We have a new station here in NE South Carolina, BOB FM. Their tag-line is “We play anything”. I’ve heard songs from the 50’s to recently released. Last week I was listening to The Clash’s “Rock the Casbah”, which then segued into “The One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater”, by Sheb Wooley. Play anything, indeed.
Has anyone out there heard a pairing more diverse than that ?
More diverse, no. We got a BOB up here too, but I don’t listen to it, so I’'m sure it shows up over and over again with that type of anti-format.
BUT I was listening to an Internet 80s station the other day. They p[layed The Kinks “Come Dancing” followed immediately by Pretenders “Stop Your Sobbing.” Not diverse, but closely connected.
Sounds a little like one of the stations here, Radio K. They’ll play all kinds of stuff. I can’t think of any particularly interesting back to back examples except when they once played a nice jazz song and then a Minor Threat song.
Hmmph. Youngsters. Obviously none of you remember the days of Top 40 AM radio when stations would regularly put together sets with artists like Petula Clark, The Who and the Statler Brothers.
Now turn that noise down!
I was the overnight guy on a small FM station back in the early 80s. If I wanted to know if anybody was listening, I’d do a weird pairing, and wait for the phone to light up. Biggest response I ever got was for The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly” immediately followed by John Denver’s “Sunshine on my Shoulders.”
In Philadelphia, the BOB format was re-named BEN-FM, as a localization effort (referencing Ben Franklin).
Top this: In the late ‘90s, I heard an Eastern Washington radio station play Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” and Britney Spears’ “Baby Hit Me One More Time” back to back.
Then again, if you’ve ever heard a college-run indie rock station, those juxtapositions aren’t too weird. KUPS (90.1 Tacoma) will often do stuff like segue from Tony Bennet or Miles Davis to thrash metal in the summertime, when it’s automated.
I’ve been involved with our community radio station since it’s inception a year and a half ago. We are mostly automated, with a few people ( including myself) doing live shows throughout the week. So far, our Library is just over 14,000 songs.
I really enjoy the fact that I know there can’t be many (if any) stations playing some of the stuff we do. We don’t have a format, as such. Lately we have been trying to have the mornings start with quieter music, get a little more lively between noon and four, and rock & blues in the evening. As of two weeks ago, I became the “program director”. I’m having such a blast. Never thought I’d be involved in radio. 