Ten Years – One Show

Last week’s Backbeat Show marked the completion of ten years of being on the air at WUSC-FM in the 10AM – Noon (9AM – Noon when school is not in session) time slot on Monday Mornings.

The show started off in January 2010 as a Blues – Rock show and then in 2013 at the suggestion of the Director of Student Media, we switched over to the 50s & 60s Oldies format. That was something we could do under the station music policy that banned any top 40 music from the past 40 years. About that time Shakin’ Dave Aiken was closing out his “Sunday Night Grease” show on WOMG-FM that was about to switch to the Cumulus “NASH-FM” format. Dave started that show in the 80s over at WCOS-FM and then later to WOMG-FM when that station was doing oldies. Dave and I were laughing the other day about his “Sunday Night Grease” being the first Oldies show in the market and my “Backbeat Show” being the last, at least so far. Oldies are still kicking at several radio stations in the state but not in the Columbia market where most stations are owned by the corporate giants who do not view oldies as “relevant.”

In my humble opinion; oldies are still very relevant to a sizeable demographic with money to spend. But the corporations have not figured out how to sell advertising aimed at the 55+ crowd. Can’t you just hear the ad now; Tom Jones saying that back in the day, the ladies threw underwear and room keys on stage – these days it Ensure and Depends! Heck, it seems that every other ad on TV these days is about some prescription drug. Well the Oldies crowd is a big consumer of prescription drugs. There you go – radio sales managers – you’re welcome.

One of the features of both Dave’s and my shows is the strong dependence on requests. That is part of what I like to call the “50s, 60s and early 70s radio experience, along with high energy, high production value and lots of fun music. What I like to bring to the airwaves these days. It was so different! Dave and I were sharing the fact that if you did not put your voice or at least a production element such as a liner or a jingle between every two songs, you were fired. A far cry from today where you hear three or four songs mashed together and a spot break with a bunch of commercials every 15 minutes or so.

Another thing we loved was; “Walking up a record and hitting the post!” That means the DJ talks over the instrumental opening of a song, stopping at the very moment that the vocal starts. The record companies and artists loved that because it prevented kids from recording their songs on tape instead of purchasing them from the record store (another disappearing element of our youth). They wanted us to talk over the tail end of the record as well for the same reason. In fact many of the songs of the day ended with instrumental bridges between sung words in order to allow interaction between the music and the DJ. A skilled DJ could tell you the name and artist of the record that was ending, give you the time, temperature, the station call letters and the name and artist of the record starting while the music of the two songs actually touch (segue) underneath the chatter.

To me there is nothing more joyful that listening to a skilled DJ work live at his craft during a fast paced show.

Don’t even get me started on “voice tracking” where a DJ records “live“ breaks for a show that are then played by the automation system at the appropriate time. He or she may announce the name of the songs and give the time, they may even “hit the post” but it sounds wrong. Listen closely, a live DJ will pace his or her delivery to the beat of the music. A “voice tracked” DJ’s patter will be off rhythm to the music. That sounds like dragging fingernails across a blackboard to me. Hmmm, do we even have blackboards anymore?

Sadly, I think the millennials will be the last generation have a chance to experience that. The sun is setting on live radio DJs because it is far less expensive to load up an automation system with music, commercials, jingles, liners and voice tracks and let it rip than it is to pay a professional to spin tunes and actually entertain the audience. And that, my friends, is why many of the radio broadcast corporations are in the red today.

So tomorrow morning, I’ll punch off the alarm, shave, get dressed, wolf down some toast and coffee and head out to WUSC-FM. I may not have the same spring in my step as the first time I walked in there over 56 years ago, but I have the same happy feeling of doing something that I love. See you on the airwaves – bring your requests. Oh MY!