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p10 tribune february 3 1993 advertisement new country music comes to fm when youre hot youre hot i wonder whether jerry reed the country singerpicker who wrote those memorable words years ago ever imagined in his wildest dreams how hot country music would be as we head into the 90s country megastar garth brooks is the top selling artist in all formats hes been on the cover of every magazine worth reading even the ultra conservative financial monthly forbes one of his concerts sold out in 47 minutes 35000 tickets he sat on top of the billboard charts for 18 weeks garth is the leading edge of a country music tidal wave that is literally sweeping the competition aside everywhere in north america country radio up 6 million listeners rock and adult contemporary down 6 million no one even wants to cure the cyrus virus the beatle like hysteria that breaks out everytime billy ray belts out achy breaky heart 5 out of 6 anthem singers during the world series games in toronto were country singers the canadian country music awards show on ctv has beaten the rock and roll flash of the junos in the ratings for the third straight year hands down countrys young hunks- clint black alan jackson and of course aljff hnmo s 1 3 it a dtvmafn billy ray are attracting a young female audience to country music wlllt uulllclo vjdll dluwll reba mclntyre outsells elton john and yet even with country music exploding all around us until now there has been no downtown toronto evidence of what has to be classed as a phenomena we are witnessing the phenomenal growth of country music on radio in record stores and on concert stages and yet in toronto canadas biggest city it the big smoke the centre of everything home to anything that means anything everything but a big city style country music station january 27 that changed for good a new country fm a big time big town country boomer the new 925 ciss fm is on air at last and this country is set to take jaded seen it all toronto by storm toronto radio will never be the same the management the onair personalities the newspeople the salespeople are all totally convinced that this station is going to be super successful this writer can tell you that after a recent visit to the stations new high style high tech downtown digs im starting to think they could be right everybody down at 925 ciss fm looks decidedly uncountry bay street suits queen street hip and everything in between these people mean business isnt this supposed to be a country station a new country station keith james the general manager is eloquent and sophisticated anything but stereotypical country i cornered keith i needed answers this is most definitely a country station but we play new country music was the word so what is a new country station what is new country music you ask sodidl keith handed me a rolling stone magazine with a highlighted paragraph the audience is wide and the hunger is deep for emotional directness and songoriented craftsmanship the raisedonrock generations of the sixties and seventies now paying mortgages and raising families no longer see their concerns reflected in computerized dance beats or heavy metal cartoons they hear in wynonna what they love in bonnie raitt identify with the bluesy bluecollar populism of travis tritt as the honkytonk equivalent of lynyrd skynrd appreciate in the tunefulness of trisha yearvvood what they previously prized in linda ronstadt while particularly enjoying the duets with don henley and find their elvis or at least their elton in the boynextdoor sincerity and concert razzledazzle of garth brooks the light bulb went on new country is the adult contemporary music of the 90s thats why its so popular its the music that reflects what were all going through now thats why i like it its about me i can sing along and theres millions of mes in toronto it was beginning to sink in why 925 ciss fm was making this- huge investment capturing the new country audience in toronto would be like winning the radio world series countrys hottest team draft picks trades signing bonuses sports jargon but as i found out a real factor when going after radios big prize toronto remember 925 ciss fm is going all the way and they have put together an allstar team to go for it take the critical morning drive slot thats a little bit of radio speak i picked up ciss fm lured cliff dumas arguably the most successful country announcer in canada away from hamiltons country station cliff is the only canadian onair personality to ever win an award from the nashville based cma the country music association rumour has it big bucks were involved here but as i discovered cjss fm is not afraid to spend what it takes to do it right more proof joining cliff on the morning team will be jane brown a popular personality from a major toronto station toronto air quality improving it struck me early during the preparation of this piece that this new station has some powerful cards in its deck there are the obvious ones its the first ever country fm in toronto its new the first new station to sign on in 8 years it will be fun to listen to they play the hottest music happening right now they cater to big city tastes with their news sports and traffic plus a nice twist 30 minutes of continuous new country music commercial free every hour all day 925 ciss fm country is sure to upset the radio apple cart in toronto competition has a wonderful way of improving quality all round the radio consumers of toronto finally have some choice as one of the stations slogans says lifes too short for ordinary music amen to that new country music has come to fm lifes too short for ordinary music turn on the new 925 ciss fm and discover todays hottest music from todays biggest stars new country on the new 925 ciss fm is on the air 925 torontos only country fm i i i i i t t i 4 f i i i i i i i i t i i i i i 1 i i i i r i i i it i i i i 1 1 i ri ii iti it i n rr i i n n n i i l i 1 1 u i j ri i i i m i n r r i if i