Did you hear the sleigh bells on 94.5 FM in Phoenix? Here's what that was about

A longtime Valley radio station rebranded itself Wednesday, and did it in an unusual way.

KOOL-FM, the classic-hits station, is now Big 94.5 Phoenix. It doesn’t really roll off the tongue — or have the historical cache of its predecessor — but change happens.

What is unusual about the rebranding of the station is how it happened: For much of Wednesday morning, the station played the sound of sleigh bells. Nothing but sleigh bells, non-stop.

KOOL-FM is one of the Valley stations that plays Christmas music around the holidays, and they seem to start earlier every year. But it’s not even October.

The new station, Big 94.5, plays classics from Elton John and others

Instead, when the station came back on the air it was now Big 94.5. The new logo (red is the dominant color) says “‘70s ’80s ’90s,” apparently meaning the station will continue to play older hits. Indeed, a look at the playlist for Wednesday afternoon showed songs including “Jump” by Van Halen, “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynryd Skynyrd and “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John, among others.

Perhaps that last one is a mission statement. Or perhaps not — attempts to reach anyone at Audacy for comment were unsuccessful.

Saying goodbye:The biggest departures from Phoenix TV news in 2022

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

Subscribe to azcentral.com today. What are you waiting for?