The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 78

1 1 IF' i By Jeff McLaughlin AAF-FM in Worcester has become a signifi cant factor in half a dozen radio markets in New England, among mat seems to be to keep chatter to a minimum, avoid "inside baseball" comments about tunes or albums, play long blocks of music without commercial interruption, and above all, cultivate an image as the only companion for a rough-and-tumble, blow-dut-your-brains rock 'n' roll lifestyle. its own way, it's a curious form of The WAAF Rock-and-Roll Air Force, as the station dubs its audience, doesn't want to hear the new B52's because the Rock-and-Roll Air Force doesn't even know there is a new B52's, or probably an old one, for that matter. This is mainstream radio, the hardest kind of playlist to crack. When a band makes it on this station or the others like it, they have made it across America. On WCOZ as well, one won't hear reggae, new wave rock, or other kinds of music outside the mainstream, precisely because it is out of the mainstream.

And new music can't get near the mainstream unless it gets more airplay. It's a chicken-and-egg situation, and clearly the most commercially oriented stations aren't interested in try In its own way, it's a curious form of elitism. The WAAF Rock-and-Roll Air Force doesn't want to hear the new B52's because the Rock-and-Roll Air Force doesn't even know there is a new B52's, or probably an old one, for that matter. them Boston. The station rocks out with what's called the "Superstars" format, developed by Lee Abrams and Kent Burk-hart, whose Atlanta-based firm has clients all over the United States.

Abrams was the first programming consultant to use extensively sophisticated market research techniques to determine what the 18- to 24-year-old rock fans want to hear and to disseminate that information to subscribing stations. WAAF was one of the first stations in the country to sign up in 1976. when there were about a dozen subscribers and consequently pays less for the service than a lot of other FM rockers who jumped on the bandwagon after it had proved its commercial success (there are now about 125 stations). Abrams is credited with creating the latest dictum for stations whose overwhelming concern is big listenership and high profits: "What you don't play won't hurt you." In other words, stations that follow ing to resolve that conundrum. In the same research-oriented technique, do well with the tight format.

WCOZ last summer soared past all rock rivals in the metro Boston market of 2.9 million people, and WAAF is atop the heap out west. WCOZ also shows up well throughout the total survey area (5.6 million people from Hanover, N.H., to Nantucket), and WAAF has crept into the top 15 in the metro survey. The trick to doing well with the for the Abrams line never play an unknown group, almost never a mid-chart hit by a lesser-known band, and only rarely even a semi-obscure piece by an established band. Rather, they rely on pleasing that large number of fans who call night and day for "Free Bird," "Green Grass and High Tides" and "Stairway to Heaven." WAAF and Boston's own WCOZ, which is not an Abrams subscriber but has developed its own version of fact, according to WAAF's new promotion director, a bright, young. Brown University graduate named Steve Stockman, "Abrams is sitting down in Atlanta coming up with research that shows new wave isn't the coming thing, it's lost its chance.

Not enough airplay, not enough record company support." A self-fulfilling prophecy, perhaps. Continued on Page 21 Jeff McLaughlin is a member of The Globe staff. lltpfi: 'V. mm. fx I (V yi niAJ'- i r- i rolace 2 Next time you're looking for fun 3 week nursing period in order to sur-bring your family over to meet ours.

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