RADIO HANNIBAL

KEXP moves to new digs

One of my favorite radio stations to listen to on the internet, since I'm not in Seattle, is KEXP.  It's arguably the best indie rock station in the states if not the world.  The only one that really comes close is BBC 6 Music. 

Yesterday the station moved to new studios in the Seattle Center, a place originally created for the World's Fair of 1962 which has been re-purposed as a park and arts/entertainment complex.  The perfect place for the innovative station with a loyal fan base. 

The listeners to KEXP have helped raise nearly $15 million for the new studio which is quadruples the size of the old one.  That means a much more room for their excellent one-off live in-studio performances by a wide range of artists who come through the northwest city. 

Here's the story from The Seattle Times, KEXP christens sleek new studio at Seattle Center.

Actually, I've never been to Seattle but, along with the Pike Place Market, I'll be checking out the KEXP studios when I do get there.  In the meantime, I'll be tuning in to hear the DJs gush about their new home. 

Why aren't you listening to streaming radio?

Wake up.  Commercial radio is crap across the dial with the rare exception.  Streaming radio allows you to find those rare exceptions along with every other type of format you could imagine.

I've been compiling a list of my favorite streaming radio stations over on my AV Adviser blog.  Give them a listen and then add your favorites to your TuneIn app. 

Here's the complete list.

192 Radio - Radio Caroline, a Dutch station that broadcast from a boat in the early 00s just like the pirate stations that catered to England in the 60s.  And just like those 60s stations it's a fantastic oldies format with many songs that only charted in Europe. 

70s Disco Nights - Another online only station that plays, yes, 70s disco music.  It originates out of Monterrey, Mexico.

91.3 Da Pa'ina - KQMQ, the first of a few Hawaiian reggae stations.  Did you know reggae was huge there?  This one's from Honolulu. 

AM 1710 Antioch - Old-time radio programs like Jack Benny, The Campbell Playhouse, Dragnet and plenty of others. 

AM 580 - Broadcasting from Detroit this station channels CKLW, which means glorious oldies.

Ancient FM - Literally very old music from medieval and renaissance days. 

BBC Radio 1 - Now a string of BBC stations, some of the best radio in the world.  Partly because the UK taxes citizens for TV and radio.  This is the country's top 40 station.

BBC Radio 2 - The most popular station in the UK.  A mix of adult contemporary, adult album rock, oldies, etc.  Some legendary presenters (That's what they call DJs) and great programming. 

BBC Radio 3 - One of the great classical stations in the world. 

BBC Radio 4 - The unique spoken word station with news, talk and radio theater, as if it were the 1930s. 

BBC 6 Music - The alternative/indie rock station where Russell Brand once DJ'd.  Again, great presenters and the prime minister's wife is a regular listener.

Cambridge 105 - A community radio station in Cambridge, United Kingdom focused on music.  Like many community stations it's wonderfully eclectic. 

Cherie FM - A French station that plays love songs. 

The Coast - A terrestrial station out of Auckland, New Zealand playing adult contemporary music focused on oldies.  I love listening to this station in the winter when it's summer there.  It helps me fantasize about being someplace warm.  And it's cool listening to the next morning's drive time in the afternoon. 

ESPN 850 - The first Cleveland station on the list.  Sports talk.  Mostly for The Really Big Show with Tony Rizzo.  They broadcast Browns games but like all pro sports they're blocked online.  For that I use my SiriusXM subscription. 

FIP - A Parisian station that plays a fantastic and eclectic mix of music I'd simply describe as cool.  If you own a hip store this would be the perfect background music.

France International - Yes, I listen to numerous French stations in a futile effort to sharpen my French language skills.  Still, I try.  Here's the French national public news and talk station.

France Musique - Yes, another French station.  This is the national public classical station.

Irish Pub Radio - It's just what it claims to be. 

Island 98.5 - Another Hawaiian reggae station.  This one's out of Honolulu.

KCOU - A great example of college radio from the University of Missouri

KCRW - Southern California's public radio station and one of the best in the country with a fantastic array of original programming. 

KEXP - One of the best independent radio stations in the world.  Kind of the perfect station. 

KHEI - And here we have an Hawaiian reggae station broadcasting from Maui.

KPIG - This is the only station on the list behind a paywall.  It'll cost you $5 a month to listen to the best Americana radio station.  The terrestrial station is located on the Monterey coast of California and was the first station to stream on the internet. 

KUT - The University of Texas's station is a perfect fit for Austin. 

KUVO - Colorado's community jazz station.

Laid Back Radio - Covering the history of urban music from soul to funk to jazz and hip hop, all with a smooth vibe.  

Moscow FM - A rock station in Moscow for those that speak English.  I imagine this a place where ex-pats tune in to feel at home. 

NRK P2 - One of Norway's public stations with a mix of music and talk.  I have no idea what they're saying but it feels like a Scandinavian holiday.

Oui FM - This is their main station, a generous mix of rock.

Oui FM Alternatif - The translation is easy.  This is their alternative station.

Oui FM Blues'n'Rock - It's classic rock and classic blues baby.

Oui FM Classic Rock - Straight up classic rock.

Oui FM Inde - They even have an indie rock station.

oWOW - Broadcasting right here in Cleveland at some very cool digs at the 78th St. Studios.  Started by John Gorman, the program director of WMMS, when the Buzzard ruled. 

P2 Klassiskt - A classical station serving Stockholm, Sweden

Platform Channel (My Opus Radio) - One of a group of internet radio stations out of India.  It sounds like popular western music but things you've never heard. 

Q103 - Another Maui reggae station.  I have a number of these because in the depths of winter it's a nice getaway. 

Radio Beat 98 - Traditional Brazilian music from Brazil of course.

Radio MPB - A Brazilian rock station and most of it is Brazilian. 

Radio Zero - A rock station from Santiago, Chile.  This sounds more American than Chilean. 

Retro Soul Radio - Emanating from London this station's a groove.

RTE Radio 1 - Ireland's national radio station.

Soma Radio - My favorites are Boot Liquor, Digitails, Drone Zone, Groove Salad, Illinois Street Lounge, Lush, Mission Control, Pop Tron, Space Station Soma, Subrubs of Goa, and The Trip.  They range from Indian ragas to bachelor pad to space music with NASA audio mixed in.

The Departure Lounge - This could be my favorite internet only radio station.  Soundtrack for the jet set.  It's a swinging good time.  Another one perfect for a hip bar or store. 

The Sound 99.1 - Sometimes I like stations from places I've vacationed.  It triggers memories.  I spent a number of summers on the Outer Banks and this is their alternative rock station. 

Triple j - Australia's premier indie rock station. 

TWIT - This Week In Tech radio network started by Leo LaPorte.  I've been listening since the early days of this pioneering podcast network.  If you're into tech you should be listening. 

Venice Classical Radio - Classical radio from Venice, Italy.  You're welcome.

WCLV - Cleveland's classical radio station. 

WCPE - I do enjoy my classical music and this unexpectedly great station is out of Raleigh, North Carolina. 

WCPN - Cleveland's public radio station.  Almost exclusively talk and news. 

WFMU - A legendary community station out of New Jersey.  A highly eclectic range of fantastic shows. 

WFUV - An indie rock format from the campus of Fordham University in New York City.

WLNG - This station serves eastern Long Island.  It's a real throwback from the oldies format to the local radio feel of yesteryear.  

WNYC - New York City's public radio station.   

Woofer Radio - Another terrific urban mix of soul and funk.

WQXR - New York City's classical radio station. 

WRUV - Another great community station with a variety of shows serving Burlington, Vermont.

WWOZ - New Orleans public radio station sounds just as it should, filled with jazz and blues and DJ'd by some colorful characters.  Listening to them over Blues and Jazz heritage Festival and Mardi Gras is particularly awesome. 

WXPN - The University of Pennsylvania's radio station, like WFUV, is a adult album alternative mix of music.  It's also the home to the long running World Cafe.

Compiling a list of my favorite streaming radio stations

Over at my other blog, AV Adviser, I'm compiling my list of favorite streaming radio stations.  Some are terrestrial, some are only available online.  All of them are great. 

Starting the day with a music quiz radio show

I awaken every morning to the sound of soothing music triggered by Sonos.  It's one of the great features of the whole house audio system.  Then I open up the Sonos app and listen to a half hour of Morning Edition on WNYC while reading the New York Times on my iPad.  But at 5:30 I switch to BBC Radio 2 to play Pop Master. 

The long running radio game show hosted by Ken Bruce airs weekdays at 11:30am  in the U.K.  It's a great way to get my mind in gear and being a music freak I enjoy the challenge.

Actually I'm stumped quite a bit on the show.  Mostly because many of the questions have to do with music that doesn't make a dent here in the United States.  Still, I do fairly well, often times better than the call-in contestants. 

You can actually play an online version of the game on the BBC website I linked to up top. 

Revisiting chart countdowns is a real joy

One of my favorite types of radio shows are the weekly chart countdowns.  They exist today with American Top 40, hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Country Countdown USA with Bob Kingsley.  I keep abreast of these shows since I have to be in tune for my DJ business. 

My favorites, though, are the ones from the past.  I have great interest in knowing what the top 40 chart looked and sounded like at in any certain year at this point in time.  What was the number one song on June 1st in 1966?  Well, it happened to be Percy Sledge's "When A Man Loves A Woman". 

Of course there's Casey Kasem's American Top 40, The 70s and The 80s.  The 70s version airs weekly on WMJI here in Cleveland as well as on SiriusXM 70s on 7 channel.  It's more difficult to find The 80s syndicated program but a search of TuneIn can lead you to a station that carries it. 

Then there's Lou Simon's 60s Satellite Survey on SiriusXM's 60s on 6 channel.  Simon's show, in which he picks out a different weekly chart from the decade to coincide with the current week, is chalk full of great trivia and some rarities.  His features like playing a song from the top 100 of the week that never got into the 40 are terrific. 

Finally there's Pick Of The Pops on BBC Radio 2, these days hosted by Tony Blackburn, who hosted the popular Top Of The Pops show back in the day.  This Saturday show includes a top 20 countdown of two charts that can cover any decade from the 50s to the 00s. 

Call me a student of the charts but I find it endlessly fascinating as I believe it helps give context to history, not only my own personal history but the music that was in the air during any given event. 

Norway to shut down the FM radio band

In a move that clearly marks a change in the meaning of the term radio, the country of Norway has declared that it will shut down the FM radio band in January, 2017. Here's the story form the BBC, FM radio switch-off looms in Norway.

Are you still listening to the "radio" if it's on the internet?  Does this signal the inevitable end of the FM band worldwide?  Probably not.  Norway and many countries in Europe have been gradually moving stations to a digital band, something that hasn't happened here in the United States.  It's akin to the move of TV stations from analog to digital when the U.S. shut down the UHF and VHF bands about 10 years ago. 

Still, the National Association of Broadcasters here in America must have raised a concerned eye when Norway announced the decision.  With more and more people "tuning in" to "radio" via the internet and satellite one wonders if the audience on the FM band, and AM for that matter, will decrease so significantly that such a move would make sense here?  Could those bands be better used in another capacity?

I find the prospect unlikely.  At least not in the foreseeable future.  But turning off the FM band in Norway surely does show how different "radio" is becoming. 

oWOW Radio emerges as salvation to Cleveland radio and rock and roll

Last Thursday I tuned into oWOW Radio, Cleveland for the first time.  They were running a test stream of music.  

I knew of John Gorman's quest to start a new radio station, this time on the internet and not the airwaves.  In the 70s he created the most adventurous radio station in the country with WMMS, focusing on a more urban sound as opposed to the southern boogie that was the backbone of much AOR at the time.  It worked, and the Buzzard became legend.  

So I was hoping for something adventurous for the 21st century and Cleveland's renaissance but instead what I heard was a tired, dated and boring playlist.  I was very disheartened.  

Fastforward to this morning when oWOW went live with Ravenna Miceli behind the mic.  Within an hour I was convinced otherwise.  Here was a well-polished, professional sounding Cleveland station playing everything from Fleetwood Mac to alt-J to Ryan Adams to vintage Bowie.  

We will look back upon last Friday as an important day in the history of Cleveland radio and rock and roll.  It is our rebirth as home to a radio station that we can rally around, be proud of, and be a part of.  Gorman gets it.  Radio needs to be a visceral, personal relationship with the listener.  

Expect oWOW to grow in influence both locally and nationally.  It will become a bellwether, leading to the future of radio. Popular internet radio that can be heard worldwide yet be totally committed to the local community.  

It appears that oWOW is not going to pay lip-service to local music either.  They're incorporating it into the general playlist.  Just as WMMS did back in its day.  Isn't it something? The future is very retro when it comes to radio.  

Can an internet radio station have a definable impact on a city, acting as a beacon to people looking for a cool place to live and keeping its youth here because they feel a part of something?  I say yes.  And that is the legacy that oWOW will pursue.  

 

Gorman looks for home run with new Cleveland-centric internet radio station

John Gorman took radio station WMMS to unprecedented heights  back in the 70s and 80s.  He started his quest for the top when FM radio was new.  All ears were on the AM dial and little attention was paid to the FM band. 

It's not unlike the landscape today where internet radio is still in it's nascent stage.  There's so much room for listener growth and, like FM, once there's a player built into cars, enabling everyone to access it easily, the numbers will rise quickly. 

Here's an in-depth look at Gorman's new venture into the medium of radio from Fresh Water Cleveland, o-wow: former wmms program director set to launch internet radio station. 

I love the location of the studios in the 78th St. Studios.  Now the name of the building has a double meaning.  I totally agree with their emphasis on being community focused.  It's been lost in radio since the conglomerates took over in the late 90s.  As for the music being played, not so much.  But I'll hold out judgement until they hone things.  

You can listen yourself as they run a test stream before the official launch tomorrow. 

 

Is BBC Radio 2 the best station on the planet?

I'm on a BBC Radio 2 kick again. Not as hip as Radio 1 or 6 Music but, in my opinion, the best station on the planet.  I've been tuning in with varying levels of regularity since I got high speed internet at the turn of the century.  

I tend to listen to Radio 2 more in the winter.  As a foreigner, I imagine Britain as being all about Christmas and snow, very Dickensian. 

My weekend listening consisted of Saturday's Pick of the Pops which was great, as usual. Bob Harris sounded like an old friend last night.  Terry Wogan, an Irish legend on the BBC, doesn't host his long-running morning show anymore but still comes in on Sunday's for a weekend show and had Midge Ure in the studio. Later Johnnie Walker, who goes back to the pirate days aboard Radio Caroline, had Ron Mael of Sparks sitting in to discuss the history of the band.

Sparks, two Californian brothers, were quite big in the UK going back to the 70s.  Cleveland was the only place in America where Sparks had a similarly large fan base due to the legendary programming of WMMS, who's nicking of the British charts was integral to their format. 

Today Jonathan Ross, who I've really missed having on the air since he and Russell Brand were fired about 5 years ago, sits in for Stephen Wright. Ross's guest is Stephen Fry.

I wake up and play Pop Masters weekday mornings with Ken Bruce.  And if I'm up really early I might catch some of Chris Evans Breakfast Club where famous guests are a regular occurrence.  Listening in the U.S., with a five hour time difference, actually makes it better, I think.

BBC Radio is a bit like public radio here in the United States.  There are distinct differences though.  The British government taxes citizens with money earmarked for BBC Media, so they can afford a good product.  And Radio 2, though broadcasting from London, isn't local radio.  It's a station for the nation.   Radio doesn't get any better than BBC 2's eclectic mix of music programming and superb, personality driven, talent.

College radio stations being sold

During my four years of college I spent much of my time at the campus radio station.  I held down a weekday two hour air shift, eventually becoming music director and then program director.  Our station, WVBC, Bethany, W.V., was small in wattage but big on doing things professionally. 

The station had a crack news department which aired a half hour weeknight news show that started at exactly 7pm and ended exactly at 7:30pm.  I engineered it often as it ran right after my show.  We had top of the hour UPI news which DJs had to nail every time.  No fading out a song to meet it. That was totally amateur and unacceptable. 

WVBC was a training ground for the students, many of whom went   on to high profile positions in radio, television and newspapers throughout the United States.  As music and program director I was in the right place at the right time. 

During my tenure, college radio became a marketing force for the music industry. Punk and new wave were not getting airplay on commercial radio so we made it our format.  And the record companies took note, suddenly supplying us with an onslaught of records to fill our library.  I was there to break artists like Talking Heads, U2, Elvis Costello, The B52s, The Clash, and so many more.

These days, while commercial radio is retched, we look to the left end of the dial for relief.  Some of these college stations are disciplined, like the one I worked at, while others are very much a free form expression.  And some of them are up for sale. 

Colleges and universities have discovered that these FM frequencies they own are valuable and sought after by state-run public radio and religious entities.  It happened to WVBC a few years ago.  Here's a story from last week's Wall Street Journal, College Radio Changes Frequency.

If the trend keeps up the entire FM dial could become void of any good music whatsoever.  And streaming music from radio stations on the internet could become the only choice for music lovers. 

Me on the air at WVBC