For Baby Boomers like me who still listen to a radio, the most interesting experiment on the radio dial today is 鈥淭he Oasis鈥� format on old WOXY-FM (97.7) and WNKR-FM (106.7).
The format playing the 鈥渓ost鈥� or ignored pop and rock music hits from the late 1960s through early 1980s just got more interesting with the hiring of radio veteran Dan Allen.
Allen knows the music from his days at WKRC-AM, WLW-AM, WGRR-FM, WSAI-AM, iHeartMedia, the RCS (Radio Computing Services) software company and, until Saturday night, at oldies WDJO-AM/FM. He was the WDJO weekday DJ 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and hosted the popular "dial-a-hit" request show on Saturdays.
鈥淚 liked what they鈥檙e trying to do at The Oasis, and thought it would be a lot of fun,鈥� says Allen, who started as the program director Monday.
Allen鈥檚 job will be to tweak the one-of-a-kind format, which includes everything from The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Who to Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Miller, Frank Sinatra, Chubby Checker, Queen, and Earth, Wind & Fire.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no blueprint or road map for this format. We鈥檙e making up the book as we go along,鈥� says station owner Jeff Ziesmann.
By 鈥渨e鈥� he means former Jacor/Clear Channel radio executive Randy Michaels, operations director Jay Schneider, and Ziesmann, who have been programming the station鈥檚 music since Michaels bought WOXY-FM in October and leased it to Ziesmann.
Now they鈥檙e handing off picking the tunes, and placing them in order, to Allen, who spent 15 years at RCS building music schedules. His job is to make the 1,800-song library of hits from the late 1960s, '70s and early '80s flow smoothly. (Most other stations draw from 600 or so songs.)
Their target is a 50-and-up audience who grew up listening to WEBN-FM and WKRQ-FM (Q102).
鈥淧eople who grew up with radio want to hear personalities they know, what鈥檚 going on in the community, and the songs they remember. I think people will love it,鈥� says Allen, who was given his 鈥淒angerous鈥� nickname by Marty Thompson, a former boss.
The Oasis's small staff includes Cincinnati radio veteran Ernie 鈥淭he Fat Man鈥� Brown in the morning, Dayton veteran John 鈥淏-Man鈥� Beaulieu in the afternoon, and Cincinnati radio icon Dusty Rhodes on Sunday night.
Ziesmann debuted The Oasis on Middletown鈥檚 powerful old WPFB-FM in summer of 2022. That fall it was simulcast on sister WNKR-FM (106.7), his longtime country station based in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. In 2023, Ziesmann sold the Middletown station to Catholic broadcasters, so The Oasis format was only available to the Cincinnati-Dayton audience online.
Southwestern Ohio listeners were not happy.
鈥淚 got far more email than I ever expected from people who were upset we sold that station. That鈥檚 why we started looking for another station,鈥� Ziesmann says. The Oasis returned to Southwestern Ohio in October on WOXY-FM, once Oxford鈥檚 legendary new rock station in the 1980s and 鈥�90s. Then he reached out to Allen, who has 鈥渁n encyclopedic knowledge of music,鈥� he says.
For Allen, this is a radio homecoming.
鈥淢y first radio job was at WNKR-FM, when it was in Falmouth, and the program director was The Fat Man. In February of 1980 I got my first Cincinnati radio job when I was hired by Randy Michaels at WKRC-AM [where he produced Rhodes鈥� Sunday night oldies show]. Now I鈥檓 back at WNKR-FM, now in Dry Ridge, and working for Randy and with The Fat Man again,鈥� he says.
Don鈥檛 be surprised if Michaels 鈥� who once ran the national radio division of Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) 鈥� and the gang try to export or syndicate the format to stations coast-to-coast so more Baby Boomers like me can hear their old favorites on the radio.
