It's a hit

THE ISSUE

The Shoals Radio Group has added the FM signal to its groundbreaking format of playing all Muscle Shoals music all the time, extending its reach to local listeners and visitors curious about the area's legendary recording studios and artists.

The Muscle Shoals sound is known round the world to music fans, but until recently, hearing those songs - all of them - on the radio was a spotty proposition at best. Enter Shoals Radio Group.

Last Wednesday, the Tuscumbia-based broadcasting group took an already revolutionary idea and boosted its signal via the FM radio band. Now, on WLAY-FM 92.3, listeners can hear the astounding array of songs recorded in Shoals studios, songs written by local artists and songs that feature local musicians. It's a radio format unlike any other in the nation.

How often have we heard about the thousands of songs cut here and the hundreds of artists who have recorded at FAME, Muscle Shoals Sound, Wishbone, Music Mill, Widget and other studios here in the Shoals, but never acutally heard them? The songs and artists represent virtually every genre of popular music of the past 50 years - rock, soul, country, blues, pop. And the producers, songwriters and players were so successful that Muscle Shoals was once known as the "Hit Recording Capital of the World" because someone figured out that, for a time, more hits per capita were recorded here than in any other city in the world. That's pretty impressive for a place that no one outside the music business had ever heard of.

Now, Shoals residents can tune their radios to a very lively history lesson. And the expansion of the two-year-old format from the weaker AM radio band makes it much more accessible to travelers, as well. Shoals tourism offices now have a powerful new tool to help promote our music heritage.

The Shoals Radio Group, which is a division of URBan Radio Broadcasting, owns WLAY, which is one of the oldest continuously-operating radio stations in the country. It was licensed in 1933, and has been the setting for several historic events, including the recording of the first hit record to come from Muscle Shoals, Bobby Denton's "A Fallen Star," which was written by James Joiner, a Florence businessman. The song was recorded in 1957 at the studio's original location on Second Street in Muscle Shoals.

The unique broadcast format is the brainchild of Brian Rickman, regional director of programming, a lifelong fan of Muscle Shoals music. He wants fans to hear the classic music he loves, but also wants listeners to hear the new sounds of Muscle Shoals - bands and artists like the Sons of Roswell, the Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell, John Paul White and Gary Nichols. Muscle Shoals, you see, is far from being a memory.

We applaud Rickman and URBan for not only making a bold business decision, but having faith in the enduring quality of Muscle Shoals music.