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Radio In the moment Brian Wilson

S

Seltzer

Time for a report card on Philly radio and the passing of an icon---Brian Wilson.
Well done WMGK----Mixing in Beach Boys songs throughout the afternoon show,
BIG F to the BIG station----I didn't find a single song--not even Kokomo from the 80s or Rock and Roll Music from 75. I understand their new direction but makes you wonder how they'll handle things when Paul McCartney passes.
Same with Ben FM. The station that plays anything we want certainly could have dropped in some Beach Boys songs yesterday,
Listen--I know its the 60s. But this was an iconic artist whose music crosses generations,
Was it just lazy ass programming and PDs couldn't be bothered? Possibly
Missing the moment is why radio isn't relevant to many listeners anymore. Among other things
 
A little anecdote from the break room at my office. 4 of us, all white men between 35 and 45, i.e. smack in the demo of WOGL.

Michael: Brian Wilson died today
Jake: Oh, the guy from AC/DC?
Michael: No, the guy from the Beach Boys
Me: The guy from AD/DC is Brian Johnson, but he's super old too
Jake: I don't think I know who the Beach Boys are
Brian: They were a rock & roll band around the same time as the Beatles, so the 60s.
Jake: Ah. I don't really know the Beatles either.

I think that answers your query about Paul McCartney too.
 
DXingRadio said:
I listened to WXPN which went all Beach Boys after the news yesterday, looks like after 1 PM through 8 PM. There was no question of who Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys are.
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Since AAA is strongest in 55+, that's not a surprise.

Continuing along the morbid road of "what-if" deaths started by the OP, I got to thinking about Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross. Since pop-leaning (and that includes the Motown sound) classic hits stations are scarcer than the rock-leaning variety, will the passing of those two Motown stars be noted anywhere but the AM mom-and-pops out in the sticks still playing '50s/'60s oldies? Will WMGK play anything by those two, or will it be up to WXPN to soothe the nostalgic souls of the 70- and 80-somethings who remember the "Sound of Young America" so fondly?
 
DXingRadio said:
I listened to WXPN which went all Beach Boys after the news yesterday, looks like after 1 PM through 8 PM. There was no question of who Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys are.
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Exactly. I posted this story on the obit page yesterday. They also did a tribute to Sly Stone the day before.

They weren't the only ones. Similarly formatted non-coms around the country played his music.
Seltzer said:
Missing the moment is why radio isn't relevant to many listeners anymore. Among other things
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Radio didn't miss the moment. You listen to the wrong station.
 
One of the worst make you feel old comment came from a coworker about 15 years ago. There was a comment about Paul McCartney on TV show the night before. Another coworker said it was the best he had heard Paul sing since the Beatles. The 30 something said "do you mean Paul was in another band before Wings?
 
CTListener said:
Since AAA is strongest in 55+, that's not a surprise.

Continuing along the morbid road of "what-if" deaths started by the OP, I got to thinking about Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross. Since pop-leaning (and that includes the Motown sound) classic hits stations are scarcer than the rock-leaning variety, will the passing of those two Motown stars be noted anywhere but the AM mom-and-pops out in the sticks still playing '50s/'60s oldies? Will WMGK play anything by those two, or will it be up to WXPN to soothe the nostalgic souls of the 70- and 80-somethings who remember the "Sound of Young America" so fondly?
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Smokey and Diana will definitely be mentioned on the network news, as Sly and Brian were. I'm not sure about commercial radio.
 
secondchoice said:
One of the worst make you feel old comment came from a coworker about 15 years ago. There was a comment about Paul McCartney on TV show the night before. Another coworker said it was the best he had heard Paul sing since the Beatles. The 30 something said "do you mean Paul was in another band before Wings?
Click to expand...
That line has been cited so often, by so many, with no actual speaker identified, that I'm pretty much convinced that it's apocryphal. It's a very familiar put-down of those born a full generation or more after Beatlemania. Frankly, I'm not amused by it. I'm a boomer, born right in the middle of those years, and I couldn't tell you which big band Ella Fitzgerald sang with, or what songs the Paul Whitemen Orchestra was known for, or the title of any Bing Crosby song other than "White Christmas." So when my fellow Boomers trot out that threadbare anecdote, I laugh, but not for the reason they may think I'm laughing.
 
CTListener said:
That line has been cited so often, by so many, with no actual speaker identified, that I'm pretty much convinced that it's apocryphal. It's a very familiar put-down of those born a full generation or more after Beatlemania. Frankly, I'm not amused by it. I'm a boomer, born right in the middle of those years, and I couldn't tell you which big band Ella Fitzgerald sang with, or what songs the Paul Whitemen Orchestra was known for, or the title of any Bing Crosby song other than "White Christmas." So when my fellow Boomers trot out that threadbare anecdote, I laugh, but not for the reason they may think I'm laughing.
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I was hearing that line in the 70s.
 
If you listen to the Fab Fourum on SXM's Beatles Channel, each week they get plenty of calls from teens and 20 somethings who very much so know who Brian and Macca are. The kids are alright, if you ask me.
 
Seltzer said:
Time for a report card on Philly radio and the passing of an icon---Brian Wilson.
Well done WMGK----Mixing in Beach Boys songs throughout the afternoon show,
BIG F to the BIG station----I didn't find a single song--not even Kokomo from the 80s or Rock and Roll Music from 75. I understand their new direction but makes you wonder how they'll handle things when Paul McCartney passes.
Same with Ben FM. The station that plays anything we want certainly could have dropped in some Beach Boys songs yesterday,
Listen--I know its the 60s. But this was an iconic artist whose music crosses generations,
Was it just lazy ass programming and PDs couldn't be bothered? Possibly
Missing the moment is why radio isn't relevant to many listeners anymore. Among other things
Click to expand...
Pierre Robert played over two hours of Beach Boys songs on his show after the news was released. The sweat set on his show this morning was all covers of Beach Boys songs. On a side note, Pierre broadcast his show live from I Bleed for Preston & Steve blood drive. I had a great conversation right before he went on the air and also received a great big hug from him. That made my Friday the 13th.
 
EasyBakeOven said:
Pierre Robert played an hour of The Beach Boys on WMMR, and even dug some old station IDs from the group.
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Yes he did. Well done. And well done by XPN and other non commercial stations around the country. My original post pointed out an example of how "Big Company" stations had done. Nothing of note again from Big on Thursday. Yet its sister station in NYC CBS FM was all over Brian and the Beach Boys Thursday.
 
Most greatest hits stations don't and won't play 50-60 year old songs any more. They won't when (fill in the name of another rock star whose most well known hits were in the 60's) dies.
 
radiofan2023 said:
Most greatest hits stations don't and won't play 50-60 year old songs any more. They won't when (fill in the name of another rock star whose most well known hits were in the 60's) dies.
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The Beach Boys were never really considered rock artists. But the market classic rocker--WMGK---did an outstanding job being in the moment Wednesday afternoon. Nothing on 98 or Ben FM. Yet CBS FM in NYC hit the Beach Boys hard on Thursday morning. They recognized then genius that Brian Wilson was. And Pierre at WMMR did a fantastic job for an artist that isn't part of the active rock format. This is about radio being in the moment. And relevant. Lazy programming at 98.1 and Ben FM. CBS FM is also owned by Audacy..
 
I wouldn’t have expected WOGL to go wall to wall Beach Boys. But one song an hour or even a 60 second tribute with snippets from different Beach Boys songs would have been nice.
 


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