The decade that brought us "don't trust anyone under 30" is now around the half century mark in terms of age. People who graduated high school in 1966 will be eligible for senior citizen discounts anywhere this year, plus its getting difficult to hear songs from this age on the radio that much, even though classic reruns are still to be found. The Summer of Love is now as old as today as was the sinking of the Titanic was back then along with the tail end of the Ragitme era of music. Many '60s baby girls are now post-menopausal. As a young child whose first awareness about the '60s was through The Wonder Years, China Beach, and the oldies stations and was basically just "the parents generation" to a teen, it is now pretty much "the grandparents generation" as most children of '60s teens are married with their own kids nowadays. Like it or not, Generation Z sees classic rock as "grandparents music" and "Hip-hop/grunge/metal" as "parents music", preferring the EDM/electropop/indie music.  My grandfather (born in 1919) passed away recently, which means that many more family patriarchs (first born of parents) were kids/teens in the '60s. My father who was a '60s child has said "I'm getting old" much more often in the past few years than ever before, and has rapidly graying hair as well. It also seems like senior citizen culture is starting to shift due to the Baby Boomers entering this stage of life.

What I miss most is the GI Generation. All the elders in my family have been Silent Generation folks--the Tea Party, "Obama's going to take our guns away" paranoid people. I wish more members of the GI Generation in my family were alive; Most were dead by 2000.

Wow it's been 50 years.  :o

You think it's sad to watch the sixties get old, try being born in the sixties and watching yourself get old!  If I don't shave for a few days, I can see my beard would come in halfway gray!  The gray is creeping up my temples! Well, I was born at the tail-end of the sixties, but 1969 was still very much the sixties, and my generation, Gen-X" doesn't know how to get old.  They're still goofing off trying to make babies at 44!  They get divorced at 47 'cos they're not getting their "needs" met, and they go on eHarmoney and say "fifty is the new thirty" in their profiles.  I shouldn't talk, I've never even been married.  I'll still be trying to pick up broads in forty years on a site called "Carbon Dating." 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_p-qalHot9s4/TJiVHkmG0yI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/BIbIA_jUQgI/s400/88130-26709-grampa-simpson_large.jpg

OP...were you somehow expecting time to stand still?  ???

As someone who is exactly 50, I can't believe how time has passed. As much time has passed between my birth and today as the sinking of the Titanic until my birthdate, and that was before WWI began. 
I was a child of the 60s, and yes it is a long time ago, a different world.



You think it's sad to watch the sixties get old, try being born in the sixties and watching yourself get old!  If I don't shave for a few days, I can see my beard would come in halfway gray! 



Same here.


I'll still be trying to pick up broads in forty years on a site called "Carbon Dating." 



Soon they are gonna cardon date us, Max. 

As someone who is exactly 50, I can't believe how time has passed

Do you feel 50? ???

Do you feel 50? ???

No. I feel like I'm in my 30s most days. Some days when bones ache I feel a lot older.

No. I feel like I'm in my 30s most days. Some days when bones ache I feel a lot older.


I don't look like a guy close to 40 I look younger than my age.

I don't look like a guy close to 40 I look younger than my age.


You do look young.  :)

What's sad to me is how old the '80s are. Someone who turns 70 today was only 36 on January 1, 1980!  :o

You do look young.  :)


That's because I shave everyday to obtain that "babyface look".

No. I feel like I'm in my 30s most days. Some days when bones ache I feel a lot older.


How about when you shrug your shoulders and it makes a sound like a dump truck on a gravel road!
::)

The shoulder injury I got lifting weights around Thanksgiving is still bugging me.  Back to the doc for a physical therapy referral.  I uuuuuuused to be able to bench press this.  Come on, come on, one more rep, don't be a wuss...

I was born in '51 so I remember the 60s quite well.  It was the best of times it was the worst of times.

What's sad to me is how old the '80s are. Someone who turns 70 today was only 36 on January 1, 1980!  :o


I don't know how you'll cope when 2050 rolls around... ::)

I don't know how you'll cope when 2050 rolls around... ::)


::)

The only alternative to growing old is dying young.  ;)

I don't know how you'll cope when 2050 rolls around... ::)


I'll either be turning 81, or I'll be dead.  The latter is okay with me.
:)

I'll either be turning 81, or I'll be dead.  The latter is okay with me.
:)


that's whatever your fate will be.

I don't know how you'll cope when 2050 rolls around... ::)


He'll be an old man by the time 2050 rolls around.

I don't know how you'll cope when 2050 rolls around... ::)


I'll be 99. 

My parents were teens in the '60s and they're in their early 60s now, but the good thing is being in your 60s isn't the same as it used to be and I don't consider them old even though I'm only in my mid 20s.  :)

My parents were teens in the '60s and they're in their early 60s now, but the good thing is being in your 60s isn't the same as it used to be and I don't consider them old even though I'm only in my mid 20s.  :)


60 is the new 45.

My parents were teens in the '60s and they're in their early 60s now, but the good thing is being in your 60s isn't the same as it used to be and I don't consider them old even though I'm only in my mid 20s.  :)


Oh believe me, the 60's are old. You just haven't experienced it yet.

This is a good topic, and yes, it is a sad one but oh so true one because I'm a victim of the aging 60's generation.

I never thought of getting old, in fact I always wanted to be older, I dressed and combed my greased hair like Elvis when I was 8, I always hung out with an older crowd, smoked to look cool and older,at 12, all of my girl friends where older than me until my steady 9th grade squeeze. Except for Viet Nam hanging over my head, I had the world by the balls by graduation and the only thing I thought about was how I was going to get my kicks tomorrow. Then the world changed at 19, reality of getting older kicked me in the ass, I joined the National Guard one day before my 19th birthday and recieved my draft notice one day after it. Now getting older was more on my mind, my dirty dog days were behind me and my 20's went in a blink of an eye, the 30's? I don't remember leaving them until I was in my late 40's and another blink and I'm applying for Plan A B and D and every other letter of the alphabet that Social Security offers.

The body is failing me slowly, aches and pains that don't want to go away, the memory is in question, and when I look into a mirror I see the reflection of my older father staring back at me. It's funny though, the later life memories slip away quickly but those the teenage ones are my writen in stone on my memmory banks. Those who are reading this with me can relate , those who are in their 20's and 30's are feeling the aging pinch, those in the 50's will still want to live their life as in their 20's and the teenagers are chiselling their memoirs in stone today and don't know it until they're in the 60's. Such is life! Enjoy while you can.

I was born in '51 so I remember the 60s quite well.  It was the best of times it was the worst of times.


You said it best, and they were all good times.

This is a good topic, and yes, it is a sad one but oh so true one because I'm a victim of the aging 60's generation.

I never thought of getting old, in fact I always wanted to be older, I dressed and combed my greased hair like Elvis when I was 8, I always hung out with an older crowd, smoked to look cool and older,at 12, all of my girl friends where older than me until my steady 9th grade squeeze. Except for Viet Nam hanging over my head, I had the world by the balls by graduation and the only thing I thought about was how I was going to get my kicks tomorrow. Then the world changed at 19, reality of getting older kicked me in the ass, I joined the National Guard one day before my 19th birthday and recieved my draft notice one day after it. Now getting older was more on my mind, my dirty dog days were behind me and my 20's went in a blink of an eye, the 30's? I don't remember leaving them until I was in my late 40's and another blink and I'm applying for Plan A B and D and every other letter of the alphabet that Social Security offers.

The body is failing me slowly, aches and pains that don't want to go away, the memory is in question, and when I look into a mirror I see the reflection of my older father staring back at me. It's funny though, the later life memories slip away quickly but those the teenage ones are my writen in stone on my memmory banks. Those who are reading this with me can relate , those who are in their 20's and 30's are feeling the aging pinch, those in the 50's will still want to live their life as in their 20's and the teenagers are chiselling their memoirs in stone today and don't know it until they're in the 60's. Such is life! Enjoy while you can.


Even though I was only born in '62, I can relate to some of this, esp the getting older,  aches & pains , looking into the mirror. And my 20s and 30s going by in a blink of an eye.

The body is failing me slowly, aches and pains that don't want to go away, the memory is in question, and when I look into a mirror I see the reflection of my older father staring back at me. It's funny though, the later life memories slip away quickly but those the teenage ones are my writen in stone on my memmory banks. Those who are reading this with me can relate , those who are in their 20's and 30's are feeling the aging pinch, those in the 50's will still want to live their life as in their 20's and the teenagers are chiselling their memoirs in stone today and don't know it until they're in the 60's. Such is life! Enjoy while you can.

We all have to get old one day.

I do find it sad that the 60s are so old now. Even though I wasn't even born yet, I remember learning about the 60s during the 80s and 90s, and thinking that it was the coolest decade. I thought it would have been so cool to be in your 20s during Woodstock, but now many of those hippies are now geriatric (70+).  :o

I do find it sad that the 60s are so old now. Even though I wasn't even born yet, I remember learning about the 60s during the 80s and 90s, and thinking that it was the coolest decade. I thought it would have been so cool to be in your 20s during Woodstock, but now many of those hippies are now geriatric (70+).  :o


Who'd wanna see an old hippie?

http://lovelifelikeyourself.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/old_hippie_very_old_hippies_1.jpg

We all have to get old one day.


That's what I'm saying, it seems like getting old did happen in "one" day.

That's what I'm saying, it seems like getting old did happen in "one" day.


maybe there's a way that we can stay forever young.

maybe there's a way that we can stay forever young.


I'm trying everything Howard, diet, mental outlook, accept new social changes with an open mind, keep getting involved with new ideas, dress in with updated fashions for my age, I still like the high fashion styles and my cut offs, tee shirts and sandels in the summer. I do all the vitamins needed for youth and I like viagra but it takes two to tango so it's ok every so often nowadays, and at 65 I'm now trying Androgel therapy to reverse the aging process. You said forever young, I'm giving it a good fight going down and if not anything, at least I'll make a nice healthy looking corpes in my casket with a 4 hour erection or maybe a "4-ever" erection smile going with me.!

I'm trying everything Howard, diet, mental outlook, accept new social changes with an open mind, keep getting involved with new ideas, dress in with updated fashions for my age, I still like the high fashion styles and my cut offs, tee shirts and sandels in the summer. I do all the vitamins needed for youth and I like viagra but it takes two to tango so it's ok every so often nowadays, and at 65 I'm now trying Androgel therapy to reverse the aging process. You said forever young, I'm giving it a good fight going down and if not anything, at least I'll make a nice healthy looking corpes in my casket with a 4 hour erection or maybe a "4-ever" erection smile going with me.!


For me staying young or trying to stay young is to shave every day I used to sport a moustache and goatee years ago but as of 9 years ago I just decided to shave it all off and never grow back facial hair to keep my "babyface" look, that's why I don't look close to 40 in my avatar.

maybe there's a way that we can stay forever young.


_aTQq-vqapw

Do you really want to live forever?

_aTQq-vqapw

Do you really want to live forever?


Foo Bar, I don't think anyone wants to live forever, I don't,  and I know we all won't. Although, I do want look and feel good for the age period I'm living in this time of life. It's one of those instincts that God gave us to perseve life as best as possible while the body cycle is in a perpetual metamorphosis to die, changing from the day it is born to the day it no longer can live. I won't go into my personal beliefs on why we are here, but I've learned enough to know that God plans all his creations to live and die in it's own life cycle, what and how we use his gift of life in the time frame of it's exsistance is up to us through his gift of free will. So enjoy your life while you can the best way you can, it will all be over in a blink of God's eye.

Foo Bar, I don't think anyone wants to live forever, I don't,  and I know we all won't.

God ain't taking me, I'm staying here right on Earth.  :P

We're supposed to get old and die, and maybe not even get old.  Most people used to die before they ever got old.  The sick thing about our culture is we don't respect old people.  In most human cultures, older people command reverence and are looked to for wisdom and leadership.  In our culture we shove them aside and hope they don't make a nuisance of themselves.  No wonder nobody wants to get old.
::)

I don't hear any songs on the oldies channels with 60s songs at all for the past 8 or 9 years. It is sad, cause the 60s pretty much kicked down the doors of conservatism, and from then on nothing was the same!

We're supposed to get old and die, and maybe not even get old.

I'm not, I'm staying forever young.  ;)

I don't hear any songs on the oldies channels with 60s songs at all for the past 8 or 9 years. It is sad, cause the 60s pretty much kicked down the doors of conservatism, and from then on nothing was the same!


I hear 60's songs on oldies stations once in a while.

I hear 60's songs on oldies stations once in a while.


I hear 60s songs all the time.

I hear 60's songs on oldies stations once in a while.


Howard, there is a great oldie station here in north Jersey, AM 1250, 50's 60's 70's only. It's like the old am stations of the past.

Howard, there is a great oldie station here in north Jersey, AM 1250, 50's 60's 70's only. It's like the old am stations of the past.


Here in New York have you heard of WCBS-FM 101.1 and they play oldies, used to be a doo-wop station but now they've turned to a 60's,70's, and 80's format.

I hear 60s songs all the time.


From my town, there are little to no radio stations that play any 60s music. Most of the oldies play 70s and 80s now. But they limit it to mid 80s, like circa 1984.

They do play some 60s music once in a while, but 85% of the time it's the 70s and 80s.

Either that, or I don't pay attention to all the channels.  ;D

I'm trying everything Howard, diet, mental outlook, accept new social changes with an open mind, keep getting involved with new ideas, dress in with updated fashions for my age, I still like the high fashion styles and my cut offs, tee shirts and sandels in the summer. I do all the vitamins needed for youth and I like viagra but it takes two to tango so it's ok every so often nowadays, and at 65 I'm now trying Androgel therapy to reverse the aging process. You said forever young, I'm giving it a good fight going down and if not anything, at least I'll make a nice healthy looking corpes in my casket with a 4 hour erection or maybe a "4-ever" erection smile going with me.!



;D ;D ;D


Age is in the mind. As for me, I'm 143-but I lie about my age.  ;) :D ;D ;D ;D


All my life, I wanted to be OLDER! All my siblings were older, and it seemed like everyone I knew was older. Then one day, I realized that I wasn't the youngest anymore. As a milestone birthday approaches (my 39th  ;) :D ;D ;D), I find myself reflecting on age. Is it really that significant? I don't FEEL..um...39. Last year, one of my best friends who I haven't seen in years, sent me some pics. She is only a year older than I am and I was like,  "Wow, she looks old."  I wonder if I look THAT old. I don't think so-but then I see some pics of myself and it is like... :-\\ 

Then there is what Max said about how our society doesn't respect old people. I know that all to well. First my father-in-law went into a nursing home with the on-set of Alzheimer a year and a half ago and even though that was super expensive, he had the better lot and passed away last April before he had to go on Medicaid. My father was fighting pancreatic cancer and didn't want to be a "ward of the state" as he put it. Didn't want to go into a nursing home, and relied on two of my sisters to take care of him. We tried to get him in-home health care but he didn't like hardly any of the visiting nursing.  He also passed away last April-the same day as my father-in-law.  :o :o :o

Now, we are dealing my mother. She too, is now in a nursing home. We are waiting for Medicaid to kick in but who knows how long that will happen. She doesn't like where she is but we can't move her. No place will take her without Medicaid and to get her in a place closer to my sisters-they have LONG waiting lists (not to mention a change in states-she is in NY & my sisters are in Conn.) It really is a mess and now my mother is in limbo. Because she doesn't have insurance, the home does just the minimum they can get away with. It truly is all about money-and nothing to do with quality health care. It makes me angry at the way this country has for-profit health care.


After dealing with three parents in the last couple of years, I often wonder who would take care of me when I am that age? I know I am going to outlive Carlos. He will be 70 in a few years.  :o :o :o  I rely on him so much. I'm sure most everyone here knows that I am legally blind. I can't even get myself to the grocery store to get food. Without Carlos, who can I rely on? Also, if I REALLY need taking care of-like all three of our parents have, who will take care of me? Carlos' kids? I doubt it. My sisters kids? I doubt that, too. 


I try not to think about that because hopefully, it will be a LONG time before that scenario happens-and maybe it won't EVER happen. My grandmother lived to be 99 years young. She still lived by herself-but was in a retirement/assisted living facility. So, maybe I won't need too much care. You never know. So, I am enjoying life NOW! I am truly grateful for what I have. And yes, I am planning a BIG party for my...um...39th birthday.  :D ;D ;D ;D



Cat 

From my town, there are little to no radio stations that play any 60s music. Most of the oldies play 70s and 80s now.


That's too bad.  Hope you can find a channel that plays 60s music.

From my town, there are little to no radio stations that play any 60s music. Most of the oldies play 70s and 80s now. But they limit it to mid 80s, like circa 1984.

They do play some 60s music once in a while, but 85% of the time it's the 70s and 80s.

Either that, or I don't pay attention to all the channels.  ;D


the 60's are a lost generation that had good music but now radio stations are playing a variety.

Here in New York have you heard of WCBS-FM 101.1 and they play oldies, used to be a doo-wop station but now they've turned to a 60's,70's, and 80's format.


IT SUCK"S!!! 101.1 used to be the best oldie staion for years, about 5 years ago some young a-hole got a wild hair up his butt to change the format to play hip hop and sissyfide current garbage that other sissy stations were playing and called it "Jack " radio and all the disc jockeys were fired even Cousin Brucie was booted off the station. It didn't gain new listeners and lost their oldies fan base. Thank God, after a year of Jack radio, jack radio was "Jacked Off" the 101.1 airwaves and came back to the oldies format, but after short time listening to the station's new oldies format I couldn't take it any longer, they played the same songs over and over and over again and again and again they played one loop of songs that sucked 40 years ago when they first came out, songs that are very soft rock and sissy type music from sweetie pie artists, it's horrible to the ears and they have been playing that same suckie loop now for over 4 years. When they put that station on at work I know what song they're going to play by heart, the station lost me as a fan.

I hope that the young a-hole in charge for programing at WCBS 101.1 FM would listen to his station's music and hear what crap he lets be aired every hour on the hour every day of every week of every month of every year for the past four years and let his disc jockeys pick the records to play like they did in the old days when CBS ruled the airwaves....PLEASE! 

IT SUCK"S!!! 101.1 used to be the best oldie staion for years, about 5 years ago some young a-hole got a wild hair up his butt to change the format to play hip hop and sissyfide current garbage that other sissy stations were playing and called it "Jack " radio and all the disc jockeys were fired even Cousin Brucie was booted off the station. It didn't gain new listeners and lost their oldies fan base. Thank God, after a year of Jack radio, jack radio was "Jacked Off" the 101.1 airwaves and came back to the oldies format, but after short time listening to the station's new oldies format I couldn't take it any longer, they played the same songs over and over and over again and again and again they played one loop of songs that sucked 40 years ago when they first came out, songs that are very soft rock and sissy type music from sweetie pie artists, it's horrible to the ears and they have been playing that same suckie loop now for over 4 years. When they put that station on at work I know what song they're going to play by heart, the station lost me as a fan.

I hope that the young a-hole in charge for programing at WCBS 101.1 FM would listen to his station's music and hear what crap he lets be aired every hour on the hour every day of every week of every month of every year for the past four years and let his disc jockeys pick the records to play like they did in the old days when CBS ruled the airwaves....PLEASE!



I agree with everything HotWax, WCBS used to play the best oldies station till someone wanted to take over the airwaves and call themselves "Jack" and play "what they want". I listen to the music once in a while and also the wackiness of Mr.G and Dan Taylor in the morning, always a hoot to listen to them both.  ;D

IT SUCK"S!!! 101.1 used to be the best oldie staion for years, about 5 years ago some young a-hole got a wild hair up his butt to change the format to play hip hop and sissyfide current garbage that other sissy stations were playing and called it "Jack " radio and all the disc jockeys were fired even Cousin Brucie was booted off the station. It didn't gain new listeners and lost their oldies fan base. Thank God, after a year of Jack radio, jack radio was "Jacked Off" the 101.1 airwaves and came back to the oldies format, but after short time listening to the station's new oldies format I couldn't take it any longer, they played the same songs over and over and over again and again and again they played one loop of songs that sucked 40 years ago when they first came out, songs that are very soft rock and sissy type music from sweetie pie artists, it's horrible to the ears and they have been playing that same suckie loop now for over 4 years. When they put that station on at work I know what song they're going to play by heart, the station lost me as a fan.

I hope that the young a-hole in charge for programing at WCBS 101.1 FM would listen to his station's music and hear what crap he lets be aired every hour on the hour every day of every week of every month of every year for the past four years and let his disc jockeys pick the records to play like they did in the old days when CBS ruled the airwaves....PLEASE!



They fired Cousin Brucie??!!! :o :o :o :o  I used to listen to him on WABC in the morning when I was getting ready for school way back in the dark ages.



Cat

They fired Cousin Brucie??!!! :o :o :o :o  I used to listen to him on WABC in the morning when I was getting ready for school way back in the dark ages.



Cat


That was a terrible thing they could've done.

That was a terrible thing they could've done.



Brucie has a show on a pay for radio show on the Sirius XM station in NYC like Howard Stern has his show. He still is alive and well... 

No surprise about Cousin Brucie.  Commercial radio is a soulless numbers game.  The boys upstairs make no bones about it.  They're not in it to make you happy.  They're not in it to be stewards of time-honored traditions.  They're in it to make a buck.  NOTHING else. 

But what about all us Cousin Brucie fans who've been listening for thirty years?

We don't give a flying crap.  You guys are old.  Our sponsors say we gotta get more of the Abercrombie and Fitch kids, we gotta get that 18-34 demographic.  So we signed a contract with the Bubba and Asshole Show Us Your Boobs Mean Frat Boy Show.  Brucie, get your sh*t and get out.

I've worked in community radio for 20 years.  People ask me why -- by now -- don't I work in commercial radio.  I tell them I would rather hock used cars.  It's the same principle and has as much to do with music as commercial radio.  No, I don't make a living from radio.  I'll tell you something, though, half the people in commercial radio don't make a living from it and the other half barely squeak by.  If they don't bring in the bucks, they're unceremoniously sh*tcanned on the first of the month.  Yeah, Rush Limbaugh and Opie & Anthony are millionaires, but that's how showbiz works. 

My only goal is to disseminate the music I believe in because I think there is an integral purpose in doing so.  It doesn't matter how few people listen.  Father doesn't cancel Mass because there are only ten people in the pews.  There are greater things in life than money and popularity.  Don't tell that to the sales manager at SHARK 102, you won't get the unpaid internship! 

What about NPR?

DON'T get me started on National Petroleum Radio!  Nooooooooo!!!

Brucie has a show on a pay for radio show on the Sirius XM station in NYC like Howard Stern has his show. He still is alive and well...


My father grew up on listening to his Doo-Wop on WCBS-FM, He is 71 and he can't stand the way now WCBS-FM has it's format, he remembers a time when they had deejays that played good music and now they play 80's in their format.

No surprise about Cousin Brucie.  Commercial radio is a soulless numbers game.  The boys upstairs make no bones about it.  They're not in it to make you happy.  They're not in it to be stewards of time-honored traditions.  They're in it to make a buck.  NOTHING else. 

But what about all us Cousin Brucie fans who've been listening for thirty years?

We don't give a flying crap.  You guys are old.  Our sponsors say we gotta get more of the Abercrombie and Fitch kids, we gotta get that 18-34 demographic.  So we signed a contract with the Bubba and Asshole Show Us Your Boobs Mean Frat Boy Show.  Brucie, get your sh*t and get out.

I've worked in community radio for 20 years.  People ask me why -- by now -- don't I work in commercial radio.  I tell them I would rather hock used cars.  It's the same principle and has as much to do with music as commercial radio.  No, I don't make a living from radio.  I'll tell you something, though, half the people in commercial radio don't make a living from it and the other half barely squeak by.  If they don't bring in the bucks, they're unceremoniously sh*tcanned on the first of the month.  Yeah, Rush Limbaugh and Opie & Anthony are millionaires, but that's how showbiz works. 

My only goal is to disseminate the music I believe in because I think there is an integral purpose in doing so.  It doesn't matter how few people listen.  Father doesn't cancel Mass because there are only ten people in the pews.  There are greater things in life than money and popularity.  Don't tell that to the sales manager at SHARK 102, you won't get the unpaid internship! 

What about NPR?

DON'T get me started on National Petroleum Radio!  Nooooooooo!!!




Maxwell Smart, you know a lot about the radio games from being on the inside, and I'm impressed! so I respect your knowledge and your remarks on WCBS 101.1 reason why they SUCK! Tell me Maxwell, is common for disc jockeys to do their segment of radio from their homes with todays technology? well there is a jockey on WCBS who does his show from his home and hasn't changed the same loop either, you'd think he would play songs from his personal collection of records since he's home, but NOOOO! he plays the same crap too, why's that?

Maxwell Smart, you know a lot about the radio games from being on the inside, and I'm impressed! so I respect your knowledge and your remarks on WCBS 101.1 reason why they SUCK!


The reason the suck now is because they stuck playing the 80's and no more 50's doo-wop.

Maxwell Smart, you know a lot about the radio games from being on the inside, and I'm impressed! so I respect your knowledge and your remarks on WCBS 101.1 reason why they SUCK! Tell me Maxwell, is common for disc jockeys to do their segment of radio from their homes with todays technology? well there is a jockey on WCBS who does his show from his home and hasn't changed the same loop either, you'd think he would play songs from his personal collection of records since he's home, but NOOOO! he plays the same crap too, why's that?


I wouldn't say for sure, but my guess is he has to follow management's orders whether he's at home or at the station.  There is a paradox in commercial radio.  If you ask the listener if he likes variety, he'll say of course he likes variety.  Everybody likes variety.  Who doesn't, right?  However, the numbers show over and over that monotony sells bigger than variety time and again.  The stations with the smaller playlists retain more listeners.  It seems there is comfort in familiarity.  If I'm driving and scanning the FM dial, I'll stop if I hear one of those golden oldies.  If I hear the familiar chords of "Dream On," "Black Dog," "Aqua Lung," or "Wish You Were Here," I'll stop and listen.  I've heard these songs a million times yet I'd rather hear them once on 101 than that stuff I don't know on 100 and 102.  Those two seconds are crucial.  If I listen through the end of "Dream On," I'll hear the Pepsi commercial.  That's what matters.  That's all that matters.  You've got a guy like me who plays Cage, Xenakis, Partch, and Babbitt on his own radio shows -- weirdest music you've ever heard -- yet he goes for the most banal classic rock tunes when he's tuning his own dial.  So there you go.

I distinguish between deliberate listening and passive listening.  If it's a kind of music I'm interested in, anything from bebop jazz to medieval motets to Cajun roots, I'm telling myself, "Here is something I'll follow even if I don't get a charge from it in the first two seconds.  I'm invested in it."  However, I could care less about pop music after 1989.  Eighties pop, New Wave, classic rock, disco, soft rock, all these kinds of music are attached to sentimental memories.  They're a known quantity.  How many times have you heard people say, "Today's music has no feeling."  The Baby Boomers were adamant that sixties music was deep and meaningful while eighties music was shallow and trendy.  Now you see Gen X-ers saying the exact same thing about eighties music as the Baby Boomers said about sixties music.  There is now a meme about how the music of my youth was the best and everything else sucks.  That's what radio programmers are counting on for guaranteed profit.  If they're trying to get to people in their forties, like me, they'll say: POWER 105 -- Music of the sixties, seventies, and eighties."  We don't give a damn about the nineties and beyond, not for pop music.

One reason I made an effort to investigate other kinds of music when Grunge came in and wrecked pop music for me in 1989 is that I noticed how the Boomers were stuck listening to Jimmi, Janis, and the Beatles and the Stones ad nauseam.  As much as I loved Depeche Mode, New Order, The Smiths, and The Cure, I didn't want to be a graying 43-year-old playing those records over and over again.  Mind you, that's exactly what happened BUT I listen to all kinds of other stuff as well -- just not Blink-182, Limp Bizket, Britney Speares, or Snoop Dogg!
;D

Oh, and to answer you question, yes today's technology does make it easier to set up a home studio -- but it's still not exactly cheap.  I program my Internet show at the production studio at my station, then I send it to the webmaster on MP3 files.  My friend Ken, who does a jazz show (actually I have two friends named Ken who do jazz shows!), he's got some bucks so he can produce his Internet program from his home studio. 

I won't market my programs and I don't look at how many people are listening.  It's halfway between freedom and despair. 

I don't have to care how many people are listening!
:)

I don't want to know how few people are listening!
:(

I wouldn't say for sure, but my guess is he has to follow management's orders whether he's at home or at the station.  There is a paradox in commercial radio.  If you ask the listener if he likes variety, he'll say of course he likes variety.  Everybody likes variety.  Who doesn't, right?  However, the numbers show over and over that monotony sells bigger than variety time and again.  The stations with the smaller playlists retain more listeners.  It seems there is comfort in familiarity.  If I'm driving and scanning the FM dial, I'll stop if I hear one of those golden oldies.  If I hear the familiar chords of "Dream On," "Black Dog," "Aqua Lung," or "Wish You Were Here," I'll stop and listen.  I've heard these songs a million times yet I'd rather hear them once on 101 than that stuff I don't know on 100 and 102.  Those two seconds are crucial.  If I listen through the end of "Dream On," I'll hear the Pepsi commercial.  That's what matters.  That's all that matters.  You've got a guy like me who plays Cage, Xenakis, Partch, and Babbitt on his own radio shows -- weirdest music you've ever heard -- yet he goes for the most banal classic rock tunes when he's tuning his own dial.  So there you go.

I distinguish between deliberate listening and passive listening.  If it's a kind of music I'm interested in, anything from bebop jazz to medieval motets to Cajun roots, I'm telling myself, "Here is something I'll follow even if I don't get a charge from it in the first two seconds.  I'm invested in it."  However, I could care less about pop music after 1989.  Eighties pop, New Wave, classic rock, disco, soft rock, all these kinds of music are attached to sentimental memories.  They're a known quantity.  How many times have you heard people say, "Today's music has no feeling."  The Baby Boomers were adamant that sixties music was deep and meaningful while eighties music was shallow and trendy.  Now you see Gen X-ers saying the exact same thing about eighties music as the Baby Boomers said about sixties music.  There is now a meme about how the music of my youth was the best and everything else sucks.  That's what radio programmers are counting on for guaranteed profit.  If they're trying to get to people in their forties, like me, they'll say: POWER 105 -- Music of the sixties, seventies, and eighties."  We don't give a damn about the nineties and beyond, not for pop music.

One reason I made an effort to investigate other kinds of music when Grunge came in and wrecked pop music for me in 1989 is that I noticed how the Boomers were stuck listening to Jimmi, Janis, and the Beatles and the Stones ad nauseam.  As much as I loved Depeche Mode, New Order, The Smiths, and The Cure, I didn't want to be a graying 43-year-old playing those records over and over again.  Mind you, that's exactly what happened BUT I listen to all kinds of other stuff as well -- just not Blink-182, Limp Bizket, Britney Speares, or Snoop Dogg!
;D


Thank you MaxwellSmart for your indepth hands on responce to my questions and criticism of why WCBS 101.1 plays crap music for my likings and lost me as a long time fan.

Oh, and to answer you question, yes today's technology does make it easier to set up a home studio -- but it's still not exactly cheap.  I program my Internet show at the production studio at my station, then I send it to the webmaster on MP3 files.  My friend Ken, who does a jazz show (actually I have two friends named Ken who do jazz shows!), he's got some bucks so he can produce his Internet program from his home studio. 

I won't market my programs and I don't look at how many people are listening.  It's halfway between freedom and despair. 

I don't have to care how many people are listening!
:)

I don't want to know how few people are listening!
:(


MaxwellSmart, you are a disc jockey and have a show, where and when do you broadcast? I'm interested in listening to your show, so lets have the details please. Thank you, your best new listener and potential best new promoter of your show, Hot Wax.

Thank you MaxwellSmart for your indepth hands on responce to my questions and criticism of why WCBS 101.1 plays crap music for my likings and lost me as a long time fan.

HotWax, My Father who is 71 can agree on your statement too, They lost him as a listener after they started playing 80's music.