Had it arrived in a market with no other form of Jammin' Oldies, Clear Channel's new KHJZ (93.9 Jamz) Honolulu wouldn't sound all that different from many of the other '90s rhythmic gold outlets that have arrived over the last five years--the original spate of Movin' stations or even Clear Channel's own stations in Miami, Detroit, Philadelphia, etc.

But 93.9 Jamz, which replaced Hip-Hop KIKI (I94) on Thursday night, is coming on the heels of Ohana's KUMU, which evolved from Mainstream AC to Jammin' Oldies earlier this year and went to No. 2 in the market in one book, getting too close to Clear Channel's perennial market leader, AC KSSK. So now, a decade after "Jammin' Oldies" became an industry punchline -- ready to be invoked by any naysayer who wanted to dismiss anything new as a fad format -- Honolulu has two of them.

Of course, until KIKI changed, Honolulu had three stations doing some form of Hip-Hop/R&B or Rhythmic Top 40. When KIKI found its place against Top 40 KQMQ in the mid-'80s, R&B and Hip-Hop became the market's pop music. In the past five years, however, the three-way war of attrition, the continued success of Hawaiian music, and the slipping position of Hip-Hop, even in Hawaii, left I94 pondering its fate.

KUMU often feels like the former mainstream AC station that it was, and its musical center is '70s/'80s. 93.9 Jamz is positioning itself as "your generation's old school" and, alternately, "not your mama's old school." To the industry, it's being described as the first rhythmic version of CC's "Generation X" '90s-based gold format, although there was actually much more of a precedent for this format than there was for "Gen X" until 12-18 months ago.

And because we've gotten used to these records on the radio, the hour of 93.9 Jamz that I heard didn't have quite as many initial shock-effect records as Gen-X radio. That said, subsequent listens and BDS monitors have revealed surprises like K.W.S.' version of "Please Don't Go," Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True," Gerardo's "Rico Suave," etc.

Here's 93.9 Jamz at 2:45 p.m. on its first day:

Mary J. Blige, "Family Affair"
George Clinton, "Atomic Dog"
Mariah Carey, "Always Be My Baby"
Boyz II Men, "Motownphilly"
Snap, "Rhythm Is A Dancer"
Outkast, "Hey Ya"
Bobby Brown, "Every Little Step"
Lauryn Hill, "Doo Wop (That Thing)"
Stevie B, "I Wanna Be The One"
Nelly, "Hot In Herre"
Ready For The World, "Oh Sheila"
Christina Aguilera, "What A GIrl Wants"
UB40, "Red Red Wine"
Prince, "Erotic City"
TLC, "Creep"