Shaping Radio Stations And Listeners, Then & Now

We received a lot of interesting and positive feedback from the last blog, which was a slight departure from the norm. I usually like to include what's new in alternative rock, as well as some history, interesting and sometimes funny tidbits, and what's to come in regards to the station. Consider this entry as part #2, continuing from last week. For those of you who thought the last blog had some interesting thoughts, but on a whole, was kind of off, don't worry - this type of blog is not the new boss.

I have to admit, I'm one of those people who were totally immersed in rock n' roll by the time I was 12 years old. By that age, I had shed almost every ounce of "pop radio" from my system. I say, almost, because my Mom still listened to that genre of music quite often, especially in the car. Since I wouldn't have my drivers license for another four years, she still "had control" over the radio whenever she had to cart me around somewhere.

By 16 - another life changing event. No, it wasn't the fact that I not only had a summer job and had the money to buy my 1st "killer stereo", or obtained my drivers license and therefore could use the car and therefore could listen to whatever tunes I wanted. One of my best friends, Scott, got the idea to hook up a TV coaxial cable to the back of his stereo receiver via an adapter instead of using that same group of wires to watch cable television. We both lived in rural New Hampshire at the time and "good" radio stations, in our opinion, were very few & far between. However, after he hooked up the cable, he was able to pull in stations from Boston and even Rhode Island with amazing clarity. We now had access to tons of songs & bands that we had never heard of. Heck, some of these were bands the local record store never heard of nor stocked the vinyl! We didn't know it at the time, but these stations shaped our likes, dislikes, and listening.

This in turn shaped us throughout college when Scott & I both went on to obtain degrees in radio and communications. We were both heavily involved in our campus radio stations and swapped music constantly. Looking back, I consider us both to be lucky to be able to attend college near Boston. One station in particular, WBCN, was influential in our music and for me, quite heavily. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this progressive station, WBCN has been an icon for over 40 years. The station has been credited with launching the careers of The Cars, The Police, U2 and 'Til Tuesday, just to name a few, because they were the first station in the US to play songs by these bands.

Now, you don't have to be involved in the radio business to realize that formats as well as stations come and go - sometimes rather quickly. For a major market station to last more than 40 years, with the same format in tact, and still featuring local programming, is nothing short of a miracle these days. I still listen to WBCN - going on 30+ years.

In hindsight, I find it humorous to think about the time when I first got into professional radio. I was young and ready to change the world! However, I was not prepared for the business side of it, the egos, and the uncertainty of it. That changed quickly and I learned as well as learned to adapt. That led me to bigger and better gigs at larger (bigger market) radio stations where I eventually had a hand at programming. Ironically, now I was the one (hopefully) shaping listeners and other radio stations. I eventually got to meet and talk to a number of rock artists that I was a fan of. To date, I've not yet become a skilled enough writer to paint an accurate picture to describe what some of those meetings were like. While they were all memorable, I can say that some people were really cool & some were total assholes.

All these years, memories, and changes have not only influenced my taste in music, but also influenced me to start this station and what to play. However, this time through the Internet and satellite, my hope is to not only possibly influence and hopefully entertain in the process, but to also to educate. At 360 Degrees of Alternative, I like to think we are "classic to cutting edge" when it comes to alternative rock. That's why we feature five decades of music, because I truly believe you cannot appreciate the present without respecting the past.

Until next time, keep listening!
Peace out,
Dave