Howdy, Meister Weisberger says: <<Now, now, you can never be too sure. Our biggest local mainstream country station - CMA Large Market Station Of The Year WUBE-FM - recently allocated a hefty 2-hour time slot each week to classic country. Of course, it's 6-8a Sunday morning, and "classic" means from the 1980s...>> To which I will add... Sunday night I was driving home from my grandfather's and I had the radio tuned to the local mainstream country station -- WIVK-FM (the monster of mainstream country in East Tennessee and for years the highest-rated station of any sort in the nation). I'm grooving down the interstate to the latest country hits, a "classic" tune or two from folks from the 80s and then...out of nowhere...Charlie Rich. I can't remember the last time I heard Charlie Rich on the mainstream station (other than the day he died, if then). I wondered if it was his birthday or something (which it wasn't), but the DJ just back-announced the song along with the others. Since then, I've noticed that the station has blended in more classic 70s hits into its rotation. Knowing WIVK's clout with the Nashville industry and its general role as trendsetter, I like to see this as a promising sign that the oft-mentioned pendulum is swinging back in the favor of the traditionalists again. Of course, the trick will be convincing the labels to support any new "New Traditionalists" that may come along. I figure that radio will eventually have the final say in this old argument, though. Take care, Shane Rhyne Knoxville, TN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
