If you're like many of us out there, you've grown tired of what today can only be described as "Groundhog Day" programming in radio ... the same set of artists and songs, all day, every day, without any break in the action that even remotely suggests a dash of creativity and surprise ... a hint of personality or an utter of "Wow"!
When I'm forced to listen to the radio today (no longer the pleasure and the passion it was for me growing up when I couldn't wait to hear what they were going to do, say or play next), it's a constant exercise of button-pushing, trying ... HOPING ... to find something ... ANYTHING ... different down the dial. But most days end the same ... the final button pushed is simply to turn the damn thing off. There's just NOTHING out there worth listening to anymore.
So today we offer a few alternative suggestions ... just a "break in the action" from the normal every day hum-drum of radio, circa 2014.
If you're sick and tired of hearing 12-14 Steve Miller songs each day, why not try THIS one on for size? Next time you're ready to play "Rock'n Me", click on THIS one instead ...
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Same concept ... same idea ... but give your listener a break from the day-long deluge of repeats ... and surprise them with something unexpected.
Or ... maybe instead of "Jet Airliner" for the fourth or fifth time today, why not give THIS one a spin?
Likewise, instead of "Jack And Diane" for the 9th or 10th time today, how about a little Paul and Paula instead???
When's the last time anybody played THAT one on the radio?!?!
Or perhaps instead of "Hurts So Good" ... a little "Hurt So Bad"???
And here's a little game I play with myself when I'm driving ... "How many times today will I turn off "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey?
The other day I think I broke my own record ... TWICE in less than five minutes ... as soon as it ended on one station, it started up on another ... first time in my life I've ever prayed for more commercials!!!
That's OK ... I've got a solution for this one, too ...
But the REAL stickler for me last week was the fact that I had to turn off Boston FIVE TIMES in the same hour!!! Seriously?!?!? The play lists in Chicago are SO tight that every single one of our stations cannot think of ANYTHING else to play other than another Boston song? Man, I used to LOVE "More Than A Feeling" ... thought it was one of the greatest rock songs of all time ... and now I rarely make it past the first three notes. GIVE IT A REST ALREADY!!!
And what's up with Foreigner? I swear they didn't play these songs this often when they were out!!! Yet it seems that lately EVERY time I turn on the radio, it's another Foreigner song blasting my way. I LOVE these guys ... but there's only so much you can take!
Get creative! Instead of Foreigner, salute The Immigrant ...
Instead of "Cold As Ice" ... "Treat Me Nice" ...
Instead of "Hot-Blooded", how about a little "Fever"?
How about a little spin on "Feels Like The First Time"???
The options are out there, people ... have some fun with this!
Sick of Led Zeppelin 25 times a day? There IS a solution!
Stairway to Heaven ...
Whole Lotta Love ...
The consultants that keep telling you THESE are the songs we want to hear are WRONG!!!!! Ask the REAL people ... the people who listen ... or, better still, the people who USED to listen and don't anymore because you have driven us away with your non-stop repetitive bullshit. Want to REALLY find out why radio ratings are down? Then ask the people who have left ... because that's where you'll find the REAL answer to that question ... and I can assure you ... wholeheartedly ... that it's NOT the reason all these know-it-all consultants are insisting it is.
Plain and simple, you've driven us away by continuing to insult our intelligence. We now look for ANY other means of entertainment than the torture of what today passes for terrestrial radio! And you've only got yourselves to blame.
Mix it up a little ... give some of these songs a rest ... and program some of the thousands of other tracks that are already in your library. I smiled from ear-to-ear Friday night when I was driving home and heard The River play "The Story In Your Eyes" by The Moody Blues (by request, I might add ... how about that ... something NOT on the usual playlist, coming by suggestion from a listener who cares!) During that same hour on our now SIX radio stations programming Classic Rock and Classic Hits I heard two Bob Seger songs, three John Mellencamp songs, two more by Journey, four by Led Zeppelin and four by Pink Floyd ... plus two each by Foreigner, The Who and Billy Joel. It was such a WELCOME relief to FINALLY hear something else ... and it took a listener to make it happen.
And once again, consulting big-wigs, there's your clue ... YOU'RE TALKING TO THE WRONG PEOPLE ... your research is jaded and COMPLETELY out-of-sync with reality. GET A CLUE before we're all gone for good.
Dare to be different ...
Play the unexepected.
