Thank God for College Radio
(and thank you also for the happy birthday wishes.)
Perhaps you’ve never lived in a little college town (although, if I know you’re reading this blog, you probably have). But for the uninitiated, allow me to describe the radio options out here:
Now, the nice thing about our college radio station is that it’s totally freeform, as near as I can tell. DJs seem to have an immense amount of freedom, no enforced playlist here. Really, no format at all. Jazz, rap, electronica, classic rock, alt rock, pop music, hip hop, more rap, different alternative… we got it all, and you can never tell from show to show what you’re getting. In fact, inside a show, you may not know.
I just heard, in a row:
Hurt by Johnny Cash
Common People by William Shatner
A disco version of Comfortably Numb that is so fabulous I can’t even think straight
And Cum on Feel the Noize. (which, apparently, you can't buy on iTunes)
Genius. Sheer genius. I actually listened to about the next hour of material, because it pretty much kept being good like that.
Perhaps you’ve never lived in a little college town (although, if I know you’re reading this blog, you probably have). But for the uninitiated, allow me to describe the radio options out here:
- Syndicated Clear Channel pop crap
- Mass-produced Nashville country
- All Nickleback, All the Time (which doesn’t even come in well)
- More Clear Channel Nashville Pop Country Crap
- A mediocre NPR station (they try hard, but if you’ve even been to a city with good public broadcasting, well…)
- College Radio
Now, the nice thing about our college radio station is that it’s totally freeform, as near as I can tell. DJs seem to have an immense amount of freedom, no enforced playlist here. Really, no format at all. Jazz, rap, electronica, classic rock, alt rock, pop music, hip hop, more rap, different alternative… we got it all, and you can never tell from show to show what you’re getting. In fact, inside a show, you may not know.
I just heard, in a row:
Hurt by Johnny Cash
Common People by William Shatner
A disco version of Comfortably Numb that is so fabulous I can’t even think straight
And Cum on Feel the Noize. (which, apparently, you can't buy on iTunes)
Genius. Sheer genius. I actually listened to about the next hour of material, because it pretty much kept being good like that.
posted by Joe at 3:44 PM
2 Comments:
1. Excuse me, Joe, but I have lived in a little college town (well, maybe not little by your standards, but a school of 3,000 in a town of 5,000), and the only radio we got there was what would travel the 60 miles from Portland. No college radio station in sight. I didn't get the joy of college radio until I moved to a larger college town.
2. I MUST know who does the disco cover of Comfortably Numb. Cover tunes are my musical passion, and I'm imagining it in my brain now.
That cover is by Scissor Sisters, from the album "Scissor Sisters". If you download iTunes, that link even works.
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