 |
It's official: New York City radio sucks! |
donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
|  Posted: 2004-08-26 6:12 pm Permalink
Cool! I love all these posts. I thought I was limiting myself by talking about something as specific as New York radio. Not surprised to hear all the grievances from around the country. I'm not surprised, and yeah it seems that radio is better outside of the cities where the stations have less to lose ratings wise. What I'm really wondering, in the midst of all of this bad reception to the corporate crap we live with in addition to suck-ass radio, is when are the Clear Channels and Viacoms of the world gonna realize that nobody likes what they're putting out. They SUCK!! REAL-BAD!! The sad part of this is that their numbers must show that business is great. That people like their garbage. Now is that because some people actually think what they're doing is good, or are people just so numbed-out that they'll go along with anything? I guess it's a combination of both. A friend of mine put it pretty eloquently when we were talking about all the junk food products that are out there, she said "if SHIT tasted good people would eat it". You got that right. So I guess the moral of the story on this thread is that SHIT sounds good, so people are listening.
One thing I have to say in the middle of all this criticism is that Q-104.3 brought back Carol Miller, one of the classic New York DJs to do overnights and she is great. A breath of fresh air, no pun intended. She still plays the same crappy playlist they have, but she actually sounds good doing it. She also does 'Get the Led Out' which is a block of Zeppelin at the top of her show, and it's pretty tolerable. I think there is just a lack of good on-air talent out there that makes radio sound so bad. K-Rock, the New York alternative station, has the most annoying Jack-Ass generation DJs of all time. Please tell me why it's cool to sound like a know-it-all asshole on the air. DJs are supposed to be people you like, but I guess this speaks volumes about the current crop of 'youngsters' out there. Being likeable is uncool. You have to go swinging your skateboard in your dad's face and staple your balls to your thighs to be cool now.
Hey Ragin' Rarotongan I lived in your neck of the woods for a while back in the day. Remember this?: "She's Only Rock and Roll!!!!!!!!"
Yeah baby...that's the way you're supposed to do it! 
|
freddiefreelance
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 15, 2003
Posts: 2983
From: San Diego, Ca.
| Posted: 2004-08-26 8:42 pm Permalink
Ya gotta go 'round the dial & keep looking for the good stuff!
I grew up in NYC (on Staten Island) in the '70s & early '80s & listened to WNEW & WPIX (back when it was Punk & New Wave). In the mid '80s I moved to Pasadena, Ca, & listened to KROQ (where I interned for a couple years), KPCC (Pasadena City College, when it was Swing/Big Band) & KNAC (before it went Hair Metal). Later in the '80s & '90s I lived in Hollywood & listened to KROQ (going downhill fast...), KXLU (Molotov Cocktail Hour! Surf Wave!) & KEDG (When J.J. Jackson was in charge). In the '90s I lived in San Diego & listened to 91X & KIOZ (when it had interesting Metal & Hard Rock). I moved to Chicago/Kankakee in the early '00s & listened to WVLI (Wonderful Oldies/Cheese Rock) & WXRT. I've now moved back to San Diego & I listen to 95.5, KPRI & KKJZ (I can get it along the I15 & I5 corridors).
Wherever you go, there's something listenable. Look for drop-in stations, College Radio, Pirates & Public Radio. Check the extreme left & right of your dial. Check out AM radio, Cable Radio & splitting the FM signal off of your TV antenna. Keep your ears & mind open, it's out there.
_________________
Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., Th.D., D.F.S
|
Dimethios
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 26, 2004
Posts: 116 | Posted: 2004-08-26 11:11 pm Permalink
Same story here, I get all the Chicago stations plus some Hoosier ones and its all the same. "Get the led out", 5 bands rotated to death on every station. Last time I checked Jimi Hendrix made more than 2 songs... (Foxy Lady, Purple Haze)Corporate radio blows. Period, plain and simple. I do agree WXRT 93.1 is about the best of the corp's but Best bet for me is college of Dupage IL has an awesome jazz station and other NPR stations are mostly what I listen to. On Sunday nights they have a world music show and occasionaly get into exotica! I do the same thing with my Sony MD Player and a radio transmitter from Rad Shack. Works great no DJ's!
_________________
Our lives are not in the lap of the gods, but in the lap of our cooks - Lin Yutang
[ This Message was edited by: Dimethios on 2004-08-26 23:13 ]
|
Tiki-bot
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 24, 2002
Posts: 1345 | Posted: 2004-08-27 12:05 pm Permalink
Quote:
|
On 2004-08-26 18:12, donhonyc wrote:
...when are the Clear Channels and Viacoms of the world gonna realize that nobody likes what they're putting out. They SUCK!! REAL-BAD!! |
|
Well, *somebody* likes it or it would just stop. There are as many different standards for what constitutes "good music" as there are people. A lot of people just aren't interested in actively *listening* to music. Most people seem to not really care what they hear, aside from basic proclaimations like "I hate Country", and Clear Channel caters mostly to this demographic.
I once heard a review of Dave Matthews' music as "music for people who don't like music". To them, DM and their "adult contemorary" brethren are just a pleasant sound playing in the background of their lives that doesn't require any active thought or input. It's innocuous and disposeable. It seems as though all mainstream entertainment has gone this route: Just give 'em something to fill their ear and eye holes for a few days or weeks, then move on. This has happend to movies, music, and video games. I think it's a systemic cultural thing and not something specific to the music industry. It's all the more annoying when you come from a time when this was not the norm and all those mediums were more adventurous and interesting.
_________________
|
Urban Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 18, 2004
Posts: 527
From: The Tropical Isle of Manhattan
| Posted: 2004-08-27 1:40 pm Permalink
I have to agree. It's gotten to the point that I don't listen to the radio anymore- just CDs. The problem is that you miss out on the limited amount of new music that comes out. I don't usually pick up on it for a while after it comes out (and then, mostly from commercials on TV). Now that I mention it, I don't watch commercial TV much anymore, either. I think all broadcasting pretty much sucks these days.
|
donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
| Posted: 2004-08-27 4:47 pm Permalink
Quote:
|
I think it's a systemic cultural thing and not something specific to the music industry. It's all the more annoying when you come from a time when this was not the norm and all those mediums were more adventurous and interesting.
|
|
Well put Tiki-bot. Wish I coulda been as articulate. And yeah Urban Tiki, I don't watch much commercial TV either. Back in the day everyone had at least one or two favorite TV shows. I haven't watched, nor do I know much about any of the current prime time line-ups. All I really watch is CNN and some of the other news channels, VH1 classic, and if anything looks good on History Channel, Trio, Turner Classics, etc. I'll park it there. Unfortunately TV Land is a major dissapointment, most of the time.
One thing I do absolutely love to do is mute out the commercials when they come on. It's sort of my own private cynical protest. Very ocassionally there is actually a clever ad out there. There was a funny one around tax time this year for H&R Block that showed a guy meticulously setting up his desk to prepare his taxes, and then he accidentally spills a cup of coffee all over it. Good comic timing, very funny. But back to my orig. point: yeah muting commercials. Not only are most of the ads lame, but I worked for a long stretch in an industry very closely related to the Ad biz, and I got a real insider's look at how this stuff is concieved and executed, and let's just say..to be nice..that Ad people weren't the kind of people that I think I should be involved with on a workaday basis. So muting the commercials holds a special place in my heart...
[ This Message was edited by: donhonyc on 2004-08-27 16:52 ]
|
Tiki Chris
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 1543
From: London
| Posted: 2004-10-18 06:49 am Permalink
if y're in the nyc area & trying to find something decent on the dial, try wbgo 88.3. it's quite possibly the greatest jazz station in the u.s. they've been broadcasting out of newark for 25 yrs.
i can't say i love 100% of their playlists, but more often than not, i'm satisfied. & it's not "smooth jazz" schlock. it's good mainstream jazz (you know, coltrane, davis, monk, etc) w/ what seems to me to be an emphasis on the 40's thru the 70's.
***
& if you can pick it up, wprb 103.3 (princeton's station) has very eclectic programming, but it can be pretty hit or miss depending on the show/dj/etc.
|
dave240
Member
Joined: Feb 16, 2013
Posts: 3 | Posted: 2013-02-16 6:10 pm Permalink
It is true that New York radio sucks, but never fear i know downtown soulville has a podcast. The adress is wfmu.org/podcast/sv.xml
|
dave240
Member
Joined: Feb 16, 2013
Posts: 3 | Posted: 2013-02-16 6:32 pm Permalink
Quote:
|
On 2004-08-26 01:37, TikiGardener wrote:
I feel your pain, or I did when I lived there.
My biggest gripe with WFMU was the dj's who love to hear themselves speak on the tapes they make of their shows. The run on and on and on and fifteen minutes later, you get a song.
I remember more than once my coworker and myself screaming at the radio for them to shut up and play some music.
It really sucked when you waited that long and they played a crap track.
New York corporate radio is no worse than corporate radio anywhere else. It sucks wherever you go. Amen brother here in San Antonio we have a collage radio station called KSYM and a jazz station called KRTU. Those stations are the best stations in the city. Most stations in San Antonio are just no good. 99.5 KISS boo hiss! Try programing a better station! Radio pirates try not to get busted and give corparate radio a run for thier money!
TG
|
|
|
|
