Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven Has Arrived in San Diego : Stations Work Hard to Carve Out Piece of the Rock

KCBQ (Eagle 105) may play the “hits of ’57 to ‘77,” but it doesn’t play classic rock. KGMG-FM (Magic 102) offers listeners rock ‘n’ roll from the ‘60s through the ‘80s, but don’t dare call it an oldies station.

In the world of clearly defined rock ‘n’ roll programming, Eagle is an “oldies” station and Magic 102 is “San Diego’s only classic rock station.” The difference is important to the stations, even if it’s all rock ‘n’ roll to the average listener.

Of course, rock ‘n’ roll has become an incredibly vague term, applicable to everything from the dance music of INXS to the guitar-bashing of Poison.

KGB officials like to say they are San Diego’s “only real rock ‘n’ roll station,” which depends on the definition of rock ‘n’ roll. In a sense, KGB is the only traditional album-oriented rock station in San Diego, programming harder-edged rock. Although it programs newer bands such as U2 and INXS, it also is the only station in town regularly addressing the heavy metal market, playing such new hard rockers as Guns ‘n’ Roses, Def Leppard and Scorpions, in addition to such “classic” rockers as Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

KGB is the station “a lot of our listeners grew up with,” Magic 102 program director Greg Stevens said. Specifically targeting 25- to 40-year-old males, Stevens willingly admits his station is trying to attract KGB’s rejects, rockers who may feel KGB plays the same songs too often, or is too oriented toward new heavy metal groups.

“What Eagle 105 is to B100, that’s what we are to KGB,” Stevens said, referring to listeners growing out of one format and moving to another.

Eagle 105 is described as an “oldies” station, the only oldies format in San Diego since XTRA-AM (690) switched to a news-talk format. Some listeners may question the difference between “oldies” and “classic” rock. The quick answer: Oldies stations will play more of the ‘50s and ‘60s rock than a classic rock station.

“My interpretation of oldies is that it covers three decades while classic rock covers one decade,” an Eagle 105 spokesman said.

Z90 is starting a promotion campaign for its “civilized rock” format to help listeners differentiate it from the classic rock, oldies rock and, most importantly, the “cutting edge” rock of 91X, which is so close to Z90 on the dial.

“By and large we are trying to separate ourselves from the identity crisis we had with 91X,” Z90 program director Tony Maddox said.

Z90’s music mix includes a variety of established rock groups, ranging from hard-rock groups such as Def Leppard and Cheap Trick to Glenn Frey and Escape Club, and older rockers such as Steve Winwood. The main criterion, Maddox said, is that the songs already be established as hits.

“We can’t afford to be a risk taker,” he said.