Illustration © 2009 by Bobby Ocean
This blog has managed to remain 100% politics-free. I’ve tried to make this a safe haven for radio folks of all persuasions. I dearly hope that today’s offering doesn’t incite some reader to ruin our perfect record.
I’ve got a song I’ve been waiting to share with you. After the first couple of lines, you might think it’s presenting a political point of view. But if you keep listening, you’ll discover —
— Well, as a writer I hate to come right out and tell you what the song is about. A good song is a story, and it tells itself.
But in the interests of playing it safe and hoping that no one perceives their own political reviews as being attacked, I’ll tell you in advance. (In other words, “spoiler alert.”)
For years now I’ve wondered exactly when it was that we Americans (and also, it appears, Canadians) became incapable of tolerating people whose political beliefs are opposite our own.
I think — I think — there used to be a time when my neighbor could disagree with me and I wouldn’t hate him for it.
I don’t offer this song as any type of political or even social statement. Whatever your politics are, you are 100% correct. No need to make your case here, okay?
Moxy Früvous
This is a now disbanded Canadian group called Moxy Früvous. Very big in Canada in the early 1990s. They specialized in witty, satirical topical songs.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation commissioned them to write a series of such songs…including one about “the first” Gulf War.
The biggest reason I’m sharing this song is I love the harmonies. You might. Or you might not.
I also love the verse about “25 years old…25 sweet summers…”
If you love or hate the song, praise or attack the music. Or attack my musical taste.
But please, do me a favor and — as I am doing — leave your deeply felt political beliefs outside. This ain’t about politics; it’s about human beings acting as human beings tend to act.
I’m sharing this with permission of Moxy Früvous.
February, 1995 (continued):
After returning home from various parts of North America, a couple of days later, thanks largely to the efforts of KBBY’s Marilyn Woods, I drove an hour north to conduct How To Create Maximum Impact Radio Advertising for the Ventura County Radio Broadcasters Association in the morning, followed by a KBBY air talent seminar that afternoon.
Although Ventura is only 50 miles away, it was decided I should drive up the night before and stay at a hotel to avoid getting stuck in rush hour the next morning.
Whenever I pack for a trip, I consult a checklist on my computer to make sure I don’t forget anything. Because this trip would be just a 60-minute drive, I said to myself, “I don’t need to check my list. I can keep track in my head.”
This, of course, is illogical; a short trip requires as much attention to detail as a longer one.
So, naturally, I forgot something:
Dan, back in 1996. Before he grew his beard.
Clean socks and underwear.
A few days later I returned to Lansing, Michigan, for my third visit with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. They had me present Air Personality Plus+ the day before their convention. And then a few days later (still February, remember), I journeyed to Dallas for the third annual PD Grad School (which I produce).
Here’s a different kind of Customer Service than the type I usually experience (and usually report to you here), at our host hotel:
One of our attendees entered an elevator with a hotel bellman. The bellman asked, “How are you today, sir?” and the attendee replied, “I have a splitting headache. I wish I had an aspirin.”
The bellman offered to get some aspirin, but the guest said, “Oh, no, don’t bother. But thanks for offering.”
Five minutes later there was a knock on the guest’s door. It was the bellman. With two aspirin. (And no, he did not have his hand out, waiting for a big tip.)
Because of that bellman, I heartily recommended that hotel to others…until the following year when it was sold and the owners brought in a new manager who — Well, let’s just say I stopped referring people to that hotel.
During our “station imaging” teleseminar with Dave Foxx, someone asked about “branded intros” — adding specially produced pieces to the beginnings of playlist songs.
Chuck Blore
That made me think back to Chuck Blore‘s wonderful “mini dramas” — including this one, for a song that many of us never liked.
Like many reading Dan’s blog, I’ve been in the business of commercial broadcasting and its inherent behind-the-scenes production for a long enough time to have learned a more than a few tricks and spotted a few patterns.
There’s a rather large inventory and I’ve kept them together in a mental tool bag. And I still keep all the tools sharp (freshened for the times) because these instruments, gadgets and styles of audio production still bring results and satisfaction.
A hobby that goes hand-in-hand with audio manipulation is one that I’m particularly fond of: Human Behavior, or “Why Do People DO That!?!” The answers lead to more effective communication in our production.
What People Do and Why is everyone’s hobby, honestly. Earth’s massive library of films is proof. Humanity has amassed enough stories to keep all its theaters, televisions with all their channels, DVD players and hand-held devices, and yet-to-be-invented, enhanced players busy for the lifespan of any of us.
That said, let’s tune now to The Understatement of the Decade, repeated so many times every day as to be an amazing factoid in itself: Listening to the radio today is an entirely different experience from what is was in, say, “my day.”
I would hope so. Should be. Also way different from what was on the dial in the 70s, 80s, 90s, or the Oldies era, Bob Max or Jack era. Not at all the same today as the Boss Radio era, Color Radio, or Good Guys times. SHOULD be different from what we heard yesterday.
Today’s Hot Talk stations, Young Country stations, Movin’s and Stars and Pulses and Real Oldies radio stations are patently unreal. Why? The ambience has completely transformed. The context within which we operate has changed. Not only are the commercial stations owned and operated by non-broadcasters (usually cutting costs instead of investing in their properties or prioritizing programming for their listeners), but they now sound as if they’re just avoiding dead air by broadcasting “content.” Content they didn’t have to pay for. Makes you wonder how they’re going to show shareholders improvement on that, next meeting.
But with the production tools with which we began this topic, a better understanding of the marketplace(s) and our proven professionalism, we just might consider taking the steering wheel for the rest of this cruise.
There are some who would call this a golden opportunity. Never has there been an easier passage of time in which to woo away and create a loyalty among an audience. And while the old ways don’t fit into the new lifestyles, there are universal principles which will always apply. As an example, Gravity never goes out of vogue.
Within each of your old techniques is a “universal” just waiting to be re-written.
Next time: Leap Of Faith Producing – finding the “sweet spot” in any piece of production
