THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603300044
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
IT SURE HASN'T taken Randy and Moose long to get the good times rolling.
Monday, they'll kick off week No. 4 in morning drive at Oldies 95.7 (WLTY-FM). And they'll kick it off oiled and in synch; none of that getting-to-know you, getting-to-know-all-about-you stuff that so many jocks take so long to iron out.
There's a reason for that.
Program director Randy Bliss and Mike Smith - he's been ``Moose'' since junior high - first met in 1991, when they worked at an oldies station in Raleigh, WTRG-FM. Three years later, Bliss left for Norfolk and Moose for a programming gig at an oldies outlet in Greensboro.
``Moose was doing middays (in Raleigh) and I was doing afternoons,'' Bliss said. ``We got to know each other and talked many times that if the opportunity came up to do a morning show, we would do it.''
``We like being together,'' Moose said, ``so it was like a walking radio show, anyway. Only now it's on the air. Our whole goal is to have fun, and have it rub off on the listeners.''
With their dark hair, beards and glasses, they've apparently rubbed off on each other, too, though Bliss is the one built more like a moose. Both are 39.
``Randy and Moose,'' which replaced Bo Woods March 11, is old-fashioned fun that fits WLTY's format. The two share an easy, listener-friendly banter. Last week, they fielded a dozen calls before anyone could identify the birthday singer mangling ``Proud Mary.'' It was Leonard Nimoy.
Bliss said their programming backgrounds also have figured into the show's seamless blend of news, weather, traffic and sports with Chubby Checker, Frankie Valli, The Beatles, and Sly and the Family Stone.
But what really counts is they like oldies.
``It's fun music,'' he said. ``It's also an exclusive format. We can have a lot of fun with it.'' A POINTED CHANGE
Exactly what is ``The Point''?
This much is certain: It's what WJQI (94.9 FM/1600 AM) is going by since dropping a fair-sized chunk of its adult-contemporary format.
After that, it gets a little fuzzy.
General manager Jerry Delcore describes the playlist as the ``pop side of alternative music'' - such artists as U2, Alanis Morisette, Sheryl Crow, R.E.M. and Smashing Pumpkins. Stalwarts Dire Straits, the Police, INXS, Peter Gabriel and 10,000 Maniacs fill out the smorgasbord.
``Three years ago, if you said we'd be playing Hootie & the Blowfish, we would have said, `Who's that?' '' Delcore said. ``Now that that's become the mainstream for American music, that's what we will be featuring.''
The challenge is keeping pace with an evolving format.
``We made a conscious decision not to play Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart, Boyz II Men and Whitney Houston, what you would define as adult-contemporary standards,'' Delcore said.
Phone calls are running about 6 to 1 in favor of the change.
While Q 94.9 is ``music intensive,'' that's been the downside, too, Delcore said. There's no news, traffic reports or deejays to announce songs. Instead, pre-recorded plugs proclaim, ``Get the Point?'' and ``No Howard. No Bull.''
``We're interviewing now,'' Delcore said. ``The station should be staffed in four to five weeks.'' UKROP VS. STERN
Coast listeners who keep up with Howard Stern know about the flap between the influential Ukrop family of Richmond and the morning motormouth.
For those who don't: Brothers James and Robert Ukrop, who run the upscale Ukrop's grocery stores, sent a letter to area businessmen asking them not to advertise on WVGO-FM (106.5), which carries Stern.
The letter called the show ``an assault on our community in the form of verbal degradation'' and said the city should be spared its ``racist, sexist filth and obscenity.''
Stern got a copy of the Times-Dispatch's front-page story and responded with typical bravado, calling the family by a different name that barely meets FCC guidelines and vowing to ``expose the skeletons in their closet.'' He stopped short of calling for a boycott.
Apparently, listeners have been eagerly feeding him fuel for the fire.
``Normally, we have one receptionist to take phone calls,'' said WVGO general manager John L. Crowley. ``When this came up, we had three. Stern's listeners are among the most loyal around.'' The Ukrop campaign, he added, has had some impact.
Coast program director Mark Bradley (both stations are owned by Benchmark Communications) said some national advertisers don't want to be on the Stern show.
``They have their personal reasons, but it doesn't make business sense,'' he said. ``Occasionally, I get a complaint. They're usually from people who don't listen to the show or go away and come back at 11 (when it's over).
``I'm not forcing anyone to listen.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
WLTY
Randy Bliss, left, and Mike ``Moose'' Smith, friends for years, have
been reunited at Oldies 95.7.
by CNB