Talk:Z Rock

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Okay, this one's gonna take some time. First off, I got rid of the modern rock redirect. The two have nothing in common.

So, anyone remember the old Z Rock radio network? Add your info to the article. --Fightingirish 01:49, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Z-Rock was part of an automated delivery format. The main source of programming came via satellite to a local station. That station would have a "carousel" that had a type of 8-Track cartridge arranged in a circular rack. When a button was pushed in the studio in Texas, they would be triggering a tape in the radio station's local carousel. These tapes were commercials and the local station ID liners & promos.

These automated formats were popular with stations looking to cut costs on their AM stations. I went to work for one of those stations back in 1989, WGRD FM/ WKTH AM, in Grand Rapids, MI. Besides being hired to oversee the sales & marketing of this format on their AM station, I became the local "personality", Dr. Richard Cranium (The Z-Rock Maniac!), PhD.

The Z-Rock formant was the brain child of Lee Abrahms, the creator of the "Album Oriented Rock" format. He created a format with Z-Rock where instead of knowing every song, you knew every artist playing. This led to deeper cuts on albums you wouldn't ordinarily hear on the radio. "If it's too loud, you're too old!" Z-Rock...The loudest station in the nation!

(Sorry, Z-Rock existed for 2 years before Lee Abrams ever became involved. Credit goes to Robert Hall, Satellite Music Network's VP of Programming)

Lee Abrams took the format and made it relevant and turned it from an unlistenable format to a format that spoke to a generation. under previous management the format filled time on AM radio with automation systems. Lee Abrams brought the format to the fore front and made it sellable to owners with FM stations and a force to be reckoned with. Lazy heritage rock stations all over the country took their cues from Z-Rock. It changed FM rock radio as we know it. Robert Hall was not known for his "imagination" or Pioneering spirit. that's why guys like him hire guys like Lee Abrams. (Sharkmann)Zrockshark 05:40, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

Does this tie-in to the Z-Rock rebroadcast by AFN Iraq? (4 April 2007, 3.35p Iraq time)