The Peak

I've contemplated this post for some time. That's because this radio station strikes me as the oddest thing going in the world of cookie-cutter radio and dollar-driven programming decisions. I can't make up my mind whether I love it or hate it.

Why? I harken back to my days as a college student and a wanna-be radio star. A successful radio station is a brand. People know what it is when they hear the call-letters. They know you without even hearing you.

Which makes the Peak even harder to figure out. Their signature tag is "70's, 80's and whatever we want!" Indeed. To call the playlist eclectic would be an understatement.

I suppose you can classify them as another Adult contemporary format that incorporates a little bit of soft- with a little bit of harder-rock and popular oldies (right now they're playing Hall & Oates cover of "You've lost that lovin' feeling" for instance). Perhaps then what gets me is the flow.

You know a good programming mix when you hear it; songs will flow, one into another without a sense of "What the heck is that doing there!?" Sometimes the Peak doesn't quite get it.

In the past, I've shaken my head as I've heard one thing segue into another and wonder who thought those two tunes went together? It happened again today. While driving errands this afternoon, I caught most of this and had to shake my head a couple of times.

Stuck between John Waite and Tom Petty we were treated to Little River Band's 1981 ode-to-bar-hopping, "Lonesome Loser." Only to be followed by Samantha Sang's disco-era "Emotion" featuring background vocals courtesy of the Bee Gees. Yet but a few minutes later, we get an honest-to-goodness rock 'n roll oldie from Bob Seger.

Eclectic, to say the least. Flow or no flow, I am strangely drawn here if for no other reason than never being sure what I will hear. In the world of modern radio, that's magic!