- Classic country
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Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country hits from past decades.
This genre generally follows one of two formats: those specializing in hits from the 1920s through the early 1970s, and focus primarily on innovators and artists from country music's Golden Age (including Hank Williams, George Jones and Johnny Cash); and those focusing on hits from the 1960s (including the above-mentioned performers) through early 1990s, some pre-1960 music, latter-day Golden Age stars and innovators such as Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard) to newer recurrent hits from current-day artists such as George Strait, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Reba McEntire.
Contents
History
The format resulted largely from mainstream country radio's now common practice of excluding older "classic" country artists from their playlists when it began appearing on urban and suburban FM radio stations in the late 1980s and early 1990s (despite the fact that artists such as Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers and Emmylou Harris were still actively performing and releasing new recordings, some of which were significant hits). When mainstream country radio began this practice in the mid-1990s, a large segment of older country fans felt alienated and turned away from mainstream country.[1]
In 1998, Robert Unmacht, editor of the M Street Journal, said that thirty stations around the United States had switched to the format because many longtime country fans did not like what country radio was doing.[2]
The same practice has seemed to follow to television, where Country Music Television and Great American Country rarely play any music videos produced before 1996, leaving heritage and "classic" artists to networks such as RFD-TV, which features a heavy complement of older programming such as Pop! Goes the Country, Porter Wagoner's programs and Hee Haw, along with newer performances from heritage acts. CMT Pure Country, the all-music counterpart to CMT, relegates its classic country programming to a daily half-hour block known as "Pure Vintage." (Complicating matters somewhat is a relative lack of music videos for country music songs prior to the 1980s.)
Dividing line
With a few exceptions, the classic country genre has struggled as a radio format (unlike mainstream country stations). While it has a fiercely loyal audience, classic country stations often struggle to find advertisers. While advertisers are primarily interested in the 18 to 49-year-old demographic age group, classic country usually attracts an older audience. For perhaps that reason, country music fans are often (stereotypically) divided into two camps:
- The younger country music fan, especially if he or she is younger than 30 years old. Many of them have no interest in music from such artists as Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, and George Jones; sometimes, they are former rock and pop music fans.
- The classic country fan, frequently over the age of 50, who -- with a few exceptions -- often dislikes country music produced after 1990, around the time Garth Brooks rose to fame. A frequent criticism is that much post-1990s country music is inferior to that of classic country artists and that the newer music is little more than repackaged pop and rock music, particularly the music of artists such as Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and Rascal Flatts. Particular disdain is reserved for pop crossover artists such as Taylor Swift who often release songs (e.g. "You Belong with Me") that bear virtually no resemblance to traditional country music yet receive heavy airplay on country music stations.
Both stereotypes are often unfair and inaccurate. Many younger people have purchased music from and are self-proclaimed fans of classic country artists such as Johnny Cash and Hank Williams (and many younger fans are quick to acknowledge the influence these classic country artists had on many of the newer artists they listen to). Many older listeners to country music do indeed enjoy newer music from artists like Kenny Chesney and Gretchen Wilson as well as the classics. ABC Radio's satellite-delivered Real Country radio format is an example of an approach that combines country oldies dating back to the 1960s with select current and recurrent hits.
There are a few artists who cross this dividing line between age groups. Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers (both technically Classic Country artists, as most of their defining hits occurred in the 1960s and '70s for Parton, '70s and early '80s for Rogers) are two such artists, being popular with the young and old alike. Other examples include George Strait and Alan Jackson, both of whom rose to fame in the 1980s and early 1990s with a traditional sound, yet both continue to produce hit songs to this day. Both have continued to receive significant airplay on country music stations, particularly those with broad playlists, to the present day.
Classic Country stations
Canada
Call Sign Location Frequency CKMX Calgary, Alberta AM 1060 CFCY Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island FM 95.1 United States
References
- ^ Sweetland, Phil (June 03, 2003). "The Loyalty of Country Music Fans Knows No Age Limits". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407E6D71230F930A35755C0A9659C8B63. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
- ^ Jeri Rowe, "WFMY Introduces New Weekend Anchors," Greensboro News & Record, July 9, 1998.
External links
- The Back Road Radio Show - A Weekly Classic Country Radio Show on WITT FM 91.9 and WRGF FM 89.7 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- Real Country Online From Citadel Media (formerly ABC Radio Network), a 24-hour satellite-fed format of traditional country music.
Categories:- American styles of music
- Classic country radio stations
- Radio formats
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