Not A Question - More Of A Rant

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The sad state of radio.

I live in the Providence area ( can't say metro area because I don't know if Providence qualifies as a metro) and the quality of radio is to say it gently, astoundingly shitty.

We have 3 stations (WBRU, WHJY, WFNX) that pander to the "alternative" listener and they all are pretty much the same. Same crappy songs played over and over ad nauseum. I know this because unfortunately there are times when I don't have CD's - I won't leave anything I value at work - so the radio is sometimes the only thing to listen to.

The college stations here are pathetic as well. Having lived/worked most of my adult life in the Boston Metro area I became addicted to great college stations such as MIT's WMBR (the best!), Harvard's WHRB, BC's WZBC (excellent), Emerson's WERS and so on. I got spoiled.

College radio in RI consists of immature (mostly) kids playing SUM41 and Creed songs and talking to their friends on air. UGH!

If I didn't love my house and where we live so much, I'd seriously consider moving back to Taxachusetts just for the good FM. I doubt my wife would feel the same way though. Some people just don't have their priorities straight... ;)

― Davlo (Davlo), Thursday, 20 February 2003 02:59 (twenty-two years ago)

suck shit

― Savin All My Love 4 u (Savin 4ll my (heart) 4u), Thursday, 20 February 2003 03:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Savin All My Love 4 u must be a dj for a RI college station...
Interesting comment - just what does it relate to?

― Davlo (Davlo), Thursday, 20 February 2003 03:36 (twenty-two years ago)

It's no better in San Diego, Davlo. Though i guess the college DJs are a little better out here, but the commercial stations all suck. The best thing i've found is the Spanish language classical station, which is actually pretty great.

I suggest web-streams when you can get 'em and CDs when you can't.

― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Thursday, 20 February 2003 04:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Matt, I'm coming in from El Cajon and can't get the SDSU station out here. When I'm in the shop all day I've got to leave it on 91X and listen to that new U2 Coldplay song nine, ten times a day.

― Famous Athlete, Thursday, 20 February 2003 04:07 (twenty-two years ago)

better than north korea where all the radios are soldered to one station's preset. quit complaining.

― keith (keithmcl), Thursday, 20 February 2003 04:08 (twenty-two years ago)

As a fellow Providencian, I can agree that the radio here does mostly suck. 91.3 has some good programs on it, as does 90.3. WGBH, the NPR station, is good. 91.1 has a really great hardcore/noise/experimental rock show Monday nights.

Go to shows in Olneyville; the 28th @ 244 Oak Street.

― Ian Johnson, Thursday, 20 February 2003 04:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey there, Famous. I thought that 89.5 was SDSU's primary station, and they're just putting an NPR feed through, which means a lot of yakkin' and very little music. 91X has gotten gruesome, and i remember a time when it wasn't, which saddens me greatly.

I'd suggest trying 94.9FM, but it's only a tiny bit better. 92.1 is just as painful as 91X.

Try 1430 AM if you have any taste for classical/early modern/solo guitar music.

Aside from that, it's a vast wasteland.

― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Thursday, 20 February 2003 04:19 (twenty-two years ago)

what about rap & r&b & soul stations?

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 20 February 2003 05:45 (twenty-two years ago)

i've heard that something like 90% of all the radio stations located with US borders are owned by the same 4 corporate conglomerates. this is BAD. i've also heard that the fcc is re-examining the (lack of) diversity with regard to our air waves. this may be good. if one cares, one may voice one's opinions and/or submit one's suggestions at www.fcc.gov.

― j.a.e., Thursday, 20 February 2003 09:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Davlo, I live in the Providence area too and I fully agree. WBRU, with its "cutting edge" claims, bores me to death. WRIU was great in my college days (I went to URI), but no longer. I rarely listen to commercial FM radio.
What I'd love to see is free-form radio, like WBCN used to be in its heyday in the late 60s and early 70s (before my time -- I'm going by what I've read). But of course there's "no market" for that, right?

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Thursday, 20 February 2003 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Sterling, so far as i've seen, most of the rap/rnb/soul stations are playing stuff that's a reflection of what's getting played on MTV with little variety. Not much of it's been very interesting to my ears. There's no place in the mainstream where one can get any engaging dance music, either. Stations have tried, but they usually disappear without a ripple.

― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Thursday, 20 February 2003 15:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Here in my town, we've basically got 5 choices:

We've got the Skynyrd/Zeppelin "classic rock" station that somehow manages to avoid any actually worthwhile classics and just cranks out "Oooh That Smell" and shit like that all day.

We've got the Creed/Nickelback "modern rock" station that, well cranks out all these soundalike groups that are hard to differentiate from each other what with all the burly baritone singers and similar progressions and whatnot.

We've got the rap-and-R&B-station that actually doesn't ever play any rap, but claims to. Not even P. Diddy style filth. And the R&B they play is generally of the "is-this-a-cell-phone-commercial-or-is-this-a-song?" variety.

We've got the "country" station that plays songs by people what have no country accent, songs what have no pedal steel or banjo or mountain soul, etc. Basically just faceless male and female divas with three names singing songs written in a Nashville song-lab.

All of which play actually about 20 songs a day, but play each song at least 5 or 6 times.

But all the way to the left is good ol' WRFL 88.1, the UK college radio station, where, depending on who's DJing, you could be hearing dronerock, dancehall, sufi, hardcore, hip-hop, all you can imagine and more. THANK GOD FOR WRFL!!!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 20 February 2003 15:27 (twenty-two years ago)

And the R&B they play is generally of the "is-this-a-cell-phone-commercial-or-is-this-a-song?" variety.

You mean Tweet!? She's Grebt!

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 20 February 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

But Sterling, people might disagree with you, you know. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 February 2003 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

The only station I listen to in Worcester Mass is Holy Cross radio. And even that sucks sometimes. I can't get the other stations in from my house. I do get WBRU though and what crap its turned into.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:12 (twenty-two years ago)

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