Talk:WKQX

Start comment by Electrawn 05:16, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

This article is sad. Lets fix it.

• The article needs better wikification. Formatting every single band name is not proper wikification.
• Whats the frequency, kenneth? WLS-AM uses pretty templates. Lets get this article up to basics and use WLS-AM as a baseline for the rewrite.
• This station has pretty deep history. See the reference on WMAQ in the article. Where are the format changes? Notable jockeys? Physical location?

Initial paragraph summary too short and not wikified.

History:

• Pre-P1: Remove article in line notes when more has been researched. Expand on this: "On the FM side, WMAQ’s sister station at 101.1 generally simulcast the AM’s programming. Eventually WMAQ-FM broke away on it’s own. First as classical, a rocker, then easy listening (WJOI), an automated news format (WNIS) and by the mid 70’s, back to album rock as WKQX-FM. " - From Scott Childers Website, referenced. Lotsa meat there.

• P1: Someone specific had to name it. What the heck is "adventurous" and "accessible" in radio? It seems WDAI and WXRT are the initial competitiors. Target market? What makes this station different? NBC still owned this at the time, how did that play in?

• P2: People! Famous industry people. No time frame is referenced, I will marginally assume this is on station re-launch. Didn't Bob Pittman go on to launch AOL?

• P3: Specific share numbers mean nothing to anyone. How do they compare against competitors, up or down? To Chicago overall? I'm learning more about other radio stations that WKQX in this paragraph. I'm also seeing uncited speculation about the industry at the time.

• P4: Thank god Hot_AC has a page. "with WKQX going to Emmis, making WKQX an Emmis station." Yogi Berra wrote that. First use of nickname Q101, in article - appropriate timing? Brandmeier was at what station? Runons in the following sentences.

• P5: "more of" ? Either it is or isn't. Mancow is very relevant and probably deserves a whole paragraph. Band Launching may be relevant, but without support it looks like "band dropping" which is seen severely later.

• P6: Here we see the Q101 term again. No specific time frames are mentioned here, what year? What the hell is harder edged? Specifics needed, but if it turns into "band dropping," forget it.

• P7: The shuffle format is relevant. Explaining the shuffle format is likely dedicated on a shuffle format page somewhere. The rest of this paragraph is serious Band Name Dropping. Name Dropping Band name dropping coming to urban dictionary soon. In the context of a history of a radio station, specific bands are largely irrelevant. DJ stunts, a dime a dozen, are largely irrelevant except when MAJOR.

• P8: Well, at least we have a specific date, but the first sentence makes no sense. What is the context? Whosa did whatsa again? Back to sole alternative rocker? Sounds like a promotion ad.

• P9: This is an attempt I think to explain why WKQX is different from the other stations. "We don't really shuffle, shhh" More Band Name Dropping.

• The Road ahead: Serious work is needed to move this from a myspace.com music-I-like profile to a citeable, historic reference on a radio station. Perhaps an expert is needed? I would try to fill in the gaps but I'm willing to bet in the millions of listeners, someone much more knowledgeable and dedicated can pull this off. I have at least contributed a framework to put this thing on track. Good luck.

End comment by Electrawn 05:16, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

In March 2005, Q101 had a promotion in which they let an iPod set to shuffle choose the playlist for a day. The experiment was so successful that, on April 1 of that year, WKQX became completely "on shuffle." Instead of focusing on new music solely, they expanded their playlist to include classic alternative rock from the 1980s and 1990s, and even 1970s artists like Sex Pistols, Bob Marley, and The Clash. It's not uncommon to hear Sinead O'Connor followed by Sublime, Tears for Fears, A Perfect Circle, or Four Non Blondes. The current tag line is "Now On Shuffle". In on-air liners, they even apologize for the hard rock excesses of the past. Notable artists that once enjoyed heavy airplay but are now considered an historical blemish on Q101's past include Limp Bizkit and Creed. In fact, a Q101 DJ recently took an on-air poll about "who sucks more," Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst or Creed singer Scott Stapp. However, Limp Bizkit contemporaries Linkin Park and KoRn can still be heard on the station, as well as the Creedesque Nickelback.

Comment: Was Q101 ever literally "on-shuffle"? Even during the initial promotion, it sounded like the playlist had been carefully manipulated to include a lot of the more current hits. They claimed that they had put their entire library onto an iPod (or something to that effect), but the song selections were not nearly as random as would be expected.

Also, it's important to note that Fred Durst and Scott Stapp had very visible fallings-out with their Chicago audiences. It's not like Q101 suddenly realized that their music sucked. Zagalejo 19:25, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree. The article looked like complete hell. I took the liberty of clarifying this mess and used the templates of other station profiles. Much of the redundant information was removed, more WMAQ stuff added, many band names were removed, and I think it reads a lot clearer. I didn't go into too much detail about Mancow, as he has his own article. If someone would like to expand a little bit further here on Mancow (who is no longer on the station), have at it.--Fightingirish 18:58, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

alternative

"WKQX 101.1 FM is a gold heavy alternative station"

I changed "alternative" to link to "Alternative rock". Although i don't get the heavy. should it be "Alternative metal".

Disambiguation link repair - You can help!--E-Bod 05:18, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Shows

There should be a section with prominent shows such as Mancow and Local 101. Some of them will reference to their own articles. word. 3 million people in chicago.. lets get this one done right (Xsxex 13:43, 1 July 2006 (UTC))

Concerning "Lacks Importance"

Concerning the section that is tagged with "Lacks Importance" it seems as if it has something to do with the format of the station and how its changed over the years. In its status of "on shuffle" this can be seen as a direct response to digital cultures rise. In fact, the term "shuffle" comes from the digital media's ability to play "at random." This is important from the point of view of digital culture, but also it is an extention of what the station had been jonesing for from the beginning as it is named WKQX (X for experimental). Now not only is the music itself "experimental" but now with "shuffle" the format of the shows or the order of the songs is more experimental. (Xsxex 14:06, 1 July 2006 (UTC))