Formats needed or not needed in Columbus/Central Ohio Radio

[KFodor]

And frankly, "Count Me In" has been played on oldies radio, and you do continue to hear it where the format still exists.

"Puppet Man" wasn't the biggest hit, but it is recognizable and could be used for spice.

I also do "My Heart's Symphony" and "You Don't Have To Paint Me A Picture" in my "vault" category in Russells Point.

Songs like "Green Grass" and the correct version of "Sure Gonna Miss Her" (the one with the brass intro) have been played on oldies radio as well. (We played both on WCOL-FM in the 90's).

On another note: the thing to remember...with regard to my comments about mixing for country...is that the target country listener these days is NOT 50 years old. So, commenting on programming from that perspective isn't going to ring with programmers these days as we in our 50's are "out of demo", so to speak.

 

[AnalyticalMonkey]

On another note: the thing to remember...with regard to my comments about mixing for country...is that the target country listener these days is NOT 50 years old. So, commenting on programming from that perspective isn't going to ring with programmers these days as we in our 50's are "out of demo", so to speak.

I get that and I'm going to repeat myself from the Cincinnati thread, listening to Ken Broo play snippets of 80's tunes and talk about the song and the band during his Sunday Reds show is very satisfying to the ears. For a time, the Staples store in Reynoldsburg was playing better music over the Muzak than what you could get for the most part on the radio, not to mention how good it sounds over the PA system in a big box store. I was in Kroger late one night listening to "Gloria" (Laura Brannigan) and "Dark Lady" (Cher) also thinking to myself how great this stuff sounds. I would argue this stuff sounds far better to me now than it ever did when it was current.

There has to be an opportunity here for someone who almost acts as a "curator", playing good music and communicating information about the song and the band. I'm not even a Reds or a baseball fan ... I just love hearing the tunes Ken Broo picks out and listening to him talk about them.

This whole "load everything up on the server and let the jukebox run" mentality has destroyed radio. I know some research out there indicates that people want to hear music, but don't want talk. One radio executive I read somewhere says that this data is misinterpreted. It's not talk people don't like, it's stupid chatter. If you have something relevant or interesting to say, people do want to hear you. I agree with this.

 

[jakej]

I also do "My Heart's Symphony" and "You Don't Have To Paint Me A Picture" in my "vault" category in Russells Point.

Songs like "Green Grass" and the correct version of "Sure Gonna Miss Her" (the one with the brass intro) have been played on oldies radio as well. (We played both on WCOL-FM in the 90's).

"You Don't Have To Paint Me A Picture" opened my show two Thursdays ago, followed by Gary Lewis and the Playboys' fellow featured artists Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' version of "Hey Joe". Then after Joe shot his baby down because she had been cheatin' on him just like Gary's girl had been doing, forty minutes of further shooting and death and destruction and general mayhem then commenced before Gary came back with "Sure Gonna Miss Her" (complete with brass intro) and Nick with "Your Funeral, My Trial".
Tomorrow night's show will be the last to feature those two groups (here's a link to it -- http://wcrsfm.org/content/yesterdays-top-secrets-yts-446-aug22, and don't worry, the bad word in the episode's second song will be edited out before it airs), and then starting next Thursday the new featured artist pairing (our 52nd) will be the Troggs and Tubeway Army. I think listeners will be amazed at how well their respective singers, Reg Presley and Gary Numan, are going to sound back to back!

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

For a time, the Staples store in Reynoldsburg was playing better music over the Muzak than what you could get for the most part on the radio, not to mention how good it sounds over the PA system in a big box store.

Absolutely.  I've heard jaw-droppingly enjoyable retail-store music many times for quite awhile now, from many different genres.  It ranges from lost hits to "B sides" to minor hits to smashes (including many radio has abandoned) to tasty obscure stuff (but usually from familiar artists of various eras, and nicely representing each artist's signature sound).  I'm not asserting anything here about potential radio viability, regardless of presentation.

 

[AnalyticalMonkey]

Absolutely. I've heard jaw-droppingly enjoyable retail-store music many times for quite awhile now, from many different genres. It ranges from lost hits to "B sides" to minor hits to smashes (including many radio has abandoned) to tasty obscure stuff (but usually from familiar artists of various eras, and nicely representing each artist's signature sound). I'm not asserting anything here about potential radio viability, regardless of presentation.

Agreed.

So if "Dark Lady" sounds so good to me in a retail store, why wouldn't it sound good on the radio and why wouldn't it sell? Or is it the laziness of the corporate chains and the inability of suits to think out of the box (sorry for the cliche)? Muzak is corporate America and somehow they are able to put together a pretty compelling playlist.

Here's just me, non radio guy, thinking out loud. What if somebody grouped songs together by cadence or beat, without regard to genre? Top 40 in the 1970's and 1980's as I remember it had lots of crossovers. "Dark Lady" and "Knock Three Times", along with "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" some underground tunes ... "Crazy on You" ... "Heartbreaker" ...

Again, grouped by cadence and how they sound instead of genre.

If it's good enough to get you to buy things in a retail store, why wouldn't advertisers buy it?

 

[jakej]

What if somebody grouped songs together by cadence or beat, without regard to genre? Top 40 in the 1970's and 1980's as I remember it had lots of crossovers. "Dark Lady" and "Knock Three Times", along with "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" some underground tunes ... "Crazy on You" ... "Heartbreaker" ...

Again, grouped by cadence and how they sound instead of genre.

Interesting idea, but I think there's more entertaining ways to bring everything together, which is what I've been doing for the past five years. That episode I linked to includes songs from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, the B-52's, Lou Christie, the Drifters, the Fall, the Fifth Dimension, Jimi Hendrix, the Knickerbockers, Morrissey, the Remains, the Replacements, the Troggs, and featured artists the Playboys and the Bad Seeds ... and it flows.

 

[jakej]

In an attempt to stimulate some discussion on the Columbus board, which let's face it hasn't had much of it lately, if anyone would like to let me know his or her favorite band from the '60s, '70s, or '80s, then I'll gladly post all of the songs by that particular group that have been heard so far on this town's FM radios during "Secrets"! I did that earlier in this thread with Gary Lewis and the Playboys and the Fifth Dimension, and it was fun!! Well, I had fun anyways ... and hopefully it helped others envision how much better Columbus radio could be, if what I was doing existed as a 24-hour-a-day format instead of as a two-hour-a-week show.

 

[chrocket87]

Talking Heads

 

[jakej]

Great band! I've played 29 different Talking Heads tunes so far on the show: "Who Is It?", "Listening Wind", "The Book I Read", "Houses In Motion", "Uh-Oh, Love Comes To Town", "Cities", "The Big Country", "I'm Not In Love", "No Compassion", "Electric Guitar", "Love (arrow) Building On Fire", "Warning Sign", "Don't Worry About The Government", "The Girls Want To Be With The Girls", "New Feeling", "Road To Nowhere", "Happy Day", "Mind", "Stay Hungry", "Life During Wartime", "Pulled Up", "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", "With Our Love", "Memories Can't Wait", "Give Me Back My Name", "Creatures Of Love", "Sugar On My Tongue", "Heaven", and "The Good Thing". I know this list doesn't include some of their best-known songs, such as "Once In A Lifetime" and "Take Me To The River", but after all, the show IS called "Yesterday's Top Secrets"!
Thanks chrocket87, and who's next?

 

[jakej]

Okay, well then how about your most favorite OBSCURE band from the '60s, '70s, or '80s? Ever wonder if they've ever been heard before on Columbus radio? I bet I've played 'em on "Secrets"!
Our new featured artists starting this Thursday will be the Standells and Stiff Little Fingers.