G-Rock Suggested Changes

[SoulCrusher]

As I am not the program director, it is not my decision as to the shows that are put on the station so I can not answer your question directly.

Fair enough. I guess pulling the plug was Terrie's call, but there needs to be more new music and something to spice up evenings and weekends at G Rock. So, you guys have officially added Puddle Of Mudd's new single right out of the box. Let me ask this - why are Puddle Of Mudd acceptable for immediate airplay on G Rock? Aren't they no different from Creed and Nickelback ... maybe even worse being that they were assembled by their record label much like a boy band? "Control" and "Away From Me" have moronic frat boy lyrics just like Nickelback's "Animals", and "Blurry" is every bit as sappy and soccer mom-friendly as "Far Away". Everything else they have done sounds just like these songs, along with brain-dead lyrics and lots of Pro Tools. Do you really want to play this band? Or am I asking the wrong person this question?

I agree with a lot of Soulcrusher's points, even if he is a little long-winded. (Although I don't want to encourage him to thump a deceased equus.) Also, this thread has gotten me to check out 106.3 for the first time in years, although I can only receive it clearly in my car, and not in my apartment, since I live in Newark. I had forgotten about the station until I started reading this thread. I usually just listen to WFMU, WKCR, and other such non-comms. And I dislike Neanderthal rock like Puddle of Mudd or Linkin Park.

And they should really be playing Arcade Fire. I mean, jeez, they sell a ton of records and their sound is very accessible and catchy.

However, I don't think that 106.3 necessarily needs to play harder-edged stuff like Tool or Rage Against the Machine. In the old days B.N. (Before Nirvana), heritage commercial alt stations like WHFS in Maryland didn't play a lot of hard alt rock like that, at least not as far as I can remember. Circa 1989-1990, I heard stuff like New Order, Suzanne Vega, Depeche Mode, Basehead, Robyn Hitchcock, Blondie, the Smiths, P.J. Harvey, Lloyd Cole, Buffalo Tom, Lemonheads, and so on. A modernized version of that with artists like the Eels, Magnetic Fields, Fountains of Wayne, Elf Power, Spoon, and so on, could work to attract both male and female listeners.

And hey Soulcrusher, if you ever listen to Internet radio, check out WOXY.com. That's a pretty ideal alt station if you ask me. They have a really nice-sounding AAC+ stream (playable with Winamp, VLC, and various other free players). The station is like the Michael Myers of Internet radio stations (well, except that it doesn't kill people). It just keeps rising from the dead.

I mostly propose some harder rock to keep a good balance, since G Rock plays more of the very soft rock (i.e. Plain White T's, Coldplay, Fuel and Staind power ballads, etc.) than your average Alternative. It also wouldn't be a bad idea because a lot of it does well on the charts. Ideally, I would like to see G Rock with the FM 106.3 sound and modern acts that would blend in well with that station's spirit, like Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, Kings Of Leon, Arctic Monkeys and others. I won't hold my breath waiting for it.

Speaking of Arcade Fire - #2 on the Billboard 200, with around 100,000 sold in the first week alone. What is G Rock waiting for? Do you really want to play a generic, critically-reviled band on their last legs like Puddle Of Mudd over a highly respected band that has a long and prosperous career ahead of them?

WOXY keeps rising from the ashes - first the FM signal disappears, then the web broadcast ends, but it's back once again. This has always been an excellent station, one that I wish would set an example for Alternative stations around the country. It's been a while, so I'll have to check them out. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Puddle Of Mudd: Yes, G Rock did add it, right out of the box - one of only 8 Alternative stations that did this week. And I'll bet that the other 7 stations are probably those pseudo-Alternative stations in the South anyway. So the powers that be at this station would rather play Puddle Of Mudd, a god-awful pseudo-grunge hair band, than Interpol (who received 9 adds, by the way), Kings Of Leon, Strata, Deftones, Arcade Fire, Bjork, The Used (early reviews indicate their latest will be far superior to MCR's blatantly commercial Black Parade album), and several other more deserving bands. Sorry, just had to put it in writing. And just when I was giving credit to G Rock for moving in the right direction. Between this and Velvet Revolver (sorry, these guys are steakhead rock as well - licensing songs to Victoria's Secret, those poor saps), G Rock's adds are leaving much to be desired - they really are starting to sound like K-Rock Lite. I could live with POM and VR if some better adds came along with it.

Know that I'm not trying to cut anyone down or attack anyone's character - this is purely constructive criticism. If we want to hear lots of toothless Mom Rock & Dad Rock (no, that's not all G Rock plays, but it makes up a good chunk of the playlist), we have several stations in the market that cater to that audience. All I'm asking of G Rock is to surprise us a bit - don't play the same consultant-suggested songs ad nauseum, and don't be afraid to give us that "I haven't heard that in a while" feeling every so often (outside of the special features, at least). And don't be afraid of the edgier side of the Alternative genre either - by playing just one or two harder songs an hour you can reach the audience that finds WRAT and WCHR too bland for their tastes. This doesn't require straying from the overall sound too much. Didn't it ever occur to you that not everyone enjoys cornball power ballads (Fuel, Staind, Linkin Park, etc.) and teenybopper pop/punk? The format has such a rich history that you shouldn't be so exclusive.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Now, I know I'm talking to myself at this point, but here's evidence as to how safe sounding G Rock is at night:

2:37am Fall Out Boy Thanks For The Memories
1:22am Fall Out Boy This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race

1:07am Smashing Pumpkins Ava Adore
12:22am Smashing Pumpkins Tarantula
10:20pm Smashing Pumpkins Tarantula

Now, I am a Pumpkins fan and think the new song is killer, and you already know how I feel about Fall Out Backstreet Boys (oh look, we're corporate whores and our bassist is dating a talentless pop tart!). I could go on about how they added Tiger Beat's favorite "Hot Boy Alert!" band and neglected to add more deserving acts, but it's been done before.

The point is that these acts are getting played once an hour, and that shows you just how timid the programming is coming across at this time of night. They play less retro music at these hours and that means playing lots of the worn out hits from recent years mixed in with the relatively minor selection of Currents. And when the Currents leave this much to be desired - seriously, all this Mullet Rock and kids music and no Arcade Fire, Deftones, Kings Of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, Anberlin, The Almost and The Used (both had Artist Profiles on G Rock's webpage, but haven't been played!), Sparta etc. Yet Puddle Of Mudd was worth an add right out of the gate - explain to me why these generic clone rock Nickelback soundalikes deserve a spot on G Rock's playlist, because I don't get it. I get the feeling they wouldn't even be playing The Fratellis and Peter Bjorn & John had their songs not received prominent placement in television ads and shows.

No disrespect intended, G Rock is a very good station and has improved dramatically in some areas, but some of the decisions they have made concerning new adds and cancellation of programs just baffle the mind.

 

[SoulCrusher]

As time goes on, G Rock continues to really surprise us in the retro department. I was very impressed to hear all of these songs:

4:09pm New Order Shellshock
3:33pm Echo And The Bunnymen Bring On The Dancing Horses
2:36pm The Cure Hot Hot Hot
1:25pm Love and Rockets No New Tale To Tell
11:21am U2 Red Hill Mining Town
11:11am Cracker Euro-Trash Girl
10:45am Depeche Mode I Feel You

You can easily forgive them for playing all these nancy boys and mullets when they come up with titles like that.

Now, it's 7 PM - 5 AM that needs work on this station. The music takes a turn for the generic during this time period, with less retro stuff and more repeats. If you want to target a younger audience without sounding stale, play more '90s titles and more Currents, even if it means dayparting. Between the less interesting sound and the program cancellations, it's almost as if they're not trying to attract an audience for their night programming.

 

[hubcity]

As time goes on, G Rock continues to really surprise us in the retro department. I was very impressed to hear all of these songs:

4:09pm New Order Shellshock
3:33pm Echo And The Bunnymen Bring On The Dancing Horses
2:36pm The Cure Hot Hot Hot
1:25pm Love and Rockets No New Tale To Tell
11:21am U2 Red Hill Mining Town
11:11am Cracker Euro-Trash Girl
10:45am Depeche Mode I Feel You

Actually, they're running another risk here, and only on one of those songs: the idea that "all retro is good". It's kind of like the other day when they played Culture Club's "Miss You Blind" - sure, it was a request, but there's such a thing as requests you don't play. In this list, the irrelevant one is "Shellshock" (which should surprise you coming from me, as New Order is one of my favorite bands.) It's more Arthur Baker than New Order, though, which is why I feel it's not relevant and "Blue Monday" is, even though they're both club-oriented New Order tracks. I like the song, mind you, but I wouldn't (and don't) play it.

 

[Beejus]

And Hubcity breaks up the SoulCrusher Superfecta! One more post and SoulCrusher would have had a double hat trick!

Now, it's 7 PM - 5 AM that needs work on this station. The music takes a turn for the generic during this time period, with less retro stuff and more repeats. If you want to target a younger audience without sounding stale, play more '90s titles and more Currents, even if it means dayparting. Between the less interesting sound and the program cancellations, it's almost as if they're not trying to attract an audience for their night programming.

From my experience, the audience at night tends to be a little bit younger... college kids, high school kids... why play an obscure song from U2 that they're not going to know? They'll most likely tune out. They want to hear Fall Out Boy, they want to hear My Chemical Romance, they don't want to hear Love and Rockets.

This may not be the case for GRock, but that is my experience.

 

[mondoradio]

This may not be the case for GRock, but that is my experience.

It's true of almost all radio, especially rock and pop formats.

 

[Dancerev889]

this is the never ending post

 

[Beejus]

this is the never ending post

SoulCrusher responded to himself 5 times, and even admitted that he thought no one was reading. I only try to respond if someone ELSE adds insight to the thread.

Here's looking towards post 200

 

[SoulCrusher]

From my experience, the audience at night tends to be a little bit younger... college kids, high school kids... why play an obscure song from U2 that they're not going to know? They'll most likely tune out. They want to hear Fall Out Boy, they want to hear My Chemical Romance, they don't want to hear Love and Rockets.

This may not be the case for GRock, but that is my experience.

That does make sense. I definitely understand that - hence the reason why I think they should play more '90s tracks. I remember when they went Retro for the Music Lab on Friday and they played several excellent songs from the '90s, and you never hear any of them in the rotation. Surely everyone but the really young boppers should be familiar with many of them. Right now they just seem to really tighten the rotation up, with the only other discernable difference being the inclusion of a few dayparted tracks (Chevelle's "Well Enough Alone", QOTSA's "Sick Sick Sick", etc.).

They should either spin more Currents at night or have a nightly show where they play an hour or two of Currents. Many Alternative stations out there do the latter, and I don't understand why G Rock is so averse to something like this. If they want to understand what keeps the audience tuned in, finding out which Currents are popular through listener opinion could be an effective strategy. With the lack of a new music feature, it seems like it's just Terrie and Brian going with what they think will work, and while they may hit the mark more often than not, they're not infallible. The Puddle Of Mudd track is going nowhere. Their last album bombed despite the fact that they played it safe and continued taking no chances, and "Famous" is nothing more than a slightly rocked up version of Nickelback's "Rockstar". I always thought these bands were similar, but especially after hearing this song, poking fun at Nickelback while praising Puddle Of Mudd seems awfully hypocritical. It's like saying you hate flapjacks and love pancakes.

On a side note: I can't help but notice that G Rock and WRAT are overlapping a lot with their Currents. This affects WRAT more, given their very small selection of Currents (roughly 20). Both stations are on the softer end of things for their respective format, which could be a contributing factor. It seems like G Rock is really gunning for the WRAT audience, even if it means playing songs that are doing nothing on the Alternative Charts (Pearl Jam's "Love Reign O'er Me", Evanescence, Puddle Of Mudd, etc.). I question whether choosing Mainstream Rock songs like these over current acts that fit in better with the Retro tracks (i.e. Arcade Fire, Kings Of Leon, Bloc Party ... uh, you know them all by now) is a good idea, but perhaps putting a dent in the competition is more important than stronger overall ratings.

 

[Beejus]

Now why hasn't GRock touched that new song by the band Operator? The song is called Soulcrusher! C'mon people!! It should be an instant add!

: ;D

 

[SoulCrusher]

Operator has a former member of the craptacular Puddle Of Mudd in it, but they're pretty good. I definitely sense a bit of a Soundgarden influence, both in voice and music. Not bad, but it's more of an Active Rock song, so if anyone would play it, it would be The Rat. The chances are slim to none, as WRAT seems to focus on established acts almost exclusively these days. Probably the influence of Greater Greedia at play there.

Speaking of Puddle Of Mudd: 2 spins today (1:44 AM & 8:08 PM) for the song "Blurry" alone. This is the problem with both G Rock and WRAT - I don't know if this is a Jersey thing, since we have the reputation for being "hair metal ground zero", but both stations are just way too into their power ballads. Both stations play songs that can get played on the PLJs and JLKs of the world, and even the Lite FMs and WOBMs too. That's all G Rock plays from Fuel and Staind - the soft stuff. They also play the same old songs from Linkin Park, including the drippy AC stuff - I'm not a fan, but "Faint" or "One Step Closer" would be preferable if you had to play them instead of "Breaking The Habit" or "In The End" incessantly. Basically, it's an extra heavy dose of sensitive Mullet Rock from WRAT, and some Mullet Rock and simpering pretty boy pop fluff like Plain White T's on G Rock.

My favorite stations ease back on that stuff, and they are out there, in major markets. It's too bad we can't have a station like that, Active or Alternative. It makes it so that I have to keep Red Bull around when I'm driving if I'm going to listen to the radio. I hope one of these stations will be able to cut the cheese sooner or later (sorry, bad pun).

 

[SoulCrusher]

G Rock's sequencing leaves something to be desired. If you heard these three songs in a row, would you think that you were listening to an Alternative station, or a station that plays "continuous lite favorites"?

1:57am Plain White T's Hey There Delilah
1:54am Green Day Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance)
1:50am Incubus Dig

Sheesh. This is the time where you shouldn't be afraid to cut loose, play some deeper less frequently heard cuts - instead you're serving up musical Ambien. Three easy-listening songs in a row? We can get that from so many other places - you guys are supposed to be the Alternative! It's a good thing I wasn't behind the wheel when these songs came on - crazier yet is that they played these songs at closing time for all the bars!

 

[Beejus]

G Rock's sequencing leaves something to be desired. If you heard these three songs in a row, would you think that you were listening to an Alternative station, or a station that plays "continuous lite favorites"?

1:57am Plain White T's Hey There Delilah
1:54am Green Day Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance)
1:50am Incubus Dig

Alternative. Mainstream AC stations don't play Plain White T's or that Incubus song.

 

[SoulCrusher]

Alternative. Mainstream AC stations don't play Plain White T's or that Incubus song.

You may be right. But let's be honest here - your average blue hair or soccer mom that listens to Adult Contemporary radio wouldn't raise an eyebrow if the Incubus or Plain White T's songs were to get played between Celine Dion and Phil Collins. It bears mentioning that there is a nationally syndicated radio personality named Delilah who hosts a very sappy, syrupy, sentimental show that appears on many AC stations - wouldn't surprise me in the least to know that she played PWT.

 

[Beejus]

Alternative. Mainstream AC stations don't play Plain White T's or that Incubus song.

You may be right. But let's be honest here - your average blue hair or soccer mom that listens to Adult Contemporary radio wouldn't raise an eyebrow if the Incubus or Plain White T's songs were to get played between Celine Dion and Phil Collins. It bears mentioning that there is a nationally syndicated radio personality named Delilah who hosts a very sappy, syrupy, sentimental show that appears on many AC stations - wouldn't surprise me in the least to know that she played PWT.

So you're basically blacklisting a song and artist over the fact that it COULD be played on AC.

The band wrote a hit song that appeals to many demographics. That doesn't mean it doesn't belong on Alternative.

 

[mjb1124]

Well, regardless of your opinions about these songs and whether or not they fit on Alternative, I think SoulCrusher does have a valid point about programming too many similar-sounding songs, or songs by the same artist, within a short time period. It sometimes does seem like G-Rock just "shuffles" their playlist with little regard for those factors. I seem to remember a day where they didn't play anything by Stone Temple Pilots for a good 12 hours or so, and then started playing them every hour.

 

[SoulCrusher]

I shifted gears in my last post, but mjb1124 summed it up - I don't have an issue with G Rock playing those songs, but I do take issue with playing them 3 in a row like that. All of that soft rock is a car crash waiting to happen. G Rock has the tendency to group similar songs together - I remember hearing a couple of Mullet Rock songs following each other (Shinedown, Puddle Of Mudd), a couple of pretty boy pop/punk songs next to each other (Yellowcard, All American Rejects), and I also remember quite often hearing Smashing Pumpkins into Silversun Pickups, or visa versa. They really should mix it up a bit, unless they're grouping songs together like that because they believe that if someone doesn't like one song, they won't come back to the station for 10-15 minutes, so they'll just play similar music.

Where I find fault with G Rock is not in what they DO play, but in what they DON'T. Yes, I tend to ridicule certain acts and subgenres that are covered by G Rock, but they don't bother me nearly as much as the omissions on this station. How can you have artist profiles on your website for The Used and The Almost, and then never play them? There's a lot of really good Currents out there that they should either make room for by expanding their playlist or cutting the fat (Snow Patrol, Pearl Jam, and Evanescence went nowhere on the charts ... Puddle Of Mudd will go nowhere and belong on the Trucker Rock stations ... "Anna Molly" and "For Us" should be played less often at this stage). And I really think they could stand to improve their selection of '90s titles - play some of what we used to hear on the Retro Music Lab and other songs, instead of continuing to play the same old songs by Nirvana, PJ, STP, Green Day, RHCP and others that are destined to become future Mullet Rock staples. By that I don't mean to stop playing these acts - just go beyond the big singles more often. PJ is a great band, but I could go the rest of my life without hearing "Alive", "Better Man" and "Daughter" ever again.

I'm also disappointed that they haven't done a Retro Rock Weekend in eons. Is this another thing that Terrie Carr is opting to do away with? G Rock has one of the world's greatest Alternative Rock libraries, and while they have definitely improved, they still use so little of it. No one is expecting them to be as diverse as FM 106.3 was, but they don't have to play it as safe as they do either.

 

[BigBoy41]

wait...I thought you said they play too much retro rock and not enough hard new music....(which I personally hate by the way..hard stuff all sounds THE SAME!!!!! Bring on the Smith's GROCK!) .just my male listener opinion)...(very different than Soul Crusher) what are the chances of Soulcrusher getting a job this summer....so we can start a way more interesting thread about OTHER south jersey stations like the AC market or SOMETHING......there is more to Jersey radio.....come on........we know your tastes.....MOVE ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No one cares anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[i_work_in_radio]

Soulcrusher,

First, let me preface my comments by saying that I don't work for G-Rock. Actually, I work for a competitor station. While I appreciate your passion for music and more specifically, your knowledge of alternative music, your posts over the last several months have proven a number of things.

1) You know nothing about music rotation, otherwise you would not complain about a radio station playing the same song 8 hours or more apart.
2) You know nothing about artist rotation, otherwise you would not complain about a radio station occasionally playing the same artist twice within two hours.
3) You know nothing about radio listening habits for the reasons listed above.
4) You know nothing about programming a commercial radio station, otherwise you would not base the majority of your critiques on your personal taste in music, and you would not suggest that a radio station stop playing some it's most popular staple songs and bands even though the vast majority of the station's listeners demand them. While it may make sense logically to play a greater variety, ask any PD what happens when you don't play familiar music with broad appeal, even on an alternative station.
5) You clearly have an unhealthy obsession with G-Rock, otherwise you would not complain about a three-song sequence during the 1 am hour.
6) You know nothing about country listeners, otherwise you would not use 20-30 year old stereotypes to describe them.

Granted, this board is a place to voice opinions. But let's be honest. Your opinions based on extremely limited radio knowledge have been duly noted ad nauseum. You would be better served by privately sending your suggestions to G-Rock, and the readers of this board would be able to discuss other subjects without being bumped by another rant about what was played on G-Rock when we were all sleeping. I'm not asking you to let it go. Just take it somewhere else. Please.