I mentioned the sudden demise of Love 94 in a recent evening Sift, but didn't realize that the Sun Sentinel's The Beat had posted some additional information earlier that day...The smooth jazz station Love 94 (WLVE 93.9 FM) went off the air at 10 this morning, replaced by a rhythmic pop station called 93.9 FM-MIA whose tagline is "Move to the music," Clear Channel Radio Miami/Fort Lauderdale announced today.Now THERE'S a big step forward for South Florida radio!
"The station will feature popular up-tempo music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and today," said an e-mailed Christmas Day press release. "To celebrate the launch, 93.9-FM MIA is airing commercial-free music from artists including the Bee Gees, Madonna, Prince, Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Lopez."
I tuned in this afternoon, 3:45 - 4:15 p.m., and the station played The Spinners' Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl, Ace of Bass' Beautiful Life, TKA's One Way Love, a song I couldn't identify, Gnarls Barkley's Crazy, Human League's Don't You Want Me, Shaggy's Angel, CeCe Peniston's Finally and Michael Jackson's Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground).Ohhhhhh! Ace of Base! Turn it up!
Okay, so where is the info on Love 94?
The release quotes Brian Olson, President/Market Manager for Clear Channel Radio Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, saying that Love 94's smooth jazz format will be revived on Clear Channel's high-def digital radio network, at 93.9 HD2. A letter posted at the new station's Web site doesn't specify a date for Love 94's return in HD but says listeners should check back after the holidays for more information."Digital radio HD2 network?" Is that like satellite radio or what? I don't get it. Literally and figuratively.
Here's Love 94's press release that doesn't do a whole lot to clarify things.
Look, I know a lot of you weren't fans of Love 94 and during the last couple years even I couldn't take their sickly sweet smooth jazz format that seemed to play the same songs again and again. But Love 94 is the first place I learned of groups like Everything But The Girl, The Rippingtons, and Hiroshima. And, yeah, it was the only place in South Florida that you stood half a chance of hearing Pat Metheny, God's gift to contemporary jazz, or some of the more obscure and better stuff by Van Morrison or Sade. But over the years, they had lost a number of their DJs including Gina Martell, who did a great job with her spotlight on Brazilian jazz, and their playlist had turned terribly stale. But they still offered listeners an alternative to the pop junk that seems to thrive in South Florida and for that reason, and Stu Grant's wonderful Sunday Jazz Brunch, they deserved a spot on the dial, in my opinion. If you check out the comments in the Sun-Sentinel post, you'll see that a lot of people feel the same way.
Personally, I'm going to miss them. But more than that I'm going to hate having another station that plays nothing but mindless, fatuous, meaningless music. Something that we already have too much of in broadcast radio.
Thanks Clear Channel.
******
The highbrow intelligentsia at babalu who can't seem to construct a sentence without a four-letter word...
...take issue with this post [although they exert their dominance and thump their chests by not linking here]....
Jazz on Miami radio died when WBUS ("The Magic Bus") went off the air many, many moons ago. These days it's resurrected somewhat by the only local radio refuge for real jazz: WDNA. They play a great variety of jazz, including lots of Afro-Cuban jazz. They play real jazz, not pussified "love jazz," or the modern crap that some call "jazz" that so many are all atwitter about. Coltrane, Bird, Sonny Rollins, Brubeck, Weather Report, Getz, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughan, Basie, Miles, Diz, Paquito d'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Chico O'Farrill, Tito Puente, the late Cachao. Real music. Real jazz. Real improvisational genius.
I know the liberal progressive metrosexual pussymen are all up in (bangled) arms about Love 94 going belly up, about not hearing that favorite Kenny G masterpiece while sipping on their non-fat lattes and reading The New York Times; but all I have to say is: buh-bye.
George needs to put down that Little Debbie cake and listen up although I have to admit that he knows jazz well enough to refer to Dizzy Gillespie as "Diz." And he doesn't even use Miles Davis' last name! F*ckin' A!
But the fact is that Love 94 played every single artist that he mentions. Not all the time, mind you, but during special segments or programs that were regularly featured. Not that it matters much because once George gets a whiff that anything isn't oozing testosterone, the conservative in him takes over and the 'phobe comes out in full glory. Music is a measure of your manliness you see.
All cavemen agree.
P.S. Thanks for reading, George. You guys just can't stay away can you? No matter how hard you try, you just gotta see what I'm writing. Pitiful.
P.P.S. WTF is a national blog about Cuba doing discussing Love 94 anyway?
******
WDNA Operations Manager educates Moneo in babalu's comments section.
The enjoyment of jazz is independent of one's political framework. Though I would like to point out that:But, of course, trying to share facts with Moneo is like trying to serve broccoli to a two year old.
1. Jazz tends to be progressive in spirit and attitude; and,
2. The bunk Love94 played was very popular with men 45+ who considered themselves "conservative."
But let's not cloud the main point: WDNA appreciates your support and patronage, regardless of who you voted for, as nothing is more American than the music this great nation birthed.
Kind regards,
Joe Cassara
Operations Manager
WDNA-FM
Joe, to echo Henry, I cannot think of one of my conservative friends who listened to that crap station. Zero, zilch. Methinks your Obama filter needs changin'...Caveman says "Ugh."
Also, from the Sun-Sentinel comments...
Let Clear Channel know you are pissed off.
John Hogan - CEO or Tom Owens / SVP of Programming
Clear Channel Communications , Inc. 200 East Basse Road San Antonio, TX 78209
I understand their email is first name + last name @clearchannel.com
.
51 comments:
I was never a huge fan of "smooth jazz." Give me Dave Brubeck, Charley Parker, Thelonious Monk, and that gang any day over Kenny G. But to turn Love 94 into a something that sounds like it should be interrupted by "Clean-up on Aisle 4" is a shame. Just like the transformation of WTMI in 2001 to mindless music, Miami proves once again it is a tropical desert when it comes to radio.
Mustang, we got classical back: 89.7 FM. They just got a big grant from the Knight Foundation, too. It's a non-profit radio station. I find they play great classical selections.
Maria, I was going to say something about Classical South Florida in my earlier comment, but it seemed OT, so I didn't. But now that you've opened the door...
Classical South Florida is nice, but it's a network feed from Minnesota Public Radio. They can only play short pieces since they can't run over the top of the hour. They seem to play a lot of light classics like Ravel's Bolero and the old warhorses like Beethoven's 5th, and there's no time for long pieces by Mahler. It's better than nothing, but I miss local programming and a larger variety.
In that other post, Blind Mind had mentioned 88.9 as a good "classic" jazz station in Miami. I tried to listen to it here in South Broward County tonight but it's spotty.
.
WDNA isn't a "south Florida" station so much as a "Miami- Dade county" station. And frankly, reception was frail in Coral Gables. I can't receive it at all in Fort Lauderdale.
Of course, the Babalusers think that America begins and ends with Little Havana. Why waste time with facts when you can proudly spout ignorance, right?
Radio music stations as we know them will soon be obsolete anyway.
Flame away.
Sorry to hear that LOVE94 (WLVE) is gone.So what can we do to get it back?
also where did Gina Martell go? There are alot of use who enjoyed here Brazilian love jazz program.
I started listening to love 94 in 1988 and was shocked to find out it was replaced. The new format sucks.. I know that Love94 at times would play the same songs but at least it was better than nothing for smooth jazz fans. I guess I shouldn't cancel my XM subscription.
I've not listened to three minutes of continuous radio in SoFla since I moved here a year ago. So I guess I really don't have anything to contribute. Except, I wish I had known that there was a station playing Pat Metheny, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, EBTG, and the like, all in one!!
I don't think Kenny G even likes Kenny G, though. I don't wish ill will on anyone, but I would be okay with him having a woodwind accident of some sort.
Scott,
You don't strike me as a person who spends a lot of time in your so you can probably find all those artists on pandora.com. Free and without annoying and hysterical commercial breaks.
EDIT: "in your car so you can ...".
I know the liberal progressive metrosexual pussymen are all up in (bangled) arms about Love 94 going belly up, about not hearing that favorite Kenny G masterpiece while sipping on their non-fat lattes and reading The New York Times; but all I have to say is: buh-bye.
Whoa, someone has issues....
Another example of why Satellite Radio is the way to go! With Queer Channel, it's all about making the most bucks. Forget loyalty. Upgrade to Sirius/XM, you won't be disappointed!
Satellite radio, my friend. Six commercial-free jazz stations in XM.
88.9 in Miami comes in great. Ive never tried up in Broward. Kickass station though. The worst part for me though is the middle of the day when they play the Afro-Cuban stuff where every song sounds like a bunch of people banging pots and pans together. But thats just my preferences and opinion which Im sure many will disagree with.
;)
That Afro-Cuban pot-banging music is better than most of the polished salsa you hear on the airwaves these days.
Just saying.
AND much better than Kenny G, John Tesh and 99.9% of the pap that passes for popular music in the US. But that's of course my opinion and preference.
(A pot-banger extraordinaire, Chano Pozo, was instrumental in the creation of bebop, playing with Gillespie.)
bring back Love94
Just to share my view--I was VERY SAD to realize that Love 94 was no longer. Last year, I was not happy when I realized their format was taped entirely from Chicago and that sometimes the news that was piped in was from a previous day. But at least it was a nice way to wake up. The new format is competely unorginal and awful. Bring back Love 94 please...
Bring back WSHE 103.5, She's Only Rock and Roll.
Or 97.3 WGTR, better known as 97 GTR.
Or just let them all go to hell and let's get Satellite Radio. Let the radio stations join the newspapers in a double-suicide.
While on vacation to Miami in mid-Nov. '08, I was looking forward to hearing Love94 and some smooth jazz as our smooth jazz radio station here in NYC, CD-101.9 gave up the ghost back in February. When I tuned into Love94, I had a feeling something was up when I was hearing 24/7 Christmas music BEFORE Thanksgiving. I enjoyed hearing Stu Grant's Sunday Brunch as well as Billy Raven's late night show and others, compliments of the WLVE website's live streaming audio.
Looks like radio gods have spoken. Time to invest into satellite radio.
Not sure what you mean by my "Obama Filter" But I humbly submit that incidental information like "my friends say" or "my friends do/don't" doesn't pass as research in radio.
PLEASSSSEEEE BRING BACK THE CLASSICAL JAZZ SOUND OF LOVE 94.
I can't stand another POP station.
Bring back my afternoons and evenings of romance, style, and grace!!
I've listened to Love94 since the 80's. To me, it was among the best offered in Miami. The replacement of this station "just sucks".
This action appears to be a trend in Miami, just like the Orange Bowl and other classical landmarks. Just to be replaced with "crap". This is just another Sign of out Times....
That's funny, I'm a non-Communist Liberal who hates Kenny G, Michael Bolton and their ilk, but loves Miles, Dizzie, Bird, Sarah Vaughan, Brubeck, Krupa all the orher Jazz greats....Of course, Babaluers are such cave-men.....
Love94 was my favorite station. It kept me sane at work and relaxed me on my ride home. I loved how they played all Christmas tunes during the holiday season. I don't know what the crap is they are playing now, but it won't be on my radio any longer. I will be keeping my XM radio subscription for now.
Love94 was my favorite station. It kept me sane at work and relaxed me on my ride home. I loved how they played all Christmas tunes during the holiday season. I don't know what the crap is they are playing now, but it won't be on my radio any longer. I will be keeping my XM radio subscription for now.
6 & a half of my 19 years in South Florida Radio were spent @ Love94 in the 90's. Consultants, Puppet Program Directors & peoples opinions that don't matter destroyed Love94. I still play a Smooth Jazz Format @ my Gigs & on my website. Give a listen if you want @ www.vangomedia.com. Click on the Sax on the Homepage & enjoy what used to be.
Click on the Sax on our Homepage @ www.vangomedia.com. I worked @ Love for years; so for all you Love Listeners, I think you'll like it.
I was on vacation to Miami in september 2007. I heard Love 94 in my car when I was crossing the dial, and I love it. I heard Babyface with Fire & Rain, beautiful song, since that, i was listening to the webstream many time. Wonderful smoothe jazz like Kenny G, Grover Washington Jr, Dave Koz and many others. Billy Raven, Ramsey Lewis, Dave Koz, Stephanie Bromfield any many others, thanks!!
I MISS 94 AND I LOVE 94
I'm glad I became addicted to audio books a few years back because I rarely if ever have to listen to commercial radio. I get 95% of my books from our most excellent Broward libraries. Using the internet I can pick and choose the books I want and have them delivered to the closest library. They have all the latest selections and the hold period for really popular books is never that long. I began to dislike commercial radio when Clear Channel came on the scene and changed 103.3 SHE and ZETA-4 went off the air. Maybe it was me heading into middle age but talk radio became more attractive than what was on the radio at the time. Someone gave me a copy of a book on tape called "Adrift" and I was hooked. I do love music and was very happy to find Accuradio and Pandora on the internet. I'm lucky at work that I can listen most of the day and so far there are little or no commericals depending on the station. I turn on Pandora before I check e-mail or do anything else. I'm not a big fan of subscription radio as yet but understand the need to charge. Maybe one day. I-pods, I-Tunes and other music players and programs are very handy to have also and with the current level of speaker technology as well as the multi-gigabytes of storage, why pay for music (more than once anyway, I never minded paying an artist for his/her efforts) when you can haveyour library at your finger tips? I'm sorry to see Love 94 go as it was nice for a soothing background now and then but I guess I'm not surprised. These stations will only play what sponsors will pay for and sponsors will only pay for content they believe we are listening too. What does that tell you? If they think people will boycott their products they'll change their "tunes" (sorry about the pun). Make phone calls, send letters and e-mails to the sponosrs if you can stomach the content long enough to catch a commercial which actually shouldn't be too long. :-)
You can imagine my shock when I was driving home Christmas night and my favorite radio station love 94 was nowhere to be found !
What was this mindless music I was hearing on MY Love Channel. For over 20 years listening to smooth jazz, being educated by the great jazz artists. Dave Koz, hosting segments.
Sunday's Brazilian Jazz with Gina Martell, Sexy Jazz at night.
No warning, no good by's
No, you can find us on another FM station.
How can this be? We feel
"shocked" speechless. Tell us you are coming on another channel?
You can't just drop us like this.
Where have you gone??
LINDA Z.
BRING BACK THE JAZZ. What in the world have you done, change the format for the worst with that horribly music?. After 20 years of listening to your station, no more.........
I loved the Christmas music after Thanksgiving. It definitely set the tone for the Christmas holidays. But the horror and shock of hearing that crap ON Christmas Day! Could we not wait til the day after? I know it wasn't pure jazz, and I turned it when Kenny G came on, but it was smooth, relaxing, and soothing to the ear. The noisemaker that took Love 94's place caused me to turn my radio off completely. There is NOthing left to listen to. Bring it back or tell me where to go to find it.
All is not lost if you want real JAZZ listen to WDNA 88.9 FM its a Jazz & Latin Jazz station
I can not believe they took love 94 smooth jazz of the so florida airwaves and replaced with CRAP music. please bring back the real music and take off this crappy music that sounds just like all the other stations.....
I LOVED the "Magic Bus"! And I, too, am a Brubeck, etc. fan. Love 94 played too much Kenny G (THAT'S NOT JAZZ!), too often. But I always enjoyed Ramsey Lewis in the morning driving to work and Billy Raven in the evening coming home. I don't understand why the format was changed so suddenly AND to the same wretched pop stuff you can hear on most other stations!
we, musicians, all listened to Love 94; most of us preferred the Brubeck, Gillespie stuff, but the commercial smooth stream is what most people know and let's face it, an art that nobody understands is a dead art. Plus, for us, the working musicians, our repertoire has to be digestible and pleasing. I used to keep up with the people's taste with Love 94. Bottom line: bring it back.
THAT'S JUST WRONG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'M STILL IN SHOCK AND DISBELIEF!!!
THERE ARE NO SMOOTH JAZZ RADIO STATIONS, BRING BACK LOVE 94 !!!!!!
!!!!! PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FINALLY GOT IT RIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I do miss Love 94 a lot. I used to listen to Ramsay Lewis and Karen Williams in the morning on the way to work. I especially liked Karen, and then they had Dave Koz in the afternoons for the drive home. I really loved Stu Grant's voice too on the weekend. I miss these guys.
I know I'm in the minority when I say I really did like the apolitical, usually sans vocal music I heard on the station. I wanted the music content to be smooth--and it was. It worked for me, and never made me feel agitated or depressed. I guess I sound like an ad for elevator music. I think there is a place for elevator music--something that does not intrude or dominate, but tends to just lighten the mood a bit. I sure used it. Can't find squat on HD. Hmmmm...
Well on an upbeat note, there is XM71, but they don't have Stu, Dave Koz, or Karen Williams, so that's a bad mark. But I do find myself turning it on. And there are no crappy ads on XM71, no "Levitra will light up your life" or "I was drinking too much and I knew it" or "yeah i'm a chain smoker what do i do now" blaa blaa blaa. Adverts are killing radio. I can't stand to hear that excrement.
Oh PS to those radio marketing geniuses out there: the death-blow to any station is one who decides that Christmas Carols are to be broadcast 24/7 for more than one month solid. Any station with the swiss cheese of a brain who decides to do that WILL go off the air. Nothing is a bigger turn-off than Xmas carols 24/7 for weeks on end. A few sprinkled in here and there--ok. Maybe even a few days solid on Dec 23, 24, and 25. But come on--who decided that carols 24/7 for December 2008 was appropriate? That killed it for me. I wanted to hurl when I'd hit my preset.
I AM UPSET ABOUT THIS NEW FORMAT REPLACING THE SMOOTH JAZZ FORMAT THAT WE HAVE ALL GROWN TO LOVE OVER THE YEARS. I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO LOVE 94'S SMOOTH JAZZ FORMAT SINCE THE EARLY 80'S. PLEASE BRING BACK THE SMOOTH JAZZ. WHAT CAN WE DO TO PETITION CLEAR CHANNEL TO BRING BACK SMOOTH JAZZ? THE NEW FORMAT SUCKS BADLY!
I was introduced to Love94 back in the 70's by a dear friend who is now deceased. It was the best music to travel by, or to do housework by on saturdays, or running errands, or just to listen and relax on a nice summer day here in South Florida. I panicked when I couldn't find it after the holidays. The same thing happened to my favorite Christian radio station, WMCU/FM. Is this a new trend? What makes the sponsors think that everyone wants to listen to HIP-HOP,or other junk music more than smoothe jazz or classic jazz??? How can we fight against this trend????
For all of you missing Love 94, here is online. This was sent to me as a response to a rather nasty e-mail I sent to Clear Channel. It's just like having Love 94 back again! Enjoy!
http://www.yoursmoothjazz.com/main.html
Former Love 94 WLVE listeners, if you're missing Smooth Jazz, check out www.ijazzglobal.com. It's run by the former programmer of the Smooth Jazz station in Philadelphia, and features a live webstream playing a great variety of all forms of jazz, plus much more to do and see on the ijazzglobal.com website. Easy way to get your Smooth Jazz fix.
What? Love 94 has changed? I guess I am too busy on my cell phone to notice in my car where I listen to that Station. But I have been channel surfing as of late without knowing why. Duh. I am not very alert.
this is bull i was a fan of the smooth jazz station since the day i was born now it change because of what some people say. people don't now that the old school is what made music so great it think its really stupid for people to forget that.
I DID enjoy 93 Smooth Jazz. I don't care if they want to add more BS music by partially and talent challenged performers, but why take away somethihg that is unique to the musical forum here in South Florida.
I for one will NOT listen to this new station and I am livid that my music was taken away. I listen to all types of music from rock to country to jazz. Where do I go now for Jazz? I miss Billy Raven's smooth deep voice announcing something that I know will escort me home after dinner, or after work when I need the peace.
I am not a happy camper and that Clear Channel is at the root of it all I am tempted to not listen to the other programs that I listen to that belong to Clear Channel. Paul & Young Ron, the Schnitt Show etc. I guess it's CDs for me.
What a bummer. Clear Channel, you have totally sold out, haven't you...
I too was in shock when I tuned into my favorite station only to find it GONE. I have friends that range in age from 27-67 and all of them as some point in the day listened to Love94. What a sad decision when they pulled the plug. I listened to the new station for all of 5 minutes and will never listen to it again.
Love94 was unique with the most incredibly romantic, escapist, classical jazz and really amazing music showcasing new artists - think Praful. This was another day the music died.
If you really want to hear Love 94 again, it still exists, but you can hear it only with an H.D. digital radio. You don't have to pay a fee for it, which is good, but you have to pay for the receiver. Same thing happened when that old station Party 93.1 went off the air in February 2005 and was replaced by 93 Rock. But 3 years later, it was put on the HD2 Network and now is called Party 93.1 HD2. I have an H.D. Radio at my house and I can listen to all of that!
All of the stations in South Florida, with the exception of Y-100 and Power 96, are latino. SHE 101.5, Jazz 93.9, Party 93.1m 93 Rock, even the classical station, all latino!
@Mustang Bobby, Yeah, daddy-o, who doesn't dig Diz and Bird, Trane and Monk? But, who's gonna serve that up on the radio in this day and age? Even NPR couldn't do it. The up side of smooth jazz on commercial FM, is the fact that the listener can have some sort of jazzy groove at the flick of a switch. We all know that the corporate geeks have screwed it up by adding songs that don't belong in a jazz mix, but I feel that some nice sax, guitar, and keyboard grooves is better than having to listen to Madonna and the like all day. If ever a radio station complimented a city, it was Love 94 in South Florida. It's a huge loss.
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