Rhythmic Oldies

Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the mid-2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic audiences. It is also referred to as "Jammin' Oldies" or "Music From Back in the Day" by various radio stations. Since the late 2000s, much of the library in the "rhythmic oldies" format has been adopted by the classic hits format. A variation on the format is urban oldies.

On November 19, 1997, the Los Angeles radio station formerly known as KIBB began a new concept in radio. KCMG, which named itself Mega 100.3 after a listener contest, was "oldies with attitude".Chancellor Media, later to be called AMFM, developed the format with the intention of using it on other stations. Just as radio in the 80s had the "urban versus churban" competition, R & B oldies radio was dividing into two camps—the straight urban oldies stations targeting African Americans, and the "Jammin' Oldies" stations with a wider audience that included both blacks and whites. On Jammin' Oldies radio, DJ's were often mostly white or a variety of racial groups. Many of the songs played had crossed over to top 40 radio, while R&B stations continued to play more hits, including ballads, not familiar to top 40 fans, especially if those songs were not singles. Some of the rhythmic stations played songs completely unrelated to R & B; "Mony Mony" by Tommy James on the now defunct WFJO in Tampa was one example, though this station dropped such songs eventually.

Another version of the format was "Groovin' Oldies", as in the case of WGRV in Detroit. This station switched from modern rock in April 1999, calling itself "The Groove". This format lasted until a switch to adult contemporary in June 2001. The last song was "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men.

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