Alternative Music

Fallen into a hole…

It’s been quite a couple of weeks here. Changes, folks, changes.

I’ve been pulled out the proverbial rabbit hole by a night in the excellent company of The Handsome Family at the Hyde Park Picture House, an art deco gem in most unexpected surroudings.

Happily, it’s had new seats from when I took Howard there about a million years ago when I was first in Leeds. It was a double bill, starting at midnight, designed to test stamina of both arse and mind. Sorry about that, mate.

Listen: The Handsome Family – The Bottomless Hole

Listen: Smog – The Well.

Buy the Smog record or The Handsome Family one.

saturday evening updates

Azbest said…
Miłość “Miłość”
Older Stuff: One Million Bulgarians, Atomico Patibulo, Sepultura, Dirtmusic
http://proskynesis.blogspot.com

JPR said…
Gillian Welch
& David Rawlings
Calvin College
Fine Arts Center
Grand Rapids, MI
Sept 17, 2003
AUD
http://spontaneouswednesday.blogspot.com

Blue Suede Shoes said…
Blue Suede Shoes 955
July 31, 2010
1. Jerry WILLIAMS And ROADWORK – “Shake, Rattle And Roll”
2. Gene VINCENT And His BLUE CAPS – “Bluejean Bop”
3. Larry WILLIAMS – “Slow Down”
4. LITTLE RICHARD – “She’s Got It”
5. Johnny ACE & BIG MAMA THORNTON – “Yes Baby”
6. The CRICKETS – “I’m Lookin’ For Someone To Love”
7. Chuck BERRY – “One Sixty Nine AM”
8. Chuck BERRY – “Aimlessly Driftin’”
9. WILD ANGELS – “Little Queenie”
10. Chuck BERRY – “Reelin’ And Rockin’” (takes 7/8)
11. TINY BRADSHAW – “The Train Kept-A-Rollin’”
12. Wanda JACKSON – “Silver Threads And Golden Needles”
13. “LITTLE” JIMMY DICKENS – “Hey Worm!”
14. Carl PERKINS – “Honky Tonk Gal”
15. Brenda LEE – “Dum Dum”
16. Eddie COCHRAN – “Jelly Bean” (take 5)
17. The EVERLY BROTHERS – “Rip It Up”
18. Hubert SUMLIN – “I Love”
19. Rod STEWART – “So Much To Say”
20. BO DIDDLEY – “Bo Diddley 1969″
21. The SHADOWS – “The Savage”
22. SMOOTH And The BULLY BOYS – “Train Kept A-Rollin’”
23. Jack SCOTT With Orchestral Accompaniment And The CHANTONES Vocal Group “Geraldine”
24. Roy ORBISON And TEEN KINGS – “Go! Go! Go!”
25. Lloyd PRICE – “Personality”
26. FATS DOMINO – “When My Dreamboat Comes Home”
27. Vince TAYLOR – “Dixieland Rock”
28. Elvis PRESLEY With The JORDANAIRES – “I Don’t Want To Be Tied”
29. Elvis PRESLEY With The JORDANAIRES – “We’re Coming In Loaded”
30. Elvis PRESLEY With The JORDANAIRES – “Because Of Love”
31. Elvis PRESLEY With The JORDANAIRES – “Girls! Girls! Girls!”
32. Elvis PRESLEY With The JORDANAIRES – “Return To Sender”
33. SHAKIN’ STEVENS And The SUNSETS – “The Train Kept A Rollin’”
34. Cliff RICHARD & The SHADOWS – Tony Marsh Intro (live at The ABC, Kingston (UK), 1962)
35. Cliff RICHARD & The SHADOWS – “Do You Wanna Dance” (live at The ABC, Kingston (UK), 1962)
36. Cliff RICHARD & The SHADOWS – “Dim Dim The Lights” (live at The ABC, Kingston (UK), 1962)
37. Cliff RICHARD & The SHADOWS – “My Blue Heaven” (live at The ABC, Kingston (UK), 1962)
38. Cliff RICHARD & The SHADOWS – “Razzle Dazzle” (live at The ABC, Kingston (UK), 1962)
39. Bill HALEY And His COMETS – “Mambo Rock”
40. Arsen ROULETTE – “Chasing Rainbows”
41. The JOHNNY BURNETTE TRIO (JOHNNY, DORSEY AND PAUL) – “The Train’ Kept A-Rollin’”
42. Ray HARRIS – “Come On Little Mama”
43. Elvis PRESLEY – “Don’t Be Cruel”
http://bluesuedeshoes-libellule.blogspot.com

gregor said…
prince live in nagoya, japan
superchunk live in germany, 1993
pavement live at mississippi nights, 1999

new music from strand of oaks, sarah harmer, gord downie and the country of miracles (tragically hip front man), the gilded splinters

non new music from codeine, palace music, dianogah, june of ‘44, unwound, the crust brothers, us maple, and more…
http://captainsdead.com

saturday afternoon updates

Willard said…
PAUL McCARTNEY Live At The White House
Paul McCartney, Jack White, Dave Grohl, Emmylou Harris, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock and more. (@320)
Listen Before You Download
NEVER GET OUT OF THE BOAT
http://nevergetoutoftheboat.blogspot.com
Thanks Fuzzy

Sir Charlie Palmer said…
In Paris: Baby Please Come Home! – Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon
The Truckin’ Sessions – Dale Watson and his Lone Stars
http://sircharliepalmer.blogspot.com

a r n e l said…
Kid Frost – East Side Story (1992)
Zap Mama – Supemoon (2007)
Zap Mama – Ancestry In Progress
Zap Mama – Sabsylma
Zap Mama – Adventures in Afropea 1
Zap Mama – A Ma Zone (2000)
http://bestfbothworlds.blogspot.com

Gumshoe said…
HOLY HELL, it’s a Moon Glyph jamboree!!
Free MP3/downloads from:
– Velvet Davenport
– Leisure Birds
– Olives
– Dune Of Heroin
– PC Worship
– Dante & The Lobster
PLUS another whole-new post featuring my new Album of the Week (think Bufallo 66!) and a hot-gossip Top-10.
LISTEN. Learn!
http://gumshoegrove.com

ROCKTIME said…
ROCKTIME – Podcast Edition – n. 08/10
60 years of Rock ‘n’ Roll in 60 minutes!
with the sound of:
1. EDDIE COCHRAN – Summertime blues (1958)
2. PERCY SLEDGE – When a man loves a woman (1966)
3. BO DIDDLEY – Hey good looking (1965)
4. LOVIN’ SPOONFUL – Summer In The City (1966)
5. VELVET UNDERGROUND – Pale blue eyes (1969)
6. ROXY MUSIC – Over you (1980)
7. SWEET – Love is like oxygen (1978)
8. SISTERS OF MERCY – Gimme shelter (1983)
9. NOMADS – This ain’t the summer of love (1986)
10. STONE TEMPLE PILOTS – Atlanta (1999)
11. CHARLATANS – Oh! Vanity (2008)
12. WOLFMOTHER – Love train (2006)
13. BOB MARLEY – Lively up yourself (1975)
14. POLICE – Don’t stand so close to me (1983)
15. SKIANTOS – Ti spalmo la crema (1984)
THX FUZZY!!!
http://frazzitta.blogspot.com

Peter said…
Old Fart at Play
Caustic Resin-Fly Me To The Moon(1995)
Built to Spill/Caustic Resin(1995)
Boys Life/Christie Front Drive Split(1999)
http://bitemefanboy.wordpress.com

Music for Pouring Steel–Richard Nussbaumer, pianist

A gem of a cover, from my latest trip to the local Goodwill. The moment I encountered this in bin #2 (or was it #1?), I said, “Blog material!” (Not out loud, of course.) Anyway, I took it home, presented it to the blog, watched as it was swallowed into the cyber-void, and stood there listening for the burp, which came ten seconds or so later. “Excuse you,” I said.

Yes, fabulous cover. The music turns out to be fine, as well–pianist Richard Nussbaumer is terrific, and the selections–mostly medleys–are fun, even if Chopin’s Op. 9, No. 2 Nocturne in E flat Major is listed as Etude in E Flat. (Don’t you hate it when that happens?) I’m not positive, but I find it very possible that this is the same Richard Nussbaumer who played organ for the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir of Pittsburgh on a 1973 recording of Schubert’s Mass in G Major (listed on this page ). In part, the LP jacket (quoted on eBay) reads: “Performance Dedicated to the Memory of Richard Nussbaumer – Former Associate Organist – Who died November 14, 1978.”

The Vesuvius Crucible Company, which put out this LP, is (or was) headquartered in Pittsburgh. So….

If you’re wondering about Rotolok (rotating lock?), wonder no more: Here is the obituary of Crawford B. Murton, inventor of the Rotolok Stopperhead. I quote: “The Rotolok, for which Mr. Murton held a patent, was a major product in its day for Vesuvius Crucible, his employer at the time of its development.”

The obit also notes that Murton, while still a Vesuvius Crucible employee, returned to the U.S. from Germany in 1965, the year of this LP. Was Music for Pouring Steel recorded in honor of this occasion? Probably not–Murton isn’t mentioned in the notes, after all. Then again, the LP label is named after his invention. Heck, I don’t know. I do know that, for me, background music isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think of steel factory work, but I’m glad Rotolok welded the two themes. To the music:

ROTOLOK’s Music for Pouring Steel

MUSIC FOR POURING STEEL–Richard Nussbaumer, pianist (Rotolok 3999/14000)

CONTINENTAL INTERLUDE–Foggy Day in London Town, The River Seine, Wunderbar, Arrividerci Roma
“LOVE” MEDLEY–I Wish You Love, When I Fall in Love, Love Is a Simple Thing
“YOUNG” MEDLEY–You Make Me Feel So Young, Young at Heart, When the World Was Young
MANHATTAN SUITE–Manhattan, Autumn in New York, Manhattan Serenade
ETUDE IN E FLAT–Chopin
WARSAW CONCERTO
CLAIR DE LUNE
THEMES FROM THE MASTERS–Concerto in B-Flat Minor (Tchaikovsky), Concerto No. 1 (Rachmaninoff), Romeo & Juliet (Tchaikovsky), Symphony No. 6 (Tchaikovsky).

Lee

Todays Music Making Software Tweets From @music_making

Another day with cool Music Making Tweets! 

Follow Music Making: http://twitter.com/music_making

Todays Tweet Wrapup:

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 23:18
Pitchfork Music Festival 2010: Free Energy, Drum Recording, And Elevator… http://goo.gl/fb/Q45Kk http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19940022749

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 23:18
Epiphone Dave Navarro Acoustic / Electric Guitar Intro’d http://goo.gl/fb/Qv8ag http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19940018499

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 22:17
Rickenbacker 4003 Review By Owen O’Malley: Ric Bass In The Limelight… http://goo.gl/fb/vFjth http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19936571397

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 22:17
Minimal System Instruments Synthetic Pro, Minimal System Instruments… http://goo.gl/fb/nbPNZ http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19936570276

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 22:17
Bitword Oxide 128 Volume Two, loops sample library http://goo.gl/fb/BqIkV http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19936569589

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 21:22
Realsamples French Harpsichord – Edition Beurmann, harpsichord sample… http://goo.gl/fb/htbFp http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19933372245

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 18:31
Tasmodia ACE Cream and Accelerator, sound banks for u-he ACE http://goo.gl/fb/EIFIP http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19922413195

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 17:32
Push Bang Button House Builds and Breakdowns, sample library available… http://goo.gl/fb/nAZRz http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19918024533

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 15:43
Access Music Richard Devine Signature Soundset 2010, free sounds for… http://goo.gl/fb/c3nwu http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19910432320

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 15:43
Roqstar Entertainment releases The Sixties, Pop Ballads, Smokin’ Dirty… http://goo.gl/fb/xbkQ7 http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19910429650

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 15:43
Keytar Bunny Stickers http://goo.gl/fb/AT02Z http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19910427159

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 15:43
Amazing TIme-Lapse Music Video http://goo.gl/fb/QG1L0 http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19910426597

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 15:43
Sugar Bytes Guitarist, complete guitar playing software for PC and Mac http://goo.gl/fb/Xd7kn http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19910423921

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 13:59
P5Audio Urban Electro Pop, loop sets sample library http://goo.gl/fb/YNR4J http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19904389443

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 13:59
SampleRadar: 338 free house samples http://goo.gl/fb/xsB8d http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19904388949

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 10:03
Future Loops Jungle Guerrilla, construction kits sample library http://goo.gl/fb/QORRv http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19893948460

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 06:15
Propellerhead Reason + Record Tutorial Explains Blocks http://goo.gl/fb/1AoHq http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19882366924

(@music_making):
2010-07-30 01:23
Line 6 James Tyler Variax Walkthrough: Mimicing Various Guitar Mating… http://goo.gl/fb/DpLQq http://j.mp/FreeSoft
https://twitter.com/music_making/status/19863371760

via Twittelator

HUMAN MUSIC ANTHOLOGY

Our pals over at Pleonasm have done future anthropologists and historians (not to mention weird-ologists off all stripes) the great service of collecting hours worth of audio oddities that mainly seem to be collected off of that most democratic of mediums, YouTube. There are four volumes (so far) of free downloads, organized by theme.

Vol. 1 Tongues – Largely spoken-word babbling and acapella singing, from Christians filled with the Spirit, to space-alien prophets, to drunks caught on camera, to a very funny bit of acoustic heavy metal. Tho there’s plenty of unaccompanied vocals just dying to be sampled (check track #6), there’s also some smooth-jazz, and blues w/ Peruvian Pan Flute. The Talking Heads named one of their albums “Speaking in Tongues,” but another of their titles could apply here: “Stop Making Sense.”

Vol. 2 Left Fieldists – Outsider music bonanza! Featuring such hits as: “You Tube Guy Sings About Prostitute,” “Developmentally Disabled Guy Sings In Stairwell,” “Song About Drinking Robitussin,” “Down Syndrome Poetry,” and an Asperger’s Syndrome guy singing about his “Asperger’s Girl.” It’s not all laffs, tho: “Man Sings About Infidelity” is a cringe-worthy confessional, and the “Song For My Deceased Wife” is pretty heart-wrenching.

Vol. 3 Extra Credit Songs – You can get school credit for performing music?! Damn, kids got it too easy nowadays! I would have loved that. There’s a wide range of skills here, from inept singing or rapping American history or science lessons over karaoke backing tracks, to pretty professional-sounding original songs. The hip-hop/r’n'b (complete with Autotune!) “Digestion Song” is hysterical. A+.

Vol. 4 Antediluvian Moderns – Apparently an assortment of old folks. Haven’t heard this one yet.

more friday afternoon updates

strahinja said…
THIN LIZZY – Live And Dangerous
SCREAMIN’ JAY HAWKINS – At Last
TALKING HEADS – More Songs About Buldings & Food
CHET ATKINS & LES PAUL – Guitar Monster
COLON WILLIE & RUBEN BLADES – Siembra
STEVE WINWOOD – Keep On Running
THE SAINTS – Eternally Yours
TIMMY THOMAS – Why Can’t We Live Together
DEVO – Q: Are We Not Men, We Are Devo
RONNIE WOOD – Ronnie Wood Anthology, The Essential Crossexion
http://backandon.wordpress.com

Hannibal said…
Vitalij Kuprij – Forward and Beyond 2004
http://hannibalsite.blogspot.com

O Melonauta said…
Egschiglen – Zazal
http://sonsglobais.blogspot.com
O Melonauta

Spinbanks said…
Kid Loco
Thievery Corporation, “Until The Morning” (Kid Loco’s Dr. Feelgood Mix) Babylon Rewound, 2003
http://triphop-blog.com

jeffen said…
Next-t0 final set of mod-punk-power-pop-new-wave ravers
V.A. Powerpearls (1979-1982) Volume Nine
* Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Hey (Hot Press & The Silent Knights, Ireland, 1979, from 1.7″)
* Leave Me Alone (Wasteland, UK, 1980, from 2.7″)
* Another Girl, Another Planet (Only Ones, UK, from 2.7″)
* Goodbye Suicide (Hollywood Killers, UK, 1978, from 2.7″)
* Girl Of My Dreams (Bram Tchaikovsky, UK, 1979)
* Kapungin Tytto (Lola Ego, Finland, 1980, from only 7″)
* Die Trying (New Math, USA, 1979, from 1.7″)
* Personality Changes (Living Daylights, UK, 1979, from only 7″)
* Starry Eyes (Records, UK, 1979, from 1.7″)
* Lunatics, Losers & Liars (Chris Moffa & The Competition, USA, 1981, from only 7″)
* Dilyn Y Sebon (Ail Symudiad, UK, 1982, from 5th or 6th 7″)
* Estas Consado? (Sprays, Spain, 1982, from only 7″)
* Plain Jane (New Hearts, UK, 1978, from 2.7″)
* In My Mind (G Squad, 1981, from only 7″)
* Now (Plimsouls, USA, 1981, from 2.7″)
* Swarje (Tant Brun, Sweden, 1981, from only 7″)
* Saturday Night Fever (Kidda Band, UK, 1979, from 2.7″)
* I’ll Be True (Heartbeats, UK, 1981, from 2.7″)
http://musicruinedmylife.blogspot.com

friday afternoon updates

Ishkabibliophile said…
A Tim Easton mixtape
Just Like Home
Baltimore
Burgundy Red
Get Some Lonesome
Jackie
Amor Azul
Hummingbird
Before The Revolution
Stormy
I Wish You Well
Bitters Past
All the Pretty Girls Leave Town
Troublesome Kind
I Would Have Married You
True Ways
http://rightsideofagoodthing.blogspot.com

Gumshoe said…
GOOD LORD, it’s a Moon Glyph round-up!
FREE MP3s from:
– Velvet Davenport
– Olives
– PC Worship
– Dune Of Heroin
– Dante & The Lobster
– Leisure Birds
LISTEN. Learn.
http://gumshoegrove.com

Record Fiend said…
Sonny Scott – 1933 (complete recorded works of obscure early 1930s blues guitarist from Alabama)
Bill Doggett – Honky Tonk Organ (1967 LP with updated version of “Honky Tonk” plus eight more mellow organ-guitar-drums-sax pieces)
http://record-fiend.blogspot.com
Thanks, Fuzzy.

Sir Charlie Palmer said…
Sweet Oblivion – The Screaming Trees
Goodnight – William Fitzsimmons
http://sircharliepalmer.blogspot.com

jazzlover said…
The Lounge Lizards – The Lounge Lizards (1981)
http://jazzarchives.blogspot.com

Buns O’Plenty said…
The Doobie Brothers – Takin’ It To The Streets (1976)
http://keep-on-growing.blogspot.com

Salary Cap Radio

In most major league sports, team owners have to work under the constraints of some kind of salary cap.

The term, I believe, is “capology”.

The motives on the part of the team owners are to keep salaries down and in essence prevent future George Steinbrenners from buying a championship while smaller market teams could not compete.

Of course the players reluctantly agreed to salary caps during labor negotiations but some agents have found ways to work around it.

What a perfect idea for the consolidated radio industry – I’m talking about you Clear Channel and Cumulus and Citadel.

In the case of these owners, there is no cap – just an ever shrinking budget which forces their minions to fire key talent and remove assets that wind up actually hurting their stations.

So how about a salary cap for radio – in particular these three companies – one of whom voluntarily filed for bankruptcy, another facing $18 billion in debt it can’t repay in two years and the third singing “It’s a Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood” while its debt piles up.

Are you with me?

Open minded?

Here is salary cap radio. I’m counting on you to weigh in a Facebook discussion to hone this thing. Dickey, Suleman and Hogan are listening.

1. Each market gets an annual budget for its local properties and like sports teams that get their cap limit from the league, the markets get it from their home office. Let’s say, $30 million for a cluster of stations in Anytown, USA.

2. The market manager (if he or she hasn’t already been eliminated at which point corporate divvy’s up the money) sees to it that the manager running each station gets to spend the allotted budget.

3. There has to be a manager for each station. Sorry, if you won’t do this, I’ll take my marbles and quit. Come on! You have to have a local manager. Just deal with it.

4. The manager gets to decide on how he or she wants to spend the money. That means if she wants to hire a morning team, she can do it. If she needs to run cheap on all-nights, then that is her decision. She has to work within the salary cap. (By the way, her salary is not in the salary cap – just as it is not in the salary cap of sports teams). Do you think Farid likes this yet?

5. Say a station manager wants to hire Dave & Geri for five years (as they should have done in Grand Rapids where they remain very popular), the structure of the contract can allow for the station to take a bigger cap “hit” in the early years of the contract and less in the later years. That’s why you need an on-the-scene manager – to know whether the station will be successful enough to grow the salary cap in ensuing years. In the case of Dave & Geri, local management let them get away and now their audience is following them on their podcast. Can any station afford that kind of listener defection?

6. You need a minor league just as sports teams have. Sometimes you are paying so much for key talent that you have to bring up a minor leaguer who has great potential for a look-see. Maybe you keep them for a while or send them back to another station. When I was a PD in Philly, I always had minor league stations from which to siphon talent – in upstate Pennsylvania. And they often became future big market stars at low prices (at first).

7. Sorry, your sales professionals and other employees including clerical (if any) must also be considered in your capology strategy. Don’t forget sales, marketing and promotion. And, engineering when you divide the money up.

8. The difference between this and traditional budgeting is that budgeting involves cutting back whereas capology requires a deft hand at weighing which talents should get the most money to bring the best results.

9. Mobile, online and social networking must also be a cap expense. Some managers really do get the importance of online revenue growth and they are best suited to determine how fast and how much should be spent on new media. By keeping the decisions local, the money can be invested more wisely. If I’m running a local station, I’m looking to spend at least 25% of my budget on the future – or as I also call it – new media. The first year I may not have my morning talent signed to a ten-year contract yet but I can get those expenses under control.

If stations do well with their ratings and ad sales, then they get rewarded with a higher cap next year – the better to invest and shore up the local franchise.

Alright, maybe I’m no John Hogan but will you at least give this salary cap idea a try?

For those of you who would prefer to get Jerry’s daily posts by email for FREE, please click here. Then look for a verifying email from FeedBurner to start service.

Radio Tactics – Hot or Not

By Jerry Del Colliano

You would be surprised (or maybe not) to see the emails I get from people in the radio industry confirming management tactics that defy the imagination.

At the same time, on occasion, a broadcaster or two connects with their local market to distinguish themselves in an era of poor management.

It’s all available to us for learning purposes.

Take what a Cumulus employee said about a new company policy that tightens the noose around the necks of local salespeople.

Cumulus Rate Alert System

Last week Cumulus implemented a new rate integrity system from its bunker in Atlanta.

Keep in mind that Cumulus has the philosophy that all local sales should be driven by national “brains”. Cumulus uses Skype cameras at sales meetings and account execs are required to follow the book exactly as the mothership writes it.

Now, apparently, Cumulus has established “floor rates” set for all markets and when an order goes into the main system back in Atlanta with rates that are below the “floor” level, it sets off a literal “Big Brother” email alert to none other than the Dickey Brothers, Jonathan Pinch and Gary Pizzati.

One reader said:

“According to my sources, 2000 alert emails were generated the first day alone!

Keep in mind that none of the Dickey Brothers have had to rely on local selling to make their living. They were, after all, born into the right family.

In a month that saw Citadel cut sales commissions by 50% at one of their clusters, do strategies that seem to demoralize account executives accomplish their mission?

Hot or not?

Larry Wilson’s Local Initiative

His Alpha Broadcasting Portland stations did a “Paint the Town Clean” promotion recently that would warm the hearts of radio enthusiasts who think radio needs to get down and local real quick.

Personalities and staffers worked with the city to paint over graffiti. That public service initiative isn’t new to radio, but it is sure new to radio in the middle of consolidation. The stations teamed with a paint company (I wouldn’t be surprised to find out it was a sponsor) and they got listeners involved.

Now I know this promotion didn’t come from central command and you can’t make listeners think that they might win something that is simultaneously being offered to many other stations, but is this promotion in this day and age hot?

Guess the Missing HD Radio Station

Okay, it wasn’t a promotion in Hartford but it really happened.

Here’s a reader account:

“It’s not just CC that is downgrading engineering.

“I bought a new HD clock radio for my wife because the CBS 50K AM in Hartford doesn’t come in well where I am due to poor ground conductivity and interference. They stream the AM signal on their FM HD2. Last week, my wife said the radio didn’t go on. I checked it and no audio. I checked everything, then tuned up to HD3 and it worked fine. HD1 also worked fine. Then I realized that there was simply no audio on HD2.

“Yesterday, about a week later, I checked again and still no audio. I called the station, was connected with someone in engineering, who first said he wasn’t the engineer for that station, but asked why I was calling. I told him, and he walked over and checked, and said “Oh Yeah, there isn’t any audio”. Last night when I checked, the signal was back on HD2”.

It’s one thing if listeners don’t notice HD radio. They never really took to it anyway but it’s amazing — no feed for a week and no one at the station noticed.

People Meter Panic

Have you seen that Cumulus is now imitating another “C” broadcaster – this time, not Citadel or Clear Channel, but CBS.

CBS was first to build People Meter hit radio stations that attract huge cume in Los Angeles, New York and Detroit. Keep in mind People Meter numbers do not necessarily reflect listening but it’s the only ratings game radio broadcasters have these days.

While Myrtle Beach is not exactly New York in size, Cumulus is using its new format “I” (The “I’ must stand for Imitation of CBS). The “I” format is also on Cumulus stations in Dallas, Nashville, Indianapolis and Pensacola. You get the idea. The recent format changes are on Cumulus stations that are not performing well so imitating CBS means nothing to lose.

Hit music.

Few if any jocks.

Even “Commercial Free Mondays” like CBS used to do it and “10 Songs in a Row Every Hour”.

Radio operators are figuring out how to place nice with the People Meter. CBS got out in front. But “I” radio is a direct ripoff.

Not hot and not even cool.

For those of you who would prefer to get Jerry’s daily posts by email for FREE, please click here. Then look for a verifying email from FeedBurner to start service.