Kid Kelly is thinking about ending Backtrax USA

[OldSchoolAT40Fan]

Aug 31, 2019 17:20:20 GMT -5 BrettVW said:

Have they ever played Ain't No Stoppin' by Ollie and Jerry before this weekend?

I can confirm I did hear "Breakin... There's No Stopping Us" on Backtrax USA when VOCM-FM aired the show more than two decades ago.

I'd also like to ask, did they ever play obscure 1980s hits like The Dream Academy's "The Love Parade" or Duran Duran's "Skin Trade"? "The Love Parade" is likely my most favorite of The Dream Academy's two top 40 hits.

[OldSchoolAT40Fan]

Since Kid Kelly show no signs of stepping down yet, I think the one thing that will end Backtrax USA is that most radio stations modernize their playlists due to lost demand for 80s and 90s music. Every decade, we see music from certain eras disappear from radio stations in favor of more recent material. I bet, by the end of this decade, 70s music - including disco - will be dropped from radio station playlists across the country. I'm quite surprised radio stations are still playing music by the Beatles, but that may be a rare exception.

As for 80s music, I'd say it's got about 15 to 20 years left before it falls out of favor of listeners - at which point, Backtrax USA may likely downsize by discontinuing the 80s show and focusing on the 90s show.

[kani]

Don't know where to post this but since last weekend and so, and today, WKHI fm does NOT seem to be airing backtrax USA 80s nor 90s anymore

[dth1971]

Why not make a Backtrax USA for the 2000-2009 music era?

[BrettVW]

There are other shows covering the 2000s and a third edition of Backtrax USA could be seen as overkill.

That said, I'd listen!

[kani]

i received email from program director, Tracy for WkHI fm. backtrax 80s and 90s aren't getting dropped. it's just changing timeslots, 80s Sun 8am-10am, 90s Sun 6pm-8pm

[OldSchoolAT40Fan]

You know, I always wonder something. I wonder if Coast 101.1 FM could someday consider Backtrax USA after they lose the rights to classic AT40?

There seems to be no end in sight for Backtrax USA. As long as enough radio stations are interested in such series, it's here to stay. The only thing I can see changing in the future is the host - should Kid Kelly retire. Or, if a contract dispute finishes his hosting job, or if the show will end when many radio stations discontinue playing music from the 80s and 90s. I'd say, give it 15 to 20 more years, 80s music may broadly cease to exist on radio stations, and Backtrax USA may downsize to just 90s only.

I remember reading way back in early January 2012 (not long after I joined these boards) that the host of Flashback at the time, Bill St. James, was being replaced in 2012. Coast 101.1 FM did air Flashback in the late 2000s/early 2010s, and previously Flashback was aired on 97.5 K-ROCK during the mid-2000s (the latter station dropped it in 2007, if memory serves correctly). I seemed to enjoy Flashback more on early Saturday afternoons during Fall 2005 through 2006 when the show was in its final 15 to 19 months on K-ROCK.

Is Flashback still being produced, or was that cancelled? I don't seem to hear any talk about it anymore. The last thread about it was made in 2017, according to a forum search.

I believe Bill St. James left for another company and started his spinoff show, Time Warp, in 2012 - the same way Casey Kasem moved on to Casey's Top 40 after he left American Top 40, implying that a contract dispute may have ended Bill's tenure of hosting Flashback, and the new guy was hired the same way Shadoe Stevens was for AT40 - and AT40 ran for just 6 1/2 more years under Shadoe's tenure.

It's quite impressive that Kid Kelly is still hosting Backtrax USA for nearly 30 years.

[BrettVW]

Bill St. James is still hosting Time Warp - it's been on the air now for 11+ years and is his spiritual successor to the original Flashback.

Matt Pinfield is still hosting Flashback, and although the show doesn't seem to have the popularity it did when it was hosted by Bill St. James, he has settled into a groove and made it more of a classic rock history show, whereas Bill's version of Flashback (and his current Time Warp) are more pop culture and humor based.

Both are great shows and I listen to both each weekend.

[kani]

Last weekend, something surprising, backtrax 80s played New Edition - Is This the End. That song was in top 100, peaked at #85, #8 in US R&B. Very rare for that song to play in backtrax 80s.

[dannyd]

Jul 28, 2023 9:53:50 GMT -5 kani said:

Last weekend, something surprising, backtrax 80s played New Edition - Is This the End. That song was in top 100, peaked at #85, #8 in US R&B. Very rare for that song to play in backtrax 80s.

What other “rare” songs did Backtrax USA play?

[kani]

This weekend played Gap Band - Party Train

there has been some cases: backtrax 80s has played Gap Band songs often that dont top 40 chart: Burn Rubber on Me, Outstanding

[dth1971]

Jul 29, 2023 8:08:42 GMT -5 kani said:

This weekend played Gap Band - Party Train

there has been some cases: backtrax 80s has played Gap Band songs often that dont top 40 chart: Burn Rubber on Me, Outstanding

I think Kid Kelly or someone who owns Backtrax USA should do a knockoff of Barry Scott's Lost 45's radio show calling it "The Missing Chart Hits" dealing with 1980's-1990's-2000's songs missing the top 40 reaches.

[kani]

Kid Kelly has NOT yet been doing 2000s songs though, well except.. Destiny's Child - Jumpin Jumpin (that played so often), he said it's 1999, technically that charted summer 2000.

[kani]

For this weekend 80s, now it's Todd Rundgren - Bang the Drum All Day.

[OldSchoolAT40Fan]

Jul 29, 2023 9:31:39 GMT -5 kani said:

Kid Kelly has NOT yet been doing 2000s songs though, well except.. Destiny's Child - Jumpin Jumpin (that played so often), he said it's 1999, technically that charted summer 2000.

Well, to be fair, "Jumpin' Jumpin'" may have been produced in 1999.

When songs are said to be from a certain year, and it actually charted the following year, it may go by the year of the single's production.

Destiny's Child's The Writing's On the Wall album, which "Jumpin' Jumpin'" was from, was actually released in July 1999. So chances are, "Jumpin' Jumpin'" was produced in 1999.