FINAL FORMAT CHANGE COMING IN THE FALL

It looks like it's time for me to heed the advice of some fellow radio nuts in an Internet Radio Broadcasting Facebook group that I belong to. Apparently most people who listen to classic rock and/or oldies radio want to hear songs that, for the most part, they are familiar with. An occasional "wow" factor is okay, but if you primarily base your station on material that only a hardcore record collector would know, then your station will never build a significant audience.

It's going to take me the rest of the summer to do it, but The Retro Attic will eventually be formatted so that classic and lost top 40 hits from the 50's through the 80's will make up the majority of the programming day. 2 hours of each day will be devoted to songs from these decades that hit the bottom half of the charts or didn't chart at all(and each day, these 2 hours will be totally different!). There will still be a Featured Artist Of The Month heard once an hour, but only during the other 22 hours of the day. Requests will always be accepted.

I will admit that I have programmed my station during the past 3 years with primary emphasis on what I want to play, and that was apparently not the correct way of thinking. Whatever it takes, I will make The Retro Attic one of your ideal choices for oldies music. If you have any comments, then please feel free to submit them; I need to start listening to YOU, not me!

NO SPECIALIZED SHOWS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

The Retro Attic will spend July doing what it usually does: playing mostly seldom-heard records from the 50's through the 80's with occasional dashes of top 40 hits. Requests are always accepted through our webpage's form or through our Facebook fan and group pages(just go to Facebook and search for "The Retro Attic" - you will see 2 listings).

Due to my current limited spare time and limited listener response to them, I won't be doing any specialized shows until further notice. Realistically, the only thing I can see happening by the end of the summer is a rotating 4 hour block on Saturday nights. In other words, one Saturday night would feature 60's top 40 hits, the next Saturday would feature 70's top 40 hits, the next Saturday would feature songs that were played during MTV's first year, etc. These would strictly be music blocks with no commentary.

I can only put together specialized shows and dedicate more time to the station with your help. If you are a loyal supporter of my oldies vision, then please consider making a small donation through our webpage. There are a couple of perks involved when you donate a specific amount; just look for our Paypal button toward the top of this webpage for more information.

"GIL'S GILTIEST PLEASURES OF THE 70'S" - TOP 100 COUNTDOWN SPECIAL - VOTE IN OUR POLLS!

Sometime in early September, The Retro Attic will be doing a top 100 countdown special called "Gil's Giltiest Pleasures Of The 70's." You will hear nothing but lost oldies from that decade, whether they hit #3 or #93! I need your help in determining the countdown. Over the next several weeks, I will divide 100 selections into poll groups, complete with Youtube clips in case you forgot what these songs sound like. Group A is up now and is open until next Friday, July 4th. Vote for as many and as often as you like!

The poll can be found on this page just above our "Recent Tracks Played" widget.

NINE FROM THE NINETIES - 6/25/14 EDITION

The Retro Attic rolls out another edition of "Nine From The Nineties" today at 2 PM eastern! If you're expecting to hear a song about a kid named Jeremy or you're hoping that Radiohead leave you high and dry, then this show will greatly disappoint you! In this show, we play selections from the pop and AOR genres that, for the most part, were ignored by the masses. Artists featured include The Pursuit Of Happiness, Tesla, Material Issue, Timothy B. Schmit, Warrant, Crowded House, Billy Falcon, McAuley Schenker Group, and Mitch Malloy. You can hear it through our Stream Licensing player by going to http://retroatticrareoldiesradio.com/ or you can search for The Retro Attic in ITunes Radio or Tunein.com. We also take requests for future editions through our website.

NEW POLL - FEATURED ARTIST OF THE MONTH FOR AUGUST THROUGH DECEMBER

I have just created a poll asking my listeners to help choose The Retro Attic's Featured Artist Of The Month for August through December(July is all set - it will be Foreigner and related). There are 10 artists to choose from, and the top 5 vote getters will win! Please look for the poll just below our Stream Licensing gold seal. Thanks in advance!

TIME FOR A FORMAT CHANGE IN THE RETRO ATTIC!

For the past 3 years, I have prided myself on having an internet radio station that specializes in digging out those oldies from the 50's through the 80's that never received much airplay to begin with(#41 to #100 minor charters, bubbling under entries, non-charters, and tunes that may have charted in Cashbox only). I do play some top 40, but it has only represented a very small section of the pie chart. I am sensing that things are getting stale, so it's time for a format change! Let me run this idea by you and afterwards, please let me know if this would be a type of station you would listen to!

What I would like to do is offer daily top 40 doses during the weekdays. From 9 AM to 4 PM Monday through Friday, you would hear an hour of 50's hits, 2 hours of 60's hits, 2 hours of 70's hits, and 2 hours of 80's hits. And in keeping with my reputation, these hits would mostly be top 40 entries that most oldies fans would still consider to be lost; in other words, how often do you hear The Peppermint Rainbow, Tycoon and Shirley Murdock on today's terrestrial oldies stations? I would throw in a few bonafide classics too, but only a few; after all, the bonafide classics are being played to death by thousands of other oldies stations already!

My main goal with these daily top 40 doses is to target those of you in the workforce who like music in the background. Listeners tend to stick around if they initially hear familiar material; if they see that you also play obscurities, then they may very well come back later to check those out. And speaking of the obscurities...

The other 17 hours of each weekday and the weekends would be devoted to a mix of 80% minor charters/bubbling unders/non-charters and 20% top 40(with different selections than what you would hear during the weekday doses!). There would still be a Featured Artist Of The Month and song request opportunities. I may also throw in occasional weekend block specials; examples would include counting down a chart from yesteryear, playing a couple hours of retro AOR/melodic rock, and playing a couple hours of 90's music that was gentle to the ears and/or retro-sounding(Triplets, Cry Of Love, Toy Matinee, etc.).

When it's all said and done, The Retro Attic will be offering a broader spectrum of oldies and our format change will greatly diminish the chances of a song getting heard more than once during a day. I will get everything in place during the next few weeks and will let you know when it's fully implemented. In the meantime, please let me know if this all sounds like a good idea and feel free to make suggestions for further improvements!

We are located at http://retroatticrareoldiesradio.blogspot.com. The floorboards are no longer creaky and all spiders have been exterminated, so don't be afraid to come upstairs. :)

NEW AND UPCOMING ADDS FOR NOVEMBER 2013

New adds so far in November include gems from The Archies, Arkade, Toni Basil, Chuck Berry, The Book Of Changes, Debby Boone, Buckwheat, The Cult, Vic Dana, Jimmy Dean, Deep Purple, Huelyn Duvall, The Guilloteens, Janis Ian, The Inmates(the late 70's British pub rock group), Iron Butterfly, Joe Jackson, Jan & Dean, The Jive Bombers, Nicolette Larson, Mama Cass Elliot, Rick/Ricky Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Ratt, Lou Reed, Wayne Rooks, Jumpin' Gene Simmons, Spooky Tooth, Ray Stevens, The Tempos(the vocal group from Pittsburgh), Til Tuesday, Tommy Tutone, Village People, The Walkers(a Danish glam group), Steve Winwood, and Yes.

Coming this week to the rotation will be obscurities or seldom-heard platters from the likes of Bobby McFerrin, Bobby Arvon, Big Noise, Fabulous Counts, Curtis Lee, Pete Drake And His Talking Steel Guitar, Robert Palmer, Barry Ryan, The Unifics, Ram Jam, Black Oak Arkansas, Carly Simon, The Jeremy Spencer Band, Willows, The Avant Garde, Alisha, Tom Fogerty, George Hamilton, The Malibus, Eddie Quinteros, The Viceroys, Voggue, The Almond Lettuce, Bonnie Pointer, and The Tricks. And of course, your potentially challenging requests!

The old days of gasoline under a buck and jukeboxes at the pizza parlor booths live once again at The Retro Attic! Tune in now at http://retroatticrareoldiesradio.blogspot.com and be sure to tell all of your fellow oldies-lovin' friends about us!