So i learned today that G-Rock 106.5 has changed formats.
To Top 40 tunes. This happening just over the weekend. They used to play not just alternative rock music, but a GOOD selection of it. Not just your run of the mill well known hits, but digging deep in the archives of forgotten faves. Imagine playing old school Tool, or vintage NIN. Stuff you dont normally hear alternative stations play. And this during the drive home in the afternoons, not in some ungodly hour, or a one-time nugget thru a request.
A sad SAD day.
Several years ago the same thing happened to 100.3, from which Y-Rock has sprouted. Now a part of 88.5 WXPN, but still not getting a FULL airtime on the dial, still relegated to online streams, HD substation, and the occasional couple of hours on weeknights.
What is baffling in all this is the fact that rock events and rock shows CONTINUE to thrive well in the south Jersey (including the shore area), and Philly area. Shows continue to have record attendances, and some sell out well. Apparently LIVE music does not equate a healthy radio lifespan.
Some people promote the notion that radio is a dead medium, when in fact nothing can be further from the truth. Its just the dearth of quality programming pervades the airwaves. Special mention go to 88.5 XPN and WRTI 90.1, Whom support comes NOT from advertisers and commercials, but from listeners who GIVE MONEY to keep these member-supported stations running, running healthy, and playing non-commercial radio music. They are dictated not by the whims of what the payola people have in their de-evolved sense of selfworth, but by the mandate of finding good music, interesting music not commonly heard thru normal channels or PR machines generated by the large corporations of the music industry. They have been a haven for the fledgling artists, the veterans who have been playing ball in the outfield, and for those who crave to listen to something other than the saccharinic deluge of crap shoved down by commercialism.
So what’s on my radio dial presets? 106.5 is now erased, but i still have from the left of the dial
– 88.5 XPN (of which i am a proud card-carrying member),
– 90.1 WRTI (classical in the morning, REAL jazz after 6PM),
– 93.3 WMMR for the Preston and Steve show in some mornings, and in some cases hearing Citizen Pierre light up the early afternoons about his hatred for Axl Rose, and occasionally for a fixin’ for some crusty old rock’n roll,
– 94.1 WYSP, now that they’ve reverted back to PLAYING rock, instead of yapping to death (though i never really hit that button much),
– 103.3 WPRB – eclectic mix of GOOD music coming from Princeton U,
– 104.5 WRFF – what defines commercial alternative rock radio these days. could be better, but its better than nothing. I think they’ll be around for a while, being a part of the huge company that is Livenation/Clear Channel. With them, the radio station has access to a multitude of commercial artists, allowing them to promote the music playing easily. Who knows, the station can be a part of one big machine, but sometimes you can find a bright star in a dark night.
Any other stations? not of any good note. Decidedly, i lean towards rock, and alternative rock specifically. Why dont i change to satellite? I have to buy equipment, and subscribe. Subscribe to the same thing i can hear for free, subscribe to something i wont really listen to. Subscribe to something that goes towards no noble cause other than self-gratification, and propagation of the same bland shit we hear everyday
MP3 players cant give you what’s new. All they do is bring your tired favorites along with you, bring you a false sense of control. All it does is enforce a closed door of thinking and listening, never challenging your interest. You wither at the vine. You don’t grow, you just grow older.
SO here’s to another dead station. But for every show i go to, it will be one more clap and shout that will reverberate louder, in memory and continuation of the spirit of rock n’ roll.