Is the Hippie on speed?

[nouncer]

Is it just me, or is 94.5/Hippie Radio SPEEDING UP it's music? I'm pretty darn familiar with all those songs from 1964 thru 1973 (their primary play list) and I think they are sped up ever so slightly, but noticeably. At least to me.

But why? To squeeze another 30 seconds of commercial time out of each hour? That doesn't sound like it would be worth the effort of altering an entire archive of oldies... unless... somebody had already done just that.

On the other hand, maybe the songs are played back just fine, and my hearing is slowing down.

 

[70SaturdayNight]

I know in the 70s, some stations would speed up songs thinking it would make them sound brighter than their competition... I worked for a station in Nashville that did that... but record companies are famous for speeding up songs when they're re-released, with the mindset that it makes them sound fresh. I don't have perfect pitch, but I have relative pitch, and I find it annoying when the change is obvious. Perfect example is "Dirty Laundry". That's been sped up at least half a key. Most songs are sped up anywhere from .07 to .20 cents.

Your theory makes sense - to get the song over with faster to get in an extra commercial. It doesn't save that much time with one song, but in an hour, it can add up!

 

[PirateJohnny]

If the jocks would keep music under them they could play five more minutes of commercials. I used to think I could play more songs in an hour than the other jocks I worked with. I was all about the music.

 

[firepoint525]

I don't think the Hippie is "speeding up" the music. If anything, they are playing too many single edits, and talking all over the intros and outros of the songs, and not letting the songs finish ("rushing" the endings of the songs). (Which is a MAJOR pet peeve of mine, by the way!) How many Victory Nissan and Pool and Spa Depot spots do we need to hear, anyway? :

You haven't heard music "sped up" until you heard the old WNOX of Knoxville back in the '70s! Chipmunk city there, folks!

 

[Tibbs4]

I agree with firepoint on the speed of the music. It's possible that some of syndicated shows on Sunday are pepped up a bit. The VTing with Spider Harrison is rough in particular. Lucky is live and local. I am not going to complain about talking over music, since this format is designed to re-live the years of music and radio where it happened AND because the lack or personality on today's radio is what most people rail against. All-in-all...this station is a bit of fresh air. It's not a C Corp, but rather a single station owner. Bravo! It's not perfect by any means, but that's kinda cool to me, as well. It'll be a tough haul to compete with the big guys, the limited signal and tight budget. It has ten advertisers so far...there will be a day when a post will talk about commercial overkill on Hippie.

 

[firepoint525]

I seem to recall that Spider is playing the edit of "Blinded by the Light" while the others are playing the full seven-minute version. (Important clue for you there, folks! ;D)

I had a stereo when I was a teenager back in the late '70s which played a little too fast, and I didn't like it, although there was not much that I could do about it. It played 45s too fast (particularly the 45s!), but I also seem to recall that it played LPs too fast, and maybe even the 8-tracks, too! By the time we gave it away, only the turntable still worked. Even the tuner on the radio dial had broken! But I seem to recall that it had four speaker jacks in the back for that all-important quadrophonic sound! 8) ;D

 

[NoMoreMornings]

. It's not a C Corp, but rather a single station owner. Bravo! It's not perfect by any means, but that's kinda cool to me, as well. It'll be a tough haul to compete with the big guys, the limited signal and tight budget. It has ten advertisers so far...there will be a day when a post will talk about commercial overkill on Hippie.

Gentlemen and ladies:

Tibbs2 is correct about the Hippie uphill battle. Still, I do wonder how long those ten advertisers will be advertising after 90 days. Unfortunately, it's a marginal Class A signal competing against Cumulus' Class B. While I do wish the Hippie clan all the luck in the world, I just can't see those ten advertisers seeing any results from the station. And yes, I, too, have heard the Pool and Spa Depot spot more times that I can count. But, truth be known, if we were not "radio people", we wouldn't have given Hippie ten minutes of listening with all the multipath and noise that is traditionallly inherent to a Class A.

 

[deltas69]

if they could only land those Shaneco...and Genesis accounts...they might make it for years...

 

[firepoint525]

I'm guessing that the Victory Nissan spots date back to when they were a Dickson station.

To correct what Mike said at the top of this thread, Hippie also plays late '70s and even some '80s.

I wish they could afford to get their own commercial (you can see it on their home page) onto television. That spot is great!

Some of you need to get better radios. I'm receiving them over in Antioch with no trouble at all.

 

[PirateJohnny]

What Hippie needs is an audience that appreciates what a live DJ can do that automation, satellite or VTing can't. I've always felt the DJ should be the life of the party. I grew up listening to Top 40 and I hear "Top 40 radio" like I haven't heard in years. For me that's a good thing. I wish Hippie well.
I can pick them up in my car all the way from Metro Center to Springfield.

 

[Journeyman]

What Hippie needs is an audience that appreciates what a live DJ can do that automation, satellite or VTing can't. I've always felt the DJ should be the life of the party. I grew up listening to Top 40 and I hear "Top 40 radio" like I haven't heard in years. For me that's a good thing. I wish Hippie well.
I can pick them up in my car all the way from Metro Center to Springfield.

Too late Johnny. It will take a massive education effort to teach people how to listen to radio again. Most people complain about the jox talking over the intro of the song. You and I both know, when it's done right, that is more entertaining that the song. Old Days. Good Times. Over.

 

[deltas69]

not so sure about that..today's young listeners i agree..they are too used to music via ipad,ipod,ihop..whatever..but the demo that listens to the hippie grew up with personality jocks..so that age group would enjoy "their music' presented as it once was...now if the hippie would understand the idea of getting out in public, promoting the station, ..ie: like it was done in the "day"...but...without any real power...i don't think it's gonna be a player...sad 'cause the playlist is pretty decent compared to what usually suffices for "oldies"..

 

[PirateJohnny]

My response back then to complaints about talking over the music was "Go buy the record if you want to hear all of it". I wish I had set up a commission deal... It was no accident that song intros were the same length as station liners or forecasts.

 

[Journeyman]

My response back then to complaints about talking over the music was "Go buy the record if you want to hear all of it". I wish I had set up a commission deal... It was no accident that song intros were the same length as station liners or forecasts.

Preach it, brother!

 

[firepoint525]

My response back then to complaints about talking over the music was "Go buy the record if you want to hear all of it". I wish I had set up a commission deal... It was no accident that song intros were the same length as station liners or forecasts.

Translation: turn off the radio if you don't like it. :

With attitudes like yours, it is no wonder that radio is dying. :

 

[PirateJohnny]

My response back then to complaints about talking over the music was "Go buy the record if you want to hear all of it". I wish I had set up a commission deal... It was no accident that song intros were the same length as station liners or forecasts.

Translation: turn off the radio if you don't like it. :

With attitudes like yours, it is no wonder that radio is dying. :

I can see that. But I was on the air 1975-1992. Like I said in another post I thought of the DJ as the life of the party. I wanted the listener to think I was excited about playing and listening to their favorite song. I blended my patter into the intro and outro of the song. I would repeat or paraphrase lyrics and segue them into station promo-lines. Songs back then started to repeat and fade out with as much as 25 seconds left. If I could promote the station, give the forecast and sound like I was having a party listening to your favorite song while talking over it, I could play more songs in an hour than the DJs that waited for a song to fade out and started the next song after they finished talking. That's what I was all about back then - the total entertainment package. I put on a radio show. I hoped I was more entertaining than just sitting around listening to records on a turntable.

 

[Tibbs4]

Oh, you mean you actually had fun, had a heart and engaged listeners ...


None of that could translate into listenership...

Or ratings... Or better profits...

Or keeping radio relevant.

 

[firepoint525]

I can see that. But I was on the air 1975-1992. Like I said in another post I thought of the DJ as the life of the party. I wanted the listener to think I was excited about playing and listening to their favorite song. I blended my patter into the intro and outro of the song. I would repeat or paraphrase lyrics and segue them into station promo-lines. Songs back then started to repeat and fade out with as much as 25 seconds left. If I could promote the station, give the forecast and sound like I was having a party listening to your favorite song while talking over it, I could play more songs in an hour than the DJs that waited for a song to fade out and started the next song after they finished talking. That's what I was all about back then - the total entertainment package. I put on a radio show. I hoped I was more entertaining than just sitting around listening to records on a turntable.

That's all good and fine, but most djs these days are just "noise" over the intro of a record, in the ears of the listeners. I grew up with djs who talked over intros, and it didn't bother me back then, because I considered them my friends. Even when I got into radio myself, I talked over intros, too, but then one time, I let a long intro play without talking over it, and I thought, "wow, that sounds kinda cool," so I cut back on talking over intros. And it seems like we always had music beds for giving the forecast, so I never really had to do that over a song intro. Our FM was voice-tracked (by us), so I couldn't talk over an intro there, even if I wanted to.

The problem these days is that so few djs can develop their talent long enough to get good enough, because most of us don't want to eat ramen noodles and beanie weenies for YEARS while working for egomaniacal slave drivers. So we leave the biz, or we get fired.

 

[firepoint525]

This was within the quote tag above, so I will repost it here:

That's all good and fine, but most djs these days are just "noise" over the intro of a record, in the ears of the listeners. I grew up with djs who talked over intros, and it didn't bother me back then, because I considered them my friends. Even when I got into radio myself, I talked over intros, too, but then one time, I let a long intro play without talking over it, and I thought, "wow, that sounds kinda cool," so I cut back on talking over intros. And it seems like we always had music beds for giving the forecast, so I never really had to do that over a song intro. Our FM was voice-tracked (by us), so I couldn't talk over an intro there, even if I wanted to.

The problem these days is that so few djs can develop their talent long enough to get good enough, because most of us don't want to eat ramen noodles and beanie weenies for YEARS while working for egomaniacal slave drivers. So we leave the biz, or we get fired.

 

[PirateJohnny]

My biggest complaint with "Oldies" stations is they don't recreate the entire experience. I would like to hear an oldies station sound like this for one weekend. Heck, I'd like to do it for three hours one Saturday night:

http://www.79waky.com/aircheckscoyotecalhoun.htm

No, that's not me, but that is what I dreamed of doing before I actually got on the radio. Some of you believe in rules that this guy breaks. Some of you might think this guy rules.