Sunday Night Odds & Sods

63° - scattered clouds at 11:19pm

Good Evening from Okemos.

Reading: The original WLUP/Chicago Format Guide written for its debut in March of 1977. It was a gift I found in the mail Friday arriving home from the day job. Very cool to read the philosophy and formatics of a station I listened to heavily back then. 52 typewritten pages.

My thanks to its author and first WLUP Program Director J. Blackburn for sharing this bit of history; and being quite candid through emails on his hits and misses throughout his career.

I've written about his new radio novel; his website here.

Conclave wrap: Have been checking out the Conclave reports on the R&R site. Some great info on promotions and text messaging; no surprises with the discussion about performance royalties (what is the debate in a room full of radio folks?) and a great session on show prep and websites.

The McVay seminar with legendary voice talent Nick Michaels appeared to be a hit. If you were there, I am envious. Waiting to read what Lee Abrams offered on Friday.

Good stuff: "What are YOU doing to make your listeners' lives better today?"

Read some great examples via Jaye Albright here.

A late post today. My free time spent on the internet radio project, still getting music together and experimenting (can I play the new Coldplay song, Uriah Heep, The Temptations, Zeppelin and AC/DC on the same station? Hmmmm....). I don't want to hype this more than it is: a hobby effort with a hobby budget and nothing more.

Have a good night.

Ending the Rant of musicFIRST

69° - sunny at 7:53am

Conclave: Under way in Minneapolis. Wish I was there! The Conclave has evolved into radio's premiere event. More here. In preparation, Sean Ross writes about the Twin Cities oldies/classic hits/classic rock stations here.

Those wackos at musicFIRST. Calling radio stations "pirates" for not paying additional fees to use music. What if radio picked a few artists and simply stopped playing their music (if you were an artist - would you want to be on that list?)

As Jerry Del Colliano pointed out in his blog the other day:

"We could really end this desperate move by rich record artists to earn even more by remembering what Sinatra, The Eagles – all of them – would have made if radio didn’t play their music. How about – zero. How about no platinum records. No gold. No silver. No tin. No junk metal. Nothing could be earned without radio airplay. Nothing."

Exactly. NAB efforts gave broadcasters the majority of votes in the House on the performance "tax" issue, as announced on Tuesday. But the fight continues. Meanwhile, record company promotion people continue to beg for radio airplay.

Great Promotion. As tipped by Dave Martin (who was tipped by Emily DiTomo). Entercom teaming up with Guitar Center for "Get Schooled with Guitar Center". Here.

Dave writes: "A very cool concept and well done. Creating memorable experiences, real dream come true moments, is powerful magic." Kudos to Entercom and all involved.

Atlanta's Dave-FM/WZGC launches second website "E-Dave". A cool presentation and layout that begs the question: why not just make this "the" website? See here.

Added: From Boston.Com - a review/preview of Wi-Fi ready radios. Here.

Late Night Add: Received a great piece in my in-box this afternoon from Fred Jacobs. A must-read for PDs and air talent. A lesson learned from the late George Carlin. Here.

Have a good night.

Classic Rock Salutes George

54° - sunny at 8:03am

Good Morning from Michigan.

Remembering George. Noticed just a few classic rockers remembering and paying tribute to George Carlin with their websites. WZLX/Boston has this section on its website for listener memories. Very cool. Likewise, WGRF/Buffalo's Rob Lederman posts his memories of George. See here.

Just a thought: there's a ton of George Carlin videos available via You Tube that could be embedded on a station website. A list here.

An online tribute would not be a bad thing to do. It's not too late; with a proper disclaimer (NSFW), you could even post the 7 words piece.

Around the web:

Cox Radio Steps Up. Cox - which in this author's opinion has been using the blandest of bland web templates for years - steps up with some site redesigns. Noted WHTQ/Orlando and WHPT/Tampa this morning. Very nice guys!

Late day update (9:55pm Eastern): Dave Martin with a common-sense thought today on his blog:

"Broadcast site after broadcast site feature Contact Us pages filled with email addresses, however, very few provide the primary telephone number. Getting in touch with station based colleagues and not having their direct dials often means visiting their website. More often than not one finds numbers for the studio, the newsroom, the sales department but no mention of the main number. Thinking my best bet is the sales dept I often call that number, usually get voicemail and typically become captive to the automated attendant. Provide the main number, answer your phone. My sense is there's competitive advantage here as no one is doing this."

More tomorrow...thanks for the pings; it makes it all worthwhile.

Brock Whaley on George Carlin

Found this in my email tonight from programmer Brock Whaley:

A Remembrance

George Carlin was a huge influence on my sense of humor in no small part because he was the first person to satirize Top 40 radio. Other’s like Steve Allen had satirized television, but George came right at the radio format, and thus the radio, I loved as a kid in the 60’s.

I first became aware of George Carlin in 1966 when he was part of the summer replacement show for the Kraft Music Hall on NBC. And this was with Mr. White bread John Davidson as host. I never missed a show, not even on vacation.

In 1967 my Father returned from a trip to New York with George’s first album on RCA. It was a promo copy which made it even cooler. I have no idea how he found a promo copy, but I wore out the grooves.

That summer, George was on another summer replacement show. This one on CBS was a summer fill in for Jackie Gleason, and starred Jose Greco (now there’s a trivia name).

I watched every show, just for George.

I laughed and loved George’s take on daytime television with its clueless contestants, but it was his satire on Top 40 that nailed it for me. Not just the songs, but the jocks and the jingles. It proved to me that nothing, even something you love, is sacred.

I was reminded this morning, that although George had long stopped doing radio interviews, he did mention a decade ago, that our KPOI slogan at the time, “The Rock You Live On” was the most cleaver, and accurate radio slogan he had ever heard. This from a man whose own clever take on the radio business started it all for me.

Much will be written. Everyone has a favorite point in his groundbreaking array of work and thought. Mine will always be the fictional radio station that formed so much of my life as a satirist and broadcaster.

Thank you, George.

And thank you for “Wonderful WINO radio. Just above the police calls.”

Brock Whaley
Director of Programming
VRE Hawaii
KPOI Honolulu
KDDB Honolulu
KQMQ Honolulu
KUMU Honolulu