Radio Stations: Local, Satellite or Streaming

[Guest]

Here's a place to discuss your favorite (or most hated) radio stations, whether you listen online, via satellite, or the old fashioned way.

 

I've mentioned in other places that I love WDRV in Chicago ("The Drive") -- a good classic rock station that IMO has decent programming so you don't hear the same thing over and over. Take, for example, the upcoming "70s, A to Z" weekend, and their "Sunday Night Star" program that lets a fan be the DJ/programmer for an hour. I either listen from their web site or iTunes.

 

When I bought my car a few years ago, it came with a free one-year subscription to Sirius XM. I loved it, and whenever they offer a free two-week limited preview, I sometimes volunteer to run errands, just so I can be in the car. Being self employed, I don't subscribe, but if I ever get an away-from-home job, I might consider it.

 

I'm not a big fan of many of the local stations in Austin, but there's a solar-powered station that I sometimes listen to. They describe themselves as "Americana" or "Roots Rock" and play a nice mix of old and new.

[AimingforYoko]

When I bought my car a few years ago, it came with a free one-year subscription to Sirius XM. I loved it, and whenever they offer a free two-week limited preview, I sometimes volunteer to run errands, just so I can be in the car. Being self employed, I don't subscribe, but if I ever get an away-from-home job, I might consider it.

I do love Satellite Radio, simply for the variety. Whatever mood I'm in, New Wave, Old School Rap, R & B, '80s or '90s pop, it's all good.

[ebk57]

Love my XM.  Deep Tracks, Bluesville, Outlaw Country and the Broadway Channel are my top presets.  Lately I've been listening to the 70s on 7, reliving my childhood (well, adolescence anyway...)

 

Oh, and MLB.  That's the reason I first got it.  I also used to like XMPR when they had Bob Edwards.  Then they fired him and dropped the channel.  MLB is the only non-music channel I bookmark now. 

 

Only local radio I listen to is NPR and sports talk.  And not really a lot of sports talk...it's kinda painful most of the time.

[Sandman87]

Oh man, radio! I genuinely miss the assortment of stations I used to have access to down in the Silicon Valley area. Three...count  'em, three!...college stations (plus one more, depending on the weather), multiple rock stations of various types, two full time classical stations, etc. I miss the college stations most of all, mainly because of the variety of genres and really, really alternative artists.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Radio in my area sucks, to put it nicely, and I was in my own personal hell the other day when one station was playing Styx, another Journey, and all others were airing commercials.

 

There is no true classic rock station here, no oldies, but several top 40 stations (a genre I cannot stand) so there's absolutely no variety.  One local talk radio station used to play great music on weekends that they called "classic alternative" but what I considered to be 80's new wave college radio complete with an original program called Sunday Night Vinyl and then one day they went poof and the station went to a classic rock feed from I Heart Radio, and now they replay talk programs from earlier in the week on the weekend.

 

I wish I could justify the cost of satellite radio but it just doesn't make sense to me so I've moved more toward listening to Pandora and Spotify.  Such a shame as radio used to practically be my best friend.

[Maverick]

 I love my satellite radio.  The variety, lack of commercials, keeping the same stations on a long drive, clear signal all make it worthwhile to me.  My biggest complaint is the the hosts on a lot of the stations, particularly Classic Rewind.  There's not a single person on that channel I can stand.  Carol Miller is the worst.  I want to listen to music, not some random dumbass tell me they were a Star Trek fan or lament about how crazy the election is.

[magicdog]

Radio in my area sucks, to put it nicely,

 

 

Same for me - at least based on my music preferences.  Sadly, many stations (both music and talk on both AM & FM) went to either sports radio or Mexican music.  How much sports radio does one need?

 

When I first moved here, there was plenty of variety - especially Doo-Wop/50s music to enjoy.  I'm too young for the original era but I love it!  One of the AM stations used to replay old radio shows from the 40s and 50s ("it was from a canned feed called, "When Radio Was") which really gave me a better understanding of entertainment in the theatre of the mind (other than books of course!).  

 

There was a good oldies station that used to play lots of 50s music but now barely plays any music from the 50s at all - and skipped straight to the period between 1965 to 1975.  While there's plenty to like in that era - it's repetitive.  Not to mention way too much focus on The Beatles (part of their slogan brags they play mmore Beatles than anyone else - whoopee!).  No one had the thought to play b-sides or "lost gold" either.  I swear the playlist is on a loop because I hear the same songs in the some order on my way to work as I do coming home!  

 

I'm also  a talk radio junkie but many of those stations dropped their formats (especially on weekends) to air medical talk (with "Dr. So & So'), Real Estate talk (boring!), and financial talk (even more boring!).

 

I thank my iPod Nano for at least playing some obscure stuff that breaks up the monotony.

 

Being a native New Yorker, I really miss the old WCBS-FM (101 FM).  The one I grew up with played Doo Wop and all sorts of music up to about 1976 (this being the 1980s when I used to listen most).  They had great DJs (Like Cousin Brucie, Norm N. Knight, Max Kinkle, et al), Top 40 countdown on weekends from that day and year (May 3, 1966 for example) and you'd heard not just some of the hits you knew, but more obscure tunes and songs that "bubbled under" the top 40.  A lot of old rare records went into those shows!  In the 90s or so (early '00s?) The station went to an automated format (sort of like "Bob") and played top 40 and listeners went nuts!  I remember the news went national because the DJs weren't even notified of the change.  I they got rid of "Bob" eventually, and I went to listen to it live online but the station just isn't the same anymore - the damage was done IMO.  

[Sandman87]

When I first moved here, there was plenty of variety - especially Doo-Wop/50s music to enjoy.  I'm too young for the original era but I love it!  One of the AM stations used to replay old radio shows from the 40s and 50s ("it was from a canned feed called, "When Radio Was") which really gave me a better understanding of entertainment in the theatre of the mind (other than books of course!).

That reminds me of the format that KSFO used to have back when it was owned by Gene Autry's Golden West network, before it turned to talk radio. Pop and Top 40 for most of the day, then specialty stuff like CBS Radio Mystery Theater, the comedy hour, and old time radio shows at night. Unless there was an A's game. Oh, and can't forget Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police, a five minute show that had about three minutes worth of theme music, and which ran at about 3:30 am for some reason.

[magicdog]

"April Fools" -- Aretha Franklin

 

 

I'm surprised - I'd have figured they'd have played, "Chain of Fools".  They probably did though, didn't they?

[Sandman87]

I bet I know one they didn't play: Zoogz Rift's "Look at the Fool"

 

Heh. That reminds me of KFJC's legendary "Maximum Louie Louie", where they played nothing but "Louie Louie" covers and variations, over 800 versions of it, over the course of 3 days.

[magicdog]

The old WCBS FM did little things that were similar, like "Same Title, Different Song",  so you'd hear, "Stairway to Heaven" by Neil Sedaka (1960) and Led Zeppelin (1971) or "Gloria" by Laura Branigan (1982) and The Them (or Shadows of Knight) (1965).

 

Then they'd change it up and have "Same Title, Same Song" which featured covers and then ask listeners to vote on their favorite version.

[InDueTime]

If anyone uses Soundcloud, enjoy it while you can. Things aren't looking good for that company.

SoundCloud, the ‘YouTube for audio’, cuts 173 jobs, closes San Francisco, London offices

HOW SOUNDCLOUD'S BROKEN BUSINESS MODEL DROVE ARTISTS AWAY

[stonehaven]

There are two stations I liked...one changed and it is a bit more predictable now..KBEK out of Mora, MN..One night they played "Wish You Were Here"...back to back with Henry Mancini's "Pink Panther"...They now are a bit more generic..but during the day, you can get some weird selections...I think they are on Tune In...

Another station I love is "Great Big Radio"..Ken Levine(the comedy writer) plugged it in his blog...one listen , I was hooked...70's and 80's..obscure and not....Give it a listen..

http://www.greatbigradio.com/

 

Other than that, Spotify is where I go for music....

[Just Here]

iHeartMedia (formerly ClearChannel) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, via USA Today:

Quote

The nation's largest radio station operator, iHeartMedia, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to shed billions of debt it has carried for more than a decade.

The San Antonio-based company, which has more than 850 radio stations, says it will continue to keep operating after reaching an agreement with creditors for more than $10 billion of its $20 billion in debt.

Edited March 16, 2018 by Just Here

[Hanahope]

Does anyone have experience with the streaming services, Spotify, Apple Music, etc.? 

I used to buy CDs and at one time had uploaded all my CDs onto my computer and into iTunes so I could create a playlist for my iphone.  However, I had a computer problems a year ago and pretty much everything was lost.  I've just been living with the music already on my phone, but I haven't  been able to add anything (unless I bought an itunes download)  I don't know that I want to upload the 200+ CDs all over again (and I'm considering buying a laptop instead and i'm not sure it would be able to hold everything anyway).

So that I don't have to actually buy all of my music that I already own, I've been considering getting a streaming service instead.  My kids would be able to use it as well.  I would like to have something that doesn't use up all my LTE data when wifi isn't available.  Do you just have access to it, or do you download it?

Any recommendations?

[NutMeg]

@Hanahope, I'm quite happy with Spotify - I have the paying version, which means no ads, possibility to listen when offline, service stays on when you travel (that had been a beef on mine with the free version, say you spend a month holiday abroad, you wouldn't have access to your account after a week (or two?)).

There's a "family version" that can cover kids even after they go on to live elsewhere if they live with you when you sign up.

I mostly listen to music I saved, and that can include anything from CDs I own, to artists I want to discover without being sure I'll like them long term, or something I like that I hear on the radio, or in a movie (Shazam+Spotify is a combo I like!). Also, they are adding to the classical music selection, which helped me discover two œuvres I wasn't familiar with. Another thing I like is the option to save a whole album, because I seem to often find a little gem I like that is never released as a single.

[roseha]

Bumping this thread up after quite a while I see~

I grew up in the 60s, with a clock radio in my room which played the hits, and older siblings who brought home those Beatles, Bob Dylan and many other records before I had money to do so.  Between that experience and the great New York oldies station WCBS-FM in the 1980s, I have lived with great 60s music for many years. 

I thought those stations were gone from the New York area forever (the closest I know of is WLNG in Eastern Long Island who pretty much play oldies and whatever else they feel like), until I found, doing a channel scan, that WJLP, who present retro station ME-TV in our area, have a substation (33-14) which is broadcasting an Oldies station over 1410 AM, WHTG.

So what?  Well this is not your average fare, the same 10 or 12 songs from the 60s top ten repeated over and over with an overwhelming mix of 70s, 80s and 90s presented as oldies.  I don't know who is programming this station - I like to imagine it's a former employee of WCBS-FM in its prime from what I am hearing - but since yesterday they have been playing largely 60s and 50s artists with almost no repeats of a given record:  everyone from Wilson Pickett to Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, to Lou Christie, the Association, to the Classics Four, Junior Walker, the Standells, Steam, the Swingin' Medallions, Sly and the Family Stone, the Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, The Troggs, Ray Charles, Elvis, Chuck Berry, James Brown, the Beach Boys, the and of course the Beatles, Supremes, Bob Dylan, but what really impresses me are the one hit wonders and the less well known minor hits, it would not surprise me if they snuck in something really bizarre like They're Coming to Take Me Away (a huge hit in NY at least which was actually pulled off the air in the 1960s when listeners felt it ridiculed the mentally ill).  I couldn't be more surprised but I suggest that people in the area search for this station and hope this programming lasts.  I wonder if this is a new trend that is being picked up elsewhere around the country?  Anyone hearing a similar station?

I should note that in what is apparently current practice, none of the songs are identified by title or artist, so a young person may have to resort to google, but why not 🙂 . On the other hand they have very few commercials outside of the local Anderson Window dealer, at least over my TV substation.

Edited August 26, 2019 by roseha
corrected Station to WJLP

[chitowngirl]

There’s An independent NPR station in Philly within the University of Pennsylvania-WXPN. They play alternative, local, eclectic... and no commercials! wxpn.org.

in Chicago, I always listen to WXRT. 

[UYI]

Because I'm the nerdiest woman in the entire damn world, it is finally time to share one of my favorite hobbies: finding radio IDs/jingles/airchecks from all across America, regardless of time period.

First off, here are a series of radio jingles/IDs from 1986-1987. Spoiler alert: There's A LOT of Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam ahead of you here. :) 

Florida, Georgia, Carolinas:

West Virginia, Virginia, Washington, D.C. (yes, there a few Maryland ones in here and yet it doesn't make the header of the video--yes, I'm a Marylander; no, I'm not bitter):

Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile:

Indiana, Michigan, Ohio:

Amarillo, Lincoln, Kansas City, Oklahoma City:

Raleigh, Lexington, Louisville, St. Louis, Chicago:

Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix:

Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, Syracuse, Buffalo, Boston:

Redding, Sacramento, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield:

Salt Lake City, Denver, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque:

Spokane, Tri-Cities (Richland/Pasco/Kennwick, in Central WA), Seattle, Portland, Eugene:

 

And, going in another direction: a bunch of radio IDs/airchecks from the 1970's, all in Pennsylvania (part 1 is mainly the Lancaster/Allentown areas, part 2 is mainly Northeast PA/Central PA):

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by UYI

[UYI]

This will be fun: Over an HOUR of the former KALL-FM in Salt Lake City in May of 1974; it was a Beautiful Music station, which has almost entirely gone the way of the dodo bird by now.

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by UYI

[ebk57]

Here are a couple of airchecks from the station of my misspent youth - WPGC, Washington.  

First, from 1974, which would be right in my mid-teen years:

 

Then, from 1969, a tad before I was really into the whole radio thing:

 

A friend of mine sent me a CD of the New Years Eve broadcast from WPGC for ... a year in the 70s sometime (I've forgotten at the moment and don't feel like looking for the disc :) ).  It was a lot of fun listening to radio from my formative years. 

[smittykins]

Here’s a tribute site for my favorite childhood station, WOLF Syracuse.

(I miss classic Top 40 AM radio.)

[ebk57]

OMG, thanks for reminding me about tribute sites, @smittykins!  Here's the one from WPGC.  I even have it bookmarked on my computer and totally forgot about it!

https://www.amandfmmorningside.com/

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by ebk57

[UYI]

I still can't believe this is actually real, but here we go:

At one point in the 1970's, a jingle version of what was at the time called the Emergency Broadcast System (now the Emergency Alert System) was created, and it was actually played on several radio stations at the time, including WHEN in Syracuse, as heard here:

It was outlawed by the end of the decade. 

[smittykins]

I remember another jingle version ending with “This concludes this test of the Emergency Broadcast System—Did ya pass?”

[UYI]

Some Virginia airchecks from 70's. :)

 

[Kel Varnsen]

On 8/27/2019 at 9:10 PM, chitowngirl said:

There’s An independent NPR station in Philly within the University of Pennsylvania-WXPN. They play alternative, local, eclectic... and no commercials! wxpn.org.

I have been listening to KEXP out of Seattle when working from home and it sounds similar. The variety they play is insane. Yesterday within the same hour they played (among other things) Bob Marley, Grandmaster Flash, The Monkees, Run DMC, and The Cult. The number of bands I have found out about and now like since listening to them is crazy.

Although a couple of days ago I had to go somewhere in the car and realized that KEXP has nearly ruined regular radio for me, since even if it is a station I like it is still the same 30 or so songs in heavy rotation. And I noticed that a song I don't really like and have heard a million times is way more annoying than a brand new song I don't like. Plus regular radio has annoying commercials.

[tearknee]

During the AM Top 40 rock radio-era, WAKY (Louisville, KY) program director Johnny Randolph had been fired from WKLO a few years earlier. He felt he owed WKLO a certain “payback” for their action.

Randolph did several things to accomplish this. The biggest risk he took involved a cassette player and the “WAKY shout” shotgun jingle. It was homemade in the WAKY production room. Besides being one hell of a program director, Randolph was also a radio engineer (“panel op”). One day he purchased a portable cassette recorder. He patched it into the production room and filled a side of a C60 tape with the “WAKY shout”. He kept hitting the start button on the cart machine for a half hour until the tape was full.

Here was the scenario. WKLO’s studio and office were located downtown. The AM antenna farm was across the river in Indiana. Since WKLO was a 10kw directional, they had a full-time engineer at the transmitter site who took readings and changed the reels on the FM automation.

Now that you know that I present the fun part of this story. Randolph made his way to the back of the WKLO studios armed with the cassette player with a cable on the earphone jack that had clips on the end and some fast hands. He found the circuit to the transmitter behind WKLO’s studio. He attached the cassette to the line, disabled the feed from the studio, started the tape and ran like hell but with dignity.

The jock on the air at 'KLO now hears the WAKY shout on his monitor. He kills the board, but the shout is still going. He then calls the transmitter site to have the engineer kill the carrier. The line was busy. The engineer was engaged in a long conversation with the monitor turned down or switched to the FM. He had no idea this was happening. The entire thirty minutes played out by the time they reached the transmitter (either on the phone or in person).

As Randolph put it years later, “I lost a brand-new cassette recorder, but it was worth it!”.

[tearknee]

Johnny Randolph did a couple of other things to WKLO.

It was WKLO's intention to make their jock Brother Love sound black. He was always talking about his soul brothers and dedicating songs to them. Yet he was white, very white. Brother Love was on the air during the evenings, after sunset when the soul station, WLOU went off the air, and his ratings were very high among the black audience. There was going to be a Temptations concert in Louisville, so Johnny Randolph slipped some money to the promoters of the concert to hire WKLO's Brother Love as emcee for the show. After the show, the audience felt they had been duped by Brother Love (and mocked) with his black dialect and jargon, so they stopped tuning in...and his ratings went south.


Another time, WKLO had a phone-in contest, and Johnny Randolph called the contest line, using his REAL name (not Johnny Randolph), and he won $1000. The station was not pleased at this, but since Randolph won the contest, 'KLO had no choice but to issue him a check, which Randolph photocopied, framed, and placed on the wall of his station.

I wonder if Randolph ever mellowed?

[tearknee]

Thank you to all who have given reacts.

 

I am happy you are so welcoming.

[tearknee]

If anyone is interested, Westwood One (successor of the old Mutual network) streams its national "Good Time Oldies" format:

 

https://player.listenlive.co/43891

[tearknee]

Was just looking over my old copies of Golden Age and AM Top 40 radio tribute sites by other people that are either no longer online (they were on Geocities etc) or their earlier versions were not archived.

Here's how the Musicradio WABC tribute site reacted to 9/11:

 

Quote

 

In the days of Musicradio WABC there too were tragedies.  
President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.  
Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated in 1968.  
Students were shot at Kent State in 1970. 
People died who shouldn't have.

When those events took place, WABC became a much quieter radio station.
The music slowed down, the DJ's took a respectful and observant tone
and the impact of the situation was neither minimized nor ignored.

In keeping with that very appropriate response to horrible 
tragedy, this web site will follow the lead of the 
radio station it celebrates.

There will be no "Picture of The Week" nor will there be any
new sound files this week. 

We won't tell any new behind the scenes radio stories 
nor we will try to convince you how
great a radio station Musicradio WABC was.

Instead we will let the times we live in speak for themselves.

This web site observes the horrible events of September 11, 2001
with a sense of sadness and solitude.
It's not a time for happy jingles, fun oldies or 
nostalgic memories.

It's a time for sadness and respectful observance
of a tragedy we wish we could change.

This was how Musicradio WABC handled such events.

It's also how this web site will.