Earlier this week I heard "Hey 19" by Steely Dan ... and it sounded REALLY good, as this isn't one of those songs that's been played to death.
But then I heard it again ... and again ... and again ... in fact, I heard it a total of FOUR TIMES in what amounted to a four-hour listening period. (An hour here ... an hour there ... but before I knew it the whole novelty of hearing this ... and ENJOYING it ... was gone ... because in the span of a couple of days it had already been overdone.)
And this just doesn't make sense to me ... on a couple of different levels!
First of all, why does radio have to over-do everything it does?!?!? Why can't they just surprise us once in a while by playing something that makes us feel good ... and leave it at that? Let us savor the moment ... and recognize the fact that it's the little things that matter!
But even worse ... shouldn't they REALLY have been playing "Black Friday"?!?!?!
Speaking of which ...
I have gone out of my way to avoid listening to the Christmas Music that has already been playing 24 hours a day on The Lite ... because it's just too early for me.
Christmas Music shouldn't start until The Day After Thanksgiving ... and even then it should be a day of Christmas Music for all the crazy shoppers getting out of bed at three in the morning to take advantage of the "Midnight Madness" sales to keep them in the holiday spirit ... and then it should taper off a little bit for a week or two (maybe a Holiday Classic every half hour or so) before building back up to a Christmas Climax of maybe three or four tracks per hour for the ten days before Christmas ... and then non-stop holiday music all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
But because of the EXTREMELY limited listening choices here in Chicago lately (during the same four "listening hours" I described above, I also heard "Dream On" by Aerosmith four times ... and four different Billy Joel songs, four different John Mellencamp songs and four different Steve Miller songs ... not to mention the usual suspects ... Fleetwood Mac ... Bob Seger ... Bryan Adams at a couple of songs a piece ... I ended up hitting the Lite button a few times anyway, just trying to escape the mind-numbing music being offered everywhere else.
And what did I find??? In my four visits to "The Holiday Lite" I heard that damned "Charlie Brown" / Vince Guaraldi Trio song FOUR TIMES, too!!!
C'mon ... there are THOUSANDS of Christmas songs to choose from ... how is it even remotely possible that I landed on THIS one every single time I hit that station?!?!?
And yet, during the other eleven months of the year would ANY radio station even DREAM of playing Vince Guaraldi's biggest pop hit "Cast Your Fate To The WInd"?!?!?
Not a chance.
Thank God for Forgotten Hits!!!
Earlier this year I pitched the idea (for the 4th of July no less!) of a "May The 4's Be With You" ... four in a row by your favorite oldies artists ... but was shut down and told "research" has proven that nobody will listen to four songs in a row by the same artist ... if they want to do that, they'll simply pop in a CD. (Of course this same research seems to be telling radio that 28 Steve Miller songs in a 24 hour period is NOT a turn-off ... so go figure.)
Meanwhile, I still believe in the concept ... if it's done right. And evidently The Loop here in Chicago agrees with me ... because this weekend (and, I might add, for the third time this year!), they've put together four-song-blocks by your favorite Classic Rock Artists and will be running 4-In-A-Row throughout the entire 4-Day Weekend. (I just don't think they'd be doing it again if the response the first couple times wasn't positive ... but that's just my OWN brand of research!!!)
Anyway, if you're interested ... you can "Listen Live" here:
However, this weekend we've got to throw OUR support behind Scott Shannon and The True Oldies Channel ... because he's doing a "Forgotten 45's" Weekend ... and I've been listening for the past couple of hours and have already been pleasantly surprised at least half a dozen times. (Look at me ... beaming like a proud parent over here!!!)
Hey, we're all about The Forgotten Hits ... and have offered up HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of suggestions these past 13 years ... so if you want to hear more of the stuff that you just don't hear much anymore, you'll want to "Listen Live" to The True Oldies Channel. (Hey, maybe they'll even mention Forgotten Hits a time or two!!!)
I've already heard a couple of our recent suggestions ... and I'm sure there are more to come!
And, if you happen to be here in Chicago, this weekend marks the 21st Annual Dick Biondi Toy Drive ... except THIS year, they're not calling it the "Dick Biondi Toy Drive" ... you've got to read this accounting from Chicagoland Radio and Media to see the absolutely disgraceful, disrespectful and humiliating way WLS-FM is treating this broadcasting legend.
It's truly, truly sad ... but Dick will go on because he does this for the kids ... and out of the kindness of his heart. We've probably been to 15 of these over the years ... and many of our local heroes always stop by to visit with Dick on the air ... except THIS year, he won't be broadcasting live. In what seems to be a relentless effort to force Dick to leave the station, WLS-FM has taken him off the air ... AND taken his name off the toy drive (which is something he's been involved with throughout all of the various radio stations he's worked at here over the past 21 years) ... in fact, the names are synonymous with one another ... yet this year it's the WLS Toy Drive, "hosted by Dick Biondi" ... but not on the air!!! It's shameless ... and as desperate as they seem to be to sever ties with Biondi, they seem just as hell-bent on driving nails into their own coffin by this display of public humiliation as long-time radio fans of the station are turning away in droves, developing a true hatred for the way things are being managed and the way their favorite jocks are being treated. (The aforementioned Scott Shannon was let go a few months back ... apparently because they didn't want somebody voice-tracking their program from New York on the station anymore. So instead they just hired back Jeff Davis ... who will voice-track HIS shift from California!) Again, go figure ... 'cause if you can figure out the logic here, you're a WHOLE lot smarter than the rest of us who have now permanently given up on the station.
I'll be out to see Biondi and wish him well ... and thank him again for all the joy he's brought Chicagoland over the years ... but I WON'T be there in support of WLS ... because they just may be burning their very last bridge. (kk)
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Frannie just told me that "Boss" has been cancelled!!!
This series won us over from the very first episode ... in fact, the big talk at Emmy Time this year was how Kelsey Grammer was cheated of of a well-deserved Emmy nomination ... he's been nothing short of OUTSTANDING in his role as Chicago Mayor Tom Kane.
As of right now (as far as I know anyway), no reason has been given for this decision. It's too bad ... what else does Starz really have to offer in the way of intelligent cable drama?
And I suppose in the meantime we can hope that somebody like Showtime might pick this up ... right now they seem to be the leaders in this department with classic hits like "Homeland" and "Dexter" both having stellar seasons ... but until then all this REALLY means is no more of Kitty's titties!!!
