Very Cool Mr. Hager!

On Tuesday, this blog posted a piece inspired by a recent Sean Ross article on "The Show After The Show" - read here.

With Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band in town tonight, WGRF/Buffalo (97 Rock) PD John Hager sets the bar a little higher with this post-concert feature:

It will be a great night for 97 Rock listeners - who will not only experience a great concert; but will also continue the moment with a great drive home with the car stereos cranked up to WGRF.

I'm certain Little Steven's Underground Garage affiliate guru Mark Felsot played no small role in this either. Congrats to both John and Mark (as well as Mr. Van Zandt) for putting something truly memorable for 97 Rock listeners.

Awesome radio!

The Weekend Classic Rock FM

75° - sunny & windy at 10am

Happy Friday from Okemos

New Bruce. Via Underground Garage affiliate guy Mark Felsot: a new CD from Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - titled "Magic" - is scheduled for an October 2nd release.

Longtime Springsteen producer Jon Landau labels the album as a "high energy rock CD". More here.

This (hopefully) means an album more radio-friendly than "The Seger Sessions" - and is likely a release classic rock radio should embrace and celebrate. Consider it as part of your fall programming plans.

Mike Bettelli. Yesterday, this blog suggested spending a day outside the station listening to both your own station and the competition. In this week's FMQB, The Jones Radio programmer/consultant writes:

"A critical part of the job of programming is to know and understand the competition. How much inventory do they air every hour? Are the other morning shows in your market more entertaining, relevant, or higher rated than yours? Maybe you’ll need more resources to level the playing field – especially with regard to talent. It is also possible that your talent can be improved with a little coaching and more tools."

Read Mike's entire piece here.

Tom Taylor: "One last thing about Yankee broadcaster Phil Rizzuto, who died this week at 89: His contribution to Meat Loaf’s epic “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” about young love (or lust) helped make the song the overblown (and perfect) production that’s a staple of classic rock."

Sign up for "Taylor on Radio-Info" - for free here.

More here Sunday Morning. Have a good weekend.

Steven Van Zandt on Radio & Records

67° - rain at 9am

Steven Van Zandt. Radio host. Musician. Record producer. Actor. Writer. I'm certain thats an incomplete list.

Last night - Mark Felsot - who handles affiliate relations for Little Steven's Underground Garage - e-mailed an advance copy of Steven's "Garage Rock" column for the July 21st issue of Billboard. Steven addresses the illogical move by the record industry to demand payment for airplay.

Some great quotes from Mr. Van Zandt: "I do not believe radio should pay anything to anyone. And I mean every kind of radio."

"..radio stations and concert performers shouldn't have to pay for promoting our music and helping us sell it. Radio is the greatest thing that ever happened to us all, not counting Les Paul sticking that pickup on his guitar—which also worked out quite well."

And my favorite: "We have talked about, right here, the new ways people hear music and its significance especially for young bands: ads, videogames, TV, movies, ringtones, car horns, whatever. But can any sane human being think all that can ever replace a great radio station?"

I simply love that.

This morning Dave Lange posts the entire Little Steven article and offers some additional commentary. Read here.

Our Generation?

From Mark Felsot - who handles affiliate relations for Little Steven's Underground Garage...and all-around great radio guy:

"This is a great video and version of My Generation that’ll give the song new meaning"...