Still listen to radio anymore?

Post Reply New Topic

Since going to college I weaned myself off of radio since I discovered the existence of video game music soundtracks, anime music soundtracks, and real music, especially in the Hip-Hop and Rap Genre.

I don't listen to radio that much unless I have to.

The more I listen to radio at that point I realize that they rarely broadcast local music, they constantly broadcast the same top 20 singles over and over, and they play only singles of the albulm years after the actual album has already released.

Oh yes, even though there's the FCC safe harbor of indecent content (the seven dirty words), they still broadcast "clean" version of the lyrics.

Anyone still listen to radio? If not, why?

In a group that I go to I have to driven there by one of the workers, she usually has Radio 1 on and I loathe Chris Moyles! I hear him talk more rather than any music being played, but I have to applaud her on trying to convince me its good listening.

I listen to the BBC overnight service and then Morning Edition on National Public Radio. Little habit I got when I slept through 9-11.

I listen to NPR talk radio-which I didn't think you meant as a poll option. I can't tolerate top 40 radio for it's repetition and the disc jockey patter drives me batty.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36kzl89GNw[/youtube]

Absolutely.
Radio I frequently listen to are a station http://www.krli.net/ and a specific show, which happens to be on another http://www.coasttocoastam.com/
Station plays music all the way from 1900 to 1970 with some 80s.
Mostly 1930, 40, 50, eras, though.

southwestforests I'll have to check those out-I love old 40's torch songs. I wish someone would do some covers of songs like Stormy Weather or Smoke gets In Your Eyes without all the orchestration.

I still listen to radio. My favorite station is an adult contemporary station in San Antonio, Q 101.9.

I pick up both San Antonio and Austin stations, and have even picked up Bryan-College Station radio stations (where A&M is--120 miles away).

I haven't found any stations that play jazzy, acoustic indie music, which I like, other than the stations on XM and Sirius. I plan to get one of those after I graduate and get a nicer car.

Warning: Old Fart Rambling:

Why thank You, Aimless! While I'll agree the repetition in virtually all commercial formats is obnoxious (thank corporate consultants and focus group-think for that), I was in fact fired repeatedly for complaining about that and attempting on every level to subvert it.

Still in all, there was a day, before 180 channel television, talking billboards and music blasting iPhones, when the voice of a radio disc jockey might be the closest thing to human contact a person would have either late at night, or in a strange city, or both. As Kate Bush once sang about us: "Friendly voices, talking 'bout stupid things"

The sad fact is, today, the majority of that patter is all pre-recorded onto the station computer well ahead of time, and by the time it's annoying you on the air, the announcer who recorded it is down the hall doing something else.

The whole experience was more satisfying at both ends back in the days of vinyl and analog tape, when the DJ was more of a live stand-up comedian, flying by the seat of his pants, ad-libbing topical jokes and trying not to let a song run out into DEAD AIR.

And if a lot of the patter seemed stupid, keep in mind that we did four to six hours worth of material EVERY DAY. Even the best stand-ups get to hone a twenty minute set on the road for weeks before you see it on television. And just try talking up a song's intro and wrapping up just in time, so you don't talk over the vocalist when they start singing. It's harder than it looks.

But the truth is, most radio jocks annoy the hell out of me, too, because most of them SUCK. I had to stop sleeping with the radio on, because once I did it for a living, the slightest mistake would wake me up. But the good ones - like Larry Lujack and John (Records) Landecker on the old WLS in Chicago...those guys were artists - and that's what I personally always tried to aspire to.

But to answer the OPs question. No. For the very reason Aimless stated, why listen to a radio station that repeats its entire library every 90 minutes, when I can fit more than 30,000 songs in a 60gig MP3 player? I have a bigger music library in my pocket than the libraries of every radio station in my state COMBINED. I tried to tell 'em, for more than 30 years...dumbass corporate suits...

Last edited by Willard on 14 Sep 2009, 11:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Joni Mitchell covered Stormy Weather as recently as 2000, but it was actually far more orchestrated than the original and though I love Joni, not a song I would pick for her distinctive voice. Personally, of all the versions I've heard, I think Lena Horne nailed that one for the ages.

And I swear to God, the sexiest song I've ever heard in my life is Blossom Dearie's cover of Someone to Watch Over Me. I don't know where it appeared originally, but I heard it on a tribute to Ira Gershwin released just before the Millennium.

There's a very cool Internet Radio station called Absinthe Radio that plays music of the 20s and 30s thru Live365. And in spite of all the brouhaha over peer-to-peer file sharing, all that great music from the invention of the gramophone through World War II, is now in the public domain and free of all copyright. Download away!

James Taylor often picks a classic nugget like that to cover, without a lot of orchestration, but usually just one or two per album. He does a beautiful version of Walkin' My Baby Back Home.

Shutting Up Now.

I can say that talk radio is interesting at times. I find that listening to some of the shows can be invigorating at times, boring at other times, but always intriguing. One local station was carrying Air America, but was aquired by the local NPR station. That was a shame because at times I liked listening to nonsense.

I prefer music that's upbeat and boppy.

But here's the thing that I can't figure out. I can hear and understand the lyrics, but I don't understand the meaning of the lyrics. The meaning of the song, the emotion that goes with it, I don't get it. Others tell me about the meaning of the lyrics, the metaphors, but I don't understand any of it. I don't understand metaphors at all, and I'm thinking that it might be the reason I don't understand song, movies, or literature; and didn't do so well in those classes in school.

The radio is a great diversion while driving. It takes some of the stress out of operating a car. I just wish I could listen to music while flying. Listening to controllers talking to other aircraft gets boring really fast.

Rarely!

I listen to CBC-FM - usually in the middle of the night - well, okay, I sleep to it. It's not music, they pick up broadcasts from around the world, an hour in each country. Some of it drifts into my mind while I sleep - sometimes I wake up knowing a little more about Poland or Ukraine or Kenya.

For music, I don't turn to radio much any more.

Willard wrote:

[/quote]And if a lot of the patter seemed stupid, keep in mind that we did four to six hours worth of material EVERY DAY. Even the best stand-ups get to hone a twenty minute set on the road for weeks before you see it on television. And just try talking up a song's intro and wrapping up just in time, so you don't talk over the vocalist when they start singing. It's harder than it looks. Wink

And I swear to God, the sexiest song I've ever heard in my life is Blossom Dearie's cover of Someone to Watch Over Me. I don't know where it appeared originally, but I heard it on a tribute to Ira Gershwin released just before the Millennium.
But here's the thing that I can't figure out. I can hear and understand the lyrics, but I don't understand the meaning of the lyrics. The meaning of the song, the emotion that goes with it, I don't get it. Others tell me about the meaning of the lyrics, the metaphors, but I don't understand any of it. I don't understand metaphors at all, and I'm thinking that it might be the reason I don't understand song, movies, or literature; and didn't do so well in those classes in school.
[quote]

Are you saying people actually understand the meaning of lyrics? I can handle 'Oh baby, I miss you so' but most of them are a complete mystery. A recent one from The Arctic Monkey's- 'I can't get my propeller started'

I did the quote's thing right but my computer has it's own ideas.

Difficult to interpret that sort of nonsensical whimsy, but my guess is that's about a junkie rock musician asking a groupie to achieve a feat that would more easily be accomplished with a dose of Viagra.

I guess if you disguise it within a cheeky lyric, it's not as embarrassing. Gotta write about something to fill up that Contractual Obligation album.

Used to listen to the radio a lot more.
Talk show left wing - Stephanie miller
Talk show right wing - Rush
Talk show left wing - this kept changing; Ed Schulz, Air America, a host of people who came and left so fast...they didn't even say 'goodbye'...
NPR
Fresh air...
BBC, etc.

I actually use this site, lately. I'm so tired of having 30-year-old songs pitched to me 'because of my age'...I've heard them...I'm tired of them, I want new music!...

that and Last FM.