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Post by bear on Sept 21, 2016 10:09:05 GMT -5
Premiere optional extras for 9/26/87 when show aired in 2011: "Holiday" - The Other Ones "Hourglass" - Squeeze "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" - Belinda Carlisle "Should've Known Better" - Richard Marx Spoiler Same premiere extras this week in 2016 , so it is the same show once again.
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Post by OnWithTheCountdown on Sept 21, 2016 14:14:47 GMT -5
Not sure what station is doing that Brian. But what you have just said does not represent what is going on in radio at all. And the whole adding a remixed song thing has never been done on an AT40 replay. Ever. Unless some random affiliate is doing it. Wasn't there one week a few years back where somehow a weird remix of M's Pop Muzik got played? Or was that as an OE? While I've only listened to the series since spring 2014, my guess would be it was an OE, as I have the "1989 Remix" of the song. I prefer the original (which I also have), but maybe the 1989 remix is what was heard back when it aired (which would sound weird to some who are used to the 1979 original).
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Post by briguy52748 on Sept 21, 2016 17:49:02 GMT -5
Not sure what station is doing that Brian. But what you have just said does not represent what is going on in radio at all. And the whole adding a remixed song thing has never been done on an AT40 replay. Ever. Unless some random affiliate is doing it. You seem to have a bone to pick with radio, millennials, and the fact that time has moved forward and radio is simply moving with it. I think I was saying that that particular poster's question seemed to imply that indeed, someone did mix in a much newer remix of one or more songs in the show, as opposed to playing remixes/alternate versions/etc. of said songs that were actually being heard in 1987. To which you'd be correct ... I am unaware of that happening as well. I just thought: Who the hell cares? As long as we get to listen to songs from 1987 that (at least for me) were not club remixes -- ergo, 1987-era remixes that were sometimes played on the radio during that era -- then we should be happy. The example of the remixed "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" refers to the song being played on some classic hits radio stations (and perhaps being referred to as "from 1976") as opposed to the original 1975 recording, and not a song edited into a syndicated program (either "AT40: The 70s" replays or other shows). The late KUUL-FM, for instance, played the 1994 remix in its rotation as opposed the original, and "Who Loves You," "Grease" and "My Eyes Adored You" were other Four Seasons and/or Frankie Valli songs in their playlist. (And this was an era where 1980s songs were still relatively novel on oldies stations, and to my knowledge only two other post-1990 songs were on their playlist: "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by the Proclaimers.) Although a few other classic hits stations around here play the original 1975 "December 1963." Brian
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Post by matt on Sept 21, 2016 18:42:21 GMT -5
Not sure what station is doing that Brian. But what you have just said does not represent what is going on in radio at all. And the whole adding a remixed song thing has never been done on an AT40 replay. Ever. Unless some random affiliate is doing it. Wasn't there one week a few years back where somehow a weird remix of M's Pop Muzik got played? Or was that as an OE? That happened during Premiere's airing of the 12/22/79 show back in 2011. Somehow a remix of M's "Pop Muzik" that wasn't available until after that song's chart run got inserted into the show, presumably during either the editing or remastering of that show. I'm guessing that the use of that version of "Pop Muzik" was not intentional.
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Post by BrettVW on Sept 22, 2016 4:30:16 GMT -5
Brian,
I fail to see how some stations playing the 1994 "December 1963" remix equates millennials are stupid and ruining radio because they don't understand or appreciate a good song. But that is just me...
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Post by briguy52748 on Sept 22, 2016 11:04:42 GMT -5
Brian, I fail to see how some stations playing the 1994 "December 1963" remix equates millennials are stupid and ruining radio because they don't understand or appreciate a good song. But that is just me... Because these are flunkees who have to be reminded, like sheep, to just simply "read what's on the page and be quiet" ... since they (these voice-over artists) may not know what market their voices are being heard in, and without their guidance, they would never make it in radio even in Podunk, where the top song is the non-descript soundtrack to Worker and Parasite, "Eastern European's No. 1 cat and mouse duo" (that Krusty the Klown was left to play before his show was cancelled on the Simpsons' episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled"). Because sometimes they are told pass it off as " the original[/b]" 1975 recording that Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed back in the day, some 40 years ago when it was riding high on the charts, and NEVER prefacing it as the remix. That's outright dishonest. I mean, take stations that play back a "top 10" from this date so many years ago. So often it's not based on the actual Hot 100 for that date, but rather only songs that simply fit the playlist. So what I'd propose here is -- since many of the songs on a classic hits station also performed well, if not better, on the Mainstream Rock chart (or whatever its previous names were) ... just simply announce that the songs in this top 10 are based on both the Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock charts. At least there you'd be honest and at least I wouldn't complain. (FWIW, KOKZ on Wednesday, Sept. 21 -- yesterday, as I type this -- had its Top 10 at noon, which more often than not follows the Hot 100 pretty well. There were three country crossovers -- " Step by Step" by Eddie Rabbitt, " (There's) No Getting Over Me" by Ronnie Milsap and " Queen of Hearts" by Juice Newton -- played, plus "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross and "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie that NEVER otherwise get played. (Not sure about "Slow Hand" by the Pointer Sisters.) But they played those songs -- along with KOKZ regular-rotation songs by Journey, Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty, the Commodores and Foreigner -- and they were being honest. And this is a popular feature on KOKZ ... it has sponsors and they even have a contest in which a listener can call in and win a gift certificate to Applebee's or some other sponsoring restaurant -- always a good one, too, if you ever visit Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa -- for naming that day's No. 1 song. That was an excellent Top 10, IMO ... too bad I missed it because I was at a meeting at the time.) When I think of radio and entering radio, I think of having creative control at a station where I make the decisions or are allowed to. This is why I've said time and again that small-town mom-and-pop stations or small-time chains are the true place to establish a career in radio ... not iHeart or even Townsquare, where anonymous voices rule the day. Sorry for the rant.
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Post by michaelcasselman on Sept 22, 2016 11:14:18 GMT -5
Because sometimes they are told pass it off as " the original" 1975 recording that Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed back in the day, some 40 years ago when it was riding high on the charts, and NEVER prefacing it as the remix. That's outright dishonest. Are there any specific instances where this has happened? This seems more likely of a scenario where someone prerecorded an intro and then someone dropped in the wrong version of the song, or a version is mislabeled or something far more innocuous.
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Post by BrettVW on Sept 22, 2016 11:36:20 GMT -5
Brian, I fail to see how some stations playing the 1994 "December 1963" remix equates millennials are stupid and ruining radio because they don't understand or appreciate a good song. But that is just me... Because these are flunkees who have to be reminded, like sheep, to just simply "read what's on the page and be quiet" ... since they (these voice-over artists) may not know what market their voices are being heard in, and without their guidance, they would never make it in radio even in Podunk, where the top song is the non-descript soundtrack to Worker and Parasite, "Eastern European's No. 1 cat and mouse duo" (that Krusty the Klown was left to play before his show was cancelled on the Simpsons' episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled"). Because sometimes they are told pass it off as " the original" 1975 recording that Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed back in the day, some 40 years ago when it was riding high on the charts, and NEVER prefacing it as the remix. That's outright dishonest. I mean, take stations that play back a "top 10" from this date so many years ago. So often it's not based on the actual Hot 100 for that date, but rather only songs that simply fit the playlist. So what I'd propose here is -- since many of the songs on a classic hits station also performed well, if not better, on the Mainstream Rock chart (or whatever its previous names were) ... just simply announce that the songs in this top 10 are based on both the Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock charts. At least there you'd be honest and at least I wouldn't complain. (FWIW, KOKZ on Wednesday, Sept. 21 -- yesterday, as I type this -- had its Top 10 at noon, which more often than not follows the Hot 100 pretty well. There were three country crossovers -- " Step by Step" by Eddie Rabbitt, " (There's) No Getting Over Me" by Ronnie Milsap and " Queen of Hearts" by Juice Newton -- played, plus "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross and "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie that NEVER otherwise get played. (Not sure about "Slow Hand" by the Pointer Sisters.) But they played those songs -- along with KOKZ regular-rotation songs by Journey, Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty, the Commodores and Foreigner -- and they were being honest. And this is a popular feature on KOKZ ... it has sponsors and they even have a contest in which a listener can call in and win a gift certificate to Applebee's or some other sponsoring restaurant -- always a good one, too, if you ever visit Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa -- for naming that day's No. 1 song. That was an excellent Top 10, IMO ... too bad I missed it because I was at a meeting at the time.) When I think of radio and entering radio, I think of having creative control at a station where I make the decisions or are allowed to. This is why I've said time and again that small-town mom-and-pop stations or small-time chains are the true place to establish a career in radio ... not iHeart or even Townsquare, where anonymous voices rule the day. Sorry for the rant. You are making some wild, offensive assumptions about folks who are hard working and dedicated to the industry. Just because stations do not specifically program to you and program to their audience and to make a profit does not make them bait for your verbal bullying. I would like specific examples of a jock being told to "pass off" a song as an original when it is not. Simply announcing the title and artist does not count as this fraud you so passionately speak of. And again, other than this one example of a station playing the remixed version of December 1963, has this occurred in any other example? Personally, I like the kick the remix has and see no problem with it being the version played on a classic hits station. Small town radio is not the place to establish a radio career. I learned this myself. I have several years of small town on air experience that translates into "jack-you know what" trying to break into the bigger markets. I had a blast on the air and loved it, but I did not necessarily get experience with the skills to sound "big." Do I like what iHeart and Cumulus have done to the industry? Absolutely not. It saddens me every day. But it is reality - and that is something you seem to be ignoring. Honestly, there really is nowhere to establish a radio career these days unless you are one of the very lucky few. And if you are (and if I was) you best bet would play exactly what I was told to play and say exactly what I was told to say in order to keep the station successful and the revenue coming in. Programming for yourself is what you do when you break out the LP or 45 collection or make a custom playlist on your iWhatever. There is nothing wrong with making the decisions and having control on a station you or I potentially own or program. But you have to do it with the regular listener and ratings in mind - not your own personal preferences or likes. Songs like Step By Step (or rather Step By Step) do NOT have business being on the air on classic hits outside of a specialty show airing in a lower rated timeslot like American Top 40. You wanting to hear it and be "transported" to that time does not mean the station should play it. Radio in the 21st century is not for an old school sounding smooth voiced disc jockey to "spin the tunes" - it is a multi platform thing where content is distributed, often by playing a very specific type of music. It doesn't mean I don't miss the good old days you speak of. But it is silly to pretend they aren't long, long gone.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2016 11:47:06 GMT -5
Brian, I fail to see how some stations playing the 1994 "December 1963" remix equates millennials are stupid and ruining radio because they don't understand or appreciate a good song. But that is just me... Because these are flunkees who have to be reminded, like sheep, to just simply "read what's on the page and be quiet" ... since they (these voice-over artists) may not know what market their voices are being heard in, and without their guidance, they would never make it in radio even in Podunk, where the top song is the non-descript soundtrack to Worker and Parasite, "Eastern European's No. 1 cat and mouse duo" (that Krusty the Klown was left to play before his show was cancelled on the Simpsons' episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled"). Because sometimes they are told pass it off as " the original" 1975 recording that Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed back in the day, some 40 years ago when it was riding high on the charts, and NEVER prefacing it as the remix. That's outright dishonest. I mean, take stations that play back a "top 10" from this date so many years ago. So often it's not based on the actual Hot 100 for that date, but rather only songs that simply fit the playlist. So what I'd propose here is -- since many of the songs on a classic hits station also performed well, if not better, on the Mainstream Rock chart (or whatever its previous names were) ... just simply announce that the songs in this top 10 are based on both the Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock charts. At least there you'd be honest and at least I wouldn't complain. (FWIW, KOKZ on Wednesday, Sept. 21 -- yesterday, as I type this -- had its Top 10 at noon, which more often than not follows the Hot 100 pretty well. There were three country crossovers -- " Step by Step" by Eddie Rabbitt, " (There's) No Getting Over Me" by Ronnie Milsap and " Queen of Hearts" by Juice Newton -- played, plus "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross and "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie that NEVER otherwise get played. (Not sure about "Slow Hand" by the Pointer Sisters.) But they played those songs -- along with KOKZ regular-rotation songs by Journey, Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty, the Commodores and Foreigner -- and they were being honest. And this is a popular feature on KOKZ ... it has sponsors and they even have a contest in which a listener can call in and win a gift certificate to Applebee's or some other sponsoring restaurant -- always a good one, too, if you ever visit Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa -- for naming that day's No. 1 song. That was an excellent Top 10, IMO ... too bad I missed it because I was at a meeting at the time.) When I think of radio and entering radio, I think of having creative control at a station where I make the decisions or are allowed to. This is why I've said time and again that small-town mom-and-pop stations or small-time chains are the true place to establish a career in radio ... not iHeart or even Townsquare, where anonymous voices rule the day. Sorry for the rant. So let me see if I have this correct. You want creative control of a station, you love all of this country crossover stuff and think that should definitely be played, yet have a problem with for example the 1994 December 1963 being played on a classic hits station. First off, even that remake is 22 years old itself. It didn't chart last year. Now beyond that, how do you know this market doesn't prefer that version over the original? Or how do you know it isn't the PD/DJ(s) exercising creative control and airing this version instead? If most listeners aren't complaining, then who cares? What it really looks to me like is you are fine if this creative control results in music you want to hear or shows from a year you want to hear but when it doesn't, you consider them ignorant millennials. Look, everyone usually prefers whatever era of something that got them hooked on it. After all, it's when you began liking it. I prefer videos on MTV, baseball games with a 3-1 final score, NFL football where some level of defense could be played and games didn't end 45-42 every week, Jim Crockett Promotions, the Reagan Administration, 80s cartoons, the original Dallas, hymns sung in church, Mike Tyson fights, and game shows on the broadcast networks all morning. Times change. Things change. For me to tell my son your cartoons all suck because they don't suite me 39 years old is the equivalent of what you are doing here. Just because you happen to not like something doesn't mean they are ignorant or quite honestly that they are even Millennials.
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Post by briguy52748 on Sept 22, 2016 12:18:47 GMT -5
You are making some wild, offensive assumptions about folks who are hard working and dedicated to the industry. Just because stations do not specifically program to you and program to their audience and to make a profit does not make them bait for your verbal bullying. Small town radio is not the place to establish a radio career. I learned this myself. I have several years of small town on air experience that translates into "jack-you know what" trying to break into the bigger markets. I had a blast on the air and loved it, but I did not necessarily get experience with the skills to sound "big." Do I like what iHeart and Cumulus have done to the industry? Absolutely not. It saddens me every day. But it is reality - and that is something you seem to be ignoring. Honestly, there really is nowhere to establish a radio career these days unless you are one of the very lucky few. And if you are (and if I was) you best bet would play exactly what I was told to play and say exactly what I was told to say in order to keep the station successful and the revenue coming in. Programming for yourself is what you do when you break out the LP or 45 collection or make a custom playlist on your iWhatever. There is nothing wrong with making the decisions and having control on a station you or I potentially own or program. But you have to do it with the regular listener and ratings in mind - not your own personal preferences or likes. Songs like Step By Step (or rather Step By Step) do NOT have business being on the air on classic hits outside of a specialty show airing in a lower rated timeslot like American Top 40. You wanting to hear it and be "transported" to that time does not mean the station should play it. Radio in the 21st century is not for an old school sounding smooth voiced disc jockey to "spin the tunes" - it is a multi platform thing where content is distributed, often by playing a very specific type of music. It doesn't mean I don't miss the good old days you speak of. But it is silly to pretend they aren't long, long gone. My comments are going to focus on the small-town radio remarks ... you making this seem like advancing to small market, then medium market, etc. is the must-be end-game for all disc jockeys. Some people simply DO NOT HAVE THE DESIRE to move on beyond radio in, say, their hometowns of Washington or Manchester, both in Iowa. And I'll tell you something right now, Brett ... it's a lot more to it than just being able to create your own playlists and chuck what Big Fat Man in a Suit Chomping a Cigar likes. It's the interactions with people, getting to know them and being a community supporter. Outside of a few major causes, which is fine that they support those at least, you don't see many corporate stations even so much as acknowledge the PTA's fundraiser at the local elementary school for "buddy benches," for instance. Someone who wants to get an announcement on the radio about a soup supper for the local fire department to buy radios and coats ... they'd be shown the door by security, grabbed by the arm so tightly it hurts and told never to return or else be arrested, but it's SURE OK to hear some clichéd radio commercial from Progressive Insurance and Flo for the thousandth time. And fat chance of listening to your local high school football team, no matter if they're state championship material or Saturday morning fodder for the bully jocks on the corporate station. (And that latter one, I can tell you DID happen ... happened to my alma mater about 25 years ago when they were struggling simply to compete in games; eventually, after several weeks of this, several of the parents called the station and the jocks' bosses managed to tell them to knock it off; but that was long before Townsquare bought them out. Today, they don't even announce the scores, much less even a list of winners.) There's MUCH MORE to small-town radio than just the music, let me tell you. And they are every bit as hard working and passionate about radio as those anonymous button pushing one-lining no-talents you defend ... or their bosses. As far as your preference for the 1994 "December 1963," that's fine, and I don't mind it too much either, to be truthful. They did play it on "Backtrax USA's" 1990s program once, but there at least Kid Kelly was honest ... he did say the song was from 1994 (referring to that version). But I just had to chuckle to myself as -- and maybe it didn't really matter in this case -- he didn't state that this was a remake. Oh well. And Paul, aside from scattered airplay of the country crossovers, even I wouldn't play those songs that often as you think I would. I just mean it would be in my library and available to play. Brian
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Post by briguy52748 on Sept 22, 2016 13:20:50 GMT -5
Far as 1987 show goes, a lot of good songs that I'm looking forward to; can't name one specific one, but there's a couple of debuts I really like and a lot of the top 10 I enjoy, too. Hey, I'll even take the two Michael Jackson songs. I'll wait until later in 1980 so I can get my fix of Kenny, Waylon and Willie (and several others) at that time. Brian
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Post by matt on Sept 22, 2016 13:37:11 GMT -5
You are making some wild, offensive assumptions about folks who are hard working and dedicated to the industry. Just because stations do not specifically program to you and program to their audience and to make a profit does not make them bait for your verbal bullying. Small town radio is not the place to establish a radio career. I learned this myself. I have several years of small town on air experience that translates into "jack-you know what" trying to break into the bigger markets. I had a blast on the air and loved it, but I did not necessarily get experience with the skills to sound "big." Do I like what iHeart and Cumulus have done to the industry? Absolutely not. It saddens me every day. But it is reality - and that is something you seem to be ignoring. Honestly, there really is nowhere to establish a radio career these days unless you are one of the very lucky few. And if you are (and if I was) you best bet would play exactly what I was told to play and say exactly what I was told to say in order to keep the station successful and the revenue coming in. Programming for yourself is what you do when you break out the LP or 45 collection or make a custom playlist on your iWhatever. There is nothing wrong with making the decisions and having control on a station you or I potentially own or program. But you have to do it with the regular listener and ratings in mind - not your own personal preferences or likes. Songs like Step By Step (or rather Step By Step) do NOT have business being on the air on classic hits outside of a specialty show airing in a lower rated timeslot like American Top 40. You wanting to hear it and be "transported" to that time does not mean the station should play it. Radio in the 21st century is not for an old school sounding smooth voiced disc jockey to "spin the tunes" - it is a multi platform thing where content is distributed, often by playing a very specific type of music. It doesn't mean I don't miss the good old days you speak of. But it is silly to pretend they aren't long, long gone. My comments are going to focus on the small-town radio remarks ... you making this seem like advancing to small market, then medium market, etc. is the must-be end-game for all disc jockeys. Some people simply DO NOT HAVE THE DESIRE to move on beyond radio in, say, their hometowns of Washington or Manchester, both in Iowa. And I'll tell you something right now, Brett ... it's a lot more to it than just being able to create your own playlists and chuck what Big Fat Man in a Suit Chomping a Cigar likes. It's the interactions with people, getting to know them and being a community supporter. Outside of a few major causes, which is fine that they support those at least, you don't see many corporate stations even so much as acknowledge the PTA's fundraiser at the local elementary school for "buddy benches," for instance. Someone who wants to get an announcement on the radio about a soup supper for the local fire department to buy radios and coats ... they'd be shown the door by security, grabbed by the arm so tightly it hurts and told never to return or else be arrested, but it's SURE OK to hear some clichéd radio commercial from Progressive Insurance and Flo for the thousandth time. And fat chance of listening to your local high school football team, no matter if they're state championship material or Saturday morning fodder for the bully jocks on the corporate station. (And that latter one, I can tell you DID happen ... happened to my alma mater about 25 years ago when they were struggling simply to compete in games; eventually, after several weeks of this, several of the parents called the station and the jocks' bosses managed to tell them to knock it off; but that was long before Townsquare bought them out. Today, they don't even announce the scores, much less even a list of winners.) There's MUCH MORE to small-town radio than just the music, let me tell you. And they are every bit as hard working and passionate about radio as those anonymous button pushing one-lining no-talents you defend ... or their bosses. As far as your preference for the 1994 "December 1963," that's fine, and I don't mind it too much either, to be truthful. They did play it on "Backtrax USA's" 1990s program once, but there at least Kid Kelly was honest ... he did say the song was from 1994 (referring to that version). But I just had to chuckle to myself as -- and maybe it didn't really matter in this case -- he didn't state that this was a remake. Oh well. And Paul, aside from scattered airplay of the country crossovers, even I wouldn't play those songs that often as you think I would. I just mean it would be in my library and available to play. Brian Not to enter the discussion, but once again Brian, you are too idealistic about this all. People, the listeners, the customers ultimately drive what's programmed, not PDs or some "big fat man with a cigar". Programming is designed to appeal to the listeners, and that's going to vary somewhat from market to market, whether large or small. And if not telling the young whippersnappers out there that a song is a remake or a remix of a song from 20 years earlier is done intentionally to avoid making the song sound dated to the listening audience, then so be it. There were a number of songs from the 80s that were remakes, but I probably didn't know it until many of those songs were off the charts, and in some cases not until years later. Is that a bad thing? Is it the responsibility of the radio stations to relay that information every time a remade or remixed song is played? IMHO, no it's not. Some listeners will be interested in a song's background and others won't...just how it is. But stations and PDs do what they do to be profitable whether any of us like it or not.
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Post by briguy52748 on Sept 22, 2016 13:45:26 GMT -5
And if not telling the young whippersnappers out there that a song is a remake or a remix of a song from 20 years earlier is done intentionally to avoid making the song sound dated to the listening audience, then so be it. There were a number of songs from the 80s that were remakes, but I probably didn't know it until many of those songs were off the charts, and in some cases not until years later. Uh, I think that the original 1975 version of "December 1963" fits in quite nicely with a classic hits station playlist that has increasingly folded in 1990s songs into the fold. As far as the remakes go, huh? I know there's several remakes on this week's 1980s AT40 that I'm quite looking forward to hearing, including Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" and Billy Idol's "Mony, Mony." FWIW, I think KOKZ plays the original Idol studio version of "Mony, Mony" (as opposed to the live version), which is fine by me. And yes, I'm a big fan of Tiffany's version of the old Tommy James classic, although except for the "Top 10 at Noon," I've not heard it in regular rotation, which is a shame. Both fit in quite nicely, IMO, in a classic hits playlist ... and I'd still fit in Tommy James' post-Shondells songs "Draggin' the Line" and "Three Times in Love," too. Brian
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2016 13:58:12 GMT -5
You are making some wild, offensive assumptions about folks who are hard working and dedicated to the industry. Just because stations do not specifically program to you and program to their audience and to make a profit does not make them bait for your verbal bullying. Small town radio is not the place to establish a radio career. I learned this myself. I have several years of small town on air experience that translates into "jack-you know what" trying to break into the bigger markets. I had a blast on the air and loved it, but I did not necessarily get experience with the skills to sound "big." Do I like what iHeart and Cumulus have done to the industry? Absolutely not. It saddens me every day. But it is reality - and that is something you seem to be ignoring. Honestly, there really is nowhere to establish a radio career these days unless you are one of the very lucky few. And if you are (and if I was) you best bet would play exactly what I was told to play and say exactly what I was told to say in order to keep the station successful and the revenue coming in. Programming for yourself is what you do when you break out the LP or 45 collection or make a custom playlist on your iWhatever. There is nothing wrong with making the decisions and having control on a station you or I potentially own or program. But you have to do it with the regular listener and ratings in mind - not your own personal preferences or likes. Songs like Step By Step (or rather Step By Step) do NOT have business being on the air on classic hits outside of a specialty show airing in a lower rated timeslot like American Top 40. You wanting to hear it and be "transported" to that time does not mean the station should play it. Radio in the 21st century is not for an old school sounding smooth voiced disc jockey to "spin the tunes" - it is a multi platform thing where content is distributed, often by playing a very specific type of music. It doesn't mean I don't miss the good old days you speak of. But it is silly to pretend they aren't long, long gone. My comments are going to focus on the small-town radio remarks ... you making this seem like advancing to small market, then medium market, etc. is the must-be end-game for all disc jockeys. Some people simply DO NOT HAVE THE DESIRE to move on beyond radio in, say, their hometowns of Washington or Manchester, both in Iowa. And I'll tell you something right now, Brett ... it's a lot more to it than just being able to create your own playlists and chuck what Big Fat Man in a Suit Chomping a Cigar likes. It's the interactions with people, getting to know them and being a community supporter. Outside of a few major causes, which is fine that they support those at least, you don't see many corporate stations even so much as acknowledge the PTA's fundraiser at the local elementary school for "buddy benches," for instance. Someone who wants to get an announcement on the radio about a soup supper for the local fire department to buy radios and coats ... they'd be shown the door by security, grabbed by the arm so tightly it hurts and told never to return or else be arrested, but it's SURE OK to hear some clichéd radio commercial from Progressive Insurance and Flo for the thousandth time. And fat chance of listening to your local high school football team, no matter if they're state championship material or Saturday morning fodder for the bully jocks on the corporate station. (And that latter one, I can tell you DID happen ... happened to my alma mater about 25 years ago when they were struggling simply to compete in games; eventually, after several weeks of this, several of the parents called the station and the jocks' bosses managed to tell them to knock it off; but that was long before Townsquare bought them out. Today, they don't even announce the scores, much less even a list of winners.) There's MUCH MORE to small-town radio than just the music, let me tell you. And they are every bit as hard working and passionate about radio as those anonymous button pushing one-lining no-talents you defend ... or their bosses. As far as your preference for the 1994 "December 1963," that's fine, and I don't mind it too much either, to be truthful. They did play it on "Backtrax USA's" 1990s program once, but there at least Kid Kelly was honest ... he did say the song was from 1994 (referring to that version). But I just had to chuckle to myself as -- and maybe it didn't really matter in this case -- he didn't state that this was a remake. Oh well. And Paul, aside from scattered airplay of the country crossovers, even I wouldn't play those songs that often as you think I would. I just mean it would be in my library and available to play. Brian Funny. I live in a major market and hear ads and announcements for local charities and stuff about high school football teams here all the time. Hell there's even a channel on the local cable provider that airs their games. In fact that's about all that channel does now. Brett has it too if he has Brighthouse. You really need to quit assuming the commercials (I guess) you hear on the internet from IHR are the same things airing locally. They aren't. You also should probably quit assuming radio is so incredibly different in small markets compared to elsewhere. I was born and raised in a mid size market that grew bigger. I've lived in small markets and big markets as well. Currently living in 1 that's top 15. Most stations in large part act the same. It doesn't matter whether you would play them often or not. The fact that they are there for someone to play is evidence of creative control being ok when it's what you want, but apparently not ok if it isn't.
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Post by BrettVW on Sept 22, 2016 14:10:02 GMT -5
My head hurts reading all of this. We will always agree to disagree and that is fine. I just know I would rather hear Jessie's Girl over a PSA for a soup supper. And I think most of the audience would agree.
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