# Abe, Doug, Bob, Dave, Ben, Ted and Jack have invaded my radio. Who are these fools? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-doug-bob-dave-ben-ted-and-jack-have-invaded-my-radio-who-are-these-fools/309203 "2005-06-21T15:14:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-doug-bob-dave-ben-ted-and-jack-have-invaded-my-radio-who-are-these-fools/309203/21 "2005-06-22T21:03:32Z")
We have the Arch in St Louis. It replaced the Smooth Jazz station, so no great loss there. The play list is certainly eclectic, I listen to it occasionally. One good thing about The Arch is that they have lit a small fire under the Classic Hits station. K-Hits plays _whatever YOU want to hear_, and has expanded its play list a little. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-doug-bob-dave-ben-ted-and-jack-have-invaded-my-radio-who-are-these-fools/309203/22 "2005-06-27T16:52:17Z")
Here in Las Vegas, one of our two “lite rock” stations just became Jack-FM. I work in a hospital and have a radio at my desk, so I decided, WTF, let me see what this is all about. Surprisingly, I kinda got a kick out of it! In two days, 12 hours each day, I didn’t hear the same song twice. As far as radio goes, that’s a plus in my book.In just one 2-hour stretch, I heard: [ul] [li]“Twist and Shout”[/li][li]“Kiss Me”(Sixpence None the Richer)[/li][li]“Paradise City”[/li][li]“I was Made for Loving You”(KISS)[/li][li]“Go All the Way”(Raspberries)[/li][li]“Fight for Your Right to Party”[/li][/ul] While I agree that, at home or in my car, I’ll stick with my CD’s and my XM, at work, I think I may stick with this for a while. I don’t know how long it’ll take for the novelty to wear off, but, for now, I think it’s kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-doug-bob-dave-ben-ted-and-jack-have-invaded-my-radio-who-are-these-fools/309203/23 "2005-06-27T17:11:07Z")
I’m 43 years old. I think this format was created to appeal to my generation. I drove from Ohio to Missouri last week and enjoyed the Arch out of St. Louis very much. There has been a lot of good music produced in the past 30 years and I enjoy hearing the variety. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-doug-bob-dave-ben-ted-and-jack-have-invaded-my-radio-who-are-these-fools/309203/24 "2005-06-27T20:15:03Z")
Vancouver has a “we play what we want” Jack station. Forgive me for thinking that it’s more like a “we play songs selected from a list of market friendly tracks given to us by our corporate overlords” station. Jack-asses IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-doug-bob-dave-ben-ted-and-jack-have-invaded-my-radio-who-are-these-fools/309203/25 "2005-06-28T00:04:49Z")
> [@vl\_mungo](#): > > Vancouver has a “we play what we want” Jack station. Forgive me for thinking that it’s more like a “we play songs selected from a list of market friendly tracks given to us by our corporate overlords” station. > > Jack-asses IMHO. No argument here. However, all radio is run by the so-called “corporate overlords” these days, and as long as radio is a money-making business, that will never change. But if that list of “market-friendly tracks” numbers 2000 rather than the 300-500 we’re used to, it may not be an ideal situation, but it’s a damn sight better than the status quo. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-doug-bob-dave-ben-ted-and-jack-have-invaded-my-radio-who-are-these-fools/309203/26 "2005-06-29T04:42:42Z")
Austin now has Bob-FM (103.5). It replaced an oldies station, which replaced an a/c station, which replaced a suburban, community station out of San Marcos (I’m revelaing my age, now. How many old KCSW fans out there?) I kind of like Bob-FM. I do, however, get tired of the endless promos - “Bob has thousands of records. He likes to play them all.” Duh. Shut up and play something. The thing that radio gives me is a sense of sharing something with the community. Now, hear me out… What I mean is that I get a kick out of knowing that thousands of other people are listening to the same song as me. Listening to a CD, iPod, tape, whatever, is a solitary experience. Radio is communal. I miss the DJ’s out there. I don’t miss the inane banter or the piped in DJ who lives in some far-off land. I mean, just someone who comes on the radio and lets me know that there is someone else alive out there. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-doug-bob-dave-ben-ted-and-jack-have-invaded-my-radio-who-are-these-fools/309203/27 "2005-06-29T05:33:46Z")
I’ve been comparing my local college station, KNMC 90.1, to the Jack-FM concept ever since I found out about the idea on the SDMB. (The only way we’ll get one here is if the local ClearChannel drone goes from Best Hits/Best Variety Top 40 to the Jack bull.) Here’s what I’ve come up with: [ul] [li] **Varied playlist** : In spades, baby! Right now, it’s playing “She’s My Best Friend” by the Velvet Underground (Here’s to Mullberry Jane, She made jam when she came/Somebody cut off her feet, Now jelly rolls in the street :D), but they also play electronica (trance and techno, I think) and hip hop and even the occasional Top 40 and classical.[/li][li] **Lack of DJs** : Not quite, but it can effectively be that way for days at a time during the summer. I have no idea how large the playlist is when the station is on autopilot, but it’s varied enough I don’t usually get bored of the station before I have to stop listening for some other reason.[/li][li] **Ads** : Well, it does run PSAs. It has run the same damn PSAs for a good long while now, including an annoying Christmas Seals ad. Yeah, even in late June.[/li][li] **Smarmy pseudo-local color commentary** : No! Hell, no! I believe you get your ass kicked playing shit like that![/li][li] **Controlled from afar by focus-groupied suits worried about the FCC** : Nope. It’s barely controlled by the average DJ in the booth, on the few times one is actually in. Muting the feed seven seconds _before_ or _after_ the bad word isn’t quite what the station manager had in mind. (BTW, they’re constantly looking for DJs. I wonder how they’d respond to a half-hour of Elvis Costello, Joy Division, and Minor Threat, with Elvis Presley and The Residents thrown in for color. ;))[/li][/ul]So, same as it ever was? Look where my hand was! Sorry, they’re playing Talking Heads now. Here comes the twister… ONCE IN A LIFETIME! One last note about DJs: The local independent record store owner has twigged to the station’s ad potential in a big way, to the point of playing as-yet-unreleased CDs on air when he does his little show. Is it blatantly obvious to anyone with an IQ higher than the stations frequency in MHz? Yep. Is it a good chance to hear new songs before they’re done to death? Hell, yeah. College radio: Not _just_ feminist poetry and unskilled DJs. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abe-doug-bob-dave-ben-ted-and-jack-have-invaded-my-radio-who-are-these-fools/309203.md?page=1)