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| Dan Dion photo for NYTimes |
KKSF (103.7), longtime purveyor of smooth jazz, switched to a classic-rock format almost two years ago, playing familiar hits and posing a challenge to KFOG (104.5) and its sister station, KSAN ("The Bone" at 107.7). But with the entrance of another strong classic rocker, KFOX, into San Francisco, "The Band" soon found the dance floor overcrowded, and, on April 8, it switched to all-out oldies, playing pop, rock and R&B hits from the '60s to the '80s.
Wait a sec. The '80s? Yep. "Oldies" no longer means "Earth Angel," Elvis and the Beatles. "Oldies 103.7" considers Blondie, David Bowie and John Cougar Mellencamp oldies, a label that until recently radio avoided. "Oldies" sounded ... well, old. But it has been rehabilitated, and it hasn't hurt that "old school" has been used successfully to describe classic R&B hits on stations such as KISQ ("Kiss" at 98.1).
"Listeners always referred to them as oldies, and it was a positive term," said Ricci Filiar, program director of both KKSF and KISQ. It was the industry that branded oldies as "classic hits."
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