Album-oriented rock

Not to be confused with Adult-oriented rock.

Album-oriented rock (abbreviated AOR) is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists. AOR evolved from progressive rock radio in the mid-1970s, using research and formal programming to create an album rock format with greater commercial appeal.

History

Freeform and progressive

The roots of the album-oriented rock radio format began with programming concepts rooted in 1960s idealism. The freeform and progressive formats developed the repertoire and set the tone that would dominate AOR playlists for much of its heyday.

In July 1964, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a non-duplication rule prohibiting FM radio stations from merely running a simulcast of the programming from their AM counterparts. Owners of AM/FM affiliate stations fought these new regulations vigorously, delaying enactment of the new rules until January 1, 1967. When finally enacted, station owners were pressed to come up with alternative programming options.

The freeform format in commercial radio was born out of the desire to program the FM airwaves inexpensively. Programmers like Tom Donahue at KMPX in San Francisco developed stations where DJs had freedom to play long sets of music, often covering a variety of genres. Songs were not limited to hits or singles; indeed the DJs often played obscure or longer tracks by newer or more adventurous artists than heard on Top 40 stations of the day. This reflected the growth of albums as opposed to singles as rock's main artistic vehicle for expression in the 1960s and 1970s.

With a few exceptions, commercial freeform had a relatively brief life. With more and more listeners acquiring FM radios, the stakes became higher for stations to attract market share so that they could sell more advertising at a higher rate.

By 1970 many of the stations were moving to institute programming rules with a "clock" and system of "rotation". With this shift, stations' formats in the early 1970s were now billed as progressive. DJs still had much input over the music they played, and the selection was deep and eclectic, ranging from folk to hard rock with other styles such as jazz fusion occasionally thrown in.

1970s

In October 1971, WPLJ in New York shifted its free-form progressive rock format to a tightly formatted hit oriented rock format, similar to what would later become known as album-oriented rock. WPLJ's parent company ABC installed similar formats on all of its FM stations including KLOS in Los Angeles and WRIF in Detroit. In 1973 Lee Abrams, formerly at WRIF, successfully installed a similar format, later known as SuperStars, at WQDR in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In 1972, Ron Jacobs, program director at KGB-FM in San Diego, began using detailed listener research and expanded playlists in shifting the top 40 station towards a progressive rock format. Meanwhile, at competing station KPRI, program director Mike Harrison was similarly applying top 40 concepts to the progressive format which he dubbed "album-oriented rock."

In the mid-1970s, as program directors began to put more controls over what songs were played on air, progressive stations evolved into the album-oriented rock format. Stations still played longer songs and deep album tracks (rather than just singles), but program directors and consultants took on a greater role in song selection, generally limiting airplay to just a few "focus tracks" from a particular album and concentrating on artists with a more slickly produced "commercial" sound than what had been featured a few years earlier. Noted DJ "Kid Leo" Travagliante of influential station WMMS in Cleveland observed the changes in a 1975 interview: "I think the '60s are ending about now. Now we are really starting the '70s. The emphasis is shifting back to entertainment instead of being 'relevant'...In fact, I wouldn't call our station progressive radio. That's outdated. I call it radio. But I heard a good word in the trades, AOR. That's Album-Oriented Rock. That's a name for the '70s."

Radio consultants Kent Burkhart and Lee Abrams had a significant impact on AOR programming. Beginning in the mid-1970s they began contracting with what would become over 100 stations by the 1980s. Lee Abrams had developed a format called SuperStars, pioneering it at WQDR, and had been very successful in delivering high ratings. The SuperStars format was based on extensive research and focused on the most popular artists such as Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles and also included older material by those artists. While his SuperStars format was not quite as tight as Top 40 radio, it was considerably more restricted than freeform or progressive radio. Their firm advised program directors for a substantial segment of AOR stations all over the US. This might be considered somewhat ironic, considering that the format’s origins were based on a free-form approach without playlists.

By the late 1970s, AOR radio discarded the wide range of genres embraced earlier on to focus on a more narrowly defined rock sound. The occasional folk, jazz, and blues selections became rarer and most black artists were effectively eliminated from airplay. Whereas earlier soul, funk, and R&B artists like Stevie Wonder, War, Sly Stone and others had been championed by the format, AOR was no longer representing these styles, and took a stance against disco. In 1979, Steve Dahl of WLUP in Chicago destroyed disco records on his radio show, culminating in the notorious Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park.

What links the freeform, progressive, and AOR formats (and, later, the classic rock format) are the continuity of rock artists and songs carried through each phase. Programmers and DJs of the freeform and progressive phases continued to cultivate a repertoire of rock music and style of delivery that were foundations of AOR and classic rock radio. Those AOR stations, which decided to stay "demographically-rooted", became classic rock stations by eschewing newer bands and styles which their older listeners might tune out. Those that did not fully evolve into classic rock generally attempted to hold on to their older listeners through careful dayparting, playing large amounts of classic rock during the 9–5 workday shift while newer, more adventurous material was "baked into the mix" at night when the listener base skewed younger.

Programming

Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles. The best example is Top 40, though other formats, like country, smooth jazz, and urban all utilize the same basic principles, with the most popular songs repeating every two to six hours, depending on their rank in the rotation. Generally there is a strict order or list to be followed and the DJ does not make decisions about what selections are played.

AOR, while still based on the rotation concept, focused on the album as a whole (rather than singles). In the early 1970s many DJs had the freedom to choose which track(s) to play off a given album—as well as latitude to decide in what order to play the records.

Later in the 1970s AOR formats became tighter and song selection shifted to the program director or music director, rather than the DJ. Still, when an AOR station added an album to rotation they would often focus on numerous tracks at once, rather than playing the singles as they were individually released. As AOR stopped playing new music and died out in the late 1980s the core repertoire of AOR became that of the classic rock format.

Criticism

In the early 1980s, AOR radio was criticised for the lack of black artists included in their programming. AOR programmers responded that the lack of diversity was the result of increased specialization of radio formats driven by ratings and audience demographics. In 1983, the undeniable success of Michael Jackson's album Thriller led some AOR stations to soften their stance by adding Jackson's "Beat It", which featured Eddie Van Halen, to their playlists. At the same time other black artists also made inroads into AOR radio—Prince's "Little Red Corvette", Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" and "Beat It" all debuted on Billboard's Top Tracks chart the same week in April 1983.

The relative success of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" did not open the floodgates for other black artists on album-oriented rock stations. However, the door was cracked and through the remainder of the 1980s Jon Butcher, Tracy Chapman, Living Colour, Prince and Lenny Kravitz did manage to receive AOR airplay of varying magnitude.

Spin-off formats

The phenomenal success of the album-oriented rock and the highly competitive battle for ratings likely contributed to the format splintering to reflect different stylistic perspectives. The 1980s saw some stations adding glam metal bands such as Mötley Crüe and Bon Jovi, while others embraced modern rock acts such as the Fixx, INXS and U2. But by the end of the decade, AOR stations were playing fewer and fewer new artists and the rise of grunge, alternative and hip-hop accelerated the fade-out of the album-oriented rock format. By the early 1990s many AOR radio stations switched exclusively to the classic rock format or segued to other current formats with somewhat of an AOR approach:

• Active rock: Today's mainstream AOR, playing acts such as Stone Temple Pilots, Nickelback, Creed, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and Korn. The active rock format was pioneered by the formerly broadcast (now internet only) "Pure Rock" 105.5 KNAC-FM out of Los Angeles, California in 1986. KNAC Program Director/DJ Tom Marshall and KNAC Music Director/DJ Michael Davis had previously worked at rock station KFMG/Albuquerque, NM. Active rock was also pioneered by the nationally syndicated Z Rock Network (which lasted from 1986 to 1996) and expanded upon by WXTB-FM out of Clearwater, Florida starting in 1990.
• Adult album alternative (known as Triple A) echoed a softer AOR without the hard rock or heavy metal. For a time Seattle's KMTT even promoted Freeform Fridays, and the Grey Pony Tail Special to highlight the halcyon days of FM radio. WXRT/Chicago is a long running AAA station. Other Triple A stations with strong heritage are KINK/Portland, Oregon and KBCO/Denver-Boulder.
• Modern rock or Alternative: Pioneers in this format were KROQ-FM in LA and 91X (XETRA-FM) in San Diego, taking the AOR programming approach to music with new wave, punk, college rock and grunge/alternative leanings, mostly in the 1980s.

AOR radio stations

The radio stations in the following list were successful with the AOR format. In the 1970s some were considered progressive, with programming that evolved to what became known as AOR. Many of these stations have switched from AOR to another format—in some cases classic rock or one of the other AOR spin-offs mentioned above.

Call Letters	Market	Frequency	AOR Years	Current Format
KZRR	Albuquerque, New Mexico	94.1 FM	1980–present	Mainstream rock
KFMG	Albuquerque, New Mexico	107.9 FM	1979–91	Country as KBQI
WZZO	Allentown, Pennsylvania	95.1 FM	1975–present	Mainstream rock
KACC	Alvin, Texas	89.7 FM	1979–present	AOR
WKLS	Atlanta, Georgia	96.1 FM	1974–2003	CHR as WWPW
KLBJ-FM	Austin, Texas	93.7 FM	1973–present	Classic rock
WAAF	Boston, Massachusetts	107.3 FM	1969–89	Mainstream rock
WBCN	Boston, Massachusetts	104.1 FM	1968–95	Hot adult contemporary as WBMX
WCOZ	Boston, Massachusetts	94.5 FM	1975–83	Rhythmic contemporary as WJMN
WLBJ	Bowling Green, Kentucky	96.7 FM	1974–80	Country as WBVR
WGRQ	Buffalo, New York	96.9 FM	1975–85	Classic rock as WGRF
WROQ	Charlotte, North Carolina	95.1 FM	1972–84	CHR as WNKS
WDAI	Chicago, Illinois	94.7 FM	1972–78	Classic hits as WLS-FM
WLUP-FM	Chicago, Illinois	97.9 FM	1977–present	Classic rock
WMET	Chicago, Illinois	95.5 FM	1976–86	Country as WEBG
WEBN	Cincinnati, Ohio	102.7 FM	1967–present	AOR
WMMS	Cleveland, Ohio	100.7 FM	1968–94	Active rock
WWWM	Cleveland, Ohio	105.7 FM	1975–82	Classic hits as WMJI
WLVQ	Columbus, Ohio	96.3 FM	1977–present	Classic rock
KZEW	Dallas, Texas	97.9 FM	1973–89	Rhythmic contemporary as KBFB
WTUE	Dayton, Ohio	104.7 FM	1975–present	AOR
KGGO	Des Moines, Iowa	94.9 FM	1978–99	Classic rock
WLLZ	Detroit, Michigan	98.7 FM	1980–95	CHR as WDZH
WRIF	Detroit, Michigan	101.1 FM	1971–94	Active rock
KTXQ	Fort Worth, Texas	102.1 FM	1978–98	Adult contemporary as KDGE
KLOL	Houston, Texas	101.1 FM	1970–2006	Regional Mexican
KSRR	Houston, Texas	96.5 FM	1980–86	Hot adult contemporary as KHMX
WFBQ	Indianapolis, Indiana	94.7 FM	1978–2005	Classic rock
WZZQ	Jackson, Mississippi	102.9 FM	1968–81	Country as WMSI-FM
KYYS	Kansas City, Missouri	102.1 FM	1975–97	Adult contemporary as KCKC
KSMB	Lafayette, Louisiana	94.5 FM	1973–84	CHR
KGRA	Lake Charles, Louisiana	103.7 FM	1975–84	Adult contemporary as KBIU
KOMP	Las Vegas, Nevada	92.3 FM	1981–present	Active rock
WKQQ	Lexington, Kentucky	98.1 FM	1974–98	Classic rock on 100.1 FM
WBAB	Long Island, New York	102.3 FM	1976–2000s	Classic rock
KLOS	Los Angeles, California	95.5 FM	1969–present	Classic rock
KMET	Los Angeles, California	94.7 FM	1968–87	Smooth AC as KTWV
KROQ	Los Angeles, California	106.7 FM	1973–87	Alternative
WMC-FM	Memphis, Tennessee	99.7 FM	1969–81	Hot adult contemporary
WRNO-FM	New Orleans, Louisiana	99.5 FM	1968–97	Talk radio
KQRS-FM	Minneapolis, Minnesota	92.5 FM	1968–present	Classic rock
WXLP	Moline, Illinois	96.9 FM	1978–2004	Classic rock
WDHA	Morristown, New Jersey	105.5 FM	1979–present	AOR
WKDF	Nashville, Tennessee	103.3 FM	1970–99	Country
WKQB	Nashville, Tennessee	105.9 FM	1978–81	Classic rock as WNRQ
WRBK-FM	New Bern, North Carolina	101.9 FM	1976–79	Urban contemporary as Kiss 102
WNEW-FM	New York City, New York	102.7 FM	1967–95	Adult contemporary as WWFS
WPLJ	New York City, New York	95.5 FM	1971–83	Hot adult contemporary
WVOK-FM	Birmingham, Alabama	99.5 FM	1977–83	Classic rock as WZRR
WMMR	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	93.3 FM	1968–present	AOR
KDKB	Phoenix, Arizona	93.3 FM	1971–2014	Modern rock
WDVE	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	102.5 FM	1969–present	AOR
KGON	Portland, Oregon	92.3 FM	1974–90	Classic rock
KINK	Portland, Oregon	101.9 FM	1968–present	Adult album alternative
WHJY	Providence, Rhode Island	94.1 FM	1981–present	AOR
WQDR-FM	Raleigh, North Carolina	94.7 FM	1973–84	Country
WQBK-FM	Rensselaer, New York	103.9 FM	1972–present	Active rock
WYFE-FM	Rockford, Illinois	95.3 FM	1976–80	Country as WRTB
KGB-FM	San Diego, California	101.5 FM	1972–91	Classic rock
KPRI	San Diego, California	106.5 FM	1968–84	Regional Mexican as KLNV
XTRA	San Diego, California	91.1 FM	1978–83	Alternative
KSAN	San Francisco, California	94.9 FM	1968–80	CHR as KYLD
KMEL	San Francisco, California	106.1 FM	1977–84	Urban contemporary
KSJO	San Jose, California	92.3 FM	1968–2004	Bollywood music
KOME	San Jose, California	98.5 FM	1971–94	Classic rock as KUFX
KISW	Seattle, Washington	99.9 FM	1971–2000	Active rock
KZOK	Seattle, Washington	102.5 FM	1974–86	Classic rock
KOL-FM	Seattle, Washington	94.1 FM	1968–73	Country as KMPS
KEZE	Spokane, Washington	105.7 FM	1973–96	CHR as KZBD
KWK-FM	St. Louis, Missouri	106.5 FM	1979–84	Adult hits as WARH
KSHE	St. Louis, Missouri	94.7 FM	1967–present	Classic rock
WMAD	Madison, Wisconsin	92.1 FM	1977–79	Talk radio as WXXM
KWFM	Tucson, Arizona	92.9 FM	1970–83	Hot adult contemporary as KMIY
KMOD-FM	Tulsa, Oklahoma	97.5 FM	1974–present	AOR
KTBA	Tulsa, Oklahoma	92.1 FM	1973–78	CHR as KTBT
WOUR	Utica, New York	96.9 FM	1969–present	Classic rock
KICT-FM	Wichita, Kansas	95.1 FM	1975–present	Mainstream rock