THIS JUST IN: Dipping In The Lake

UPDATE 1/3/11 8:54 AM: Plenty of updates below, including the official press release on “The Lake”, and we’re adding audio courtesy of long-time OMW contributor Nathan Obral…that audio will be coming later…

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As it turns out, we were on target in our skepticism that Clear Channel’s WMVX/106.5 Cleveland would exit its four day long stunt as 90s music-focused “GenX Radio” this morning.

Well, at least so far.

At 7:30, WMVX slowed down the format stunt wheel, declaring that Cleveland was getting a “new station that would play anything”, sounding very much like a “Jack FM”-style variety hits station as “106-5 The Lake”.

Yes, you read it right, the station is using the handle that RadioInsight’s Lance Venta and his “Net Gnomes” sniffed out weeks ago, which we mentioned here (along with the Twitter account mentioned here as well, and a new Facebook page).

So, the station goes from playing LITERALLY anything, to playing “anything” popular music-wise…well, it does seem like the station isn’t playing many, if any, “current” tunes right now.

And yes, that’s a thought that crossed our minds the past few days…what better way to “play anything” by literally “playing anything”? We assume the polka, country, and classical are now off the “106-5 The Lake” playlist, though.

There’s always the chance this could be another stunt, but we’re doubting it.

The more we listen to the new format, “The Lake” seems very much a “Jack” style station, right down to the snarky, funny liners…though they are not voiced by the voice of “Jack”, of course (Howard Cogan)…we’ve heard both a male and female voice doing the liners.

The station is promising the traditional-format-launch 5,000 commercial free songs.

Does this indeed count as the “relaunch” of “Mix 106.5” that we hinted about in our item Sunday?:

We’re not discounting a relaunch of the hot AC format, perhaps even under the now-abandoned “Mix” branding.

Well, regular listeners know we’re not really the place to go for music analysis, so we’ll share the first few songs in the “Lake” playlist for people to compare to the station’s earlier playlist.

But we have one thing in mind – WMVX has been here before, touching the edges of the “variety hits” format without changing the “Mix” on-air branding.

Here’s the first half hour of “The Lake”, courtesy of the folks at Yes.com, after the station launched with Ian Hunter’s “Cleveland Rocks”:

Deee-Lite – Groove Is In The Heart
Guns N’ Roses – Paradise City
Citizen King – Better Days (And The Bottom Drops Out)
Genesis – That’s All
Alanis Morissette – You Learn
Talking Heads – And She Was
The Steve Miller Band – Rock ‘N Me
Tone Loc – Funky Cold Medina

And this is posted on the station’s Facebook account:

Nice to meet you Cleveland.

We play anything. We especially love the 80’s, 90’s and 70’s, even some 00’s.

Spread the word- Tell your friends!

We’ll update this blog later if anything changes…

Here is the official Clear Channel Cleveland press release on “106.5 The Lake”. Despite the release and the station’s logo, the station is branding on-air without the “point” in “106.5”:

Cleveland has a brand new radio station! Clear Channel Radio is pleased to announce the launch of “The Lake,” an Adult Hits Format on 106.5. 106.5 The Lake will be unlike any other Cleveland radio station and will play a wide variety of music and styles from four decades. The Lake will play favorites from hundreds of artists, including: Daughtry, Bryan Adams, Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Van Halen, U2, INXS, Journey, Cyndi Lauper, Bee Gees, Kelly Clarkson, Nirvana, Prince and many more of our listener’s favorites.

“We are extremely excited to bring a different sound to the North Coast,” said Gary Mincer, President/Market Manager for Clear Channel Radio Cleveland. “The Lake fills a musical void in Cleveland. We are proud to begin the New Year with a brand new radio station for Cleveland.”

“We Play Anything, and that means a really surprising variety of songs from lots of decades and a really diverse group of artists,” said Tony Matteo, Program Director for The Lake. “This station is going to bring a really fun bunch of songs to Cleveland Radio.”