Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

47° - sunny at 9:10am.

Good Morning. Almost hit freezing here last night; some parts of Michigan did overnight.

Autumn in the air. Leaves starting to turn.

Listening: Started early this morning with WCSX/Detroit and "Sunday Morning Over Easy" hosted by Pam Rossi. Nice and laid back - the soundtrack to a perfect Sunday AM.

Pam is featuring Gordon Lightfoot this morning. He's from Canada - but is so Michigan to me. And heard The Guess Who's "Sour Suite"; plus Joan Baez' "Diamonds & Rust". Wonderful.

Very cool: A glance at the the WCSX "Over Easy" webpage - the site offers a podcast for independent artists to feature their original music. Check out how they handle the legal end of things to protect the station from the rights organizations.

Congrats in order: Both WRIF/Detroit and KBCO/Boulder receive the NAB HD Radio Multicast Award - to be presented during the NAB Radio Show at the end of the month.

Last month I applauded WRIF's "Riff2" channel here. AAA KBCO's HD2 is "The Studio C Channel" - highlighting years of in-station performances by the artists KBCO has hosted over the years. Very tasty stuff.

Added: More on the Multicast award winners from Lee Arnold's Blog here.

The Buzzard. WMMS/Cleveland clips the wings of its 33-year old mascot - as well as frequent mention of its legendary call letters. To ID primarily by frequency. More from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer here. Thanks to Radio Daily News for the tip.

Respectfully disagreeing: What becomes of the soul and character of the radio station? Is the using the frequency alone cold and sterile? What becomes of the stationality and emotional connection - that allows the listener to describe the station "like a person"? Isn't this one of radio's strengths? Just wondering.

More wondering. I've been spending a lot of time listening to oldies radio in the car. Why does "Wooly Bully" still get the airplay it does?

This still tests?

Why hasn't this song been banished to the novelty category with "Gitarzan" and "Gimme Dat Ding"? Damn - I feel better for getting that out; had it stuck inside for days - LOL.

Getting serious:

Calls for Leadership. At least twice in the past week.

From those like myself who have spent their lives in radio - love the industry and can't think of doing anything else.

Back on Monday - Paragon Media's Mike Henry wrote:

"While the news keeps flowing quickly on both sides of radio’s future…positive and negative…the leaders of our industry are strangely quiet. No offense to the NAB or the RAB, but radio leadership needs to come from…radio."

Read Mike's piece - along with reader comments here.

And yesterday David Martin blogged:

"I dream of companies that actually deserve the passion and creativity of the folks who work there, and naturally elicit the very best that people have to give. Of course, these are more than dreams; they are imperatives. They are do or die challenges for any company that hopes to thrive in the tumultuous times ahead - and they can only be surmounted with inspired management."

Read Dave's complete commentary here.

Ponder that and have a great Sunday.