Today’s blog post is about the music genres that I’ve listened to over the years. I’ll go into what stations I’ve liked over the years. Plus, I’ll also get into my choice of streaming service now that everything is digital.
Believe it or not, there was a time when I heard music on the radio and turned it off. I don’t know what it was back then. Maybe it was my emotions toying with me. But I got over my fear of the radio and began to enjoy what I was hearing.
I’m from the Pittsburgh area and I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s. I listened to 3WS (94.5) and Variety 96 (96.1) on occasion as well as DVE (102.5). My parents had WLTJ (92.9) and WSSH (99.7) on in the background a lot of the time. We also listened to KDKA-AM (1020) and WTAE-AM (1250) for Pirates and Steelers games and Sportstalk (well, mostly my dad did).
I grew up with B-94 (WBZZ, 93.7) and loved their DJ’s and the song rotation. Back in 1996, it was Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant, Jewel, Counting Crows, etc. Matchbox 20 and Wallflowers and the Dave Matthews Band were also popular. Then boy bands dominated the late 90s and early 2000s with N’Sync, and Backstreet Boys as well as 98 Degrees. When I went to college, I switched to Power 99.1 in Johnstown (it switched frequencies with 92.1 which was an all-rock station). I was mostly entertained by that era of bubble gum pop music that came and went with the dot-com companies. I still enjoy it once in a while thanks to my Amazon music subscription.
In today’s blog, I’ll also talk about my top three genres of music over the years and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at some of my other choices. While I lived for Pop/Top 40, I had some variety in my listening preferences too.
- Country–One of the Pop/Top 40 stations I listening went to a Country format in 2000, I’m no stranger to the genre though. I was introduced to country when my Mom would play Garth Brooks cassettes on our road trips to Somerset or to my Gram’s house. We owned most of his collection and eventually, I began to like more country acts like Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (the latter two being more a pop country crossover).
- Jazz–Believe it or not, I was introduced to Jazz music when I watched the Weather Channel as a child. Their local forecasts consisted of smooth jazz and jazz fusion music selections from bands like the Rippingtons, Norman Brown, and the Crusaders. I didn’t know where this music came from but I had the answer to my question in early 2006 when I discovered TWCClassics.com (a nostalgia website dedicated to all things Weather Channel). During my senior year of high school, I grew out of B94 and into 90.5 (formerly WDUQ which operated out of Duquesne University) and enjoyed their news and jazz programming. I listened to Tony Mowod a lot in the summer evenings of 2000 when I wasn’t listening to Froggy or Y108.
- Contemporary Christian–In 2002, I began to switch over to Christian music as I had dated someone who had a strong faith in Jesus and I wanted a change. This was one of my main genres of music throughout the rest of my time in college. My interest in this genre is due mainly to the influence it had during my time at HGA and Slippery Rock and as I found my first church home following graduation. I feel like I listen to it more now to keep up with my other Christian friends. I enjoy it but it’s not my #1 choice of listening even though I own quite a bit of praise and worship and CCM albums.
Fun Fact: During my time in college, one of my friends was against listening to secular music entirely due to her faith, but eventually I did get her into more pop-friendly music. I got her to enjoy Backstreet Boys and N’Sync as well as some of the popular one hit wonders of 2000 and 2001.
In terms of streaming music services as I close out the blog, I’ve shuffled around (again, pardon the pun) between Spotify and Amazon Music. Amazon has all of Garth Brooks’ albums available to stream and for that reason I have decided to stay with them. I can listen to all my podcasts on Amazon that I would on Spotify or Apple. Streaming has been the future for years now even though record players and phonographs have made a comeback. More records than compact disks were sold in 2019. That’s the first time that’s happened since 1987.
To think though, it used to always be cassettes and 8-tracks.
Stylish 🍒 