By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, June 24, 2015
This year's 20th annual Kiss 104.1 Flashback Festival at Aarons Amphitheatre at Lakewood includes one of the biggest R&B singers from the 1970s Chaka Khan, along with three 1980s mainstays the S.O.S. Band, Sheila E and early rap star Slick Rick.
Chaka Khan has several hits with Rufus ("Ain't Nobody," "Tell Me Something Good," "Sweet Thing") one massive solo hit ("I Feel For You"), a song made more famous by Whitney Houston ("I'm Every Woman") and a few hit R&B solo songs ("Through the Fire," "What Cha' Gonna Do For Me").
S.O.S. Band has six R&B hits including one pop crossover in "Take Your Time (Do It Right)."
Sheila E garnered two major top 40 hits ("The Glamorous Life," "A Love Bizarre") and has collaborated with everyone from Prince to Kanye West.
Slick Rick was a respected lyricist of the early age of hip hip and sampled widely ever since.
This is the first time Kiss has ever been able to procure Chaka Khan for the Flashback Festival and Tony Kidd, who programs Kiss, admitted to being "very very excited" to have her on board.
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
May was a relatively quiet month in radio ratings.
V-103 landed in the top spot for the fourth month in a row with a 9 share, the best month the station has had since September, 2012, when the daytime lineup was quite different.
Kiss 104.1 had a solid month, coming in at No. 3 with a 6.6 share behind News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB with a 7.3. Fish 104.7 continues a strong run with a 6.4 share, ranked No. 4.
A few stations had relatively soft months: WABE-FM (2.6, its worst since November, 2012), Q100 (4.0, its softest since December, 2014), 97.1/The River (4.3, worst since June, 2012), NewsRadio 106.7 (1.2, worst since December, 2012) and Rock 100.5 (1.8, worst since June, 2014).
We are now in the sixth month with three classic hip-hop stations and so far, they are holding their own. OG 97.9 is at 1.5 followed by Boom 102.9 (0.8) and Old School 99.3 (0.4).
In the sports talk world, 92.9/The Game is still in the lead over 680/The Fan but its numbers have steadily fallen since January, from a 3.0 to a 1.8 in May. (The Hawks playoff run didn't really give them much of a bump.) I can't reveal the Fan's numbers because they do not subscriber to Nielsen Audio but the gap between the two stations was the smallest since last fall.
Kiss 104.1, WSB and the River, along with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, are part of Cox Media Group.
Top 25 stations in Atlanta in May, 2015
1. V-103
2. 95.5/750 WSB
3. Kiss 104.1
4. Fish 104.7
5. B98.5
6. 94.9/The Bull
7. Power 96.1
8. 97.1/The River
9. (tie) Majic 107.5/97.5, Praise 102.5/Q100
12. Hot 107.9
13. Kicks 101.5
14. Star 94.1
15. 90.1/WABE-FM
16. Radio 105.7
17. Streetz 94.5
18. (tie) Rock 100.5, 92.9/The Game
20. (tie) El Patron 105.3/ OG 97.9
22. A sports station I can't name because they don't subscribe to this service
23. 91.9/WCLK (jazz)
24. NewsRadio 106.7
25. (tie) Joy 93.3, Boom 102.9
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Beau Bock, who worked for a long time on 790/The Zone when it had local announcers, is back on the radio.
Jeff Davis, who runs 1160/WCFO-AM, has given Bock a one-hour Friday show from 4 to 5 p.m., which began last week with Hans Heiserer and A.J. Cannon. Bock and his sidekick Cannon will each have one-minute commentaries on both WCFO and sister station 1690/WMLB-AM starting Monday, June 29.
"What I like about Beau is he's a recognized name to a lot of people," Davis said. "I remember them having one of the best sports talk shows on the Zone. Hopefully, we can replicate that and maybe go full time in the future."
WCFO airs Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage and Don Imus. WMLB is the "Voice of the Arts" and includes former WABE host John Lemley.
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