I must be too old to be a CHR DJ

[CBeau]

Ten reasons why I hate answering the phone at work:

1. For the love of Pete and Pete, “Cyclone” is ancient history now. There is no reason for two to three calls a day for it.

2. Yes, you can do the “Soulja Boy” dance. That song has been downloaded legally millions of times, and illegally a lot more. How’s about you do that and let the rest of us who are either (a) sick of it or (b) are a bit put off by some of the lyrics, forget it happened? Do some research would ya?

3. We aren’t playing “Swing” by Savage. Stop calling.

4. We are playing “Pork and Beans” by Weezer. Please call for that.

5. The sun will rise tomorrow, the rivers will flow on, and the universe will not implode if I don’t have time to play “Low” by Flo-Rida in the next five minutes.

6. Seriously, “Low” by Flo-Rida? Sure, it was a #1 hit, like two months ago. I would think the demand for that might, oh I don’t know, FALL by now.

7. We still aren’t playing “Swing” by Savage. And it sucks.

8. The song is called “Handlebars” and it is by Flobots. Quit calling for the “Bicycle” song or calling and telling me there’s this song and then you sing the whole first part to me.

9. Yes you heard “Swing” on our Friday night mix show and maybe Open House Party on the weekend. That doesn’t mean we play it during the week. I checked the charts, the MD checked the charts, and unless we use the YouTube charts we don’t play it. NEWS FLASH: we don’t use the damn YouTube charts. The song still sucks. How about you knock off the ringtone-rap requests and listen to some Kanye West, Public Enemy, Lupe Fiasco, Run D.M.C., Atmosphere, Jay-Z, Wyclef Jean, or anything that maybe isn’t vapid and disposable? We actually play those listed, besides maybe the Public Enemy and Atmosphere outside of specialty shows.

10. *dialtone* That’s my bad that I didn’t answer in the first two rings. So sorry.

Lists like this make me wonder if I’m too old to be a DJ on a CHR. I'm in my mid-30's working again at a station I worked at in college. Since I post it on a blog and on here, and don’t go off on the callers, I think I’m still good.

I just had to rant and most of you other guys working in CHR can relate to this.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Swing by Savage is gonna be a big hit for the teeny boppers,,,, Older mature people and true Hip Hop thugs will think its garbage... We probably wont ad it unless it becomes top 10, which is unlikely at CHR,,,, Maybe the rhythmics might embrace it...

Also,, I hate getting calls requesting album cuts that we CANT play... Lately people request Soulja Boy-Girl you stank-Take a Bath....(ROLLS EYES)... Like any station is gonna play that garbage even if the FCC would let us,,, Furthermore,,, its usually girls that request it, and sing it over the phone...

Another Rant that I had in Illinois and also have here in Indiana... CALLER.... You play too many remixes, why dont you play the original slow version,, its sooooo much better..... The reason being, we are a Dance Friendly CHR now days, with a rhythmic lean,,, Dance Remixes of songs like NO AIR and Bleeding love test well here, as does pure Dance songs like David Guetta-Love is Gone... Bob Sinclar-Rock this Party, and September_cry for you still gets requests,,, although we tried adding September-Cant get Over and it just didnt catch on... Ida Core-Let me think about it did well for us at first, but it burned out really fast......... Weezer-Pork and Beans only got a so so reaction here, we expected it to do better, but its already knocked into B rotation

 

[KarsonWithaK]

Swing by Savage is a smash! I think it was in a movie soundtrack which is where it found a second life.

 

[Roger That]

2. "Sorry" by Buckcherry is done, over with, doesn't need to be played and hasn't been for weeks now. There's no reason for 3-4 calls a day for it anymore. If you want to hear it on the radio so bad, pretty much every other station is playing it. Next time someone calls for it I'm saying, "sorry, I'm playing Crazy Bitch instead!"

You do realize that listeners' habits, likes and dislikes, are MUCH further behind than a radio person's, right?

BTW...you guys have trained your audience to request all this crap because of the lack of focus in which the station is programmed. Doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[The Truthsayer]

2. "Sorry" by Buckcherry is done, over with, doesn't need to be played and hasn't been for weeks now. There's no reason for 3-4 calls a day for it anymore. If you want to hear it on the radio so bad, pretty much every other station is playing it. Next time someone calls for it I'm saying, "sorry, I'm playing Crazy Bitch instead!"

You do realize that listeners' habits, likes and dislikes, are MUCH further behind than a radio person's, right?

BTW...you guys have trained your audience to request all this crap because of the lack of focus in which the station is programmed. Doesn't surprise me at all.

Buckcherry has better callout than half the currents out there...

Doesn't suprise me that their night jock gets requests for Foreigner from '78 and Nu Shooz from '86 simply because they play it on the "old school" lunch and those strange old school/back in the day/whatever the hell they call them weekends.

I'm sure you get requests for the "crap" you play on the alternative show, in which that kind of show fits better on a rock station than a CHR. Some of the stuff on that show, like "Pork And Beans" and "Handlebars" for example, you play in regular hours thus being more confusing. At least Dawson McAllister Live builds cume and TSL on a dead late Sunday night without alienating the CHR core with a completely different music format unlike the alternative show. I agree that Open House Party is a good program for small CHRs, which you were smart enough to at least pick that up.

As much as Cumulus and I are hated on here, at least Hot has focus and consistency.

One thing that urks me about CHR's are the ones that sit on the fence and can't decide for the life of them what they want to do. It's like their afraid to do one thing, because it'll jeopardize another. Meaning they're afraid of losing that 40-year-old woman, who's not even in the core, so they'll play Goo Goo Dolls and Edwin McCain (as an example). If I were to hear these titles on a CHR, I'd be like "Either do CHR or Hot AC and get off the pot already!"

The noon hour is one of the biggest cume hours, why NOT play the hits? A CHR doing an 80s/90s show is the same as a Hot AC playing 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, and Rihanna for the noon hour. Makes no sense!!

 

[Beejus]

The rest of this post was what Truthsayer has written in each of his 69 posts, but let's focus on this:

I'm sure you get requests for the "crap" you play on the alternative show, in which that kind of show fits better on a rock station than a CHR. Some of the stuff on that show, like "Pork And Beans" and "Handlebars" for example, you play in regular hours thus being more confusing.

Flobots has proven to get an INSTANT response on nearly all stations that has given it a chance, and is starting to crossover from the Alt Chart. (It's sitting just below the Top 50 at CHR with a modest gain)

Weezer's "Pork & Beans" is a smart add if you're a good programmer and tie into pop culture. I wasn't sure on adding it until I received 15 e-mails in one day from various listeners saying I "Had to check out this music video!" and that they wanted to hear the song. Boom, after testing the song on the air, it's in rotation and doing great.

Just because it's not being slammed 130 times in the major markets doesn't mean it's not going to work for a station. If you live and die by the charts, you're going to have one boring as hell station.

 

[jsu5381m]

I turn the studio volume down every time "Low" by Flo-Rida is on.

Casey Kasem was also too old to be a CHR DJ. When he hosted AT 40, he would take the headphones off and do something else while a song was playing and when it was over, he said the song and position. Funny joke, Casey walked into a bar and asked the bartender, "what is that crap you are playing?" The bartender says "the song that you said was #1 last week."

 

[jsu5381m]

Speaking of annoyances, are any of you deejays getting requests for the new Katie Perron hit "Ryan Seacrest is so Gay, He Doesn't Like Boys?" It was a joke Madona played on Ryan Seacrest during his morning show and was rerun on AT 40.

 

[Adam Rivers]

Swing by Savage is a smash! I think it was in a movie soundtrack which is where it found a second life.

Well I work at the same station that C-Beau does, and "Swing" will take a while to get going. It'll be a novelty hit.

I'll bite now:

1. Stop calling me every night for "Get Silly" by V.I.C. Seriously, there's a couple 13 year olds that call me every night for it. It's another ringtone song that's on the Hot Spot, our Friday night mix show, probably on OHP, and played sparingly outside of it.
2. "Sorry" by Buckcherry is done, over with, doesn't need to be played and hasn't been for weeks now. There's no reason for 3-4 calls a day for it anymore. If you want to hear it on the radio so bad, pretty much every other station is playing it. Next time someone calls for it I'm saying, "sorry, I'm playing Crazy Bitch instead!"
3. We play "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz on the old skool lunch and when we do old skool weekends, but it doesn't mean we play it outside of that. While we're at it, don't expect to hear Nine Inch Nails on the 9:00 countdown, and Plies on the Sunday night alt. show.
4. *dialtone* followed by a message on Myspace asking why I didn't answer.

Radio is about the listener. Do you get that?

 

[The Truthsayer]

As roger that said, people request that crap because the programming and music lack focus (even the music during regular programming could be tighter and more focused) on your station.

Like I said before specialty programming should boost TSL without alienating the CHR core, as in it shouldn't be a format flip for a couple hours. A throwback lunch (as well as the throwback weekends you do sometimes) and an alternative show alienate the CHR core for the length of the show. Playing urban on a Friday night mixshow that isn't played otherwise doesn't make sense either, it alienates everyone over 12 ;D.

Open House Party is a good weekend show, and you have it on your station which makes sense. Dawson McAllister Live makes more sense than an alternative show to wrap up a weekend on a CHR. The CHR core is the most fickle audience out there, so thats why you do everything you can to keep them for the 20 minutes they listen. Thats why every CHR should at least play the 7 powers **AT LEAST** 85 times a week, even more if necessary, follow the charts with few exceptions, and research every song. All they want to hear are the 7 biggest songs.

 

[The Beave]

2. "Sorry" by Buckcherry is done, over with, doesn't need to be played and hasn't been for weeks now. There's no reason for 3-4 calls a day for it anymore. If you want to hear it on the radio so bad, pretty much every other station is playing it. Next time someone calls for it I'm saying, "sorry, I'm playing Crazy Bitch instead!"

You do realize that listeners' habits, likes and dislikes, are MUCH further behind than a radio person's, right?

BTW...you guys have trained your audience to request all this crap because of the lack of focus in which the station is programmed. Doesn't surprise me at all.

LOL!!! Roger... Bullseye!

 

[wxman76]

Ten reasons why I hate answering the phone at work:

1. For the love of Pete and Pete, “Cyclone” is ancient history now. There is no reason for two to three calls a day for it.

4. We are playing “Pork and Beans” by Weezer. Please call for that.

While I am not in the industry, I have followed CHR charts for over 20 years. Now that I am in my early 30s, I recently have started to "not get" why some songs (especially from the hip hop genre) are so popular. "Cyclone" is quite possibly the most annoying, repetitive, and lyrically uncreative song I have ever heard. I just don't get why "Lollipop" is so popular either. But then again, I am a 31 year old white male and not in the target demo.

As for "Pork And Beans", it took me a few listens to like it, but now I would like to see more CHRs play this. While I don't think it will be as big as "Beverly Hills", I think it has the potential to go top 20 similar to what Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California" did a couple of years ago.

 

[jsu5381m]

Speaking of annoyances, are any of you deejays getting requests for the new Katie Perron hit "Ryan Seacrest is so Gay, He Doesn't Like Boys?" It was a joke Madona played on Ryan Seacrest during his morning show and was rerun on AT 40.

Sorry, I meant Katy Perry.

 

[jjmac]

Ok, I'll bite because I'm 25 and wondering if I'm too old to be a CHR dj lol

First off, "Swing" is a massive hit. Sorry guys, I know some of you don't like it, but we started that record up and it's #2 phones after like 70 spins. It's huge. So is Katy Perry. I'm a rhythmic station with #1 phones on it.

Anyway, on to listener annoyances.

Adding to the listeners that don't know the songs bit. For the love of God, the song is not called "the Apple Bottom Jeans" song. It was the #1 song of 2007, and you still can't take a pee without hearing the song - it is called "Low" and we've played it 2200 times thank you. Learn it. Secondly, please do not call and ask me for "that one song talkin about shawty this and shawty that". That sufficiently narrows it down to every rap or r&b song in the past year, AND the new Jesse McCartney. It does not help me figure out what you're trying to hear.

When you call and request a song, do not call me back three minutes later and request the same song. Believe it or not, you're not the ONLY person wanting to hear a song and the world does not revolve around you, precious. "I have to go to bed soon" is not an appropriate reason why I should put your request above everybody else's.

Randomly calling and asking "did I win something" will almost always guarantee that I will laugh at you. You're obsessive desire to win a CD prize pack does not mean that I have to give it to you. Try playing the lottery.

Please know the format of the station you are calling. I, for example, work on a rhythmic CHR. You can listen to my station for 10-15 minutes and figure out that I'm not going to play Slipknot. Don't request it.

And finally, prank calling a radio station will not get you played on the air. 11-year olds that think it's funny to call and say "Hey, is this Dominos?" and then giggle and hang up...do NOT provide for compelling on air content. Your desperate cries for attention will not get you played on the air so that little Johnny that you have a crush on will think you're cooler.

There, I feel better now. Thanks for the opportunity to p!$$ and moan ;D

 

[jsu5381m]

WZYP does their retro lunch every day and it has had success. Then again, WZYP has been around since the late 70s, so that could explain it. In fact, when they got rid of it, people demanded they bring it back. Fortunately, they don't do their lost songs of the 80s weekends anymore during long holiday weekend and actually play the hits during 4th of July weekend. Atlhough this past Memorial Day they did add a few retro hits along with the currents. WHHY Montgomery does this as well. Both are owned by Cumulus.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Our station has been around since the late 60s, and our retro lunch everyday digs deep into the late 60s, but is mostly 80s stuff. We have been known to play stuff like Strawberry Alarm Clock-Insents and pepperments, followed by Naughty by nature-Hip Hop Horray.... We do lean more Adult during the day, but heavily rhythmic at night.

 

[jjmac]

WZYP does their retro lunch every day and it has had success. Then again, WZYP has been around since the late 70s, so that could explain it. In fact, when they got rid of it, people demanded they bring it back. Fortunately, they don't do their lost songs of the 80s weekends anymore during long holiday weekend and actually play the hits during 4th of July weekend. Atlhough this past Memorial Day they did add a few retro hits along with the currents. WHHY Montgomery does this as well. Both are owned by Cumulus.

dude I was in Huntsville over Memorial Day weekend (I grew up there and my family still lives there) and I was REALLLLLLY disappointed with their Memorial 500 or whatever they called it. Some of the stuff that they picked as the "biggest retro hits" of all time were complete stiffs - old techno songs, stuff from the 70s even. I took a trip to Birmingham and WQEN was doing a similar thing, but they were playing Def Leppard, Wreckx n Effects, the Eurythmics, etc. It was more familiar. I wish ZYP would return to the dominance they had when I was in my teens, when they had Ace & TJ in the mornings and always seemed to be on the cutting edge. They seem really stale and old to me.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Something else I just thought of.... Young girls calling during AT 40 wanting to talk to Ryan.... They think he's actually in the studio.... lol ;D ;D Im sure this has happened to other people as well..

Also, why dont more people do like us when people call for songs in regular rotation,,, just tell them the round about time that it will be playing and if they ask to play it sooner, just quickly explain to them that the big songs are already pre scheduled... This keeps people from calling back so often. We have a few free spots avbailable per hour for either older requests or songs the jock picks... Jocks cannot modify the powers and top hits to make them play more or less often.

 

[jsu5381m]

WZYP does their retro lunch every day and it has had success. Then again, WZYP has been around since the late 70s, so that could explain it. In fact, when they got rid of it, people demanded they bring it back. Fortunately, they don't do their lost songs of the 80s weekends anymore during long holiday weekend and actually play the hits during 4th of July weekend. Atlhough this past Memorial Day they did add a few retro hits along with the currents. WHHY Montgomery does this as well. Both are owned by Cumulus.

dude I was in Huntsville over Memorial Day weekend (I grew up there and my family still lives there) and I was REALLLLLLY disappointed with their Memorial 500 or whatever they called it. Some of the stuff that they picked as the "biggest retro hits" of all time were complete stiffs - old techno songs, stuff from the 70s even. I took a trip to Birmingham and WQEN was doing a similar thing, but they were playing Def Leppard, Wreckx n Effects, the Eurythmics, etc. It was more familiar. I wish ZYP would return to the dominance they had when I was in my teens, when they had Ace & TJ in the mornings and always seemed to be on the cutting edge. They seem really stale and old to me.

It seems that most CHR/Top 40 stations who do retro lunches are ones that have been around since the 70s. What I think ZYP needs to do is go HD radio and have a sub channel that plays nothing but 80s top 40 hits all day long.

 

[KFodor]

Ten reasons why I hate answering the phone at work:

1. For the love of Pete and Pete, “Cyclone” is ancient history now. There is no reason for two to three calls a day for it.

2. Yes, you can do the “Soulja Boy” dance. That song has been downloaded legally millions of times, and illegally a lot more. How’s about you do that and let the rest of us who are either (a) sick of it or (b) are a bit put off by some of the lyrics, forget it happened? Do some research would ya?

3. We aren’t playing “Swing” by Savage. Stop calling.

4. We are playing “Pork and Beans” by Weezer. Please call for that.

5. The sun will rise tomorrow, the rivers will flow on, and the universe will not implode if I don’t have time to play “Low” by Flo-Rida in the next five minutes.

6. Seriously, “Low” by Flo-Rida? Sure, it was a #1 hit, like two months ago. I would think the demand for that might, oh I don’t know, FALL by now.

7. We still aren’t playing “Swing” by Savage. And it sucks.

8. The song is called “Handlebars” and it is by Flobots. Quit calling for the “Bicycle” song or calling and telling me there’s this song and then you sing the whole first part to me.

9. Yes you heard “Swing” on our Friday night mix show and maybe Open House Party on the weekend. That doesn’t mean we play it during the week. I checked the charts, the MD checked the charts, and unless we use the YouTube charts we don’t play it. NEWS FLASH: we don’t use the damn YouTube charts. The song still sucks. How about you knock off the ringtone-rap requests and listen to some Kanye West, Public Enemy, Lupe Fiasco, Run D.M.C., Atmosphere, Jay-Z, Wyclef Jean, or anything that maybe isn’t vapid and disposable? We actually play those listed, besides maybe the Public Enemy and Atmosphere outside of specialty shows.

10. *dialtone* That’s my bad that I didn’t answer in the first two rings. So sorry.

Lists like this make me wonder if I’m too old to be a DJ on a CHR. I'm in my mid-30's working again at a station I worked at in college. Since I post it on a blog and on here, and don’t go off on the callers, I think I’m still good.

I just had to rant and most of you other guys working in CHR can relate to this.

Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt.

I feel your pain...I had the same feeling in my mid-30's when I had to play "Ice Ice Baby" every 35 minutes (or at least it seemed that way.)

And yes, I'm now too old for CHR too.

But, let this 51 year old former CHR jock tell you what you have to look forward to: about the time you find yourself "settled" in that wonderful future gig in A/C or Hot A/C, "Low" by Flo-Rida and "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" should then be testing as an "oldie", or "classic hit".

God help us all.