🚀 go-pugleaf

 Hi everyone. I have been staying out of this thread, because quite frankly,
I find it a little silly. Radio stations do indeed exist to make money and
they naturally play what people want to hear. Gone are the days when an
Elvis Presley could cut a 45 , jump in a station wagon, and go across
country visiting stations and persuading them to play his independent music.
However, I think the larger issue of local content in general is what is
being overlooked here. That includes news, community events, as well as
locally produced music.

There are still some bright spots out there, though. There are stations that
carry local sporting events, for example, and local news. In my area, 50,000
watt KLRZ-FM plays zydeco, Cajun, and swamp pop music from many local
artists. Another good example is 102.5 FM, WDVE in Pittsburgh, PA. Their
morning team regularly does local "tours" of various watering holes in the
metro region, doing their  live comedy skits to packed houses at 7 AM. The
station also runs "The Homegrown Show", which specifically highlights local
artists' music, and takes questions for the artists live in the studio.
Sometimes the groups even do a little impromptu concert right there. Groups
like The Silencers and Donnie Iris ( of  "Oh Leah", and "Love is Like A
Rock" fame) come to mind.

As many have stated in this thread, all big names were once some town's
"local talent". Styx , Kansas, Chicago, and Bruce Springsteen come
immediately to mind. Radio stations  are not generally in the business of
discovering new talent, but it sometimes does happen. The hard rock band
Zebra comes to mind as well. They hail from New Orleans and have achieved
moderate national success.

I don't like the general state of commercial radio any more than the next
guy, but it's a business, and facts are facts. I don't recall the name of
the group (can anybody recall?), but their song "Closing Time" did achieve
some national success because they became such a big group in the New
Orleans market that the fans continually urged the local rock station to
play the song. The New Orleans based band Leroux, with their hit "New
Orleans Ladies" also comes to mind.

There are stations out there who will play "local" music- if it is good
(good is the operative word here). People  like Mr. Hendricks tend to
dismiss this and paint all radio with a particularly wide brush -in many
cases deservedly so. However, since radio is in the business of giving
people what they want to hear, I challenge those who are dissatisfied to get
off their duffs and go support the local music scene in your city. If you
like the band, keep paying to see them. Create a buzz about the band. Buy
the CDs that they have for sale at their shows, and call your station and
ask  to hear them.

By the way, I have to say that many of those who are discussing "payola"
have a poor grasp of that concept. It was a concept tied to the idea that
jocks were programming their own airshifts, which is not common anymore.
Payola in its correct meaning is illegal and I can't think of any radio
station PD who would put their jobs on the line to play some crappy music in
exchange for a bribe.  Thanks everyone, for allowing me my 2 cents.


Larry Pritchard

New Orleans


Tom Hendricks <112374.474@compuserve.com> wrote in message
news:3BB91A0C.5DAEB485@compuserve.com...
>
>
> Steve Sundberg wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 26 Sep 2001 13:02:38 -0500, Tom Hendricks
> > <112374.474@compuserve.com> wrote:
> >
> > > [snip]
> > >
> > >Don't you think that it is strange that no local band anywhere in the
US is played
> > >on mainstream radio?
> > >None zero, zip.
> >
> > We've got local bands that get local radio airplay in the Twin Cities.
> > Some of them even appear on radio station benefit albums, too, along
> > with the "big name" national, non-local talent. Just ask anyone who
> > works at KTCZ or KQRS, both of which are mainstream radio stations.
> >
> > *******Affordable Web Site Design | http://www.noodleman.com*******
> >   *******Southeast Asian Recipes | http://www.straitscafe.com******
>
> On the surface that sounds great. More details please. What kind of radio
play do they
> get?
> When - all week or just sunday nites. Name a few. How many local songs are
in heavy
> rotation?
> etc.
> Thanks
>
> In the 9 years I've been covering radio in Musea, the prevailing
> sentiment among people
> who've taken the time to call or write is that 'radio sucks."  Tom
> Hendricks
>
> This protest is about
>
> 1. the end of payola (which I think is illegal and should stop)
> see http://www.salon.com and search payola for 6+ articles on the new
> payola
> 2. Radio following the license agreements that they freely signed with
> the FCC to get their licenses, which included
> local support. If not they should loose their licenses.
> 3. The refusal of local musicians to keep supporting radio that refuses
> to support them. Why should they.
>
> Tom Hendricks, musea
> http://musea.digitalchainsaw.com
>    * * *
> It is time to stand up for local musicians and end the real boycott
> the radio boycott of local music.
>
>