Turning on "The Bob", which boasts it can play anything it wants. What it doesn't say is that it can play whatever it wants over and over again. That's the sad state of radio today. It is a veritable ocean of repetitiveness and mediocrity. Even AM talk is all the same: the Democrats are evil, the Republicans are evil, the IRS is evil. We all know those 3 statements are true, I don't need an ensiled maniac with a microphone and transmitter to tell me all that. However, this maniac would love a transmitter and a microphone, utilize the entire USA power grid like Richard Pryor's supercomputer in Superman 3, and play classic TV theme songs, Doors songs, pioneering 50s rock & roll, and throw in an occasional classic 1970s Emergency Broadcast System test with the 30-60 second long tone just to keep it real.
Well, that's what it'll take to make me happy with what I'm listening to .Let's go back-
NO, Bryan, not another trip down amnesia lane!! We can't handle it anymore! We all have a past, let it go, you nerd!
Ahem...sorry. That was the nagging voice, probably from the pancreas, that's always telling me to get with the times. I can't! I'm 40 and I wish it was....1995. Seriously! Even though it was a rough year with my parent's split and all, I have to say there was a great variety of radio stations out there, and lots of them were classic rock. Others were just oldies, 70s, 80s, and the usual rap and 90s gunk that I shied away from because of taste.
Growing up in good ol Reading, Pennsylvania, there weren't a whole lot of stations; that is, I didn't listen to a whole lot of variety...and my tastes sucked as a kid. When we lived in Wernersville in the 1970s, we listened to WUFM out of Lebanon. It was a good mix of current 70s hits. In fact, during a family drive to Michigan one year, my mom made 3 tapes from that station to play on a tape player. I wish I still had them, the mix was good. I also vaguely remember WRAW before we moved. Then, in the 80s after we'd moved back to PA,, the station we generally kept it on was WRFY. It was good, but trendy. The best example for this is the 50 times we heard "Batdance" on any given summer day in 1989! It didn't get any better. For an alternative, I listened to WEEU occasionally. Sure it was an AM station and aired Rush Limbaugh, but I felt music was at its lowest!
While I was at West Virginia in 1991-92, I started to listen to more Doors (after seeing the movie) and Led Zeppelin. When I rejoined my parents that spring, I discovered a great new concept for me: OLDIES! I forget the call letters, but this station played 50s, 60s, and early 70s rock and pop. Was all of it good? No, in fact, a lot of it was dumb. However, I often did not hear a song played in the morning again until the next day, that's how great their library was. Oldies and Doors were pretty much my life for the next 2 years and I loved it. It just seemed to fit my time in San Diego well.
In 1994, I went away from home to Sonoma State and found a decent 70s only station. It didn't stay that way for long, but it was an example how the wide range of stations the Bay Area had. My friend Scott introduced me to some good stations in the Central Valley that played good rock, and I listened to them going to San Diego or back to Rohnert Park/ Santa Rosa for many years.
Once I moved to Las Vegas in 2002, a change happened and it wasn't good. Oldies were relegated to 70s and 80s with some 60s but no 50s, and classic rock consisted of some lame-ass crap that was somehow considered rock (sorry, Bon Jovi, you're not there!). The coming trend remedied that nicely.
The age of the MP3 player was here. It was now possible to program a whole day of music on a tiny device. All you needed were CDs to get your favorites and leave the plaque out. You could also buy MP3 music files to fill that hole in your music day. Granted, not everything you want is in MP3 form, sometimes you have to buy the CD to get what you desire.
My iPod has been my friend for years now. I can listen to what I like going to and from work, and during the occasional errand my wife sends me on. The rest of the time, we listen to Vickie's iPod in the car, it's the law. I don't really mind it, she has a good mix of rock, metal, and country, as well as our daughter's kid music. Some of the song selections are funny, such as "Chim Chim Chiminee" coming after Godsmack's "Voodoo" (which our kid sings to, it's hilarious!).
To conclude, before I return to my theme songs (up next is Petticoat Junction), here is a good sample mix that will keep your brain guessing (which we need quite often, I'm afraid).
1. "I Don't Remember Loving You" by John Conlee
2. "Jesus Loves Me"
3. "Enter Sandman" by Metallica
4. "Trailerhood" by Toby Keith
5. "Amarillo by Morning" by George Strait
6. "Kryptonite" by Three Doors Down
7. some "Sophia the Princess" song
8. "Ladies and Gentlemen" by Saliva
9. "End of the Line" by the Traveling Willburys (kid favorite)
10. "Got My Mind Set on You" by George Harrison (kid favorite)
11. Sha La La song by Toby Keith
12. "Fruit Salad" by the Wiggles
13. "I Don't Believe in Love" by Queensryche
14. "Rock-A-Bye Your Bear" by the Wiggles
Is that diverse enough? If not, tough, "My 3 Sons" is next up!
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