A question about the audience

[landtuna]

"Unpatriotic" was the way the "establishment" described the hippies. They were anti-war -- specifically anti-Vietnam War -- to teens and tweens like me (I was 12 during the "Summer of Love") and any hippie association the music or the radio station had made it just that much cooler, in my eyes. It's only looking back that I saw how silly and stupid and, ultimately, fraudulent the movement was.

There was more than one Hippie movement. One were the druggie drop outs who were the ones most criticized by establishment people who worked for a living. The other was the anti-Vietnam War movement which was far more purposed. They were criticized by LBJ, Tricky Dick and his corrupt vice president but in the end proved themselves correct with respect to the war. Unfortunately, both shared a rather baseless standard of living and they dressed in much the same fashion so were not distinguished easily by conservative America.

 

[CTListener]

I don't mind if a dj mentions the name of five different artists coming up, as long as they have more than one song by each of those artists on their active playlist. Too many times, radio makes de facto "one-hit wonders" out of many of the groups that they play. They like being able to refer to so-and-so as a "one-hit wonder," even if that artist had a few more hits that I know, love, and remember. Just because radio doesn't "remember" them doesn't mean that the rest of us don't remember them! :

I hear you. At the top of the current hour, DRC-FM billboarded the Isley Brothers. Now, 10 years ago that could have meant "Shout," "Twist and Shout," "This Old Heart of Mine" or "That Lady." But now it can only mean one song. Yep, "That Lady" played at 3:23!

 

[PirateJohnny]

I don't mind if a dj mentions the name of five different artists coming up, as long as they have more than one song by each of those artists on their active playlist. Too many times, radio makes de facto "one-hit wonders" out of many of the groups that they play. They like being able to refer to so-and-so as a "one-hit wonder," even if that artist had a few more hits that I know, love, and remember. Just because radio doesn't "remember" them doesn't mean that the rest of us don't remember them! :

I hear you. At the top of the current hour, DRC-FM billboarded the Isley Brothers. Now, 10 years ago that could have meant "Shout," "Twist and Shout," "This Old Heart of Mine" or "That Lady." But now it can only mean one song. Yep, "That Lady" played at 3:23!

Listened to Hippie on the way from home work today, like most days. After the break Mark McGill will play Crazy Elephant, Chicago and Jim Croce. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' (a given), Feelin' Stronger Every Day and Operator.

 

[landtuna]

Listened to Hippie on the way from home work today, like most days. After the break Mark McGill will play Crazy Elephant, Chicago and Jim Croce. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' (a given), Feelin' Stronger Every Day and Operator.

I listened most of the day and liked their playlist. Wasn't so keen about all the commercials but I know they gotta pay the bills. Reminds me of KODS in Reno which also plays much of the same music and carries exclusively local advertisers.

 

[unitron]

Are there really people out there in the radio audience who, upon hearing the announcer say "We've got some Van Morrison for you right after this", breathe a sigh of relief, secure in the knowledge that they are going to hear "Brown-eyed Girl" and are in no danger of being exposed to "Domino", "Moondance", or "Jackie Wilson Said"?

Now, to answer the OP. Actually I would prefer Domino and I would be delighted to hear Jackie Wilson Said. Just checked my personal library. Van Morrison is on my shopping list now.

Are you understanding what Michael and David have been patiently explaining for these many months? The average listener is a fan of the SONG "Brown Eyed Girl," not necessarily of Van Morrison. They'd have liked the song if it had been recorded originally by James Brown, Donovan, Elvis Presley or any other late-'60s chart notable you can name. Maybe it would have become one of the two James Brown songs on your local oldies station, instead of "I Got You (I Feel Good)" or "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag." But it cetainly wouldn't open the playlist 40 years later to all those other Brown (Donovan, Presley) songs that charted in the late '60s.

OK, if they like the song but don't know who sings it, how would they be "secure in the knowledge that they are going to hear "Brown-eyed Girl"" when told that Van Morrison is coming up? I've been following David and Michael through several threads and have learned quite a bit from them. Personally, I like "Brown-Eyed Girl", and crank it up when I hear it, but I remember his other releases and like to hear them from time to time, too. If I heard the Van Morrison was coming up, I would be hoping for something besides "Brown-Eyed Girl"

Oh, BTW, who has heard the alternate version of "Brown-Eyed Girl" that Van recorded?

I USED to like Brown Eyed Girl, but it's been played to death.

And apparently there's an alternate version that no one ever heard but me.

When it was out originally, with or without the making love line, there is now a very nasal-sounding voice among the ones singing the sha-la-las that was not there back then.

The first time I heard it years later I thought maybe the jock left the mic open and was singing along in a silly voice.

I know that AM radios back in the '60s were, for the most part, nowhere near the state of the art in high-fidelity, but I don't understand how that could have been somehow filtered out just by a poor high end response without taking most of the song with it.

 

[michael hagerty]

And apparently there's an alternate version that no one ever heard but me.

When it was out originally, with or without the making love line, there is now a very nasal-sounding voice among the ones singing the sha-la-las that was not there back then.

The first time I heard it years later I thought maybe the jock left the mic open and was singing along in a silly voice.

I know that AM radios back in the '60s were, for the most part, nowhere near the state of the art in high-fidelity, but I don't understand how that could have been somehow filtered out just by a poor high end response without taking most of the song with it.

It couldn't.

Most likely, the song was remixed and in the new mix, the nasal background singer can now be heard.

Depending on how long ago you first heard it, it could have been simply the difference between the mono 45 and stereo LP mixes of the song.

If you first noticed it in the mid-80s or later, then it could have happened during the remastering for CD release. A lot of songs had their mixes messed with by engineers who weren't there for the original sessions.

 

[firepoint525]

I don't mind if a dj mentions the name of five different artists coming up, as long as they have more than one song by each of those artists on their active playlist. Too many times, radio makes de facto "one-hit wonders" out of many of the groups that they play. They like being able to refer to so-and-so as a "one-hit wonder," even if that artist had a few more hits that I know, love, and remember. Just because radio doesn't "remember" them doesn't mean that the rest of us don't remember them! :

I hear you. At the top of the current hour, DRC-FM billboarded the Isley Brothers. Now, 10 years ago that could have meant "Shout," "Twist and Shout," "This Old Heart of Mine" or "That Lady." But now it can only mean one song. Yep, "That Lady" played at 3:23!

The top 40 station in the town where I grew up used to do this, too. Usually, when the artists' names were billboarded (usually near the beginning of the hour), it would usually mean their current hit(s). If it was a new artist, then it could ONLY mean their current hit, because they didn't have anything else out there (yet). If it was a one-time duet, then it could ONLY be that one hit! I still remember a mention of "Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton," and of course, that could ONLY mean their cover of Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonight."

 

[firepoint525]

Most people can name two songs by ELO. That's it.

True, it can be any two from their entire discography.

But for 90% of the public, it won't be. It'll be "Don't Bring Me Down" and one other...a toss-up from their remaining three top 10s.
It's like asking people to name two McDonald's menu items. They could name any of 30 or more items. But 90% will say "Big Mac" and either "Chicken McNuggets" or "Egg McMuffin".
It seems simplistic, but if you want to know how the average, non-obsessive American processes information, watch "Family Feud". Top two answers to any question are darn near universal, it falls off fast after that, and where contestants lose is usually in guessing wrong on answers 4 through 8. Check the percentages on those answers when they're revealed on the board. They're not consensus answers, but minority ones.

The smart families on "the Feud" are the ones who toss the game to the other family, rather than trying to play it themselves! ;D Then when the playing family uses up what seem like obvious choices, then get their three strikes, the non-playing family can steal with just one good answer. Doesn't always work, but I rarely ever see the "playing" family reveal ALL the answers on the board. And if someone hollers out "good answer, good answer," it is usually NOT a "good answer." ;D

Hippie is playing "Hold On Tight" by ELO, which is okay, but not really among my fave ELO tracks. Coffee generation commercial may have had something to do with that. They also play "Can't Get It Out of My Head," "Evil Woman," "Strange Magic," "Do Ya," "Livin' Thing," "Turn to Stone," "Sweet Talkin' Woman," and "Mr. Blue Sky." Nothing from Discovery, and nothing more recent than "Hold On Tight."

Just as a side note, it was "Livin' Thing" that once played FOUR TIMES STRAIGHT on 97.1 a year or two ago, back when Come-in-last still owned them. If you had checked yes.com, you would have seen "Livin' Thing" taking up about 14 minutes! If you didn't know differently, you could have assumed that the remainder of that time gap was filled with commercials and news, but it wasn't!

 

[michael hagerty]

Did you actually hear that happen? The playlist software sometimes generates duplicate entries online. I see it fairly often on station websites.

 

[firepoint525]

Did you actually hear that happen? The playlist software sometimes generates duplicate entries online. I see it fairly often on station websites.

Yes, I did. It happened nearly every Monday afternoon about 1:30 to 2:00. A song would play twice in a row, or even three times, but "Livin' Thing" played four straight times! On one occasion, they played two songs twice each, and as I said, one played three straight times, but only "Livin' Thing" ever got a four-play! ;D

This repetition of songs got so, what is the word that I am looking for, here, repetitious, ;D that I began to detect the pattern, and actually tuned in every Monday afternoon just to hear it! I even had a thread about it.

They even had a comment on their Facebook page at the time from a listener, saying, "you must really love "Livin' Thing" by ELO!" Naturally, I "liked" that comment! ;D

 

[michael hagerty]

Did you actually hear that happen? The playlist software sometimes generates duplicate entries online. I see it fairly often on station websites.

Yes, I did. It happened nearly every Monday afternoon about 1:30 to 2:00. A song would play twice in a row, or even three times, but "Livin' Thing" played four straight times! On one occasion, they played two songs twice each, and as I said, one played three straight times, but only "Livin' Thing" ever got a four-play! ;D

This repetition of songs got so, what is the word that I am looking for, here, repetitious, ;D that I began to detect the pattern, and actually tuned in every Monday afternoon just to hear it! I even had a thread about it.

They even had a comment on their Facebook page at the time from a listener, saying, "you must really love "Livin' Thing" by ELO!" Naturally, I "liked" that comment! ;D

Sounds like a bug in their scheduling software they never caught on to.

 

[firepoint525]

Almost inexcusable, considering that it happened on a weekday afternoon. You would think that someone in the office would have caught it, especially if someone had called them about it, which I admit, I never did.

 

[michael hagerty]

Almost inexcusable, considering that it happened on a weekday afternoon. You would think that someone in the office would have caught it, especially if someone had called them about it, which I admit, I never did.

In the old days, there would have been a jock in the studio, a newscaster or two in the newsroom, the PD in his office and the receptionist at the front desk, all listening.

Today? No jock. Even if there was a live news staff, they're listening to and editing audio feeds, not station air. If it's Cumulus, it's multiple stations so the PD can't listen to all of them at once and there's probably at least one that's a higher ratings and billing priority than the classic hits station and I can't remember the last time I walked into a radio station lobby and heard the station.

Actually, I do. 1982. And even if they did, they'd have to choose which station.

If nobody called, nobody knew.

 

[Biondi4Mayor]

Almost inexcusable, considering that it happened on a weekday afternoon. You would think that someone in the office would have caught it, especially if someone had called them about it, which I admit, I never did.

In the old days, there would have been a jock in the studio, a newscaster or two in the newsroom, the PD in his office and the receptionist at the front desk, all listening.

Today? No jock. Even if there was a live news staff, they're listening to and editing audio feeds, not station air. If it's Cumulus, it's multiple stations so the PD can't listen to all of them at once and there's probably at least one that's a higher ratings and billing priority than the classic hits station and I can't remember the last time I walked into a radio station lobby and heard the station.

Actually, I do. 1982. And even if they did, they'd have to choose which station.

If nobody called, nobody knew.

An awful truth. I know I've heard stations dupilcate an hours worth of playlist every night for a week, then a day or two later the songs were back again in the same order. I've also been caught a few times hearing the same song back to back. It's really inexcusable, regardless of what type of listener is listening.