As an follow-up to my April post lamenting the demise of V100, Los Angeles’ station featuring R&B for the grown and sexy, the station’s replacement is now firmly entrenched on the airwaves–although not with the news/talk format it was rumored to take on. Instead, the listeners of L.A. get more middle-aged dad rock.
Out went Jaheim and Erykah Badu and in came Shawn Colvin, Death Cab For Cutie, and Mudcrutch. While it’s probably not too surprising that Church of Latter-Day Saints-owned Bonneville took the station in a less urban direction, looking at the playlist, you have to wonder how long this incarnation is going to stick around with its selection for the Starbucks customer. While a comment on the previous post mentioned that V100 was rumored to have lost five million dollars last year, was the L.A. market looking for a Triple A station when across the country stations with the same format are flipping? On the other hand, if you’re looking for a place to hear the new Bodeans track, check out the station online.
In memory of V100, here’s Keyshia Cole’s “I Remember”:
100.3 The Sound [homepage]
Yeah, “The Sound” is very disappointing. Not that this will mean anything to non-LA residents, but I was hoping for something more along the lines of the dearly departed 101.9 or 103.1 (before it was Indie 103.1 and before it was the techno station). This new station is best described as boring. If I want to hear “Touch of Gray,” I’ll tune into Jack-FM.
They’ll get closer to what was Channel 103-1 — trust me.
They’ve gotta keep it conservative for a bit to draw in the passive listener.
The L.A. market is perfect for a Triple A station — they’ll never be a ratings winner (Porque Los Mexicanos que reciben agendas de Arbitron no quieren Tom Petty o Nirah Jones) …but talk about an easy sell!
And
Mudcrutch is Middle-Age Dad Rock? Huh? You need to check your demographics - Gen Xers are middle aged dads now. Scary as that may sound. Mudcrutch is for the AARP set.
I’ve been streaming this new station for the last half hour, and while I can’t say its essential to the LA area, I’ve heard The Kinks’ “Celluloid Heroes”, The Smithereens’ “Blood and Roses” and The Dandy Warhols’ “Bohemian Like You.” Clearly it’s a white-guy demographic chaser, but I was made happy three times in 30 minutes. Plus, anything that supplies one less platform for reality-show trainwreck Keyshia Cole is okay by me.
Okay, now they’ve played goddamned Jack Johnson, Collective Soul and Shawn Mullins. Never mind.