Radio around here has gone from Top 40 to Top 7

[StarHalo]

Should also mention: If your interest is just music and not necessarily radio, don't forget the Spotify service - several million albums in their library you can listen to for free with a few ads, add $5 to remove the ads, add $10 to listen on your cellphone. Their selection has a few holes in it, but there's lots of oldies and classics in there too, I'm often surprised (I haven't found a Johnny Cash song that it doesn't know yet..)

 

[Echo63]

I don't listen to the radio at home, when I am in the car I listen to my iPod, either my music, or a Podcast.

I do occasionally listen to one of the local AM news stations if I am heading to a big news job (I'm a photojournalist)

 

[budynabuick]

As others have alluded to, web radio is where it's at, specifically the Internet broadcasts of those smaller terrestrial/"regular" over-the-air stations that aren't interested in the corporate playlist. Head over to TuneIn Radio to listen to almost every radio station worldwide for free, see what you've been missing; if you're reading this, you already have everything that's needed to listen in.

I"m heading over there rigt now. Thanks for the heads up.

Keith

 

[StarHalo]

I"m heading over there rigt now. Thanks for the heads up.

Some of the highlights I've stumbled upon thus far, bearing in mind that I almost never listen to the same genre for very long:

City 101.6 Dubai, Hindi pop
KKNE 940 Honolulu, traditional Hawaiian
KPFA (on the weekends), blues, jazz
KCRW Eclectic24, modern alt
KXXX Country
Vibe of Vegas, dance

 

[budynabuick]

Some of the highlights I've stumbled upon thus far, bearing in mind that I almost never listen to the same genre for very long:

City 101.6 Dubai, Hindi pop
KKNE 940 Honolulu, traditional Hawaiian
KPFA (on the weekends), blues, jazz
KCRW Eclectic24, modern alt
KXXX Country
Vibe of Vegas, dance

Interesting mix. I switch genres as well. Country, blues, rock, Love Motown, doo wop, most oldies, ETC. When I travel I"ll be all over the radio dial. Not familiar with Vibe of Vegas, Dubai, Hindi pop. I will have to check-em out. I feel one cheats oneself by restricting their music with one genre. I concur that most radio offerings are repetitive & bland! I only listen to radio in my van...at home it is comcast & you-tube for the wide variety of offerings.

Keith

 

[Cyclops942]

Interesting mix. I switch genres as well. Country, blues, rock, Love Motown, doo wop, most oldies, ETC. When I travel I"ll be all over the radio dial. Not familiar with Vibe of Vegas, Dubai, Hindi pop. I will have to check-em out. I feel one cheats oneself by restricting their music with one genre. I concur that most radio offerings are repetitive & bland! I only listen to radio in my van...at home it is comcast & you-tube for the wide variety of offerings.

Keith

I just want Dr. Demento.

 

[StarHalo]

doo wop

There's one terrestrial doo wop show that I know of, the very good Rhapsody In Black on KPFA, Friday nights from 8-10PM pacific; aside from that, there's the 24/7 web radio station DooWop (one word) Cafe.

 

[StarHalo]

It's a music-filled day for you TuneIn/web radio listeners today; at noon (thirty minutes from now), Berkeley's own KPFA will feature the Blues By The Bay program, two hours of nonstop blues from any and all eras. At two begins the Forms And Feelings show, jazz, jazz, and more jazz. Then at five, switching over to the opposite coast on WNYC, The Danny Stiles Music Museum will be playing hit and notable records and Edisons from the 20's through the 50's. Fun stuff!

Edit: And as an added bonus, Folksong Festival (immediately following Danny Stiles) is playing the entirety of the episode of their show from Mother's Day 1956! Heck of a day for music!

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

For the better part of 30 years I drove > 100 miles a day. I love music, but after hearing the same songs day-in day-out yeah, pretty thin. I turned to talk radio for a few years, but now, no longer driving all day, I enjoy time behind the wheel to myself. I find it's a great place to turn off the distractions and have some think time.

Music at home is from my CD collection ripped to the computer, lots of different play lists depending on what the situation calls for. I also enjoy YouTube for exploring new artists.

Great thread, thanks for the info.........I now return you to your normal broadcast station......

~ Chance

TTK

 

[StarHalo]

Necro-bumping this good thread to see if everyone is still struggling to find good radio or if you're all listening to Spotify now..

 

[bykfixer]

For the better part of 30 years I drove > 100 miles a day. I love music, but after hearing the same songs day-in day-out yeah, pretty thin. I turned to talk radio for a few years, but now, no longer driving all day, I enjoy time behind the wheel to myself. I find it's a great place to turn off the distractions and have some think time.

Music at home is from my CD collection ripped to the computer, lots of different play lists depending on what the situation calls for. I also enjoy YouTube for exploring new artists.

Great thread, thanks for the info.........I now return you to your normal broadcast station......

~ Chance

TTK

I listen to college radio when I am near a campus. And a company in Charlottseville owns several towers throughout my state that pump out 'progressive' music from 20k watt antennas. Easy to pick up in many areas outside of the Metropoli' areas, but not in the really, really far reaches.

Back in the late 90's a few good stations popped up but got quickly gobbled up by larger entities looking for a quick buck. Ruined!,Ugh!!
Well a buddy and I while liquored up one night talked about buying a nearby FM tower that was for sale. It was a former jazz music station that had ceased broadcasting. Coulda got it for $10 grand. There were fees and licenses required. Next day he got with another friend who's auto repair business had begun exploding like an atomic bomb and he was looking for ways to invest some of the profit. Now this guy was happy hearing Stairway to Heaven twice a day but he also knew a progressive music station was an upcoming IBM/WalMart type of investment. He was willing to put out up to $100 grand for 60% of the profit. My drunken buddy and I just wanted to run it a few months, sell it and move to the beach and cook in restaurants when not surfing.

Trouble was we could not agree on the first song. We both agreed it would be a Ramones song. He insisted it would be Blitzkrieg Bop while I insisted on the Spiderman theme.

We ended up getting in a fist fight, didn't speak for weeks while the 3rd guy said "you 2 idiots can't agree on a song howthehell you going to run a business?"...and a country music radio corparation ended up buying it. lol

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Around the fall of 2005 I became fascinated by FM tuners and have tried over 30 of them, both stock and modified.

My latest (and greatest?) acquisition is the vaunted Sansui TU-X1.

Unfortunately, as this thread points out, there is little worth listening to on commercial stations, so a good FM antenna is a must.

For more info than you can believe on this topic, head on over here; I have corresponded with many of the members over the years and learned a whole heck of a lot; looking back, I wish I had just saved my dollars and went straight for one of the "Big Boys." Like CPF, it's a (relatively) small, tight-knit group, and there are experts in the field who really know their stuff. Given that winter was my preferred listening season, maybe I should fire up the old TU-X1 and give her a listen, even though I do believe she needs some work/refurbishment.

For a fun read, be sure to check out the "Shootouts" here; it took me over a decade to score my TU-X1 for what I felt was a reasonable price, and while it is good, it isn't that much better than the rest to warrant the cost unless you are seriously into the hobby.