Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

Writing outside: sunny and 75° at 10:30am.

Did work around the house yesterday while listening to streams of WDRV and WKLH . Heard some listener-voiced sweepers on 'KLH. Quite nice.

This morning Stroud on WDRV is blacked out on the stream due to RIAA issues; listening to Steve Palec on 'KLH instead. Very psychedelic. Too much information?

Bob Seger going to Starbucks? The new Starbucks record label that is. This story from the Detroit News is almost a month old - but new to me. Bob's been with Capitol Records for 40 years - and his latest "Face The Promise" just went platinum.

Speaking of Starbucks: Just finished "What Must Starbucks Do" - by marketing consultant John Moore - written in response to Starbucks Chairman Howard Schulz's concern over the direction the coffee chain is headed. Its a brilliant piece; you can read it here. (Personally, I wish for free wi-fi at my nearby Starbucks...)

Chicago Ed. I've never heard anyone relate to a city like Ed Schwartz. And its almost a crime that he's not on the now. In today's Chicago Radio Spotlight, Ed talks about his health, career - and offers his thoughts on present-day Chicago radio with Rick Kaempfer.

My memories of Ed go back to 560/WIND - my parents fav station - with talents like Benson & Russell, Dave Baum, Connie Szersen - plus others that don't come to mind right now; and of course, Chicago Ed.

Jim Peterik. Chicago-based singer/songwriter. Think The Ides of March and their 1970 hit "Vehicle" (not to forget follow-up "LA Goodbye"); or the band Survivor - with hit after hit in the 80s. He's the guy.

In the latest podcast from Cara's Basement - Jim shares some great stories with Cara Carriveau and performs a few songs you might know well. No IPOD required. Listen here. Thanks to Cara for the heads-up; its truly wonderful content.

Radio Stories. Spend some time with John Long's journey through his Top 40 radio career. This is a book you can read on the web here. John spent many years with RKO - with some legendary call letters. A great read for anyone in the business.

Have a great Sunday. Get outside if its nice where you are.

The Big Event

A couple of situations led to this post. Recently VH-1 Classic has been showing the multi-part "History of Rock & Roll". Watching it one night it got me wondering why television has taken over something that radio used to do so well in the past. On TV its just a show. With radio its an EVENT.

It's the event - over a weekend or longer that can attract long TSL.

I know we do specials like The Memorial Day Top 500 - or Classic Rock A to Z. Both still very valid, IMHO. But I was thinking beyond that. While watching VH-1, The Bill Drake/RKO "History of Rock & Roll" came to mind - albeit for Top 40 Radio.

Then this past Tuesday - while going through boxes in my basement storage looking for something unrelated, I came across a notebook binder full of CDs. An monumental AOR/Classic Rock special titled "The Official History of Rock & Roll"...produced by Infinity and distributed by ABC Radio Networks in late 1989. Fifty hours covering 35 years of the genre - from 1954 through the British Invasion - and starting with 1967 - a focus on album artists and releases up through then current day 1989.

It was a terrific special - very well produced - and I was proud to air it.

I believe the time is ripe for Classic Rock Radio to repeat a big event like this. In the right market it could even take on a local or regional flavor.

The Big Event. A lot of work. And another "difficult to duplicate" attribute for your radio station.