August 7
Times sure have changed when it comes to music!
I have several radio stations pre-programmed on my car stereo. I used to have Sirius Satellite Radio but when my subscription ran out last year, I opted not to renew. So a reprogramming of the car radio was in order.
In the course of the past few years, some major transformations have taken place. To give you some idea from where I speak, let me hurl you back to 1985 when I worked my first job as a radio disc jockey!!!
In 1985:
- The major record labels would send out LPs and 45s to get them played on the air. (If you need an explanation on what LPs or 45s are, click on this link to find out more: History of LPs & 45s
- The radio stations would either play the records directly from the turntable in the studio onto the air -or- they would transfer the music to Fidelipacs (commonly referred to as “carts”). These were much more reliable since they couldn’t skip or scratch (although they did get chewed up in the playback machines, from time to time).
- The disc jockey was there primarily to run the station as it broadcasted on the air (some larger stations could afford to supply the DJs with an Engineeer or Producer, who took care of the technical aspects of the broadcast, leaving the DJ to concentrate on the production value and content of the show.). The DJ was required to sequence music, advertisements, news, traffic and weather reports, and above all else, make the required Station Identifier at the top of each hour, per FCC requirements.
- Some prerecorded shows were produced on LPs and show segments were separated by 2-3 minutes of “silence.” Each program was accompanied by a production sheet which informed the Engineer or Producer of the exact “out-cues” for Station Identification, advertisements and other information that could be inserted in-between show segments. Such shows as “American Top 40 with Casey Kasem” were produced this way on a weekly basis.
- Advertising was the responsibility of the Sales Staff at the station and airtime was sold locally. Rarely, national advertisers purchased advertisement packages with the station or the conglomerate (like WestwoodOne or Clear Channel Communications) would strike deals with advertisers to buy airtime nationally.
The point of all this is because last night, as I was driving around town, I was feeling a bit restless and wasn’t finding the right music that fit my mood. My 1st bank of pre-set stations include an Oldies Station (60s & 70s Hits), two Top-40 Stations, a News & Talk Station, an Adult Contemporary Station and a Smooth Jazz Station.
As I drove about, the Adult Contemporary station went to commercial, and as they out-cued, the jingle for the station rang out, “Today’s One-Oh-Six-Point-Five!” Nothing really unusual about that…except when I flipped to my Oldies Station, they were just going to commercial break and Deja Vu set in, “Oldies Ninety-Four-Point-One!” in the EXACT same tune as the first! I then switch it up to the other Top-40 Station, which also was just going to commercial break: “Zee-Ninety-Seven-Point-One!” (same jingle!)
It occurred to me that as I had listened to these stations over the past couple of years, the DJs never mention news of the local area, that the extent of their “on-air” banter was limited to national news, celebrity gossip or new music information like concert tours, but they always referred to their website for further details, which I never visited.
As it turns out, all these stations are owned by Clear Channel Communications under the banner of “I-Heart-Radio” and the programming is almost completely automated, much like programming your iPod. No longer are the days of ‘licorice pizza’, local production studios, or even DJ booths. Everything is now beamed down to small, conglomerated engineering offices which transmit the signals locally over the airwaves here, which I will assume they are required to do by law in order for the “Emergency Broadcast System” locally to remain intact.
As I came to this realization, I understood that I may never have the opportunity to be-bop on the air again…but oh what fond memories I have of it!
