Even before the departure of Alternative WKQX (Q101) Chicago, longtime Triple-A WXRT seemed to be moving further into the Alternative world, if only because the format overall was doing so. At Lollapalooza time, in particular, ’XRT would unveil a slate of its own concerts that any Alternative station would have envied. So it seemed logical that the station might extend its reach into Alternative following Q101’s demise. And Time-Out Chicago’s Robert Feder reports that ’XRT is positioning itself as “Chicago’s Original Alternative.”

That prompted us to take a “Fresh Listen” to ’XRT this morning. And so far, any changes are subtle. There’s a significant amount of First-Generation Alternative as well as some newer bands that are shared by Alternative and Triple-A. But there’s also still a significant Classic Rock presence. That formula isn’t so different from what one would have heard on WRXP New York in its last days, except ’RXP’s Classic Rock was likely to be Springsteen or AC/DC, whereas the Classic Rock here is deeper cuts from “quality rock” acts. (In fact, I can say that listening to ’XRT for an hour sold me at least two songs—both of them catalog.)

Here’s WXRT just before 9:00 a.m. on July 25. In preparation for the 90-minute “Midday Music Express,” there were stopsets around 9:10 and 9:28, the second one long enough to squeeze in two Web-only songs.

B-52’s, “Love Shack”
Robert Cray Band, “Consequences”
Semisonic, “Closing Time”
Faces, “Stay With Me”
Blind Faith, “Presence Of The Lord” (Web-only)
R.E.M., “Superman”
Pete Townshend, “Gonna Get Ya”
Beck, “Tropicalia” (Web-only)
Crowded House, “Chocolate Cake” (Web-only)
U2, “With Or Without You”
Two Door Cinema Club, “What You Know”
Sting, “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You”
Jimi Hendrix, “Freedom”
Peter Gabriel, “Red Rain”
My Morning Jacket, “Holding On To Black Metal”

(Disclosure: My other employer, Edison Research, works elsewhere in the Chicago radio market.)

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