I rarely listen to radio in the morning any more just because of all the wacky “morning zoo crews” or whatever the name is these days. There’s one in B’ham, Tuttle & Klein, who personify this type for me. Totally interchangable personalities, canned laughter for every asinine comment, constant references to the news reader’s breasts, and they average about three songs an hour.
I’m embarassed how many people I know IRL think Rick & Bubba are the funniest thing in the world. Maybe I’m a snob, but they remind me everytime I hear them even for a second why I want to leave the South.
I watch Imus on MSNBC, because of the guests, news commentaries, and for his tirades, snobbery, and grouchiness. I enjoy their sniping at each other and others on the station. True, Charles McCord is a yes-man, which is part of the joke. Imus tries to give Charles and Diedre (Don’s wife) credit for being these great thinkers; Charles is uneven since he writes many of the taped comedy skits (very hit or miss) and Diedre comes off as an intolerant stuck up, health-nut shrew with no sense of humor (at least Don has one). But the worst is are the Rob Bartlett song parodies. Rob’s still singing most tunes in a Clinton voice (Can’t do a good Dubya voice, Rob?), and making pathetic attempts to be current by parodying current rap songs, that quite often most of the audience has never heard before.
At least Bernard, Lou, and Imus himself rip into Imus for trying to stay current. And he will cut off a skit when hearing it for the first time if he thinks it’s bad enough. But Don Imus interviewing Suge Knight from prison, that had it’s moments, but for all the wrong reasons.
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What actually got me into hip hop/rap was not my actually liking the music, it was that the rap station where I used to live actually had DJs in the morning that would play music. They’d talk to each other, sure, but they’d play music, sometimes funny bits from Showtime at the Apollo, provide traffic information, but most importantly, they talked at a human volume. They weren’t shrieking at callers, making noises, etc. Over time, I started liking rap music (they played mostly RnB in the morning) just because I listened to it so much.
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YES! Exactly! I was just about to say that (but not as well). Before they were syndicated, BobbinheadSheri were actually funny! Same for JohnBoyWalton&Billy. They made jokes about local people and places that the listeners could actually relate to. Now they’re freeze-dried national call-in crap.
My favorite local morning show was Kenny & Wilson on WEND. They had a segment called “10 After Laughter” where they would play a short clip from a stand-up show at :10 each hour. I used to tape those. [tangent] The best one was George Carlin talking about how the radio is always louder when you get back into your car after running an errand. [/tangent] But, alas, one of them was promoted and the other went to the classic rock station and we’ve been stuck with drivel ever since. The latest offender: Bobbinhead Tom.
I can’t stand morning radio either. I quit waking up to my radio because of the idiot DJs. The last straw was when I woke up one morning to hear them say this:
“So there’s this website that has Saddam Hussein’s e-mail address!”
“No way!”
“It’s true! I saw it on a website!”
Of course! If it’s on a website, it’s gotta be true!
Now, if I had previous proof that they were smart, I wouldn’t dismiss their story so easily. But they’re pretty stupid. Once they said, “If your kids loved James Van DerBeek in Varsity Blues they’ll love Rules of Attraction”. I’m thinking, “Did you even see the movie you’re advertising? I don’t think kids should go to that movie”.
There is a local station here that had an entire 20 min. of discussion between three DJs on how farts smell and how funny they are. I turned it off after about 2, but someone I know listened to the whole thing.