is not a big rock town". To me New York City is a big urban town. This is the first time since WNEW-FM went from rock to FM talk in 1999 to hire Opie & Anthony. I looked up the website that Free-FM at 106.9 has brought the format to San Francisco. New York City is next.

[Steve M.]

Originally Posted by musicradio77

That's right! According to Allan Sniffen on "Board Reflections", "New York City is not a big rock town". To me New York City is a big urban town. This is the first time since WNEW-FM went from rock to FM talk in 1999 to hire Opie & Anthony. I looked up the website that Free-FM at 106.9 has brought the format to San Francisco. New York City is next.

NYC is a big "urban" town? Why is "urban" always meant to mean "black-related" when it really means "citylike?" "Urban town" is redundant.

Rock radio can still survive if more radio stations are willing to take chances, but not in this demogrpahically driven market, where rock fans no longer count. Beisdes, Russell Simmons and Sean Combs have seen to it that even white suburban teenagers will always prefer hip-hop now.

[musicradio77]

As you might see, there are lots of Free-FM popping up in this market. San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Miami and others. New York will be next.

[Steve M.]

I'm seriously thinking of subscribing to satellite radio. . . and not for Howard Stern!