dfaulkner said:
dismuke said:
dfaulkner said:
I'm not sure if there are any Border Blasters today. I think they're pretty much gone.
XEG on 1050 AM out of Monterrey is a former border blaster that is still around and still transmits at 100,000 watts. These days, they play ranchera music. I am told that the station can be picked up in Canada.
Heard XEG in Lakewood 0435 - 0445 this morning. Heard them do a station ID @ 0445.
I used to listen to XEG a lot whenever I found myself driving late at night. I simply cannot stomach most American pop after the mid 1960s. So if there is not any interesting talk programing, my choices on the radio dial are very limited. I can put up with KAAM and WRR in very limited doses and occasionally hear something I like on both. But if I am driving late at night, I usually want something that will keep me awake and not put me to sleep.
These days, I have become a big fan of the Midnight Trucking show on WBAP, of all things. I do not drive an 18 wheeler and the various truck specific content does not interest me. But most of the program is devoted to normal talk show type material - and the hosts on the program often discuss the issues of the day with far more intelligence and insight than certain nationally syndicated hosts I have occasionally tuned into. So that is now my default program to listen to late at night. But a few years ago, that option did not exist.
I like XEG specifically because, unlike most American based Spanish language stations, the music it plays has largely avoided the influence of post mid 1960s American pop. Most American Spanish langauge stations these days to me sound like little more than "soft rock" with a Mexican twist and Spanish lyrics. A little bit of the modern nastiness can be heard here and there in XEG's music - but not to an overwhelming degree. As a result, they music they play tends to be quite melodic and, at the same time, has a nice beat. And the beat is sometimes quite "old fashioned" in that you will actually hear waltzes and polkas.
To me, the only real downside is I don't speak Spanish and sometimes it can be a bit too heavy on the "oompa oompa" in the same way that traditional German folk music can be. But I can stomach "oompa oompa" more than a lot of other stuff on the radio. On the other hand, once in a while, they will play a song that I regard as OUTSTANDING and would actually be interested in buying a copy of - and, unfortunately, since I cannot understand the lyrics or the announcements, the moment simply passes and I have no way of knowing the artist, title or where to locate a copy.
Here is a wikipedia article on the musical genre:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranchera
The other thing I find interesting about XEG is the style of the announcers and some of the commercials. They are far more expressive than radio announcers in the US are - to a very exaggerated degree. And they frequently apply heavy doses of reverb making it sound like the announcers are in an echo chamber. Again, I don't speak a word of Spanish so I have no idea what on earth they are talking about. Whatever it is, they are obviously pretty excited about it. I listen to the station and wish I did speak Spanish - and wonder if I actually did know what they are talking about if it would be less interesting.
Like I said, I don't listen very much these days on nighttime AM drift. But once in awhile, if I find myself in the mood for something very different, I will tune in the station online through its website at:
http://www.nucleoradio.com/ranchera/
