OK Review of the 2nd KMET Weekend: Short story - they promised more, delivered less. Now would probably be a good time to leave KMET where it belongs - in the past.
Pros:
By having it all weekend instead of just one weekday, more people probably had a chance to catch a bit of it. I was able to take most of the day Friday off last time, but I bet many others could not.
They gave Dr. Demento his full two hours in his Sunday timeslot, with only one short commercial break in the whole two hours, which really allowed him to talk about the history of his show and how it got to and then prospered on KMET, while playing many of the demented greatest hits we all know and love, plus a few that may not be remembered as well. He took the time to make sure all of his supporting staff were recognized and got quality airtime. He also mentioned some names from the earlier regime that I am sure rarely if ever got mentioned the rest of the weekend, particularly Steven Clean, and how they helped shape KMET and his show in particular. Some of this stuff I didn't know even as a long time Dementoid. These two hours were the highlight of the weekend for me.
It was clearly done not for the sake of doing it again, but to help Pat "Paraquat" Kelley who is really suffering from life debilitating MS and currently has a book describing the rise, fall, and career makeovers he and his wife Melody Rogers (of "2 on the Town") fame have underwent. I read the book over the weekend ($9.99 online download from Amazon). It is a very nice easy to read book and I highly recommend if you were a fan of Paraquat or KMET in general. Clearly the weekend was set up to promo the book and help out a friend who is clearly in need. I think I have mentioned before that Paraquat was really one of my childhood heroes and by far my favorite KMET jock. He was, in my mind, the smartest, funniest, and wittiest one of the bunch. He was by far the "cool one".
Cons:
The biggest one of all is my continuing complaint that they don't include, or even acknowledge, the pre-Bellamy era jocks and history. I have dwelled on this in the past and don't need to do it again here. A full discussion by the board community relating to the last time they did this is here (
http://radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?560970-KMET-is-back-!!). But that said, they hardly had even all of the Bellamy-era jocks on board this time. Unless you're name is Gonzer, Ace, Cytnthia, Ladd, Frazer, Lewis, Pat, or Dr. D, you most likely were not there. A few did call in, but it is just not the same. And Gonzer and Ace seemed like they were on the whole time. Also, they were not on the whole weekend as advertised. I tuned in on Sunday morning only to hear the usual Sound Sunday morning slate including Mimi's Peace, Love, and Woodstock show. With so many less jocks participating over more days, it is understandable, but certainly not clear from their promotion. Speaking of Sunday mornings, next year will be the 30th anniversary of Breakfast with the Beatles. Since it is currently on KLOS, I am sure not a word was spoken about this extraordinary achievement that was actually launched by KMET and of course dear-departed Dierdre O'Donoghue. That is a true feather in KMET's hat that should be recognized whenever they get a chance. 30 years of anything is a tremendous accomplishment in radio and it does matter where it started.
For the last time, can we please get this straight.
Jocks hanging out together on the radio telling each other how great they were back in the day and congratulating themselves and patting each other on the back is *bad radio*. When Jim Ladd is leading the discussion, it is *horribly bad radio*. (You know, Jim's usual schtick: "We 'got it' then, and we still 'get it' now and nobody else but us ever seems to get it. We're still the only ones!") The worst came during the Saturday night "get together" where they all did this for about three or four hours straight. Around 6:30 pm, They're going on about their exploits back in the day when it is time to cut to the next song and of course Jim has the Doors all cued up. And then to lead into the song he makes the really bad segue by saying "It's like a
Roadhouse in here" and immediately spins "Roadhouse Blues". Man, I tell you, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
What would have been (much) better would have been to give each jock their own shift and let them share their own stories and memories directly with the audience, share their own on-air clips and take calls from the audience. That way it is a more intimate experience with the jock talking directly to the listener/audience without all the "we were just
so bitchin" pretentiousness. They set it up more like this the first time which made that day so much more enjoyable and rewarding...
Which is the ultimate conclusion - so much more air time devoted to it this time, but not nearly as well executed as last time, and even that could have been better. In my life, I have found that meeting up with old classmates and friends is rarely a good idea. The memory of them as they were then is almost always better then their reality now. And so it is with KMET. I enjoyed the clips, bits, re-airing of some stories that I had forgotten about, but the reality then is better than the story-telling today. It is now time to just remember KMET as it was and quit trying to recapture it now. Or as Tom Petty sings on his Highway Companion CD, "
You can look back babe, but it's best not to stare".
