At both stations I worked at – as well as most every station I didn't – the programming was scheduled by what was called a program clock (or "wheel") that was nothing more than a circular diagram indicating the order of the various items played each hour, be it music or otherwise. The concept was simply to show what aired at a given time, such that a DJ, unsure of what to do at about 18-20 minutes after the hour, could look at the clock and know that it was time to take a stop set, or live break, and not play music (or, conversely, the DJ could have paid more attention during training and already known). Most of the clocks were universally identical and only fine-tuned to the specific formats (meaning, the "rock clock" instructed the DJ to play a "rock liner," while the "jazz clock" demanded a "jazz liner").
The radio station I worked at in graduate school had very simple clocks because they had no sub-genres of music and the scant instructions on the diagram were but reminders: a stop set at quarter-after and quarter-till, a live PSA here, a live promo there, and some liners every so often.
Things were a bit more complex at my undergraduate radio station because of music categories that were arbitrarily created and assigned by student management. Most of these categories came into play during the modern rock format, where we had the most music, the most DJ shifts, and, in turn, where the student staff spent most of their time. Depending on an individual song's style, sound, and speed, a lot of these categories emulated the type of thing you'd hear at a commercial station...which means Syd ("the Kid") probably pushed these categories during his reign as program director.
Let's see...at the top of the hour was a "power cut" – something popular, strong, and loud to shoot us out of the starting gate and grab your attention and then keep it (see I'm not listening when you say good-bye); these were assigned the abbreviation of P. The N category was "new release" and we designated one song each hour as a new song, based on when we got a copy off a weekly preview disc. Harkening back to the mid-1980s were the "flashbacks" – type F – that also got (thankfully) one spin an hour. "Currents" were the popular songs that didn't make it into the P category, with "Recurrents," if memory serves correctly, one-time C-category songs. All these categories – plus the other scheduled elements – made the clock look like a large pie with many, many slices; but in a linear fashion, this clock diagram might look like this:
(Legal ID)-P-(Live break)-C-C-(liner)-R-(stop set at 0:20 after)-C-F-(weather break at 0:30 after)-R-N-C-(stop set at 0:50 after)-R-R
These recurrent songs were mostly once-upon-a-big-time bands – like the Nixons. I know our station, as well as others out there, probably played Sister to death in the years after Foma was released. I know it appeared on a few of our preview discs, most likely an attempt to make sure that every station had a few copies on hand so no one could claim ignorant. Then came the acoustic version, which we entered into rotation for no real good reason. It's not a bad song by any stretch and I recently within the past year found the song again (as well as the acoustic version) and was reminded of how things were a decade ago. As for the band, I think they're still out there, believe it or not. The foursome that composed this song lasted only this album before switching out some members for their self-titled album in 1997. An album in 1999 and another in 2000 shows that the four are still hard at work, no doubt searching for another hit. Best of luck boys.
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Sister
(Brooks, Davis, Humphrey, Maloy)
The Nixons
From the album Foma
1995
Here I am again, again ... overwhelming feelings
Thousand miles away from your ocean home.
Part of me is near
Thoughts of what we were invade
The miles that stand between, can't separate
Your all I hoped you'd become
Sister I see you - dancing on the stage of memory
Sister I miss you
Fleeting visits pass still they satisfy
Reminders of the next overshadow good-bye
Our flames burn as one
Sister I see you - dancing on the stage of memory
Sister I miss you
All I am begins with you, thoughts of hope understood
Half of me breathes in you, thoughts of love remain true
Here we are again saying good-bye
Still we fall asleep underneath the same sky
You're all I knew you'd become
Sister I see you - dancing on the stage of memory
Sister I miss you
Entwined, you and I, our souls speak from across the miles
Intertwined, you and I, our blood flows from the same inside
I see you walking there....
See you walking in my mind...
