I turned on the radio in the car today to listen to the Preston and Steve show on Y-100, and was surprised to find that what yesterday was a completely oblivious and happy staff of radio workers had been replaced with computerized R&B.
Yes, that’s right- there is no station in Philadelphia that plays modern rock. You can listen to WYSP if you want their mix, Creed meets Papa Roach meets Motey Crue, but there isn’t anyplace in Philly that’s playing modern rock, nor is there a good alternative to Howard Stern in the morning.
I know that a lot of people like to listen to Howard Stern, but I wonder if you’re really interested in his mindless played out blather, or if you’ve just had no alternative for so long that you think you like it.
What I want in the morning is essentially what Preston and Steve offered: Thoughtful interviews of people currently in the limelight (they have had interviews of several members of the Lost cast), daily strange news and commentary, the occasional crazy stunt, community-involved charitable broadcast events, and stupid short games with nice give-away prizes. Interject the occasional modern rock tune, and you’ve got the morning show that I want to listen to.
I guess I will just have to wait until August.
But nevermind the shows. Look at the concerts. The Philadelphia area has been home to some of the best concerts, as sponsored by Y-100. Will we still have such concerts? Maybe, I don’t know. But we won’t know what concerts we’ll be interested in attending because we won’t recognize the music. (My premise here is that if you don’t use the radio to learn of new acts, then you’re already following bands on tour and won’t need the aid of radio to know when they’re in town or to sponsor the act.) The last few Y-100 Feztivals (as in fez hat) were great. The one I attended (the second one they did) had Toad the Wet Sprocket, Matthew Seet, Cheap Trick, and Beck. How else are you going to get those bands in one act without a modern rock banner? And now there is no broadcast home for these bands in Philly.
Ugh. The Sonic Sessions. No more.
All I can say is that XM better step up. Their “Monsters in the Morning” talk program really sucks. No offense to southern readers, but I’m kind of tired of the twangy accents and mentalities on all of the XM talk stations. It seems like everything they play is coming out of an FM station in Florida. Let’s have one show with a yankee flavor, and play it during the morning drive. Offer some alternative for Howard when he’s playing on Sirius, for pity’s sake.
Man, this is shocking. I’m so glad I have XM now, but I will miss Preston and Steve for sure.
You can find what’s left of Y-100 at Live365’s site. Apparently, the Y-100 DJs are broadcasting music from their homes over the internet. Weird. (If you want to sign up, here’s a link to get 30% off of your subscription fee.)
