Progressive rock (radio format)

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Not to be confused with Adult album alternative.
For the rock genre, see Progressive rock.

Progressive rock (sometimes known as underground rock) is a

long-playing records began to supplant the single in popularity with rock audiences, progressive rock stations placed more emphasis on album tracks than did their AM counterparts.[4] Throughout the 1970s, as FM stations moved to more structured formats, progressive rock evolved into album-oriented rock (AOR).[5][6]

Origins

When

Flower Children
, to express themselves by playing music that was largely ignored by mainstream outlets. In this sense, progressive rock radio was more of a social response than a product marketed to fill a need.

This change coincided with the greater emphasis on albums as opposed to singles in the rock market. Underground stations clearly disdained Top 40 music and made it a policy to avoid playing it. A dilemma grew because many underground artists were contractually obligated to release a certain amount of singles and FCC regulations required such songs to be 3 minutes long, or less. These "single versions" were often quite different than what was on the originating albums. Underground radio could liberally play what were referred to as "the album versions" of songs, no matter how long they were. By the same token, hugely popular and successful albums such as The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant did not contain any singles. In fact, the actual song, "Alice's Restaurant", is the entire Side A of the album, coming in at 18:20 long (some sites state 18:34), making it way over the 3-minute mandate. Many DJs at underground stations also chose to play entire sides of albums that contained multiple tracks, which could range from 20 to 30 minutes. At that time, these actions were considered very bold, so there was clearly a need for a radio format that could not only explore beyond the Top 40, but be allowed to do so with the DJs leading the way. This in turn led to established and new rock artists placing greater emphasis on long or experimental album tracks, knowing they would receive radio airplay.

Definition

The progressive rock radio format should not be confused with the

Gilbert Street" was a good example on the East Coast.[8][9]

The progressive rock radio format grew out of the

freeform radio format,[10] and, sharing the key characteristic of disc jockeys having the freedom to play what they chose, has sometimes been referred to as "freeform rock radio" or "freeform progressive radio"[11] or simply "FM rock radio".[11]
But as they evolved there were key differences between the freeform and progressive rock formats:

Stations and personnel

The archetypal successful and influential progressive rock radio station was

WKNC in Raleigh, North Carolina,[21] WBRU in Providence, Rhode Island,[22] WRPI in Troy, New York, and WWUH in Hartford, Connecticut
.

Pioneering progressive rock radio disc jockey and program directors included Scott Muni in New York,[23][24] Lee Arnold in Orlando, and Tom Donahue in San Francisco.[25]

Later developments

Over time (some much faster than others), the large-city progressive rock stations usually lost DJ freedom and adopted the more structured and confined album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the late 1970s and 1980s,[6] and then later the nostalgic classic rock format in the 1980s and 1990s, while the smaller stations sometimes turned to college rock or alternative rock.[26] Where once "progressive rock radio [was] the key media of ascendant rock culture", as writer

Robert Palmer would write, "The glory days of 'progressive' rock radio - when the disk jockey actually chose the records he played and creatively juxtaposed songs and styles - are long gone."[28]

While freeform stations are still around in the 2000s, such as New Jersey's

Sirius XM Satellite Radio, which plays some of the music originally heard on progressive rock radio, but without pronounced disc jockey personalities or the full feel of the original format. "Stuck in the Psychedelic Era," a syndicated program heard on some non-commercial stations, recreates the format, but rarely includes any recordings made after 1970. Some of the spirit of progressive rock radio (albeit in a more mellow, "adult" form) can also be found in the adult album alternative format.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b Thomas Staudter, "On the Radio With a Mix Very Distinctly His Own", The New York Times, March 24, 2002. Accessed March 23, 2008.
  2. ISBN 0-8247-2902-1
    . p. 179.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-87338-773-2
    . p. xi.
  4. ^ "Progressive Rock Radio Format". Winds of Change. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  5. ^ "Album Rock". AllMusic. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  6. ^ a b William Safire, quoting Stephen Holden, "On Language: Don't Touch That Dial", The New York Times, September 7, 1986. Accessed August 23, 2007.
  7. ISBN 0-8230-8357-8
    . p. 191.
  8. ISBN 0-7432-0120-5
    .
  9. Allmusic
    . Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  10. ^ Sara Pendergast, Tom Pendergast, St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture,
    St. James Press
    , 2000.
  11. ^
    CNN.com
    , February 7, 2002. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  12. ISBN 0-8147-9382-7
    . pp. 71-100.
  13. ^ a b Keith Emerson, "Remembering Scott Muni", keithemerson.com, September 29, 2004. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  14. ^ Robbie Woliver, "Disc Jockey, 55, Back In His College Booth", The New York Times, April 1, 2001. Accessed March 23, 2008.
  15. ^ Glenn Collins, "WNEW-FM, Rock Pioneer, Goes to All-Talk Format", The New York Times, September 14, 1999. Accessed March 23, 2008.
  16. ISBN 1-57324-128-8
    . pp. 196-198.
  17. ^ "David Dye, NPR Biography", NPR. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  18. ^ Joe Howard, "Bill Weston’s Resurrection Of Legendary Rocker WMMR" Archived 2007-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Ink, October 16, 2006. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  19. ISBN 0-8133-2725-3
    . p. 199.
  20. ^ Walker, Rebels on the Air, p. 96.
  21. ^ "The history of WKNC" Archived 2008-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, WKNC-FM. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  22. ^ "WBRU", Encyclopedia Brunoniana, Brown University. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  23. ^ "Classic Vinyl and Sirius remember Scott Muni" Archived 2008-02-19 at the Wayback Machine, Sirius Satellite Radio, October 1, 2004. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  24. ^ "Scott Muni and Johnny Michaels", Rock Radio Scrapbook. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  25. ^ "A Brief History Of 106.9 FM In San Francisco" Archived 2007-09-07 at the Wayback Machine, Bay Area Radio Museum. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  26. ^ Keith Moerer, "Who Killed Rock Radio?" Archived 2006-08-06 at the Wayback Machine, Spin, February 1998. Accessed August 24, 2007.
  27. ISBN 0-525-48510-4
    .
  28. Robert Palmer, "Critic's Notebook: Now, Good Music Is Where You Find It", The New York Times
    , October 29, 1987. Accessed August 23, 2007.
  29. ^ Walker, Rebels on the Air, p. 127.
  30. ^ Mark Washburn, "95.7 FM Has New 'Ride' for Listeners - Progressive Hits from '60s And '70s Will Be Station's New Format", The Charlotte Observer, September 5, 2002.
  31. ^ "Adult Album Alternative (AAA)" entry Archived 2006-03-27 at the Wayback Machine, New York Radio Guide. Access August 23, 2007.
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