Different Dedications Songs...Your Opinion?

[Deleted]

I believe they use the very complicated formula of "heads or tails?" ;D

[Radioman]

The reply for an earlier post in this topic:

They can't even name the correct affiliates for each format of the show within the program.
How could anybody think they could seperate the letters between AC and HAC show formats ?
Lots of affiliate billboards are named in the wrong show.
And also affiliates are named who dropped the show more than a year ago. Others never get attention on the show.
So forget about seperating LDD's letters between the format.
I think it's OK to have different songs for the LDD.
It's the story and person behind, that counts. Not the song played for it.

[Deleted]

everyone is entitled to their opinions, I still say play the correct song or don't play it at all.

[Scott Lakefield]

Welcome to the wacky world of radio in the year 2005. Playlists on every kind of radio station are so unbelievably tightly controlled, that there truly is no such thing as a "request" nowadays.

By and large, when you hear a "request" called in to a DJ, you're hearing that phone call (which is virtually always pre-recorded when you hear it on the air) because the song was coming up in the station's rotation anyway. They're not playing it because somebody called in and asked them to.

With shows or hours on radio stations that are "all request," the same rule sort of applies. For instance, let's say, as many stations do, a station is doing an "all request 80s" hour. I'd wager they've got a list of "safe" songs from that decade that can be played, and when someone calls in to request something that happens to be on that list, they get to hear their song. If a caller calls up and requests something that's not on the list, they're probably greeted by a "We'll try to spin that for ya!" and then the DJ/station act like the call never came in.

I was discussing the new Mickey Dolenz morning show (which is another topic entirely, but I won't get into that show here) on WCBS-FM in NYC with Rob recently. A caller that made it on the air (assumedly live in this case) welcomed Mickey to the airwaves, and then asked him to play something from the 50s. WCBS basically no longer plays songs from the 50s, so therefore, no song from the 50s was played to satisfy this person's request...and a simple request at that, to just play ONE song from an entire DECADE of music.

Now, back to the LDD topic. The same rule basically applies. There are lists out there for every radio format of "safe gold" songs. That is, "oldies" that are played on a large number of similarly formatted stations around the country. I'm sure that AT20/10 choose their extras...and keep in mind that an LDD is nothing more than an extra in the shows...from these lists.

So, you face a situation where people write in a dedication request to one of Casey's shows. The song may be "safe" for that type of station, but not the other type (AC vs. Hot AC). I'm sure there may even be cases where the song isn't even "safe" for the format that the writer is listening to.

This puts the Casey staff in a bind. They want to keep the LDD feature alive...after all, it's a Casey Kasem trademark. However, it's tough to always make the match between both a good letter that's compelling and tugs at the heartstrings in some way...AND a song that will be "safe" for one or both shows.

That said, however, to my knowledge, when the writer does not include an alternate song that is "safe" if the originally-requested song isn't "safe," the staff of the shows makes every effort to get in touch with that person to request/suggest an alternative.

Hope this clears this up...

[Deleted]

I wasn't debating any of that, I am back to my other statement then. Don't read the LDD is you have to change the song.

[Scott Lakefield]

Paul said:

I wasn't debating any of that, I am back to my other statement then. Don't read the LDD is you have to change the song.

I disagree slightly...I say don't do the LDD if you can't contact the writer for a different song if their original doesn't work. As long as the writer signs off on the song change, I think it's still their dedication (obviously) and effectively their choice of song.

[Hervard]

I don't see the downside of playing "Just The Way You Are" on a Hot AC station. I mean, what are they worried about, that someone tuning into their favorite Hot AC station and hearing the song is going to scream, "WHAT THE HELL??" and switch the station, never to listen to it again? Even so, who needs a listener with that sort of attitude?

I'm with Paul, play the correct song.

[Deleted]

on that note, I think radio stations and show programmers in their tighter playlist era of the last 13 years or so have now decieved themselves into thinking the radio listeners are stupid, caring only about that is out today, and don't want to be exposed to older music. That is not true, I didn't come into the world in 1977, start listening and paying attention to music in 1983 and care nothing about what was out before then. I remember in 1992, an R&D on Casey's Top 40 was "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker, I'll bet that wouldn't see the light of day as an LDD on a CHR station nowadays if they were still done.

[Hervard]

Paul said:

"You Are So Beautiful" by Joe thingyer,

Joe C0cker

[Deleted]

Thats what I put, the message board system apparently changed the word to "thingy", thats the first time it has ever done that to me.

[Deleted]

there was an actual POINT to that post though.......

[Michael1973]

Radioman said:

I think it's OK to have different songs for the LDD. It's the story and person behind, that counts. Not the song played for it.

I would say that's true most of the time, but not always. Once in a while, you can tell that the writer was specifically asking for a song that was special to the recipient. That's when the switching annoys me.

I suppose if the writer is contacted first, then it's not as big a deal. However, if they're going to change the song under those circumstances, then they should slightly alter the letter too. As was noted upthread, how confusing would it be for a dedication recipient to hear Casey read something like, "this was always our song" and then play a song they've never cared for or even heard before!

[Michael1973]

Paul said:

on that note, I think radio stations and show programmers in their tighter playlist era of the last 13 years or so have now decieved themselves into thinking the radio listeners are stupid, caring only about that is out today, and don't want to be exposed to older music. That is not true, I didn't come into the world in 1977, start listening and paying attention to music in 1983 and care nothing about what was out before then. I remember in 1992, an R&D on Casey's Top 40 was "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe thingyer, I'll bet that wouldn't see the light of day as an LDD on a CHR station nowadays if they were still done.

It seems that you and I got hooked on pop music around the same time, although I was a few years older. I first listened to Casey in the spring of 1983, but only followed the chart sporadically until late 1987, when it became a full-blown obsession.

Sadly, what you say about radio programmers is all too true. I've had discussions on other websites with guys in the business, and they wholeheartedly believe that one wrong song in the playlist will begin to drive people away. Sad, but true.

[Scott Lakefield]

ulij20 said:

I don't see the downside of playing "Just The Way You Are" on a Hot AC station. I mean, what are they worried about, that someone tuning into their favorite Hot AC station and hearing the song is going to scream, "WHAT THE HELL??" and switch the station, never to listen to it again? Even so, who needs a listener with that sort of attitude?

I'm with Paul, play the correct song.

It's not the listeners with that attitude...it's the programmers. They think that the exact scenario you suggested...HAC listeners will shun the station if they heaven forbid play something like "Just The Way You Are."

[Deleted]

Michael1973 said:

Sadly, what you say about radio programmers is all too true. I've had discussions on other websites with guys in the business, and they wholeheartedly believe that one wrong song in the playlist will begin to drive people away. Sad, but true.

And it would probbaly have the opposite effect, because older people as well as even younger will actually say "Hey, they play a lot more than just the 15 songs and 10 artist we here every hour, I am gonna listen to them more."