I was in my car this afternoon and found myself in for an unpleasant surprise. I had turned the radio on and drove on without really paying attention at first. Within a few minutes I came to the horrifying notion that I was listening to Rupert Holmes’ corny 1979 song, “Escape (The Pina Colada Song).” I quickly came to attention and pressed the #1 pre-set on my car radio. To my surprise Rupert Holmes was still singing! I was horrified! What happened to my Party 105?
Yes, folks it’s true. Party 105.3 FM is no longer the dance music station it had been for the past 13 years or so. The signs have been there for the past several weeks, as the station had been playing more of the ‘classics,’ and now it is true. Party 105 has changed their format and is now playing top hits from the 70’s and beyond. I understand that format changes are sometimes necessary, but they’re not always easy to swallow, especially this one.
I love dance music of all types, and I’ve been a fan since my late teen years back in the early 1980’s when Kiss FM and the original WKTU ruled the roost in New York City. I got my first bad taste of change back in 1985 when KTU changed to an album-oriented rock station. That was a killer since dance, and what was then known as urban contemporary, did not get too much airtime along the dial.
A little more than a year later, my radio spirits were once again lifted with the introduction of HOT 103 to the FM dial. HOT 103 quickly became a favorite for playing all of the songs I used to hear in the clubs, stuff like the great freestyle music from the period, Taylor Dayne, Madonna, Timex Social Club and the like. Through approximately seven years and a frequency move to 97.1 FM, HOT 103 and then HOT 97 sat in the #1 spot on my presets, but in 1993 the station changed its format to a the blossoming hip-hop genre and once again dance music was relegated to being a bit part of the Top 40 rotations on other stations such as NYC’s Z-100 and Long Island’s WBLI.
This time it would only be three years before dance music made its return to New York airwaves in a big way. In February 1996, the new KTU made a triumphant return to the New York airwaves on 103.5 as “The Beat of New York.” Though the station has undergone many changes since its debut, it remains on the air today, though it plays a lot of older dance music. It’s still a great thing, but for Long Islanders such as myself, it is still based in New York City and so reception is not always too great. Enter Party 105.3…
“Party FM” was a Long Island-based dance music station that debuted in 1998, and it was definitely a welcome addition to dance music fans that live on the island. I remember how exciting it was to hear current club hits with such clarity and over the years it had become my first go-to station whenever I turned on my radio. For the better part of the past 13 years, Party 105 has played it all, from 80’s dance classics to current house mixes and I loved every minute of it!
For whatever reason, the station has decided to forgo its format to play a wider range of songs. That’s just business, I guess. Since much of today’s Top 40 is dance oriented, we will still hear stuff like Rihanna’s “S&M,” Britney’s “Til’ the World Ends,” and Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything,” but in between expect stuff like “Pina Colada,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” and the other such non-dance stuff. This listener is definitely bummed!
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