Driving back to Albany last night from Rutland I heard the most incredible radio show, and it was on UAlbany's WCDB. I'm not a hip-hop listener but I am quite aware of the excellent way Hot 97 in New York deploys the music, the jocks, the format (it's not your father's CHR hip-without-hop JAMZ)!
The car radio's "Seek" button found 90.9 and suddenly I was listening to something - a piece of hip-hop music that was ear-catching. When the cut ended a couple of hosts chimed in: a guy and a girl, who did EVERYTHING right.
1 - they played REAL street/hip-hop/r-and-b (JAMZ doesn't touch the real "music of the people")
2 - they talked about the artists, the cuts, the topics of the songs (JAMZ deejays have often confused one artist with another - they've also been told by management there is too much "chatter" and that anything interpreted as a "gang message" is grounds for dismissal)
3 - they shared many of their own thoughts and observations, like the way Howard Stern used to in his 1990's style (Again, JAMZ jocks sometimes do this, but at the risk of being fired)
4 - like Howard did, once in awhile they'd come in and talk over a little bit of the song when they were moved to comment (This is a BIG NO NO NO at JAMZ)
5 - they regularly announced the phone number for song requests and regularly shouted out the call letters/station ID (As we know, it's tough to get any info out of JAMZ, unless it's the BIG LIE "We're #1 in hip-hop and r-and-b" That's like WGNA saying "We're #1 in Adult Contemporary" - and don't get me going about the pre-planned on-air "contests" at 96.3 where jocks connect with their peeps and followers)
You two kids put on a great show - the passenger in my car, a co-worker who had been along with me on the business trip, as he was getting out checked the frequency so he could continue listening in his home!
And this was around 11PM!
Imagine that- college kids, having fun, outclassing a commercial radio station! It's GOTTA be ALBANY!
The car radio's "Seek" button found 90.9 and suddenly I was listening to something - a piece of hip-hop music that was ear-catching. When the cut ended a couple of hosts chimed in: a guy and a girl, who did EVERYTHING right.
1 - they played REAL street/hip-hop/r-and-b (JAMZ doesn't touch the real "music of the people")
2 - they talked about the artists, the cuts, the topics of the songs (JAMZ deejays have often confused one artist with another - they've also been told by management there is too much "chatter" and that anything interpreted as a "gang message" is grounds for dismissal)
3 - they shared many of their own thoughts and observations, like the way Howard Stern used to in his 1990's style (Again, JAMZ jocks sometimes do this, but at the risk of being fired)
4 - like Howard did, once in awhile they'd come in and talk over a little bit of the song when they were moved to comment (This is a BIG NO NO NO at JAMZ)
5 - they regularly announced the phone number for song requests and regularly shouted out the call letters/station ID (As we know, it's tough to get any info out of JAMZ, unless it's the BIG LIE "We're #1 in hip-hop and r-and-b" That's like WGNA saying "We're #1 in Adult Contemporary" - and don't get me going about the pre-planned on-air "contests" at 96.3 where jocks connect with their peeps and followers)
You two kids put on a great show - the passenger in my car, a co-worker who had been along with me on the business trip, as he was getting out checked the frequency so he could continue listening in his home!
And this was around 11PM!
Imagine that- college kids, having fun, outclassing a commercial radio station! It's GOTTA be ALBANY!