That Poor Pathetic PLaylist on Sixties on 6

[nocomradio]

I don't know what some of you guys have been bitchin' about ...but I hear some surprises in there where instead of going Oh WOW!, I'm going Huh What? I hear some cuts that are alittle too deep. Some of those that I wouldn't add on an oldies or 60's stations. On a twin spin weekend...I heard a Pet Clark song calleed the "Other Mans Grass is always Greener". Not one of her best and probably a mid charter. What's the sense of playing that if it stiffed the first time due to the lack of her other hits. Another one was from a group called Orpheus. What? It sounded like a mid-charter or below. I don't remeber hearing that as a current, And there's reason why. Another surprise was from a song by the Tokens....an old shampoo commercial. I haven't heard that since the commercial was out as a child. There were a few more featured that charted in the 50's-60's, upper 40's or put it like this...songs major markets would shy away from adding on to the playlist when they were currently out. It seems like 60's on 6 either goes from 5-10 Corporate research oldies...to an oldie that I don't think you'll find at a flee market. One extreme to the other. It doesn't have to be not played because it mid-charted...but make sure the selection is good. You will hear surprises that you'll have to look up in a Joel Whitburn book, or Wikipedia or something like it.

Huh What? is reserved for people who live for the Top 40 stuff. The variety is what makes music what it is. If I had to listen to the same couple hundred hits all the time, I'd probably head out back and finish myself off. The revolution that is the internet and the access to so much more than we had even 15 years ago to me is fascinating and limiting myself to only what's familiar is depressing to think about.

As a kid about 30 some odd years ago I remember hearing all sorts of wonderful stuff from my radio late at night on both AM and FM. Things I enjoyed for a short stint on XM then lost again to the corporate view that "we know what you want to hear."

 

[Starbucks]

Hey Hey Hey....take a laxative for a moment. You and a few of you are reading me wrong. No. I DON'T WANT CORPORATE RADIO...Never stated I did. Yes , there are songs that were mid charters that should've received more airlplay or should have sold more. And should still be played on oldies stations...because of the airplay they received in the past. Yes...a song like Patti & The Emblems "Mixed Up Shook Up Girl" which charted top 30 should definetly be on the 60's on 6. What I'm saying is, that just because a song you don't hear everyday, or was never a good recording to begin with and charted 55 .....No. It was weak back then, it's weak right now. "Time For Livin'" by the Association is great tune but barely hit the 40. It got noticeble airplay the...it should have it now. But today's terrestrial won't touch it. All I'm saying is, when a song charted 72 and I hear XM playing it, and it only had roughly medium market airplay then, and not compared to their other hits or was weak....No. Why ...because it sounds like a train wreck. There's a reason in nearly most cases it stalled then, and it sounds bland now. When XM previewed the IT back then.....it was interesting....but realistically 55-60% of those songs were bland. The other's were the hits or a few that should've charted higher. That's what makes the flops from the hits. I loved 60's when they went on between 2001-2007. Because it sounded the way it was played.

 

[nocomradio]

Why ...because it sounds like a train wreck.

See, there is what I believe to be the typical attitude of 90% of the PD's out there. Sure, their preferences will color their playlists, but honestly, I think personal preference and catering to the advertisers has more to do with it than anything. What one considers a "train wreck" the next person may consider gold. I think its very selfish to assume everyone will hate something simply because one person doesn't like it. And as far as surveys and ratings? I trust them about as much as statistics. They can be manipulated to read whatever suits the suits, as it were.

 

[Starbucks]

If you played on your rotation wheel 80% train wrecks and 20% hits...it would probably sound smooth. Because, that's what your expecting. When you play 10-12 corporate songs in a row...and then you hear something that was never really heavily airplayed, charted , or poorly sold...then it's huh? There's a difference between Oh Wow and Huh when it comes to oldies. I'm all for Oh Wow's for oldies...but just because something is rare and not recognizable....doesn't justify a good playlist. There are exceptions and you wonder why who let sons like these past....Keep On Lovin Me - Frances Nero, Or the Real Thing - Tina Britt. Never charted, but wonder what PD's or MD's were sleeping on the job back then. For those who are familiar with those tunes ....we loved em'... there should be at least a feature for those. But regular day to day...it would be too shocking. The Oh wows are The Equals "Baby Come Back", Time For Livin" The Association , Let's Pretend The Raspberries..those are the songs XM needs to include for their 60's and 70's.

 

[blackgold]

And to think that those XM and Sirius channels were once freeform stations. Ever since they merged, they've been corralled by consultants! :-\

 

[flashback]

makes me think of when waylin jennings was asked what was the worst thing about country music and his answer was in effect, "when people in suits and business degrees call the shots ".

 

[blackgold]

You're right. With those consultants calling the shots, satellite radio's for the birds now!

 

[nocomradio]

My point all along has been this: The listeners are not "consulted"

The people in some boardroom are fed a study of X number of pages that spells out what a focus group of maybe 15 people like. Those people probably don't listen to the radio that much and ultimately may like what they hear once in a while. Once those results are printed in black and white, they are taken as the gospel and programming is dictated by a very unrealistic demo.

In my area which is very rural and probably a 50+ audience for the most part (all the young people leave for better opportunities) half the stations are "rockin country" or some Sam format that plays mostly 90's stuff. For the life of me I cannot imagine that the PD's got any of their information from a reliable or even local source. Same goes for satellite. A 300-400 song playlist of mostly TOP 40 stuff may be fine if you turn it on once in a while, but listen more than 3 days and you've pretty much heard it all. Why, oh why with all the music in the world produced between 1960 and 1970 do they need to rerun the same hashed over stuff constantly?