What's wrong with Jay Sev.

[Lucylu]

I finally figured it out; what has always bothered me about him. I tuned in for a minute while driving home tonight and he was playing a song from Johnny Winter and talking all over the guitar solo, telling everyone why it was so good, rather than letting the music speak for itself.

Jay is that particular type of gas-bag that can't enjoy art for itself, they have to make sure that you know that they know why a song, or a painting, or what-have-you, is so good. When he's not giving a class in Civics 101 he's coat-tailing great art. I have to remember to stop listening :

 

[jayradio]

Speaking of Jay S-e-v-e-r-i-n, there is a job posting for a Full Time Producer for Jay on the 96.9 website. Maybe his help is sick of him talking over the intros too. Anybody have former Depetro producer "Jimmy"s number?

 

[TowerBuzz]

I finally figured it out; what has always bothered me about him. I tuned in for a minute while driving home tonight and he was playing a song from Johnny Winter and talking all over the guitar solo, telling everyone why it was so good, rather than letting the music speak for itself.

Jay is that particular type of gas-bag that can't enjoy art for itself, they have to make sure that you know that they know why a song, or a painting, or what-have-you, is so good. When he's not giving a class in Civics 101 he's coat-tailing great art. I have to remember to stop listening :

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm I dont know about this one Lucy, Im no Severin fan, but it is a talk show. I dont know if you can deduct points for his not letting the music speak for itself when he's doing a talk show. Otherwise I agree with the gas bag theory!

;D

 

[Lucylu]

There is a difference between talking over an intro and saying "listen to this, it some great guitar playing" over that self-same guitar playing. It would be like taking a sharpie and drawing arrows to point out the highlights of a painting by one of the great masters. Selfserving distruction of art.

By the way, who was on TKK earlier this evening? They said OJ had 'testicles the size of watermellons' for putting out this new book. I wonder if there will be any backlash over that...

 

[TowerBuzz]

Oh Jesus that's almost worse than the Metco Gorilla comment!

:

 

[raccoonradio]

>>There is a difference between talking over an intro and saying "listen to this, it some great guitar playing"

I have heard him do things like that. "Listen here, this part is great" he'll say over the gtr solo (by Eddie
Van Halen?) in Jacko's "Beat It"....etc

 

[Infidel]

He's also one of those "this IS THE BEST xxxxx" people.

Most people haven't even heard of Johnny Winter. I have some of his albums, yes he's a fast player if nothing else, well-known in the blues "community" but the average person has never heard of him.

I agree he should just play the music. When he goes on a five-minute diatribe about "Take 5" being in 5/4 time, musicians will roll their eyes and say thanks, Captian Obvious and non-musicians probably don't give a bleep.

Eddie's solo in Beat It is good, but why give Jacko the Pervert ANY air time on your show?

Speaking of OJ, I haven't heard anyone with the balls to call it a hate crime, since a black man butchered two white people?

 

[Garrett]

I finally figured it out; what has always bothered me about him. I tuned in for a minute while driving home tonight and he was playing a song from Johnny Winter and talking all over the guitar solo, telling everyone why it was so good, rather than letting the music speak for itself.

You're right, how dare he be a talk show host for that...

 

[Lucylu]

Garrett, I'll type slowly so even you can understand this: Why Bother Playing A Great Guitar Lick If You Are Going Talk All Over It?

His conceit about his values in music don't make him a bad talk show host, how-some-ever, his ponderous 'civics' lesson do. ;D

 

[ciao99]

I finally figured it out; what has always bothered me about him. I tuned in for a minute while driving home tonight and he was playing a song from Johnny Winter and talking all over the guitar solo, telling everyone why it was so good, rather than letting the music speak for itself.

Jay is that particular type of gas-bag that can't enjoy art for itself, they have to make sure that you know that they know why a song, or a painting, or what-have-you, is so good. When he's not giving a class in Civics 101 he's coat-tailing great art. I have to remember to stop listening :

Yay. A middle aged white man playing air guitar. That's great radio.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Most people haven't even heard of Johnny Winter. I have some of his albums, yes he's a fast player if nothing else, well-known in the blues "community" but the average person has never heard of him.

Actually, he was fairly popular in the late 60's/early 70's on early FM AOR (then called "underground" or "progressive") radio stations like WBCN back then, as he was one of the more well-known, higher energy "hippie" blues rockers at the time. That audience is now in their 50's and 60's, and commercial rock radio hasn't programmed to them for decades. Classic Rock stations like WZLX are programming to a younger demographic who discovered Led Zep and Pink Floyd's hits when they already were Classic Rock songs for many years.

By the mid-70's Winter was no longer played on commercial rock radio, so the younger audience would only know him if they sought him out in the strictly blues community, and despite currently frail health, he's still touring continually and filling small nightclubs well. But, ask any former (or still current) "old hippie" in their 50's or 60's who Johnny Winter is, they'll know.

 

[Varulven]

Also, Eli, to stick with the classic rock comment for a second (no apologies to Jay Severin or his thread), it would be a smart idea of Classic Rock radio to sprinkle in some of these type of classics - Johnny Winter's "Jumpin' Jack Flash", Edgar Winter's original "Rock 'n' Roll Hoochie Coo", or even a country singer like Kim Carnes with her progressive classic "Bette Davis Eyes", which is real classic rock by a non-classic rock artist. There's a Tom Petty song that starts off like Kim Carnes' classic, and it is a disappointment to hear the tired Petty voice instead of something different. Classic Rock's inherent problem/quandary is it tends to repeat the most boring aspects of a Pink Floyd or Tom Petty's respective catalogs. Slipping in a Johnny Winter or a Kim Carnes instead of hearing the song "Money" for the 9 millionth time will keep more listeners than it will lose. They haven't learned that lesson yet. Which is why the ratings fluctuate so wildly.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Also, Eli, to stick with the classic rock comment for a second (no apologies to Jay Severin or his thread), it would be a smart idea of Classic Rock radio to sprinkle in some of these type of classics - Johnny Winter's "Jumpin' Jack Flash", Edgar Winter's original "Rock 'n' Roll Hoochie Coo", or even a country singer like Kim Carnes with her progressive classic "Bette Davis Eyes", which is real classic rock by a non-classic rock artist. There's a Tom Petty song that starts off like Kim Carnes' classic, and it is a disappointment to hear the tired Petty voice instead of something different. Classic Rock's inherent problem/quandary is it tends to repeat the most boring aspects of a Pink Floyd or Tom Petty's respective catalogs. Slipping in a Johnny Winter or a Kim Carnes instead of hearing the song "Money" for the 9 millionth time will keep more listeners than it will lose. They haven't learned that lesson yet. Which is why the ratings fluctuate so wildly.

"Betty Davis Eyes" has more of a pop than Classic Rock sound. It's still heard on AC, Adult Hits, and Classic Hits stations. I think WMJX, WROR, and Mike-FM may still play it, but it's not a hard enough rock sound for WZLX. I know I even heard it on WJIB and WPLM, maybe WBOQ too.

Besides Edgar's 1973 hits "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride", the Winter's are simply not known to today's Classic Rock listeners, which is why WZLX would lose ratings by playing more of them. The few "Oh, wow's" they would get wouldn't balance the tuneouts from the majority masses who really only want to hear the hits they know over and over again.

Carter Alan can get away with playing Johnny on his Sunday Morning Blues show, but Sunday mornings are considered an off-period for ratings. Otherwise, Johnny is relegated to non-commercial blues shows, and my show on WMBR, which doesn't have to worry about ratings.