Detroit Rocks

[Brad Humphreys]

Has anyone else started picking up 93.9 FM out of Detroit suddenly this summer?

Relative to any radio we have in Cleveland, it is pretty darn good if you like mainstream college rock (modest mouse, silversun pick-ups, social distortion, etc.).

I'm not a native cleveander, but love and have fully adopted the city. With that said, I loathe the local media (except the observer of course). PD is AWFUL and local radio for the home of Rock-n-Roll is terrible (local TV is awful everywhere). Even the classic rock radio stations seem to have a play list limited to only song that were in the billboard top 3! Why can't Cleveland support a decent alt rock radio station?

(Ironic - I found 93.9 because I was using that channel for my satellite radio link. I pay for radio because Cleveland's is so bad.)

[Dave Sharosky]

Brad,

It's not just Cleveland. It's bad music everywhere for radio. It's so mundane. Most stations are owned by a few large corporations. It's all about the dollar and what sells. I'm a musician and marketing is my livelihood. The people basically in charge for what you hear on the radio are the suits in the board room. It's all P & L baby. Nothing else. No rhyme or reason. They know business. Not music business. Just business. It's seriously sad. Don't get me wrong, it's always been about the dollar at the end. At least before a few giants owned everything, the suits eventually had to listen to what the fans wanted to hear to survive. Now it's the fans that have to listen to what produces the suits the most money.

[Todd Shapiro]

93.9 usually comes in reasonably well along the Lake Erie coast in the summer months. Because the station is licensed in Windsor, Ontario Canada and not Detroit they have a stronger non-directional signal (100,000 watts) than American FM stations. Their format, known as Adult Album Alternative or AAA, has never been replicated by any Cleveland market stations.
Depending on your position in Lakewood or points further west another Windsor/Detroit station that booms into northeastern Ohio is 88.9 better known as 89X. 89X is a true modern rock/alternative station that is comparable to Cleveland's old 107.9 The END. The further east you travel the 89X signal will be replaced by John Carroll's campus radio station WJCU

[Mike Deneen]

According to some stories I have heard, a Detroit AM station was once the most popular station in Lakewood/Cleveland. This would have been in the mid/late 1960s, around the time I was born.

[Mike Deneen]

By the way, radio is terrible all over the country. The stations in every city are virtually identical. The same playlists, the same formats, and the DJs are all cut from the same cloth. EVEN IN MEMPHIS I am struck by how lame it is. Dewey Phillips must be turning in his grave.

Thanks to corporate deregulation and soulless entities like Clear Channel, all over America there are big right wing sports/news/talk stations called "the big one", oldies stations called "magic, etc.

This is a major reason why satellite radio is taking hold.

[Stan Austin]

Mike-- It was CKLW the Big 80 on your radio dial. Even Cleveland businesses such as J.B.Robinson Jewelers advertised on it!
Stan

[Todd Shapiro]

At the peak of top 40 AM radio CKLW was consistently one of the top rated station in both Detroit and Cleveland. Former WWWE and WQAL morning man Larry Morrow got his start at CKLW as "Duke Windsor." WLW-AM 700 Cincinnatti afternoon man Gary Burbank (whose show used to be heard on weekends at WTAM) also got his start at CKLW

[Kenneth Warren]

Brad:

I agree abt. Detroit. Radio there can be rich even today. There's a joy in pulling in the distant signal where the spin seems more compelling and other-worldly.

I gave up on commercial media in the very early seventies.

I still find college radio in Cleveland, esp. WRUW and WCSB, worth a shake when driving my car.

When home, I have found over the past few years that radio archives and streaming over the Internet have completely shifted my ear out of Cleveland, sometimes back to voices and stations in the NYC area where I grew up and some legends are still spinning and talking.

Actually to live and Lakewood and to have my ear to the sounds coming from high overhead places into the pulse of my attic is the best of both worlds.

I am generally listening to the following:

Dandelion Radio (inspired by John Peel) Indie Music
http://www.dandelionradio.com/

The Cherry Blossom Clinic - WFMU Power Pop slightly Punk

http://wfmu.org/playlists/TT

WFMU is what I always to tune upon arrival in NJ.

WFUV – mostly Idiot’s Delight with Vin Scelsa
http://www.wfuv.org/

WNYU – Generally Hip College Radio from NYC

http://wnyu.org/org-schedule

WBAI – Pacifica in NYC – not so much for music - mostly Bob Fass Unnameable and The Personal Computer Show

http://archive.wbai.org/index.php?sort=nameaz

KPFA The Pacifica Station in Berkeley
http://www.kpfa.org/

KPFK The Pacifica Station in LA -
http://www.kpfk.org/

RU Sirius Show – Conversation and Interviews

http://www.rusiriusradio.com/

KALX – Mostly Punk out of Berkeley
http://kalx.berkeley.edu/schedtab.htm

Louie Free Show from Youngstown – for interviews and talk

http://free.vindy.com/

There’s no accounting for taste. But maybe you will find one or two of these worth the time.

Kenneth Warren

[Dan Shields]

[quote="Brad Humphreys"]Has anyone else started picking up 93.9 FM out of Detroit suddenly this summer?

I'm not a native clevelander, but love and have fully adopted the city. With that said, I loathe the local media (except the observer of course). PD is AWFUL and local radio for the home of Rock-n-Roll is terrible (local TV is awful everywhere). Even the classic rock radio stations seem to have a play list limited to only song that were in the billboard top 3! Why can't Cleveland support a decent alt rock radio station?
[/quote]

Brad -

My sentiments exactly. One of these stations is "the River", consistently amazing and diverse music. The problem is we can only get it when boating out by the Islands. For years i was hoping some station other than college radio would pick up on this...

Cleveland - the home of Rock-n-Roll or not? Oh, and by the way, will we be having the induction ceremonies here? Ever?

Dan Shields

[Dan Shields]

Jim O'B
Can someone tell me how to work the damn quote thing. I keep getting it wrong, and the FAQ on the board isn't helping. Thanks
Dan Shields

[Shawn Juris]

Great topic. To combine the hall of fame issue and the radio station monotony, in 25 years from now will we have even heard the groups being inducted on the radio? Using those recently inducted I can't imagine any of our stations playing Black Sabbath, the Talking Heads, the Sex Pistols or the Clash as they were starting out.
If it's left to radio playlists the only inductees in 2032 will be those who had their start on American Idol.

[John LePlae]

Brad, I think I've been picking it up too and didn't even realize it was from Detroit. I grew up in Detroit, but haven't lived there for several years and didn't recognize the station. One show I've been listening to lately is on in the morning on 88.7. Great mix of indie.

I'm happy to see so many who share the same musical tastes as myself. As I write this, I'm listening to Dinosaur Jr.'s "Beyond" and I'd highly recommend it. But I'm more partial to the garage rock sounds of Detroit bands like the White Stripes and Soledad Brothers etc.

Dan Shields, A Beachwood West is a fantastic idea. I'm surpised the local venues haven't picked up on that type of music. Must be a booking issue. Dan Slife may have some insight into that?

By the way, here's a great website to check out: www.motorcityrocks.com

Just wanted to add my thoughts

[c. dawson]

is 93.9 still AAA format? It was for years, and I loved listening to it, but then they shifted to a heavier harder rock, so I quit listening. I'll have to give it a try, because local radio is just horribly corporate and bland. I actually shell out the bucks for Sirius Satellite Radio because the variety is outstanding. It's great to listen to a station that'll play some Beatles, then something completely new, then some Patsy Cline, then some Peruvian music, then Dean Martin, then U2 and then something else ... definitely blurring the boundaries that corporate radio tries to keep so tight. Heck, it's even nice to tune to the 1950s channel and hear that music again, since 105.7 rarely if ever plays oldies from that era.

For internet radio, I strongly recommend www.folkalley.com, which plays a lot of folk, singer/songwriter, accoustic and celtic music, or my favorite, www.mvyradio.com, which is WMVY out of Martha's Vineyard. It's a great AAA station that really has the casual spirit of the Vineyard. It's great to listen to some James Taylor, and then hear the boating forecast, when the tide's coming in, and if the Steamship Authority's ferries out to the island are running on time. It may not have the tropical spirit that Jimmy Buffett's Radio Margaritaville has, but it still has a lot of the same easy-going island spirit. And when you're stuck in your office cubical, it's a good way to let your spirits soar a little bit.

I always did wonder though why an AAA format station couldn't work in Cleveland? Detroit has/had one, Toledo had one, Akron's got one (WAPS 91.3), Pittsburgh has one (or did, I don't know lately), etc. Why do we get stuck with the blandest of the bland?

[Joe Ott]

For internet radio, I strongly recommend www.folkalley.com, which plays a lot of folk, singer/songwriter, accoustic and celtic music, or my favorite,

Hey, I listen to and/or look at folkalley.com. Nice site. In fact, through them I was able to get discount tickets to the Bob Dylan concert last night before they went on sale!

I took my daughter. Dylan put on a great show. His voice was even pretty good last night (I know that is very subjective ) and he seemed to have some energy. The show opened with Jimmie Vaughan. Pretty amazing.

Anyway, Cleveland radio, to me, has not been the same since Jeff and Flash left. When I do listen to the radio (instead of CD's) it's usually 98.5. However, even though they claim it isn't true, it seems as though they play an awfull lot of Van Halen!

[Rob Burgoyne]

Great list of music links Ken! I pulled some from my bookmarks that might be of interest.

I agree media monopolies and huge corporate advertisers have squeezed what little life was left out of commercial radio. But, I have to say that technology has come to the rescue. Between college radio programming and music available online I can honestly say I don't miss listening to radio one bit.

The internet isn't all illegally downloaded music. It is a great place to find live or rare unreleased music. It is easy to discover radio shows or read music columns that are more tailored to your taste(s). The internet has also been a great way to communicate with artists and record companies. I have discovered most of my new favorite bands and artist on the web and I use the web to find out when they are coming to town. I purchase some music from itunes and emusic but most of the time I wait and purchase the album at the show-- where the artist is sure to see his or her share of the revenue.

I still listen to some radio and I love discovering new local (mostly public) radio shows when traveling and then when I want to visit the memories of that place I check the tune the station in from the web.
Alaska Public Radio - http://aprn.org/
WEQX in Manchester Vermont - http://www.weqx.com/

Pollstar has a neat function where it will alert you where your favorite bands are touring pretty quickly. This service has scooped the freetimes a couple of times by delivering tour dates to my email:
http://www.pollstar.com

Online Music magazines:
http://www.nudeasthenews.com/
http://www.glidemagazine.com/
http://www.stereogum.com/ (Check out their free mp3 covers of Ok Computer to celebrate it's 10 year anniversary - http://www.stereogum.com/okx/ )

Artists that embrace the fans via the internet:
http://www.theblackkeys.com - Local Acron boys just gifted their fans a free EP's worth of tracks via the internet.
http://johnvanderslice.com/html/hello.html - Posts music he creates at his little San Fran analog studio online.
http://www.treewave.com/mp3s.html - This guy makes music with recordings of old printers and such.

And lets ad this great local resource to Mr. Warren's list of punk rock pages-
http://www.clepunk.com/