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I'm Sorry, Can You Repeat That?
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So we admit that we were skeptical. When Arrow 93.1 suddently went off the air (which we never actually found out; we only deduced this by the curious inclusion of Sheryl Crow and Berlin in the "Arrow" playlist the day the station went black), we were unsure what to make of the new station.
It seemed to us there were echoes of Star 98.7 back when it started (when it really was the best of the '80s and '90s with a smattering of songs from today, and they still had "Totally '80s Friday Night"), but Arrow disappearing without a word seemed a little bit too similar to the birth of Indie 103.
We did our homework, and found out that there are Jack FM stations spread all across the US and Canada, all declaring "We play what we want" to their mostly-adoring fans. Though we will admit that we were sad to see Arrow 93 go, we gave the fledgling Jack FM a chance and have been pleasantly surprised most of the time. We like the eclectic mix of songs from all over the musical spectrum, and it often feels to us as though the DJ is someone's maniacal iPod, stocked with Top 40 hits from the past 30 years and set on shuffle, with little thought given to anything other than variety.
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Honestly, where else could you hear—as we have before—Bruce Springsteen, General Public, Led Zepplin, ABBA and Eddie Money back-to-back? How else can you hear Pink Floyd and The Jets, or Bruce Hornsby with The Sweet? Though there is the occasional moment when we have to take a pass in favor of another station—there seems to be a heavy emphasis on Three Doors Down, Huey Lewis and the Goo Goo Dolls—most of the time we tune in just to find out what's coming up next.
Maybe this isn't the best thing that's ever happened to radio, but we're happy to know that someone out there understands the enjoyment of listening to Erasure, The Eagles and Price in a great big aural pop song orgy during rush hour.
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