Radio Killed the Radio Star

    Let's see, what should I listen to? 

   I've heard my entire playlist many times over...let's see what's on SXM/Sirius radio...

   70s- "Bohemian Rhapsody"...NO!

   80s-"At This Moment" by Billy Vera and the Beaters...NO!

   90s- "Baby Baby"...NO!

   OK, let's try the 60s station

   60s-"Satisfaction" by the Stones....always a favorite but NO!

   Video killed the radio star my ass! Do you really know what killed the radio star? RADIO!

   Seriously! 

   Growing up in Berks County, PA...codename OUTER PHILLY BURBS...there was a station many of us listened to: WRFY, otherwise known as Y102. It was THE top 40 station in the area, and they played the same general songs over and over. Sure, it was good if you liked the whole selection, which changed just a bit over the weeks if you were a die hard listener, but there were a few songs that just killed the eardrums after a while, usually by a love song balladeer who thought he made the ladies swoon...or wet themselves...or whatever.

   "At This Moment" by Billy Vera and the Beaters, for those of you who don't know, was a song played in a two part Family Ties story in 1985. About a month or so later, it was on the radio constantly! I swear I heard it at least four times a week for the next few months, but wait, there's more! "Sister Christian", "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"...

   And then in 1992, Wayne's World decided to unearth a rock opera classic by Queen that I had never heard before. And for 32 years, "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been infiltrating my eardrums on any 70s or classic rock station. I didn't mind at first, it was still new to me and a lot of people were playing or singing it because, well, it was likely new to them too, even though the song was from 1975.

   And on that note, one of my complaints about Sirius/XM is that for $23 a month I get about the same amount of repetition that over the air radio gave me for decades FOR FREE!

   I don't think it's any wonder why in the early 90s I started listening to oldies and classic rock. Sure, there was some repetition, but it was spread out over about 19 years worth of music. Back in 1992, oldies stations were playing roughly 1955-73. I  had no idea of who was popular music wise until I went to Sonoma State in 1994 and my dorm mates were playing Nine Inch Nails.

   Sometimes I think back to WKRP in Cincinnati, where program director Andy Travis begged Dr. Johnny Fever to play a hit, ANY hit, once in a while. With the exception of once when Johnny had something good happen to him and he celebrated by playing a hit, Andy was ecstatic! And it did not happen again. 

   If anyone knows anything about music and radio history, they might have read something about a scheme called payola, where radio DJs were bribed and/or gifted to play certain songs. It later became a misdemeanor. This was all back in the 1950s and often involved promoting new rock and roll artists and songs to the mainstream. 

   When you think about it, record companies have had basically the same relationship with radio station program directors for a long time. Probably not much anymore with the automation of free radio stations, but I suspect some of those top artists' songs in the 80s and early 90s were played so frequently as a result of underhanded yet legal tactics, all designed to irritate my nerves to no end!

   I am not sure how it all works now, especially since I don't listen to newer music by choice. My daughter introduces me to certain artists, and I am not sure how they are promoted, but I tend to believe social media is the new exposure agent. Her tastes are always changing. Sometimes it's the new emo artist of the week or some "retro" Billie Eilish, maybe some retro R&B or the Beatles. I remember her loving Imagine Dragons just 5 years ago, that time is such a blur now.

   Free radio is repetitive and so is subscription radio. I guess the plus side of subscription is you get repetition within an era, or genre. If you think about it, the decade channels are almost a joke because the styles and tastes certainly changed within every decade. 

   If you listen to the 60s channel, you can get the Everly Brothers followed by Jeffrerson Airplane, followed by Shelley Fabares, followed by Iron Butterfly! 

    If you listen to the 70s channel, you can get The Carpenters followed by  The Doors, followed by Carly Simon, followed by The Eagles!

   If you listen to the 80s, you can get Juice Newton followed by Bobby Brown, followed by Heart, followed by Madonna!

   For a while, MTV created the need for a video to make a song a hit...by the late 90s, that was fading, but luckily I don't remember so much repetition on videos as radio songplay, probably because there was often an opening and closing to videos in addition to the actual songs, which made the video time longer. There were so many videos coming out that VH1 became a necessity to cover stuff the "folks" would like while the teens watched MTV. Now, MTV is an unrecognizable wasteland and VH1 is really no more.

   No matter the changes in music styles, the system of over-repetition is still in place, whether we want it or not. Now let me get back to my music...

70s- "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Classic Rewind- "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Classic Vinyl- "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Rock Bar- "Bohemian Rhapsody"

   Time for an audio book maybe?