Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Play that funky music


Boston radio sucks. There’s no two ways around it. We’re a town ruled by Infinity Broadcasting and Clear Channel, and populated by loudmouthed DJs, a few of whom honestly try their best to mix things up a bit but are rarely allowed to get away with it.

After a summer spent channel surfing in the car, one thing has become painfully obvious. No matter what station I try—FNX, BCN, AAF, etc—there’s a pretty short list of artists that are being played and almost none of them are what I’d call cutting edge. It’s gotten to the point where Lunchboy and I have made a game of it. Whenever we turn on the radio or switch channels, we guess which of the following groups will have a song in rotation:

Pearl Jam
Beastie Boys
Stone Temple Pilots
U2
Live

Call the group before turning the dial and get a point every time you’re right. If it’s a song by Velvet Revolver or Temple of the Dog, you get half a point.

Just try it--the points add up fast.

Even good, classic music stops being good when it’s overplayed.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

can't you see that this music guessing game is tearing us apart?

gimpadelic said...

Still sounds better than NYC radio was...

Anonymous said...

you need to add RHCP to that list.

Magpie said...

I confess to my 80s nostalgia; I love the new Jack-formatted 93.7.

On the downside, my kids now know all the words to "Don't Stop Believin'."

Anonymous said...

boston commercial music radio does suck. but fortunately for us there is a shitload of college radio stations that play a huge amount of eclectic and really good stuff. Try WERS, WZBC, WMFO, WMBR, WUMB, WHRB for starters. True, you need to choose the right time of day if you're picky. But no commercials and no lame promos for crappy concerts and morning shows, and more different music than you would hear in 10 years on FNX or any other station.