WKIX: The time traveler's radio station

Submitted by dmenconi on 03/08/2010 - 09:00

I spend most of my radio-listening time left of the dial, tuned in to the college and public stations down at the lower end of the FM dial. But when college radio gets to be just a little too much, it's fun to bop on over to oldies radio for a little palette-cleanser. And one of the coolest time-traveling diversions on the local dial right now is at 850-AM, where Curtis Media Group is reviving the long-ago powerhouse WKIX as an oldies station.

That particular frequency has gone through a number of formats in recent years, including sports-talk. But in its initial relaunch, WKIX is playing vintage station-ID promos (which never fail to induce giggles) and a wonderfully strange assortment of oldies. It's great to hear Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly on a commercial station; I can't even remember how long it's been since I encountered them there, in fact.

Of course, it's not perfect. There's some playlist crossover between WKIX and Curtis' other oldies station, which makes for a schizophrenic mix -- especially when WKIX ventures into more recent times. Over the weekend, I heard plenty of songs that had me lunging for the dial to change the channel, including "(You're) Having My Baby." Still, the occasional cringe-inducer is a small price to pay for the chance to hear Clarence "Frogman" Henry croaking away.

Check it out before they screw it up.

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Comments

It is great to hear these

Tue, 03/16/2010 - 05:59 — trainer47

It is great to hear these songs again. I really love this particular format. Thanks KIX.

Good Music

Sat, 03/13/2010 - 18:07 — golfersc244

WNCT FM, 107.9, play this type of music Friday night (50's music) and Sunday's afternoon-night (though mainly beach/shag type). Sounds good in stereo when signal is good for Raleigh,

WKIX - channel 85

Fri, 03/12/2010 - 00:50 — Java55

Quite by accident I discovered KIX had returned back in mid-February when they were just beginning to audition over 3000 songs that were on their original playlist at the time, and oh man! I especially enjoy the night format when its basically like an all night jukebox, plus its nice to have my favorite old tube radio (I have a collection) to listen to these oldies on as many from the pre-70's were orginally recorded to match the tube resonance of those old radios, and trust me there IS a difference - even the best Bose audio system is no match. Every once in a while they will even slip in some hits from the Glen Miller Orchestra and this music my friend was made for tube resonance! :-)

Fun!

Thu, 03/11/2010 - 12:30 — TonyPlutonium

Thanks for the tip! Unfortunately the power drop at sundown means no signal in Chapel Hill at night, but we're enjoying it while we can. Now if they'd just drop Imus...