Many thanks to Rory Francisco for contributing this aircheck and the detailed description below!
1998 was a great year for Top 40 music and Z100’s renaissance after their ill-fated “alternative” years (late 1993 to mid 1996). Z100 veteran Kid Kelly was hired back as the night DJ in the fall of 1997, replacing Lukas (who went to late nights at Z100 for a few months and then left to do mornings on KDND Sacramento). Kid isn’t quite as high energy as he was in 1990 (search YouTube for “Kid Kelly Z100” for that incredible video aircheck) but still had very much the same sound as he did in Z100’s pre-alternative days.
Podcast: Embed
In a word… AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!
There was nothing wrong with the Z100 Alternative days! Probably the best times of the station. They had strong ratings during that time,look it up on billboards archives. They were voted 1 radio station of the year in 1995 . It wasnt until KTU in 1996 that brought the ratings down and they adjusted their format.
I agree with you, JC: there *was* nothing wrong with Z-100’s alternative-rock era–regardless of how it did in the ratings at that time. In fact, it has been Top 40 literally the entire time. They still played pop hits and urban (R&B, rap) crossover hits and mainstream rock hits during (in the poster’s words) “their ill-fated alternative years”; they just redirected the emphasis onto alternative rock, and current and recent alternative-rock hits in particular. (Billboard used to describe [STILL describes?] that format as “top 40/modern” [“modern” meaning “modern rock,” as is used interchangeably with “alternative rock”].) As you also said, the death knell for that version of Z-100’s Top 40 format was the revived, updated version of the late 70s-early 80s disco station WKTU (“103-5 The New KTU”) came on the scene in ’96 that Z-100 reverted back to mainstream Top 40.
I meant, “As you also said, it wasn’t until the revived, updated version of the late 70s-early 80s disco station WKTU (“103-5 The New KTU”) came on the scene in ’96 that Z-100 reverted back to mainstream Top 40.”.
Actually Kid Kelly Has Been Part Of Z-100 Since 1984 Under His Real Name Pat Phillips, & Then He Became Kid Kelly A Year Later, He Rock WHTZ From 1984 To 1990 & Again From 1997 To Maybe 2000?