Monday, December 12, 2005
Good-Radio Free Europe
I do a lot of driving for work these days and I find it amazing how bad German radio is. It offers absolutely nothing. There are three or four top 40 stations that are really just top 10 stations. They have a playlist of about 10-15 songs that never ever change. They also have a small selection of "classic" tunes that they will play. These "classics" however are perhaps the worst part. They will choose 2 or 3 "classics" for a two week span and those are the only ones that will be heard. This list of classics is quite horrid. For instance, right now I am being graced by the gentle musings of Sting, Bryan Adams, and Rod Stewart with the wonderful "All for Love" from the 1993 soundtrack to the epic "Three Musketeers". Other "classics" include, "Wake Me Up Before you Go-Go", Supertramp's "It's Raining Again", various Phill Collins travesties, "Eye of the Tiger", "I Will Always Love You", "The Final Countdown" which I had thought was reserved exclusively for baseball games with the home team down by a run in the eleventh, and finally some song by Journey that I despise. Once a new hit makes it into their playlist, it will remain there for MONTHS. If you hear it once, you had better get used to it. It's not going away anytime soon.
On television they have MTV Deutschland and Viva, both of which are just as terrible. Same as MTV USA-USA. There is not mainstream media outlet that plays anything for anybody with a modicum of musical interest. There is no chance whatsovever of discovering something new. There is now college radion lurking at the bottom of the dial offering oddities and slightly less famous music. There is no modern rock station. No oldies. Hell, there isn't even a classic rock station. The classical station plays single movements from symphonies. Ridiculous. If a person only had a radio and a TV, they would never ever find anything different. The kids here are left to find music all on their own. They get absolutely no help from the outside world. They must rely on networks of friends, magazines, and internet radio. They will never have the luck of being introduced to "The Residents" from WPKN at 2:00 AM while working the night shift at a Shell station. They have to actively search for things. I didn't use to be a big fan of the American radio scene, but now see just how much worse it could be. That being said, the kids do find their music, but I have to say that their taste just doesn't seem as broad as the average music listener back home. It's a shame.
Update: For a taste of how bad it is, check out the list of songs that you have to choose from on an all request Sunday where you can request any song from a list of almost 500 hits!! posted by Kermit at 12/12/2005 01:22:00 PM |
On television they have MTV Deutschland and Viva, both of which are just as terrible. Same as MTV USA-USA. There is not mainstream media outlet that plays anything for anybody with a modicum of musical interest. There is no chance whatsovever of discovering something new. There is now college radion lurking at the bottom of the dial offering oddities and slightly less famous music. There is no modern rock station. No oldies. Hell, there isn't even a classic rock station. The classical station plays single movements from symphonies. Ridiculous. If a person only had a radio and a TV, they would never ever find anything different. The kids here are left to find music all on their own. They get absolutely no help from the outside world. They must rely on networks of friends, magazines, and internet radio. They will never have the luck of being introduced to "The Residents" from WPKN at 2:00 AM while working the night shift at a Shell station. They have to actively search for things. I didn't use to be a big fan of the American radio scene, but now see just how much worse it could be. That being said, the kids do find their music, but I have to say that their taste just doesn't seem as broad as the average music listener back home. It's a shame.
Update: For a taste of how bad it is, check out the list of songs that you have to choose from on an all request Sunday where you can request any song from a list of almost 500 hits!! posted by Kermit at 12/12/2005 01:22:00 PM |
Vouchers
Wolcott brings something up here that has been bugging me for some time now. Reporters are constantly vouching for fellow travellers and politicians based on their personal relationships with them. For example, when Bob Novak got in hot water over his article identifying Valry Plame as a C.I.A. agent, I distinctly remember other reporters offering little in the way of insight ave for the fact that they had known Mr. Novak for a long time and that he was a man of integrity and so on. People are reticent to make comments on a case beyond these personal platitudes that give the viewer/reader/listener absolutely nothing of substance. The same reporters that can be brutal in regards to the trivial details of some star's life are decidedly tight lipped when it comes to those they know personally. Imus is constantly interviewing “journalists” and this is a theme that consistently rears its head. If a reporter can does not want to comment on a story because it might make for some awkward moments at a dinner party down the road, then they should simply recuse themselves from the discussion. Knowing that Novak loves puppies does nothing to help me understand the issue and I wish that these bobbleheads would stop pretending it did. For a perfect example of what I’m talking about here, check out the November 21st clip from the Imus radio show. He is interviewing Mary Matalin, admittedly a Republican hack, about Scooter Libby. What's interesting is that her entire defence of the man rests on the personal. You just have to take her word for it that e would never have done such a thing.
posted by Kermit at 12/12/2005 10:16:00 AM |
posted by Kermit at 12/12/2005 10:16:00 AM |
