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Z Rock was a nationally syndicated
radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass media, mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio (Duplex (teleco ...
based in
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, that, from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, played heavy metal and
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
music. The format was one of several 24-hour satellite-delivered music formats offered by the pioneering Satellite Music Network (a company which in 1989 merged with ABC Radio Networks and later became
Cumulus Media Networks Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), whi ...
). Z Rock debuted on
Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...
in 1986 with
WZRC WZRC, known on-air as "AM1480" (), is a radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting and airs Cantonese programming. It is one of two Cantonese radio stations serving the New York metropolitan ...
in Chicago as its first affiliate. During its early days, Z Rock drew attention for playing unedited, explicit versions of songs. In March 1990, Z Rock was nominated for the
Billboard Awards The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by ''Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...
, the only time a full-time hard rock/metal programming service has ever been so honored in the history of ''Billboard'' magazine. After several changes in personnel and programming direction, the network was discontinued on December 31, 1996.


Programming


Marketing

Z Rock targeted fans of heavy metal and hard rock, a group that was increasingly ignored by conventional
album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US rad ...
(AOR) stations. As a result, the network had a massive economic impact on
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
s, affiliate stations, and other businesses serving this largely untapped market. Metal and hard rock recording artists, particularly those signed to
independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a DIY ethic, do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties aff ...
labels, enjoyed greater exposure. Advertising sales to record companies as well as music retailers such as
Camelot Music Camelot Music was a mall-based American retailer of prerecorded music and accessories and was one of the largest music retailers in the United States based on store count. Camelot specialized in the sales of prerecorded music, especially vinyl ...
and
Musicland The Musicland Group, Inc. was an entertainment company that ran Musicland, Sam Goody, Discount Records, Suncoast Motion Picture Company, On Cue, and the Media Play Superstore Chains. The Musicland Group was purchased by Best Buy in 2001 at the ...
increased significantly at Z Rock affiliates and music publications; ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' reported that accounts doubled in the several months since the network's launch. The opening bumper for commercial breaks was an 8-note guitar
riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...
from the first part of the song "House of 1,000 Pleasures" by Japanese band Ezo. Various slogans used for Z Rock's imaging and promotions exuded a sense of rebellion and irreverence. Such sayings included the following: *"If it's too loud, you're too old!" *"Flip us on and flip them off" *"We don't brake for wimps" *"If you're not crankin' it, you must be yankin' it!" *"Lock it in, and rip your knob off" Another such slogan mocked classic rock programming, followed by "Who cares?! Z-Rock RULES!" Marketed nationally for local broadcast with local commercials inserted, Z Rock's market penetration across the country varied considerably. While the local broadcasts were usually presented on
FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...
, in some areas the network was carried by small AM outlets. Some publicity was provided for several years by the comic strip '' Funky Winkerbean'', in which one of the main characters often wore a Z Rock T-shirt. From 1989 to 1991, Z Rock produced ''Z-Rock Magazine'', a print publication distributed free of charge in network affiliate cities. Z Rock gained notoriety for its "mascot" vehicle, the "Z Rock hearse", which was displayed at various events and locations throughout the
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...
. The vehicle ultimately was awarded to a lucky winner in a promotional giveaway. Dennis C. Weaver of Dallas drew the "lucky key" in a drawing held at Sound Climax, a Dallas car audio store which had outfitted the vehicle with stereo gear to showcase their products.


Legacy

When the Z Rock radio network shut down at the end of 1996, affiliates were free to adopt the Z Rock name and/or imaging. Some stations continue to do so: * KKZR, Internet radio station * KRQR,
Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 United Sta ...
(adopted the classic logo of the former network) * WXZZ,
Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
* Z-ROCK INDY, LPFM and Internet Radio Station with studios in
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company of the United States and is the second largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States ahead of Audacy and behind iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdi ...
, the successor to ABC's radio operations, owns the Z Rock
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
today, using it as a moniker for the above-mentioned WXZZ in order to keep the trademark active. Tracy Barnes and Scorchin' Scotty went on to found HardRadio. Former Z-Rock DJs, Madd Maxx Hammer and Jason Lee Tipton are currently on D-Rock, a digital hard-rock radio station. A fully moderated, 24-hour
modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...
radio stream is still being produced for the
Armed Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the United States Armed Forces provides to soldiers stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. AFN comprises two sub ...
(AFN) and is available on the digital AFN satellite lineup (with AFN Uninterruptable Voice the only unencrypted offering on the European AFN Hot Bird transponder). The weekly, four-hour modern-rock chart program Z-Rock 50 was part of AFN The Eagle and could be heard in many locations throughout Europe and the Middle East. In the United Kingdom, the show was briefly heard on
Beacon Radio Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire, formerly Free Radio Black Country & Shropshire, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Shropshir ...
but had a longer run on GWR. It was taken off the air in early 2009. The program was also available to other broadcasters worldwide from ABC Radio Networks International (now Citadel Media Networks). Citadel Media in 2010 launched a new satellite
active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...
service called The Nerve. Unlike traditional rock stations and networks, The Nerve personalities are rock music core listeners who happen to be on the radio, instead of the DJs themselves. KKZR (Z Rock 106.9) is an internet-only radio station based on the original Z-Rock network. Songs are played unedited, and feature some radio commercial from video game ''
Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
''. This station uses the original zombie head Z-Rock logo from 1986. Z-ROCK INDY (99.9 formerly 103.9) is a LPFM and internet radio station based on the original Z-Rock network. The Bulgarian radio station
Z-Rock Z Rock was a nationally Broadcast syndication#Radio syndication, syndicated radio network based in Dallas, Texas, that, from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, played Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. The format was one of ...
uses the name of the network.


References

{{reflist ABC Radio Networks Defunct radio networks in the United States Radio stations established in 1986 Radio stations disestablished in 1996 Defunct radio stations in the United States