Wednesday, March 08, 2006

A morning complaint

I'd like to meet the person who's responsible for deciding that radio morning shows should involve a lot of talk, inane contests, manic hosts, and a lot of bad jokes rather than music conducive to waking up. Yes, I'd like to meet that person. And then I'd like to punch him in the face.

The breaking point came this morning as I was waiting on a left hand turn, when the guy talking (I won't grace him with the title of "DJ") made a joke about Billy Ray Cyrus getting on the gay cowboy bandwagon with a new song "Brokey-Backy Heart."

And as if that wasn't bad enough, he sang it.

Why can't morning DJs just play music? And if they must talk, instead of acting as if we lived in a ritalin-free world, why can't they be briefly comiserative of the fact that everyone's tired and in need of coffee, and then continue with the music?

Anyone remember the episode of WKRP in Cincinnati when Johnny Fever had left the station for another job and come back, but his regular slot had been filled so they gave him the 1-5am slot? And he spoke in dull, fatigued tones and went by the air-name "Heavy Early"? That's my ideal morning DJ -- someone who'll just accept that we're all still half asleep and greatly irritated by manic men-children who think crank calls and topical song parodies are the height of human wit, and who'll just play another fucking song.

So ends another brief foray into commercial radio. Back to CBC for me.

6 comments:

Lesley said...

This would be why I stopped listening to morning radio. I couldn't handle them. But I guess it's the most popular time slot as far as being a DJ goes. And if you're not happy and upbeat and all excited all the time, you lose your job. Which is why I listen to either CD's or my iPod. I get the news on the top of the hour and then shut the damn thing off.

Unknown said...

Two words... "XM Radio". No talk, just music... Love it..

The Cooking Photographer said...

Tired? In the morning? I wonder what YOU do at night lol
Just joking :P
A

Anonymous said...

I only listen to talk radio on (or from) the internet nowadays. There I have the run of a world of waves, and many sites (BBC Radio for example) also have a "listen again" feature for loads of great programmes of all kinds. For when I'm on the go, I record in real-time analogue straight to my MiniDisc walkman via a line-in (mic socket), or simply upload podcasts from Juice or iTunes (there are some good quality programmes that the CBC, the BBC etc are podcasting).

Chris in NF said...

Dear god, Jer ... I think you just broke my brain. I tried to imagine the Duke of Clarence expostulating on his selection of digital toys to Ratcliff, and something hurts now.

Aaooohhhh....

tanker belle said...

Who is responsible, you ask. Must be either Satan or Ned Flanders.