Calm Listening: Relax Radio

Relax Radio is filling the late night frequencies on WJCT 89.9 with an eclectic hybrid of oldies, light jazz, and favorites from the Great American songbook. It’s a cool, Mad Men-esque mix, each hand-selected from a vast collection of albums and 45’s in the station library.

As the architect of this unique listening experience, WJCT Music Director David Luckin has crafted a format designed to attract a wide range of listeners, particularly among the Baby Boomer crowd. It covers the spectrum of time from Frank Sinatra to Michael Buble, and everything in between.

“When you have 75 years of music to choose from, it really allows us to be discriminating and still have a really full, robust playlist. We’re up to 3,000 songs in rotation. I hand selected every song, but I’ll be honest. I’ve come in and deleted songs if they didn’t work,” says Luckin. “You might really like a song, but does it fit with the song that comes before it and after it? You don’t want what the DJ’s call a train wreck. You have to have an even keel with peaks here and there. We think it’s the perfect destination overnight when you just want to zone out and travel through time with different styles of music. It’s the perfect spot.”

Relax Radio launched last April on 89.9HD03, providing a sound that Luckin describes as “easy listening for Baby Boomers,” but for a wider audience as well. The program fills the void created when Jones College radio station WKTZ signed off last year. “Instead of all that schmaltzy violin, I put in Quincy Jones and Henry Mancini and Nelson Riddle, so you still have the pacing of instrumentals but it’s not your grandmother’s music,” Luckin says. “It’s hipper and more fun. We’ve got some Bob Marley in the mix, new music mixed with old music mixed with standards mixed with jazz. It’s really a music lover’s dream.”

When he presented his concept for Relax Radio to WJCT President and CEO Michael Boylan, he received an enthusiastic green light. “He said, ‘Go for it.’ He’s a big fan of it,” says Luckin. “A year ago, Jones College signed off, and we got a lot of calls from people saying, ‘Can’t you doing something like that?’. And I thought I could, but I thought I could do better. There’s a lot of jazz, and that’s probably what I’m most happy about with the whole project is that I got jazz on the radio.”

Boylan says, “Not only did Relax Radio fill a much-need program format void in our community, it brought additional attention and listeners to our classical music service on HD 2. Given the success of Relax Radio and keeping with our mission to use our unique assets to celebrate diversity, WJCT is pleased to provide even more access to this unique content and offer Relax Radio following 89.9FM’s After Hours programming during the overnight hours.”

With selections ranging from Miles Davis to Chet Baker and Herbie Mann to George Benson, Luckin has not only opened a window to jazz, but he has created a niche not unlike the Mad Men soundtrack. “There is just so much great music. It really keeps you smiling and surprised,” he says. “It is so rewarding, so joyful, but the real goal is to let people know how broad this is, that you’re going to hear Patsy Cline and Miles Davis and after Miles comes The Beatles, then Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. It’s so mixed. People that like the Mad Men soundtrack are going to love Relax Radio because it does take you back.”

One of the peaks for Luckin is the ability to expose listeners to music that brings listeners on a journey. “I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘I haven’t heard that song in 30 years,’ and that makes me feel good,” he says. He is also able to showcase some unique pairings of familiar songs. “People really love the fact that there are so many covers of songs that they know like Streisand singing Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ or Dion singing something by Sinatra. I just loaded up Neil Diamond singing ‘Both Sides Now’ by Joni Mitchell. So they’re songs that you know but you’re like, ‘Whoa, that’s different.’ I keep trying to look for little twists. To me, it’s the element of surprise.”

Now available seven days a week, Relax Radio airs at midnight on 89.9. In addition to the midnight slot, Relax Radio is also available as a 24 hour music service with NPR News and weather information at the top of every hour.