"Nickname unavailable" wrote in message
...
On Jul 12, 9:10 am, dave wrote:
David Eduardo wrote:

The idea that there are musicologist-type DJs rummaging through
thousands of records is a myth, and in the few cases such exists or has
existed, most have failed.

Myth? How so? Community stations have such programmers to this day.
When I was in Top 40 (50 actually) radio in the '60s we were told where
to choose the next record from, e.g. top 10 current out of the top of
the hour ID; power oldie out of news headlines, etc. We were never
told to play a specific song at a specific time.

We had music meetings where we auditioned new records and informally
voted on them. We discovered and broke new acts. Our musical knowledge
and opinion was valued.

I blame Lee Abrams more than Ron Jacobs.

thank you for your statement. its what i saw as a kid also.

Of course the statement is untrue. Playlists, based on consumer feedback,
were shortened going back nearly 20 years before Abrams developed his
successful format at WQDR in Raleigh.

As for proof, Abram's SuperStars(c) format was contracted all over the US,
where it rapidly decimated the remaining free form stations that ran under
the label of "progressive rock."

the
truth, its refreshing. back in the 60's, in my area, garage bands were
the thing. my local radio exposed them, and many went national,
remember the trashmen and surfer bird, the gentrys "keep on dancing"
the castaways 'liar liar", today, they would never get heard.

The eqivalent songs would get played today... adding music is a pure
emotional call, verified only weeks later by research. Most program
directors are blind to label... we look at the aritst, obviously giving
prefernce to the new song by the biggest acts and the newer acts with a few
consistent hits under their belts. Then, just as in the 50's and 60's we
look for good songs by unknowns.

No PD in the 60's would have postponed adding a new Beatles or Stones or
Supremes cut to play the Castaways chanting "Liar, Liar, you're pants are on
fire..." But enough of the new songs get played that we have a nice crop of
newcomers in country, CHR, Urban, and every other format that plays an
amount of current music.