Sally Tidwell: an afternoon deejay for 99.9 Kate FM, operates the Kate request line using the Boy George Karma Chameleon phone. Kate FM plays songs from early 70s, 80s and some of today's popular tunes on the radio.
We all know and love Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” and we can still remember Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up.” A new radio station in the Auburn/Opelika area is now playing the songs people may have forgotten to remember.
99.9 Kate FM has a tag line of “the best of 70s, 80s and whatever!” and wants its audience to listen to songs that may not have been in the Top 10 during its era.
Brooke Myers, station manager for Kate FM, wanted the fresh approach on the dial.
“I wanted to find a niche that no one else was doing around here,” Myers said.
Kate FM is trying to attract an audience by opting to not play the songs of today.
“We go all the way from the early 70s up until now, but you are not going to tune into Kate to hear a breaking track,” Myers said. “My other main focus was that listeners aren’t stupid. They remember more than the Top 10 songs each year. Now I feel like the songs that weren’t the Top 10 songs 20 years ago are better now because they weren’t played out.”
This formula may be what some Auburn students have been on the hunt for.
Karina Woodward, a senior in accounting, said she listens to CDs most of the time because she says radio stations play all the same songs. She thinks Kate FM is something she will definitely tune into.
“I would definitely try it out because I like for music to take me back,” Woodward said. “I like the old school music because I am not into the new stuff. I like songs I have memories to.”
Myers is confident students will respond favorably to 99.9 Kate FM.
“There is so much good music from that era, and everything comes back around,” Myers said. “I think students would be surprised to see what good music they might be missing.”
Sally Tidwell, an afternoon deejay, said the concept of Kate FM is like listening to a friend’s mp3 player and finding a song you have not heard lately.
“The best way to describe it is to look at your friend’s iPod and say ‘Gosh, I haven’t heard that in so long!’,” Tidwell said. “It pulls a lot of the best things you will hear from all the stations in town and puts them all into one place.”
Kate FM radio promises consistency with song choices, with no surprises thrown into the mix.
“What is cool about Kate is that you know what you are getting,” Tidwell said. “I definitely think this is the kind of thing that will take off as more and more people learn about it.”
Both Myers and Tidwell stress a nice way to get acquainted with Kate FM is to tune in on “Footloose Friday Nights” from 5 p.m. to midnight.
Listeners can just think of Kate as a take-along friend for their cars or stereos.
“Kate is your best friend that does not get on your nerves,” Myers said.
