Atlanta Gets Old School R&B And Hip Hop On 99.3

New Mix For Hotlanta

The ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION’s RODNEY HO reports CORE COMMUNICATORS Hip-Hop WZTA-A (STREETZ 94.5)/ATLANTA owner STEVE HEGWOOD has "quietly added a new FM station in the market, a modest signal at 99.3 he’s called Old School. It’s a simulcast of an AM station he has owned since last year at 1010 WTZA-A."

The station will play, "a mix of R&B oldies from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s with a heavy emphasis on the 1980s. That means KEITH SWEAT, CHAKA KHAN and THE O’JAYS are all in the mix. Since adding the FM signal, he has thrown in a smidgen of hip hop as well by the likes of NOTORIOUS B.I.G., HEAVY D, LL COOl J and SALT-N-PEPA," notes HO.

The translator on 99.3 has a limited signal originating in MABLETON, GA. HO writes, "it can be heard on the WEST SIDE, but once you move EAST of DOWNTOWN, it fades out. I listened yesterday going up I-85 and it got shaky north of Clairmont Road.  (The AM signal, on the other hand, can be heard all over town during the day, but the fidelity is inferior. Talk station WCON-FM near Hall County blocks the FM signal’s ability to penetrate anywhere east.)"

Here’s a sample hour that HO listened to:

• 12:05: “Ladies Night” KOOL & THE GANG (1979)
• 12:09: “Soon As I Get Home” BABYFACE (1989)
• 12:13? “Disco Lady” JOHNNY TAYLOR (1976)
• 12:18: “U Know What’s Up” DONELL JONES (1999)
• 12:22: “Don’t You Know That” LUTHER VANDROSS (1981)
• 12:26 “I Feel Good All Over” STEPHANIE MILLS (1987)
• 12:30: “Your Body’s Here, But Your Mind’s Is On the Other Side of Town” THE O’JAYS (1982)
• 12:34 “Sweet Love’ ANITA BAKER (1986)
• 12:38: “Funkin’ For Jamaica” TOM BROWNE (1980)
• 12:42: “Love No Limit” MARY J. BLIGE (1992)
• 12:46: “Don’t Say Goodnight” ISLEY BROTHERS (1980)
• 12:52 “Let’s Get It On” MARVIN GAYE (1973)
• 12:56: “They’ll Never Be” Switch (1978)

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