This past week my daily commute went from extremely annoying to positively hellacious. No, it wasn’t because of a new construction project in the ATL (on-going construction is a given in this city), no it was because my favorite radio station, WCLK, changed formats from an eclectic mix of funk, soul and jazz to tepid, saxophone soaked "smooth jazz." You may be wondering, “How on Earth could a radio station format change be such a big deal?” and to that I’d say, “You must have never listened to WCLK.” When I moved to Atlanta a few years ago, I quickly found and fell in love with the station. The morning and afternoon DJs pumped me up to get me ready for work – I can’t live without my Morris Motivation - and kept me sane during afternoon commutes when everybody was fleeing the city. Nowhere else was I able to hear the music of my namesake, and be introduced to acts that would never stand a chance of making it to the playlists of most commercial radio stations. In a time when the world is subjected to Miley Cyrus’s singing and twerking, WCLK was a breath of fresh air for those who wanted a break from popular music that’s being force fed to the masses. Jamal and Morris introduced listeners to independent acts such as Snarky Puppy, Avery Sunshine, Soul Cycle, Omar, Dei Va, N'dambi Blue all while keeping fan favorites, such as Incognito, Maysa and Ronny Jordan in heavy rotation. And most importantly, they played music that was not bleeped every two seconds to censor curse words. Now that I’m a mother, these are things I have to consider. Imagine my delight a few Fridays ago when I glimpsed into my rearview mirror and saw Little Sister clapping and having a FunkyGood Time as Morris made quick work of the morning commute.
The station management has explained that recent marketing research showed that the station needed to evolve to garner more listener support. It has been widely reported that while the station has a listenership of approximately 100,000 people, only a paltry 1,900 turn their listenership into membership. So, in other words, the listeners don’t put their money where their mouth is. I will admit, when I moved to ATL, during the first membership campaign I heard, I eagerly signed on as a member; however, as time went on, I did not renew. I got too busy, I forgot, I figured others would contribute, and the list of excuses goes on and on. Bottom line, I got complacent and I took the radio station and those who work so hard to produce such wonderful programming for granted. Shame on me.
Who knows what the future holds for the station and their dedicated staff. I’m a part of a “small, vocal group ofsupporters,” who are asking the station to reconsider this decision and unshackle their on-air talent and let them do what they do best. Petitions and Facebook pages have been created to help supporters of the old format advocate for a return to the previous format. If they do, I will be the first in line every year to pledge my support. Until then, there’s Pandora.
