Have you met Jack yet? That's Jack FM - the radio format with no presenters, no small talk about the weather or lost pets - just lots of songs played in a seemingly random order. It's UK commercial radio's new experiment - Jack's been all the rage the other side of the Atlantic for years, writes Paul Smith.
Vancouver saw the birth of the first Jack FM in late 2002; the new kid in town wasted no time establishing itself as the number one rated station in the marketplace. The new format spread across Canada and into the US in 2004, and now Jack has landed in the UK; Absolute Radio launched 106 Jack FM in Oxfordshire last week.
I spent an hour one afternoon with the station that insists on playing what it wants:
3.04pm: "Want to choose your own songs... buy an iPod. At Jack FM we play what we want." We've just had four minutes of well-produced news and sport. Then it all goes wrong with I Missed Again by Phil Collins. I hate Phil Collins. Can I turn it off now please?
3.08pm: Better. Come Together by the Beatles. I've left the dark place.
3.12pm: A trail for Jack FM's Morning Glory with Trevor, Sue and Greg. This is where British Jack differs from the standard north American template; the inclusion of live weekday breakfast and afternoon shows. Sounds like another random assortment of local radio presenters; they're reading quotes from Heat magazine, with hilarious consequences.
3.17pm: Dido's Here With Me and U2's Where The Streets Have No Name. So far, so commercial radio.
3.21pm: Silence for a second or two; judging by some of the segues between songs, a few more tweaks are needed to the automated playout system. And then it's back to the dark place. Billy Joel's Piano Man.
3.26pm: Brilliant, it's the Foo Fighters and Times Like These. At last Jack has delivered a gem I haven't heard since Radio 1 played it four or five years ago, but I remind myself I had to endure the audio equivalent of chinese water torture to hear it.
3.30pm: "We play the tunes, you listen. Everyone's a winner. Jack FM - playing what we want." Paul Darrow - Blake's 7's Avon - is the voice of Jack FM. Thoroughly British and oozing swagger. Listen if you want, they don't care. They do really, obviously, because more listeners means more money, but that'd make for a rubbish strapline. Next are the Pet Shop Boys with Opportunities. Yes, I like the Pet Shop Boys as well as the Foo Fighters, so I'm up to two good songs in a row. What's next?
3.38pm: All Along The Watchtower by Hendrix followed by Maroon 5's Makes Me Wonder. Jack FM boasts of a playlist of more than 1,000 songs, which doesn't sound many when you consider the last 50 years' worth of music, but then many commercial radio stations play less than half that number. Even BBC local radio has recently slashed the number of songs played during the day to a couple of hundred.
3.41pm: I'd forgotten I was listening to local radio up until now; "Jacktivities" is a pre-recorded trail with the breakfast team telling me what to do with the kids in Oxford this half-term; there's an arts and crafts workshop, face painting too. Right.
3.46pm: I feel like I'm getting to know Jack now. Manic Street Preachers' You Stole The Sun From My Heart followed by Madonna's Papa Don't Preach, confirming a pick 'n' mix of classic and modern rock with a sprinkling of pop classics. I predict rock from the 90s next. I'm not quite brave enough to place a wager, though.
3.50pm: "Jack FM; like apple bobbing in a piranha pool - you'll never know what's coming up next." Except I did. Ha! Barenaked Ladies' One Week - released in 1998 if I'm not mistaken. A rock classic next, then?
3.54pm: No. Jack FM plays Accidentally In love by Counting Crows. Bah.
3.57pm: "Jack FM - it's what Oxfordshire's been waiting for - well, that and an Ikea." And it's into an ad break, the first and last of the hour.
Key to Absolute Radio's bid for this license was co-locating Jack FM with the company's other local station, Oxford's 107.9 FM - a licence with a colourful past of owners and license breaches. Absolute expects Jack to attract a small but loyal audience, and owning two local stations in Oxford means reduced overheads and a portfolio of listening for one sales team to sell.
4pm: And relax. Overall, a fun listen with plenty of songs I haven't heard for ages, along with a couple I could live without ever hearing again. I enjoyed it, but then I'm a radio person. Is there a need for the equivalent of an iPod Shuffle on the radio? How will Oxfordshire will take to Jack FM? Time - and Rajar - will tell.
