T
where’s my radio?
his month, I have an old complaint. It seems that every radio station plays the same 10 songs on repeat, no matter what state I’m driving through. Part of this, I know, is due to just a few companies having bought up all the radio stations around the country – one named for a type of cloud comes to mind. I mean, that girl Adele has a great voice and all, but do I have to hear her songs 50 times a day? The reason I say this is an old complaint is that I broke down and finally got satellite radio. Now I listen to whatever I want, whenever I want to, and I have to tell you it is pretty cool. But that’s also why I’m mad. It’s not that music nowadays is any better or worse than it was a
couple of decades ago, it’s that they used to play a better variety. We weren’t stuck hearing the same dozen songs on a loop because of corporate greed. When I was a bit younger, you could tell the difference between radio stations. And it was fun crossing state lines to find out what they were listening to in Texas compared with Mississippi. Individual disc jockeys actually picked the music, so you never knew what would be coming up next. Heck, even the country stations are now sounding a bit too automated. I guess that’s where all the money is. I miss the countdown with Casey Kasem. When he’d end the countdown with the words “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars,” I didn’t think he was talking about sat-
by: charles pope
ellite radio. He probably didn’t think so either, although he might get a kick out of the idea of listening to his shows from the ’70s and ’80s (on Channel 7 Saturday nights). Heck, I never thought we’d get to the point where we have to pay for radio. But here we are, 15 bucks or so a month gets you more than 130 channels of listening pleasure. Now don’t get me wrong; like I said, I think this is great. I’m already hooked to the variety of talk shows, sports coverage and music stations keeping me company in my cab. I even get to listen to our own Claire B. Lang talking about NASCAR. A great radio show can make the miles fly by. I just wish I didn’t have to pay for it. PCM
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