A Great Moment In Radio

[Wolfman]

Huge, huge props for 88.1 WMBR in Boston today.  First they played "San Francisco Nights" by the Animals (great, great tune.)  Then they played Viola Lee Blues by the Grateful Dead (from San Fran) then followed that up with "San Francisco Girl" by some band called Fever Tree.  Never heard it before but it was really cool.

But here\'s the kicker...during the third song I figured out he was doing a San Fran theme, so I called the station and requested Flower Punk by Frank Zappa.  "Lemme see if I have it" said the DJ and he hung up.  Then he played it the very next song!!  Imagine what the world would be like if all rock radio stations played Zappa and other great music at the drop of a hat.  Really, think about the social implications of that for a minute.  The world would be a much more interesting and fun place, I know that much.

Thanks again and great job WMBR 88.1!

[Rujah]

meanwhile we you call into Sirius_JamOn you can\'t even talk to any of the 3 or 4 DJs they have there instead you are forced to leave a message, which I still cant figure out.

[skalnbyc]

Thanks again and great job WMBR 88.1!

I don\'t think I remember that one.  College station?  What is the deal?

Fever Tree is on a compilation I have, \'Psychedelic pop hits of the 60\'s\'.

[Wolfman]

meanwhile we you call into Sirius_JamOn you can\'t even talk to any of the 3 or 4 DJs they have there instead you are forced to leave a message, which I still cant figure out.

It certainly is interesting to draw the contrast between this experience and the Sirius requesting experience.  It seems it takes hundreds of similar requests to get Sirius to play anything, which means you need to be huge AND lucky (the Breakfast are neither) to have the phone requests get you airtime.  One major reason Sirius doesn\'t answer the phone is that most of the DJs are never in the studio, they simply record the things they say for each show at home and send in the tape.  (Ever notice how Jonathan Schwartz works on Jam_On from 6-10AM AND 7-8:30PM?  Riiiiiight.)  Also, if you\'re only going to take 1 out of 10,000 requests anyways, why pay a staff to handle the incoming phone calls for 140 music stations stations when 1 machine can do it for nothing?  

I love the interactivity of college radio.  I have WMBR and WERS in my phone and I call whenever I hear a good set going and just chat with the DJ for a few minutes.  It\'s chill as hell and makes the DJ feel good.

[skalnbyc]

I love the interactivity of college radio.  I have WMBR and WERS in my phone and I call whenever I hear a good set going and just chat with the DJ for a few minutes.  It\'s chill as hell and makes the DJ feel good.

I used to listen to ERS everyday when I worked in Boston.

[derickw]

when i do listen to the radio, college radio is all i listen to. i honestly don\'t really care what kind of music it is because i can get into just about anything. but most importantly they play off the wall stuff you probably would have never heard. i have 90.3 which is URI and 88.3 which is Rodger Williams. and i know 90.3 plays the Breakfast sometimes.

[FrankZappa]

if I listen to the radio, it\'s been the lower frequencies. Ever since 104 packed up and the college radio stations are hit or miss signal strength around here, it\'s
1080am
90.5
88.3
89.5

<-misses good radio

[derickw]

what about 88.7

[davepeck]

i guess i\'m just amazed that in this world of internet, ipods, archive.org, mp3s, and blank cds, that people still listen to the radio for music.. i personally haven\'t used the radio for music since high school. i *do* listen to the radio (a lot), but it\'s either sports (660AM WFAN) or news (880AM WCBS). IMO, it\'s pretty much a dead medium as far as music is concerned.

[FrankZappa]

88.7 - too much bleed over from 88.5 - an unknown college station. I can get one or the other sometimes, but it\'s mostly both together.

Mostly I\'m news on the radio. I like 90.5 for npr  & random classical music though, and 88.3 has some really good jazz. the last year or so though it\'s pretty much been all 1080/npr or I\'m listening to mp3 cds.

imo, newspaper=dead medium that wastes TONS of paper per day. That\'s what I told the guy from new haven register sales department who called me the other day. He didn\'t even have a responce. He just said "um ok... goodbye then."

[Rujah]

in my mind college radio stations are the best. I used to work at a college radio station and we used to play alot of The Breakfast and other jam bands. It was great to actually be able to listen to that type of music on the radio because no one else was playing that kind of stuff. Check it out if you are ever in the area. Lake George, Glens Falls, Queensbury, NY.  92.7 WGFR The Revolution.

[Wolfman]

i guess i\'m just amazed that in this world of internet, ipods, archive.org, mp3s, and blank cds, that people still listen to the radio for music

Don\'t forget Satellite Radio, that was the nail in the coffin!  Radio is dead to me too, but there are those very few stations that do it right and I\'ll tune in once or twice a week especially when I know there\'s a show I like.  Case in point the story that inspired this thread, how the station played Flower Punk the next song just because I asked for it.  The key difference between radio (satellite or terrestrial) vs. all the mediums you mentioned above is that you don\'t choose everything you hear on radio.  It makes you listen to new stuff and open up more than you would when you choose everything you listen to.  Once you find a show you like this can be very rewarding.