Topic: Rock is dead they say

[superdave]

The largest radio market in the country is now left with only one rock format radio station and zero rock format stations for new music.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2011/07/14/2011-07-14_wrxp_shifts_from_contemporary_rock_to_news_channel_as_it_changes_hands_from_emmi.html

at least you can still get my favorite station, seton hall pirate radio
http://www.wsou.net/

[Eternally Learning]

I was so disallusioned when HFS (DC/MD Area) switched to El Zol overnight without notice or comment.  They literally went from a english, rock DJ (who also didn't know what was coming) signing off to a spanish-speaking latin DJ introducing the next song.  To make matters worse, HFS started up on another station months later but quickly changed from all rock to all sports talk.  That was a sucky time for rock radio in my area...

[Calinthalus]

Radio has been dying for a while.

Of course, I live in the Southern U.S., we have no modern rock stations in my area at all.  A couple of classic rock stations, a couple of pop music stations, NPR, and about a dozen flavors of country music stations (none of them good).  Now, one of the country stations plays bluegrass on the weekends, which is nice.  But others play preachers/gospel on the weekends...so not so nice.

I rely on my son to know about new bands in rock.  I rarely look forward to new releases...but hey, I'm entertained.


I am looking forward to Anthrax's new release:

[Eternally Learning]

My brother used to live in Texas and there was a rock station there which was pretty typical for nowadays except for a block of an hour or two ever day where they literally would play whatever call-ins requested without exception.  I was pretty damn jealous.

[GodSlayer]

rock ≠ radio

[MikeHz]

Radio has been dying for a while.

I gave up on it years ago, in favor of podcasts and CDs. Too many huge blocks of ads. And, I hated when DJs talked over the songs.

[jawmo]

I was so disallusioned when HFS (DC/MD Area) switched to El Zol overnight without notice or comment.  They literally went from a english, rock DJ (who also didn't know what was coming) signing off to a spanish-speaking latin DJ introducing the next song.  To make matters worse, HFS started up on another station months later but quickly changed from all rock to all sports talk.  That was a sucky time for rock radio in my area...

I was saddened by that too, but HFS had been going steadily downhill for several years and was barely distinguishable from DC101 by the time it folded.
I'm old enough to remember the  "golden age" of DC rock radio when there were two indie FM stations: HFS (with  the late Damian Einstein and pre+sellout Weasel) and WGTB out of Georgetown U. By the late 80s GTB was gone; they really would play anything, from really obscure Stones to Kraftwerk to Joy Division, sometimes in the same set. With the demise of  WGTB and the forced departure of Damian, GTB's format became increasingly predicable. By the early 90s you could hear the same tune 6 times a day. It was still better than anything else on the radio, but a far cry from the glory days.

Luckily you can listen to a dozen stations now on the net (college stations mostly) that are similar in content if not style, to the old HFS.
 

[Eternally Learning]

Yeah, HFS was definitely not at it's former level of glory when it went away.  Still, it deserved a better send-off than that if for no other reason than the HFStival.

I was never a huge radio listener, but when I worked as a stock-boy for a few months and would have DC101 on all day I realized that radio had truly died to me.  I routinely heard the same 15-20 songs played repeatedly all day.  It was just sad. 

[Nacreous]

Radio has been dying for a while.

... And, I hated when DJs talked over the songs.

Ditto; always drove me crazy, even when I was a pre-teen in the '50s..  XM DJs do it now, too.  Feh.

[ricree]

Interesting timing.

Chicago's last alternative station just got reformatted.

One of the few* remaining classic rock stations is going away as well.


*might be the last one for that format as well, but I'm not sure of that.

[Dirty J. Martini]

Interesting timing.

Chicago's last alternative station just got reformatted.

One of the few* remaining classic rock stations is going away as well.


*might be the last one for that format as well, but I'm not sure of that.

Was that Q101? When I moved to Chicago, they were really fun to listen to (well, between the billions of commercials, anyway). Wendy and Bill seemed really funny at the time. Then one day they put on Mancow, or whatever the fuck his name was, and I just stopped listening with about every other person I knew. Every now and then I would flip to it to see what was on, and it seemed like they would have several 2 minute long ads that were all testimonials like the kind of crap my grandfather would listen to during the Paul Harvey show. It was bizarre. It must have made them some money, though, if they lasted this long. Or was it another station?

[Jim S]

It costs, but get Sirius/XM.   It would be very hard for me to do without. 

DJ's are still annoying, but no commercials and the songs are unedited.  Oh yeah, and the sound quality is not great.  Sounds like maybe 96Kb.  But if you are driving you hardly notice. 

[ricree]

Was that Q101? When I moved to Chicago, they were really fun to listen to (well, between the billions of commercials, anyway). Wendy and Bill seemed really funny at the time. Then one day they put on Mancow, or whatever the fuck his name was, and I just stopped listening with about every other person I knew. Every now and then I would flip to it to see what was on, and it seemed like they would have several 2 minute long ads that were all testimonials like the kind of crap my grandfather would listen to during the Paul Harvey show. It was bizarre. It must have made them some money, though, if they lasted this long. Or was it another station?

That's the one.

They did have Mancow throughout most of the morning, but I never really listened then so it didn't effect me.  That said, they stopped playing Mancow several years ago, so apparently you weren't the only one that didn't care for it.

Beyond that, I don't really listen to radio much, so I can't comment on how the station has been the past couple years.