93.3 The Bone

[stench]

Who is Val Garris? Background? Never heard of this programming guru.

 

[TheRover]

Herer's what The Bone was serving up Sunday afternoon"
(snip)
As you can see..... a few ROCKERS, here and there, and that with a majority of over-played commerical rick hits and singles......
But then..... THAT'S WHAT CLASSIC ROCK RADIO DOES . . . . .
They play mostly hits and singles, over and over and over again......
Why would anyone want any more ? ? ? ? ?
I can only think of one reason why anyone would want more:
Integrity
Musical Integrity
But really..... That is NOT a problem for the average Bone listener of whatever age or IQ, now is it ? ? ? ? ? ?

Apparently anything they play you won't be happy with.

Everybody complains about a station that plays the same type of music over and over, it looks like they're playing a wide variety of the rock genre- from old stuff like Zepplin&Neil Young, to STP and Soundgarden and every thing in between...
I'm just glad they got off the all hair-metal kick they were on last time I spent any time checking them out...

And personally I'm tired of hearing the complaints about stations that play the hits and singles. Every station I've worked for has tried to broaden the playlist at some point. And watched TSL (and therefore ratings go down hill. To quote Chrissy Hynde, there's a thin line between love and hate. And there's a thin line between too narrow a playlist and too broad of a playlist.

Just complaining about them playing nothing but "hits", when there's stuff that never even sniffed the top 40 on that list is ludicrious, at best...

When you try so hard to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

A single is just that, whether it ever charted is irrelevant this this discussion. If the corporation wanted it played.... then, by hook or by c-r-o-o-k, it was played, and, the songs --not-- chosen by the corporation, were n-o-t played, in amost --all-- cases.

I destes this sort fo manipulation and control over rock music. It has place on shallow top 40 radio, but it is agaisnt the very spirit of Rock.

Too broad a playlist..... with all of the wonderful music on the Rlling Stone TOP 500 albums ? ? ? ? Now THAT---- is LUDICRIOUS !

I will never accept this blending of "Top 40"and record company singles, and, album rock as a better alternative to album rock. Let there be shallow rock playlists for 'those' people. AND, let there be Album Rock, for the rest of US !

That, is what I stand for.....

 

[theshadow]

I don't know ANYONE who likes Metallica AND Don Henley/Eagles AND Yes.

I do. And I'm probably not the only one.

Just because you enjoy "Already Gone" & "Owner Of A Lonely Heart",
doesn't mean you can't rock out to "Enter Sandman" (still the best rock
song intro EVER)....

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Wish I had the clearance to build a 200' tower at the house, aimed towards Whitesboro so I could pull in KMAD. I find myself programming several rimshots on my car stereo presets these days.

I don't know where in the metroplex you are, but KMAD has a really good signal and shouldn't require that much of an antenna. I staple a dipole on the wall at the ceiling line, and have perfect stereo. That is in central Plano. In my car, I have really good reception to 635 and I-35, and as I went down 121 towards Ft. Worth, it fades in and out with the Waco station until Waco wins out.

 

[stench]

Who is Val Garris? Background? Never heard of this programming guru.

Speaks volumes when there are no replies.

Val, who are you?

 

[fritobandito]

Speaks volumes when there are no replies.

Val, who are you?

Unless I missed something, Val wasn't mentioned in this thread until you brought him up.

Seems you already know who he is.

 

[SniffMyYamBag]

Who is Val Garris? Background? Never heard of this programming guru.

Val is the Cumulus Director of Rock Programming. Got his start as the research guy for BDA. He has been with Cumulus from the beginning. Handling Rock, Classic Rock, Alternative, some Hot ACs and CHRs.

And I agree. I think our good friend already knew this info.

 

[JediRocker]

Having just got back in town from vac, I was pleased to hear the W&J show was no longer on the Bone. I am struggling with music selection at 92.5, but at least I can toggle between the two Dallas stations in the mornings. Still, 102.5 in Sherman is better.

 

[stench]

Who is Val Garris? Background? Never heard of this programming guru.

Val is the Cumulus Director of Rock Programming. Got his start as the research guy for BDA. He has been with Cumulus from the beginning. Handling Rock, Classic Rock, Alternative, some Hot ACs and CHRs.

And I agree. I think our good friend already knew this info.

Yes knew he was Cumulus dude, No did not know much other than that. Thanks.

 

[TheRover]

I don't know ANYONE who likes Metallica AND Don Henley/Eagles AND Yes.

Well, that's just the point, isn't it. You so easily try to assume that the "best" world would be where thoses that -only- like hard-driving Metallica are catered to, and those that -only- like the Eagles are catered to......

I would not want to be in either of those worlds ! ! ! !

Great FM ROCK programming has always included both hard-driving songs and great ballads. IE, even from the same band, Led Zeppelin, we get "Going To California" and "The Battle of Evermore"..... and "Heratbreaker" and "Dazed And Confused"....

As long as song doesn;t suck, then mixing "light" and "dark" --is-- a good thing!!

A great FM ROCK stands apart from other formats! I don't expect KVIL to play :ed Zeppelin, and I don't look to Rock stations to play Barry Manilow.

Mixing light and dark is not a lost art.... it is just an unused art.

Back when you had DJs that were allowed to play by 'feel', you didn't have this problem of songs being selected by the company computer.....where you get "Riders On The Storm" played on a Beautiful sunny day.... It's what separates great Rock radio from just ordinary radio.

If most corporate rock stations would make the music they played #1 in importance, instead of promotions, DJ chatter, and give-a-ways, then they would be satisfying their listeners with music above all else..... What ! A concept !!

But then, there a very, very few great Rock stations on air.

A computer selecting songs ---- IS NOT MY FRIEND !

Until the Human touch is brought back, FM Rock radio will still suck.

And you know it !!

 

[theshadow]

Great FM ROCK programming has always included both hard-driving songs and great ballads.
As long as song doesn;t suck, then mixing "light" and "dark" --is-- a good thing!!

Very well said Rover. I wholeheartedly agree. I enjoy the hard driving of something
like Van Halen's "Panama" just as much as I like Grand Funk's "I'm Your Captain".

If most corporate rock stations would make the music they played #1 in importance, instead of promotions, DJ chatter, and give-a-ways, then they would be satisfying their listeners with music above all else..... What ! A concept !!

Again, something I totally agree with. Without good programming, all the promotions,
DJ chatter, and give-a-ways won't do a damn bit of good, if you're audience thinks
your station (and its associated music) sucks.

Many would say programming is built on sales, which I think that
concept is total bunk. Sales is built on good programming. If you
have something worthwhile to give to a community (and your listeners),
they will come (like Field of Dreams), businesses will buy spot packages,
and you might just achieve your goal of those listeners patronizing the
businesses that buy those spot packages.

A computer selecting songs ---- IS NOT MY FRIEND !

A computer can certainly be your friend, and the HUMAN TOUCH
element can definitely be placed into the process, but computers
are only as smart as the persons operating them. If you've got
a idiot programming, it's crap in, crap out. Simple as that.

Perhaps one of these fine days we'll go back to the concept of gut
feeling programming where PD use consultants, research, audience
tests, and all these bells and whistles music software as TOOLS,
rather than BIBLES.

Problem is, most (if not all) companies are hell bent on the allmighty
dollar, and paying off ownership mergers and operating debts, and
programming takes the back burner. Capitalism at its best!

 

[stench]

When you have people in charge who come from a research background, art is a non-issue. Sad but true.

Songs have meaning, they possess emotion, in a certain context one song will have more impact than another and so on and so forth. A computer program will never get that-only people do, the right people. The ones who get it.

 

[Robert Bass]

When you have people in charge who come from a research background, art is a non-issue. Sad but true.

Songs have meaning, they possess emotion, in a certain context one song will have more impact than another and so on and so forth. A computer program will never get that-only people do, the right people. The ones who get it.

This is why a human, usually the PD or MD, is supposed to review and adjust the playlist, after the computer does its thing.

R

 

[fritobandito]

When you have people in charge who come from a research background, art is a non-issue. Sad but true.

Songs have meaning, they possess emotion, in a certain context one song will have more impact than another and so on and so forth. A computer program will never get that-only people do, the right people. The ones who get it.

Wow... Someone apparently has a bone to pick with Val. (Punny, no?) I love it when people feign ignorance then come out swinging.

If you're doing it right, emotion, texture, etc. all go into the coding of a song in your music scheduling software. It all factors in to create the mix.

The primary reason music scheduling software exists is rotations. Nobody wants to hear the same song at the same time every day. The variety some people here claim to be yearning for is delivered via computers, not DJs with their own musical biases and tastes.

If I were allowed to program a shift totally free form like FM did in the 60s and 70s, you'd hear no music from the 60s or 70s on my show. I hate The Doors and everything they ever recorded. I'm not a big Zeppelin fan either. As far as I'm concerned, The Beatles are crap. Ping pong stereo!!! What were they thinking?

What do I like? Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, Ratt, Linkin Park, Nine Inch Nails and a little Donnie Iris thrown in for good measure. Of course I only like one Donnie Iris song and that's Ah! Leah! which would probably make some of you puke. Of course, that's "cool music" to me. Everyone's definition of cool is something different.

People are creatures of habit. Without a playlist, on Frito's personal radio station you'd probably hear Def Leppard's Women every day at 5 o'clock. Without computers, that's what you'd get. Less music variety than you have now because personal bias would become a big part of the equation.

 

[fritobandito]

Great FM ROCK programming has always included both hard-driving songs and great ballads. IE, even from the same band, Led Zeppelin, we get "Going To California" and "The Battle of Evermore"..... and "Heratbreaker" and "Dazed And Confused"....

So how would you handle the Pantera fans we have here in Texas? You know, the ones that think if every song doesn't kick you square in the 'nads the station sucks?

 

[TheRover]

Great FM ROCK programming has always included both hard-driving songs and great ballads. IE, even from the same band, Led Zeppelin, we get "Going To California" and "The Battle of Evermore"..... and "Heratbreaker" and "Dazed And Confused"....

So how would you handle the Pantera fans we have here in Texas? You know, the ones that think if every song doesn't kick you square in the 'nads the station sucks?

Well, I'd say they're imbalanced, and should seek professional help asap! But I feel the same about people who only want to hear Barbara S. / Celene Dion / and Phil Collins songs all day long.. 8)

 

[TheRover]

When you have people in charge who come from a research background, art is a non-issue. Sad but true.

Songs have meaning, they possess emotion, in a certain context one song will have more impact than another and so on and so forth. A computer program will never get that-only people do, the right people. The ones who get it.

This is why a human, usually the PD or MD, is supposed to review and adjust the playlist, after the computer does its thing.

R

But really Robert..... this 'massaging' of the computer playlist doesn't change the fact that no matter how it's arranged, it's still to "AM" in it's repetition and content.

 

[TheRover]

A computer can certainly be your friend, and the HUMAN TOUCH
element can definitely be placed into the process, but computers
are only as smart as the persons operating them. If you've got
a idiot programming, it's crap in, crap out. Simple as that.

Perhaps one of these fine days we'll go back to the concept of gut
feeling programming where PD use consultants, research, audience
tests, and all these bells and whistles music software as TOOLS,
rather than BIBLES.

Problem is, most (if not all) companies are hell bent on the allmighty
dollar, and paying off ownership mergers and operating debts, and
programming takes the back burner. Capitalism at its best!

Or, as I would say: "Capitalism at its worst !"

 

[Robert Bass]

But really Robert..... this 'massaging' of the computer playlist doesn't change the fact that no matter how it's arranged, it's still to "AM" in it's repetition and content.

It's still to AM ???

R

 

[MikeShannon914]

Has anyone noticed Walton and Johnson being gone yet? What a strange concept...MUSIC in the morning.