Daily BrewEZ Rock radio signs off the air in favour of a more upbeat retro sound
The radio brand name most synonymous with Canadian dentist offices had more of its novocaine wear off this week.
EZ Rock 97.7, an Ottawa station owned by Astral Media, announced it would change its format to Boom FM, a concept that originated in Quebec and replaced Toronto's EZ Rock 97.3 in late 2009.
When the "EZ Rock" handle was first attached to stations across the country in 1995 as a translation of the Quebecois "Rock Détente" format, it proved successful. Nonetheless, the once-popular 104.9 FM in Edmonton ditched the identity in February.
With its retirement in Ottawa, the EZ Rock positioning will no longer be found on the dial in any major market, although it has survived in some smaller B.C. and Ontario cities. But for how much longer?
While it lasted for about 14 years in Toronto and Edmonton, the Ottawa version took just 13 months to flame out after its debut in May 2010. EZ Rock's sleepier connotations didn't catch on with listeners in the capital city.
The new Boom 97.7 will spin more upbeat tunes from decades past instead.
Even though the Toronto station initially focused on the '70s and '80s, it recently expanded its playlist to incorporate the '90s, whose music can now qualify as nostalgia fodder.
Pop oldies were harder to find on the FM dial prior to 2009 as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission capped the number of pre-1980 hit songs a station could play in order to protect the AM stations whose survival depended upon the lack of better-sounding competition.
And, by the time the regulation was changed, the 35-to-54 demographic was less interested in music that pre-dated disco.
For the popular Canadian acts of a quarter-century ago like Corey Hart, Honeymoon Suite and Platinum Blonde, another Boom station will give them as much attention as they experienced in their prime.
How long it takes for the Generation X audiences to burn out their collective memory remains to be seen.
