What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Better ?

[davideduardo]

Re: What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Bette

No, this time he actually took the call live on the air. You couldn't even hear the caller's voice, which Bob explained saying that it wasn't on "tape delay".

Tape delay is different from prerecording. Tape delay is actually digital delay (I have not seen a tape recorder in a station for at least a decade... but some long-timers have a "tape delayed" vocabulary) for profanity control... in addtion there is the 8.1 second HD delay so the analog and digital match.

 

[wmgcbs]

Re: What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Bette

No, this time he actually took the call live on the air. You couldn't even hear the caller's voice, which Bob explained saying that it wasn't on "tape delay".

Tape delay is different from prerecording. Tape delay is actually digital delay (I have not seen a tape recorder in a station for at least a decade... but some long-timers have a "tape delayed" vocabulary) for profanity control... in addtion there is the 8.1 second HD delay so the analog and digital match.

I don't think it was on tape delay OR prerecorded, but actually live. The caller was never actually "on the air." Bob was talking the listeners through his conversation with the caller on the line. For example, he asked the man his name and location and then relayed that information to the listeners. Bob was asking for a "romantic Elvis request," and the caller originally said, "In the Ghetto," and Bob asked him to "try again," leading the man to request, "It's Now or Never." Then, Bob proceeded to cue up "It's Now or Never," commenting on how many Elvis songs there were in the music library, before finding it and playing it. (Scary how vividly I remember this).

Unless Mr. Shannon did an exceptionally amazing job fooling this careful listener, I truly think that the "Instant Request" was just that... an instant request.

 

[htowler]

I diagree HD-2 was broadcasting from 12-05 thru 07-07 it didn't fail. The reason it was taken off the HD-2 channel was because '' The Greatest Hits "
format was returning to the HD-1 channel and as we all know they couldn't just neglect JACK-FM because the had to wait until the licensing expired. I think they should have just moved Jack to 92.3-FM and left WCBS-FM the way it was on the HD-2 channel and still introduced " The Greatest Hits "
format on the HD-1 channel. If this was the case we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.



P.S

I stand corrected on the Marvelettes being in Doo Wop.

92.3 JackFM HMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

 

[RadioFixerCLE]

Re: What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Bette

I wonder who is in charge of this problem at CBS-FM. I sent a very kind, polite letter about a month ago and failed to receive a response. My guess is either they don't really care or that they actually think it sounds good or "good enough."

Gotta love those self-described "whiz kids" who think they've found the "golden secret" of a processor. :

 

[8638]

Re: What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Bette

The Marvelettes are NOT Doo Wop they are mid 60s Motown,and they belong where they are, on CBS FM!..now tell them to play "My Baby Must Be A Magician"(cos he's sho got the magic touch!)

That's a GREAT song that you never hear on terrestrial radio any more, with the exception of Oldies 1160 WDJO in Cincinnati, on whose stream I heard it last week.

 

[lalumia]

well, I've heard the new CBS FM play "Too Many Fish In The Sea" and "Beechwood 4 5789" by the Marvelettes, and "Magician" was a much bigger hot for the group than either of those two; also heard "Playboy", "Don't Mess With Bill" and of course "PLease Mr. Postman", the very first national #1 Billboard hit for Motown ever!

 

[KFodor]

Let's not quote from memories, shall we? 'Cause memories are often faulty.

Nationally speaking, The Marvellettes had 3 top ten hits. "Please Mr. Postman" was, of course, #1. "Playboy" and "Don't Mess With Bill" peaked at #7.

"Beachwood 4-5789" only got to #17, so too "My Baby Must Be A Magician".

"Too Many Fish In The Sea" peaked at #25. "Hunter Gets Captured" got to #13.

 

[lalumia]

http://music.aol.com/artist/the-marvelettes/biography/1004153

 

[KFodor]

The chart statistics I posted come from Billboard Magazine and are, thus, not arguable. (You can find them, too...if you wish to purchase the reference book.)

By making the post I did, do not get the impression I was suggesting the Marvellettes did not have big hits. In fact, I believe in mentioning the 3 top ten hits (including the #1 smash "Please Mr. Postman"), as well as the 2 or 3 lesser, though still well-known hits, I had made the point that they were popular and influential.

Certainly, the Marvellettes deserve their place in Motown history. But, compared to the Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and the Temptations, they were a popular, but smaller piece of the Motown puzzle.

My only argument here: was to say that a song that peaked at #17 was a "bigger" hit than one that made the top 10 is, unfortunately, one's opinion...without fact to back it up.

Also, "biographies" are often written by press agents and record companies who have a financial interest
in making things look bigger than they may have actually have been.

I was there, too in that day. Maybe a bit younger...but I remember, too. Not all people who have worked for oldies stations are kids...and, at 51, I hardly consider myself one today.

 

[lalumia]

the info you provided shows that "Magician" was bigger than "Too Many Fish", which was my point, so I don't getcha...
and the fact that The Marvellettes delivered the FIRST ever national #1 pop record for a black owned and operated label should insure their place in history even if they only had the one hit...
even more so when the company turns out to be Motown..

but they are NOT represented in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and I consider that to be a ghastly development

 

[wabc860]

Re: What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Bette

Play more R & B period.

 

[Kenroberts]

Re: What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Bette

One of the things I hear the most about the station...the personalities or lack of...Harry Harrison needs to come back and do a regular show...Saturday Mornings? Others need a regular spot...even if it's part time.

 

[RadioFixerCLE]

Re: What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Bette

One of the things I hear the most about the station...the personalities or lack of...Harry Harrison needs to come back and do a regular show...Saturday Mornings? Others need a regular spot...even if it's part time.

I'm pretty damn sure that Harry Harrison is done with radio and just wants to enjoy his golden years.

He's earned that right.

 

[BACKnUSSR]

Re: What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Bette

One of the things I hear the most about the station...the personalities or lack of...Harry Harrison needs to come back and do a regular show...Saturday Mornings? Others need a regular spot...even if it's part time.

Yeah, lets go back in time.
I also miss the show Barney Miller, ABC should bring that back.

 

[Kenroberts]

Re: What Would you do if you were PD of WCBS-FM to make the station Sound Bette

One of the things I hear the most about the station...the personalities or lack of...Harry Harrison needs to come back and do a regular show...Saturday Mornings? Others need a regular spot...even if it's part time.

I'm pretty damn sure that Harry Harrison is done with radio and just wants to enjoy his golden years.

He's earned that right.

He would be back tomorrow morning if you asked him to. He knows many want to hear him again and he sounds just as good today as he did 30 years ago.

 

[scooty430]

1) Play more 1955-1964
2) Play bigger variety of cuts from the "main" period of CBS-FM's focus: 1964-1979. Not novelty stuff, but lesser heard quality cuts that fit the sound of the station.
3) Sunday Night Countdowns from 1955-1964 every once in awhile.
4) Doo-Wop shop.
5) Careful with the 80's....Past 1984 it gets pretty polarizing.

Speaking of Oldies Stations, I vote that KRTH should TOP their recent 1001 countdown this summer with....not a Fourth of July Firecracker 500, but a Firecracker 5000! (Or maybe Firecracker 4000.) Are there 4000 good songs from 1955 through 1985? Sure!

 

[BACKnUSSR]

1) Play more 1955-1964
2) Play bigger variety of cuts from the "main" period of CBS-FM's focus: 1964-1979. Not novelty stuff, but lesser heard quality cuts that fit the sound of the station.
3) Sunday Night Countdowns from 1955-1964 every once in awhile.
4) Doo-Wop shop.
5) Careful with the 80's....Past 1984 it gets pretty polarizing.

Speaking of Oldies Stations, I vote that KRTH should TOP their recent 1001 countdown this summer with....not a Fourth of July Firecracker 500, but a Firecracker 5000! (Or maybe Firecracker 4000.) Are there 4000 good songs from 1955 through 1985? Sure!

Perfect recipe for a 1.5

 

[scooty430]

The question was "how to make it sound better," not "get better ratings."

....though I don't think those suggestions, in moderation, would change the ratings much.

 

[BACKnUSSR]

The question was "how to make it sound better," not "get better ratings."

....though I don't think those suggestions, in moderation, would change the ratings much.

Oh I was confused, I equated "how to make it sound better" with making it more desirable for people to listen to, not less desirable. So in some strange way, lower ratings and loss of listeners would indicate better sounding. Missed that one.

And I think they would DIRECTLY change the ratings to the downside, If they were done in moderation, then the ratings would simply be off...moderately.

 

[adma]

Oh I was confused, I equated "how to make it sound better" with making it more desirable for people to listen to, not less desirable. So in some strange way, lower ratings and loss of listeners would indicate better sounding. Missed that one.

Why do you radio types always refer to "people" generically? Or are you trying to excuse your own tastelessness, and that of your desired/generated listeners?

Cynically speaking, let's put it this way. To take the side of the critics, the way how to make such radio "sound better" is *exactly" to alienate that ugly, ignorant listener scum the industry's generated through the years. What you gain in quantity, you gain in quality. Right? Unless quantity = quality to you, in which case, thanks for affirming your nouveau riche philistinism.

Then, there's the opposite solution--that is, those of you who're preoccupied with "how to make it sound better" idealism just buzz off to NPR or post-terrestrial-land, because you're dealing with a lost cause. Thus isolated from your sphere, the present state of commercial terrestrial radio becomes nothing more than a vaguely benign nuisance catering primarily to rednecks and bigots and 450-pound crazy ladies and scam artist pigeons of any variety. "Your" type might have been superficially central to radio back when the oldies were new, but no more. Oldies radio sounds the way it is for the same reason why Rush and Hannity sound the way they are. Don't bother trying to "change" those mentalities; it's like a battered wife trying to "change" her battering husband, and the latter will likely weasel a "she had it coming" excuse, anyway...