KRXO's New Classics

Author: Andrew W. Griffin
Issue: 2008 August

Ah, the summer of 1988—a torrid affair where record heat was common and the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea brought the world together once more.

It had already been an interesting year. On New Year’s Day, the University of Oklahoma Sooners lost to Miami at the Orange Bowl. Later, on August 14th, golfer Jeff Sluman would shoot a 272 at Oak Tree Golf Course in Edmond, winning the PGA Championship.

1988 was also the last full year of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. And while people began looking at candidates George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, concerns about the ozone layer were on the minds of many. But global concerns and local weather weren’t the only elements contributing to the wickedly hot summer…folks were listening to some great tunes.

Close to home, rock radio disc jockey Lee Roberts had just joined 107.7 KRXO, after spending some time in Wichita, Kansas, and his hometown of Tulsa.

Roberts, now 52, puts into perspective the amount of time that’s passed as he recalls a recent remote broadcast he did in the metro area.

“A listener came up to me and asked me when Guns N’ Roses became classic rock; I told him that it’s been 20 years since Appetite for Destruction was released,” says Roberts. “And he replied, ‘I’m not ready for it to be classic rock’.”
Roberts is frank in saying that people who were 20 years old in 1988 are now 40 and are being forced to deal with the onset of middle age—a difficult thing to do in a world dominated by youth culture.

“Yeah, I tell them that Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Whitesnake…that’s all classic rock,” he said, noting that much of that 20-year-old music still stands up today and remains popular.

He confesses that the upper end of his target audience, who are in their late forties and early fifties, are moving over to the softer sounds of KOMA, KRXO’s sister station.

KRXO's New Classics

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