Journal frankie's Journal: How does anyone listen to that garbage? 2
My efficient (but not trusty) Golf TDI went to the shop yesterday for brakes and a timing whatever, so the dealership gave me a loaner. I turned on the radio and saw that the buttons were set to a mix of "christian" talk and pop "music". I say music in quotes because, well, have you tried listening to any of these stations during rush hour? There is no music. Their various corporate owners (aka Clear Channel) uniformly decree that in order to save on royalty payments, there should not be any actual music played at peak traffic times. (This is true, BTW).
With my faith restored in the utter idiocy of western consumer culture and its "human" populace, I quickly reset 5 buttons to my standard list:
- WYPR, Baltimore NPR
- WAMU, Washington NPR
- WTMD, College Alternative
- WBJC, Public Classical
- WRNR, Indie Rock, sadly low wattage
This effort reminded me how thoroughly disgusting it is that I can only find 5 significant options in a fully saturated double-metro-area radio market. I decided then that I absolutely MUST find a home channel for the elusive sixth button. It used to belong to WHFS (formerly Indie Rock, then conglomerated, lobotomized, replaced by Spanish-language Pop/Dance, last brought back on another frequency as a zombie imititation of its former life), but I ended up realizing that inter-channel static was more enjoyable. The Seek button in the loaner car is large enough that I could press it easily without looking, so I spent my morning commute surfing for one more station preferable to pounding my forehead with a hammer.
I had expected to write this journal in the negative, assuming my mission would fail. But it seems my Reverse Murphy effect struck again, because a plausible candidate went on air LAST WEEK. Apparently a corporate drone had a lightbulb moment... a compact fluorescent one, in fact. Apologies to all the classic rock fans whose beloved Arrow has been smashed, but I'm giving this new "green rock" format a chance. If their morning DJs don't blather at me like schizophrenic meth-addicted Stern wannabes, I think we'll get along pretty well.
WTH is "green rock"? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
AFAICT, yeah, that's pretty much it. Coldplay and friends, broadcast using electricity from wind farms.
After reading more about them [infinitedial.com], I might have to axe them for too short of a playlist. 2 or 3 of the songs I heard in 15ish minutes this morning were the exact same that the guy at Infinite Dial heard in an hour last week. Not bad songs really, but I couldn't stand even my all-time favorites if they're played over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over ev