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KEOM "IS" Disco

Just an observation while driving across town to Easter dinner at the sister-in-law's yesterday.

Who ever programmed the 12:30 to 1:30 PM hour Sunday (or was it random autopilot?) certainly had their THUMP on! ;D
 
Disco's good -and would be a great niche format for the substantially underutilized KEOM.

They could brand it as The All New DISCO Eighty Eight and a Half using circa 1978 imaging.

I've been listening trying to catch the 17 minute version of Donna Summer's "Mac Arthur Park Suite", the one that begins with the long version of Mac Arthur Park and ends with Heaven Knows. No luck so far. Used to be one complete vinyl side of the Live and More LP; Casablanca pulled that from the Live and More album when they reissued it on CD. Now it's only available in one obscure place: The CD Casablanca Story.

Disco, or just about any other bonafide, coherent radio format, programmed by a professional this time, would be a better use to justify MISD paying the electric bill to operate the transmitter alone.

France Joli would be great too.

C'mon little KEOM, think like the little engine that could!
 
OK I must chime in here. When I was programming the music, I was asked to follow a bunch of ridiculous guidelines. Songs longer than 4:00 minutes were to be kept away from the bottom of the hour, and even 6:00 minute songs were frowned upon. Why? “Because it's too much trouble for the students”. Suffice it to say, the training program back then was a complete joke, and it probably still is. They were using an automation system back then that I bet no other station would dream of touching.

R
 
Robert Bass said:
OK I must chime in here. When I was programming the music, I was asked to follow a bunch of ridiculous guidelines.

->Ridiculous guidelines are the hallmark of ridiculous organizations. I thought that used to be limited to NCE stations, but apparently the affliction has jumped the barrier to the commercial band with consolidation.

Robert Bass said:
Songs longer than 4:00 minutes were to be kept away from the bottom of the hour, and even 6:00 minute songs were frowned upon. Why? “Because it's too much trouble for the students”.

->What was the logic in that? No bathroom breaks at the bottom of the hour?

->MISD was seriously worried that the students would fall asleep during a 6:00 song? Ut Oh, the station might go off the air.

(Confession, I fell asleep once for 1 minutes, head down on the console... must a been that 6:03 song)

Robert Bass said:
Suffice it to say, the training program back then was a complete joke, and it probably still is.

->I haven't really listened, but I doubt it's improved.


Robert Bass said:
They were using an automation system back then that I bet no other station would dream of touching.

->That wasn't the TMCI system written in Turbo Pascal with the gigantic CD carousels was it?
 
The whole "no 4:00 min songs in the bottom of the hour" had to do with the break at :45 past the hour plus the network news feed at :55 past the hour. There were similar fears with regard to 5:00+ min songs because they felt the students couldn't run the rest of the hourly breaks on time. That's part of the reason why the whole student DJ program was such a joke. Management wanted the breaks "exactly on time" as much as possible. Running a break a few minutes early or late was viewed as an ultimate sin.

As far as the gigantic CD jukeboxes, those were phased out in favor of hard-drive playback by about 2003. But it was still the same UDSII system. That DOS based GUI by itself, was pathetic! Don't get me started on how easy it was to drag a whole folder of audio files from one spot to another, in the production rooms!

R
 
Robert Bass said:
That DOS based GUI by itself, was pathetic!

Hey, I don't want to get you going, but I see your still online, so I will ask this:

Was the DOS GUI the one with the REALLY GIANT countdown numbers that were square shaped pixelled, very square looking numbers?

Very 1990's (I recall that KVIL had something similar).
 
Yes, exactly. TMC sold that system to another company (I forget what year exactly). The new company kept the UDSII name for it.

R
 
Robert Bass said:
Yes, exactly.

You made me spat my iced tea across the room.... I hope this keyboard is watertight!

That countdown clock display was also useful for nuclear launches and doomsday movies.

Wasn't there an expression 40 "charters per display line" (or something very similar) using TV's as monitors for Vic 20 and Commodore 64?

Too bad KEOM didn't have cassette drive memory! {It's sequential, NOT random access}
 
UDSII wasn't "random". It followed a music schedule just like many other automation systems do.

R
 
I'm reminded of the old saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Glad the disco was enjoyed.
 
The Mesquite Schools.... Where things that should be changed are not changed, and things that shouldn't be changed are changed.

Good riddance...

R
 
Robert Bass said:
The Mesquite Schools....

It's the ISD in MISD... cause ya can't spell StupID without it!
 
JRZFM100 said:
Robert Bass said:
The Mesquite Schools....

It's the ISD in MISD... cause ya can't spell StupID without it!

ROFL!!!! You got THAT right for sure! ;D

R
 
Hey Chris, in all seriousness now:

I've been working on some 'stunting' concepts for the roll out of the new Eighty Eight and a Half ALL disco format...

Here's a few thoughts, starting with a new lighting scheme for the MISD/KEOM tower, including-

One BIG GIANT revolving disco ball with a higher intensity larger strobe light for the very tower top.

Several smaller revolving disco balls with additional high intensity side strobes at each lower FAA lighting level.

Brite colored can spots facing the parking lot at all non-FAA lighting levels.

And now for the big one... illuminated under-lighting for the parking lot; transforming the parking lot into a a giant dance floor.

This will not only annunciate the arrival of the KEOM's new format to the whole town, but MISD will find the lot for future proms! Not just one appliance, but two great ideas in one (like Ron Popeil)!
 
As a Mesquite taxpayer, I demand to see a financial investment proposal! There will then need to be a city wide voting session where taxpayers can approve or reject this proposal.

:)

R
 
LOL - I LOVE the disco ball / tower idea! That would look really cool! How perfect that it could double as a prom venue.

Funny stuff! :D

BTW: UDS was replaced with Smart System's "Skylla" automation in 2009. (That's actually who bought UDS from TM - like Robert mentioned) Also, Selector 15 replaced with GSelector in 2011. Wish I had Music Master ($$$), but GSelector is tons better than Selector 15 was!
 
I love KEOM. It is about all I listen to when I visit Dallas. In fact, I may visiting there again soon. I wish we had a station like it here in Houston. I do listen to it on the web, but their web audio is awful, and needs some serious processing.

OLD CHICAGO
 
OldChicago said:
I love KEOM. It is about all I listen to when I visit Dallas. In fact, I may visiting there again soon. I wish we had a station like it here in Houston. I do listen to it on the web, but their web audio is awful, and needs some serious processing.

OLD CHICAGO
Glad you love it, Chicago! Sorry you're not diggin' the web feed. You're right that it's unprocessed. It's directly out of the program feed in the studio - should be clean, though.
 
I noticed a live announcer on this morning. Imagine, a LIVE content presenter on a Sunday morning!
 
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