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Author Topic: Taste and what's popular. Am I broken?
The Pixiest
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Welp, it happened again.. My favorite radio station changed formats.

Last time, just 15 months ago, my favorite radio station at the time went Spanish, This time it went Country.

And now I'm left with radio stations that have blithering idiots yabbering the morning away for my AM drive.

This doesn't just happen on the radio either... every time I find something that's quick and simple and tastey at the grocery store, it gets discontinued within a month.

TV shows too. Firefly, and Wonderfalls spring immediately to mind.

Am I a mutant? Is what I like so different from the rest of society that I'm doomed? Or does this happen to everyone?

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SC Carver
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It happens to everyone.

I gave up on radio years ago. Most of my friends have never heard of half of the bands I love.

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pH
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I HATE morning radio shows. I don't understand why they stay on the air.

-pH

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steven
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I think you're just channeling OSC. His weekly Rhino columns are all about how everything he likes gets discontinued.
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TomDavidson
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Christy has this curse. Any time she expresses interest in a comic book, it either turns out to be a miniseries or gets cancelled within four months.
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Synesthesia
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Morning radio shows annoy me.

I am the same way.
They keep shows I despise on the air and take the ones like Bernie Mac off [Frown]

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The Pixiest
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Steven: really? I don't read his rhino columns... (actually, I haven't read anything of his in ages unless someone here links it. I just come here for the community these days... Sorry OSC =(

I've got a theory on morning radio shows... They're to catch flippers. I'm a flipper personally, I flip between 6 (well, 5 now) radio stations trying to catch one that's not on commercial, playing a bad song or full of yabbering. Yet sometimes if they're talking about something I'm interested in, I listen to some of the yabbering. This is really rare with me but I can see it catching the easily distracted... so while many if not most hate the morning yabbering, it still gets better ratings because they catch flippers... I dunno. it's just a theory.

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Lyrhawn
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I hate morning radio shows. My favorite stations change formats once in awhile, but only the pop stations. One of my favorites went hip-hop like five years ago, but now it's back to Top 40. I have two rock stations, two country stations (one plays old, one plays new), two oldies stations, and maybe three pop station, but I only listen to one of them.

I'm fairly set for my music, but still, a large chunk of what I listen to on my cd player is never played on the radio.

On the other hand, my best friend Kara, a prescient music fanatic has an uncanny ability to find artists six or seven months before they become big, buy their cd, make me listen to it, and then I hear them on the radio six months later. I'm serious, 90% of the newcomers to the rock scene in the last four years are bands she had been listening to for months before they ever made it to the radio. I've been introduced to some of the greatest bands ever via her. Seldom do I hear anything groundbreaking or great on the radio. I think it's a crime that the only DMB they play (my favorite band) are the #1 hits they had a decade ago, and nothing more recent, and also none of their fantastic music that never made it to the top of the charts.

DJs are tools, let's face it. It's all part of the music industry telling us what we should like, and a lot of the time passing over good music they don't think is marketable. The mainstream public eats a lot of it up, especially the pop music, and the rock groupies who can't wait for the latest Fallout Boy song (okay I won't lie, while I think it lacks for substance, I can't get the latest FB song out of my head).

The funny thing about music these days I think, is two main groups. Mainstream, and the selfproclaimed "counterculture." Mainstream eats up whatever radios and shows like Grey's Anatomy and The OC play for them. Counterculture despises most of the popular stuff, and assumes that it can only be great music if it's underground, so they search for underground music, form cults of worship around it, and then cry foul whenever The OC, GA, or a video game commercial takes the never heard songs they love and makes them wildly popular in the mainstream. Then counterculture decries the fact that mainstream people listen to the breakout hit while ignoring the vast history of great music the bands have made in the past. Then they call them sellouts and dig deeper underground.

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stihl1
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I love morning radio, especially Drew and Mike.
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Lyrhawn
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Drew and Mike? There's a Drew and Mike around here. Where are you stihl?
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stihl1
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I'm in Ann Arbor. I'm speaking of Drew and Mike on 101.1 wrif.

Baby.

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Lyrhawn
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Heh, yeah that's what I was thinking of too. Wrif rocks.

Personally I'd rather hear Peter Werby in the morning commute and save Drew and Mike for 11:30 at night. D&M are the only two I ever listen to, in those rare, rare times that I do listen. I go back and forth between thinking they are callous pricks and thinking they are smart and good at calling a spade a spade.

Mostly I just wish the WRIF would play more rock during my ride to work, but there's always 89X.

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stihl1
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Peter Werbe is fine where he's at. Sometimes I can't stand that guy.
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lem
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quote:

This doesn't just happen on the radio either... every time I find something that's quick and simple and tastey at the grocery store, it gets discontinued within a month.

TV shows too. Firefly, and Wonderfalls spring immediately to mind.

Am I a mutant?

So you are the reason! GrrArrgh.... [Wall Bash] If you know this about yourself, please do the rest of us a favor and move to an isolated location around one of the poles so the rest of us can get back to good programming and tasty food.
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BlackBlade
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I've given up on radio, I use the internet and word of mouth to find out what bands are new and interesting.
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Lyrhawn
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quote:
Originally posted by stihl1:
Peter Werbe is fine where he's at. Sometimes I can't stand that guy.

I find him more consistantly enjoyable than Drew and Mike, but he's way too willing to give into conspiracy theories, and he's far too cynical for my tastes.
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Goody Scrivener
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My dad kills restaurants. Every time he decides he really likes a place, it folds inside of 3 months. His record? 10 days. And it had only been open for a month when he ate there.
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vonk
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Any Clearchannel owned station is, by default, horrible. Morning shows, afternoon shows, late night shows, long stretches of music that you think is good, but oh no, it's not, it's canned music approved by thirty something boards that decide what is and is not appropriate for you to listend to. DJs don't write playlists anymore, they get them emailed from some jerkoff in a suit half a continent away, who I'm sure has a much better idea of what the local listeners want to hear. You don't request songs anymore, you request bands, because radio stations don't have records or whole albums anymore, they have, if you're lucky, six songs from the band you requested and they'll play one of those, thank you very much, and if you're not lucky they've got one song by your favorite band and you'll hear that song for the umpteenthousandth time. You ever notice that on the rock stations you only ever hear the same five led zep songs over and over again, yeah, that's cause that's all they have.

Listen to your public access radio! Support your local station! Listener supported radio gives you the music you want and the news that Clearchannel wouldn't dream of reporting! Houston/Galveston area: support KPFT! They have the largest collection of different music types on one station that I have ever heard, surely something to please even the most discriminating palates! Also, KTRU for your indie lovers and KTSU for all the jazz fans! There's good music out there and real disc jockies, not the preapproved soft music and profain shock jocks the big guys shove down your throat! Exclamation!

*steps off soap box*

The previous broadcast is an expression of the speaker's opinions only and do not represent the feelings or opinions of anyone else at all.

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Tante Shvester
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Not only don't they have the stuff I like at the store, and the stuff I like on the radio, they don't have the stuff I like on the ballot.

Whenever I throw my support behind a candidate -- even if it's a front runner -- that candidate goes belly up, dead in the water.

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Annie
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Also, whatever happened to apple fruit roll-ups?
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Liz B
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I hate morning talk (with one exception; see below). I like morning music. A new local station is one of the suit-generated audience-pleasing list-players, excoriated above by vonk. I agree with vonk BUT BUT BUT as a promotion they are playing 104 days of music commerical free. Most of the time they're playing something I like just fine or at least don't hate so I listen because IT IS A SONG. It shouldn't be so hard to find a SONG in the morning.
/rant

But I do like the Sports Junkies, a morning talk show in our area. As long as they're not talking about sports, that is. Mostly they don't. [Smile] When they're not, they're very funny.

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Synesthesia
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I don't like listening to folks talk in the morning.
It makes me want to silence them with loud music.

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The Reader
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The only morning show I listen to is local. I like it because the guys are funny and pretend to be stupid (they aren't), but get smart when they want to. They generally keep the content local as well. The best part is, they are popular, and have been for years, so Clear Channel can't cancel them for ratings. CC recently opted to not do that.

I'm not looking for something high-brow when I'm driving to work and then listening at work. I need the music and talk to keep me from losing my mind.

I know of plenty of people around here that absolutely hate them. I don't know why, but I suspect it is because they don't tell enough filthy jokes.

There was a radio station here that ran for about a year and a half. It played everything in rock n' roll, even disco and funk. It was great! It was replaced with an F.M. talk station a few months ago. Not even good talk, just the national shows that I have no interest in.

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RunningBear
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I must be spoiled. My favorite station only has one morning show, and it isn't awful. I would rather listen to music as a matter of course, but it doesn't suck. It is also a classic rock station, so they have managed to purchase just about everything. They have stuff I never would have guessed is available. And they have been around for over 25 years. Nice.
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RunningBear
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I must be spoiled. My favorite station only has one morning show, and it isn't awful. I would rather listen to music as a matter of course, but it doesn't suck. It is also a classic rock station, so they have managed to purchase just about everything. They have stuff I never would have guessed is available. And they have been around for over 25 years. Nice.

I just flipped it on, and what do I get?

Rolling Stones.

I am spoiled. Maybe you can't always get what you want, but sometimes, I get what I need.

That being great music.

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SteveRogers
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On the topic of food that gets discontinued, Pepsi Blue how I miss thee! Why did they have to take you away from me?
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Lyrhawn
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I thought Pepsi Blue was horrible.

I miss Crystal Pepsi. That was the stuff.

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The Pixiest
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What about Crystal Gravey?
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steven
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What about cookie dough sports drink?
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Annie
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quote:
I am spoiled. Maybe you can't always get what you want, but sometimes, I get what I need.
[ROFL]

And I fondly remember Crystal Pepsi. Those were my days when I was an American. Ahhh.... the memories.

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Amilia
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I miss AMC. They no longer play classic movies. And they now have commercials. But I could live with the commercials if they had kept the good movies. I think they need to change their name to Another Generic Movie Channel. They no longer deserve the title of American Movie Classics.

Surely I cannot be the only one who loves old movies.

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Risuena
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quote:
Originally posted by Amilia:
I miss AMC. They no longer play classic movies. And they now have commercials. But I could live with the commercials if they had kept the good movies. I think they need to change their name to Another Generic Movie Channel. They no longer deserve the title of American Movie Classics.

Surely I cannot be the only one who loves old movies.

You're not. That's why I watch TCM, well, when I have access to cable, that is. No commercials and actual classic movies. A much better channel.
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The Rabbit
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I'm gluten intolerant so I'm always on the look out for decent gluten free products. I've got a list of about 20 good ones that have completely disappeared from the market yet somehow those awful whole grain rice crackers that are worse than eating cardboard are still on the store shelves and Energy-Foods bread that tastes like sawdust is everywhere.
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Tante Shvester
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quote:
Originally posted by Amilia:
I miss AMC. They no longer play classic movies. And they now have commercials. But I could live with the commercials if they had kept the good movies. I think they need to change their name to Another Generic Movie Channel. They no longer deserve the title of American Movie Classics.

Surely I cannot be the only one who loves old movies.

Hate their new format. I watch TCM and the IFC channels for movies. I like the bit on TCM where the guy stands up before the movie and tells you about the movie you are about to see. And then after, he tells you about the movie you just saw. That's nice.

31 Days of Oscar has been a treat, too.

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SteveRogers
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quote:
Originally posted by Lyrhawn:
I thought Pepsi Blue was horrible.

BLASPHEMY!
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Zalmoxis
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Hatrack is not representative of popular culture. We're all broken.

I too kill restaurants.

And I am especially a sucker for dramedies and off-beat sitcoms and well-made, but not ponderous sci-fi or action/adventure -- all types of TV shows that tend not to do well. I'm just glad that The Office made it, 30 Rocks seems to be doing well and Scrubs had the run that it did.

The lovely thing is that although it sucks when a show gets cancelled, DVD editions make up some of the pain (e.g. Wonderfalls, Firefly, Freaks and Geeks).

Also: I'm ashamed to admit this but I think my favorite non-premium soda at the moment is cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper.

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The Reader
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Who misses Arrested Development? I do. Every time I catch an episode, I see something I missed, and it is always funny. We killed it. It should have been on HBO or something.
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Tara
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Wow, what does Spanish country sound like? [Wink]
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JLM
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I'm getting old. I listen to NPR most of the time.
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The Rabbit
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quote:
Originally posted by Zalmoxis:
[QB] Hatrack is not representative of popular culture. We're all broken.

That could be true, but my sense is that the correlation between success of products and how good people think they are is quite low.

Think about all those products out there that everyone agrees are awful.

There is this brand of brown rice crackers that you can always find in every stores section of gluten free products. Everyone agrees they are horrible. Everyone I know who has Celiac disease has tried them once and has never been able to finish a box. A few have gotten a second box as a gift and thrown them out. No one has ever finished a box of these crackers. I was at a Celiac gather where there were free sample boxes of various gluten free crackers and cookies. No one would take one a box of these crackers even when they were free. Yet some how, they're successful enough that they are still making them. At the same time I could point out a bunch of really tasty gluten free products that must have failed because they aren't made anymore.

These is a specialty market that I know well enough to know the products and a large number of people in the target audience. I'm sure if I knew the products and the targets for other goods as well, I'd find exactly the same thing. The correlation between whether most people like a product and whether or not its successful from a business stand point is simply non-existant.

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Lyrhawn
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quote:
Originally posted by SteveRogers:
quote:
Originally posted by Lyrhawn:
I thought Pepsi Blue was horrible.

BLASPHEMY!
If it makes you feel any better, I think it was better than the specialty Pepsi drinks that are out now.
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