Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

64° - sunny at 10am

Happy Sunday. My in-laws have been in town from Denver since Thursday. Good times. Watched Michigan State spank Notre Dame yesterday on TV.

Listening this morning: Again this week to Pam Rossi's Over Easy on WCSX/Detroit. Thanks for the Simon & Garfunkel. Loved "The Boxer" and "Leaves That Are Green".

The latter I haven't heard likely in 35+ years. I've got to order "Sounds Of Silence" on CD from Amazon today. Sarcasm: I forgot...radio doesn't sell music.

Actually tried WDRV/Chicago first - a longtime habit - but they're not streaming "Rock & Roll Roots" this morning due to RIAA issues.

Speaking of WDRV: Celebrating Bruce Springsteen's birthday today with Boss classics throughout the day.

Perhaps the RIAA problem this morning was due to the "not more than 4 songs per artist in any 3 hour period rule" for streaming. Wonder how CHR stations stream???

WCSX/Detroit. New website design. Clean, uncluttered and easy to navigate. See here. Very nice. Great use of You Tube videos (a free resource!)

Meanwhile - Radio Online reports that "Male-Oriented Formats Top List for Radio Web Visitors". Hello classic rock. Read here.

This week Rick Kaempfer's Chicago Radio Spotlight shines on suburban classic rock WRXQ/Joliet PD Freak - who's had an amazing career with a number of stations in Chicago.

Read a cool story here.


Fun. Bob Andelman (Mr. Media) talks to Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin. Another guy from Chicago. Curb on HBO is one of the highlights of my week. Read here.

Have a great Sunday.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

63° - overcast at 9:15am

Yesterday: With tickets courtesy of my wife's employer, we attended the Michigan State/Bowling Green game at Spartan Stadium here. Perfect weather and a great game - despite sunburn and some questionable officiating.

This Morning: Listening to Bob Stroud's Rock & Roll Roots on WDRV/Chicago. Lots of Ringo Starr this morning from a new collection - plus some BS&T. Nice!

Reading this morning:

Running yellow lights. Dave Martin with help from Tom Teuber and Gordon McLendon:

"The role of program director as sometime defense attorney. Here again, we are talking about the effective manager as protector. It's one of those additional duties as assigned and it's very important. Talent need protection. Providing the right environment for creative people to do their best work is certainly critical, however, standing up and being their advocate is equally important.

Over our recent lunch in Chicago Tom quoted Gordon McLendon "Get people to talk about your radio station." Very wise counsel. Long, long before it became vogue to hold forth on the power of word of mouth, viral marketing, et al, Gordon was making it by the truck load and to incredible affect. To get folks talking you need to do something. One needs to go off the rez and take a calculated creative gamble. This involves a measure of risk as does any successful creative endeavor. Talent will perform at their potential only when they feel they have an advocate to champion their work. Great performances come from talent being focused on performing rather than being preoccupied with consequences. Talent need to know they can run the yellow lights."

More from Dave on management here.

Radio stories via from Rick Kaempfer. This morning his spotlight is on Laura Witek. Read here.

And: looking forward to more radio stories (in the form of a novel) from Jay Blackburn. We mentioned a book here months ago. It just went to the publisher. More to come.

Have a great Sunday.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

77° - sunny at 10:38am.
left: there's nothing like football in a college town. MSU wins the season opener yesterday here; 55-18 over Alabama-Birmingham.

Good Morning.

Listening: This morning to Bob Stroud on WDRV/Chicago via the web. His final spotlight on the "Summer of Love" - playing music from this weekend in 1967. Just heard Arlo Guthrie's "Motorcycle Song". Cool.

New Classic Hits in Portland. Clear Channel tries again with 105.9 - dumping smooth jazz for Classic Hits as KOOL 105.9. Call letters KPKL are reported to be pending.

Primarily 70s based with a good dose of 60s and 80s (noticed "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" on the playlist).

Edison Media's Sean Ross takes a first listen and writes here.

Added: Listening this AM. Musically somewhere a mix of oldies, classic hits and a little "Jack". Very pop-based "feel good" presentation - easy on the ears. Using jingle package with Charlie Van Dyke as image voice.

Heard Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" segued into Todd Rundgren's "Bang The Drum". Listen live here.

Speaking of Clear Channel/Portland: Advertising Age gives details on the strategy and early success the cluster has had selling "keywords" to advertisers on station websites. Here.

Next week: Anticipate the beginnings of fall book promotions; and perhaps some more pre-book format moves. Fall Arbitron begins September 20th.

Have a great Sunday.