Spirit of Radio BBS

What alternative should be:

1 Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand
2 Modest Mouse Good News For People Who Love Bad News
3 TV On The Radio Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
4 Wilco A Ghost Is Born
5 The Arcade Fire Funeral
6 The Futureheads The Futureheads
7 Ted Leo / Pharmacists Shake The Sheets
8 Pinback Summer In Abaddon
9 Morrissey You Are The Quarry
10 Interpol Antics
11 The Killers Hot Fuss
12 Sonic Youth Sonic Nurse
13 Keane Hopes And Fears
14 Rilo Kiley More Adventurous
15 Secret Machines Now Here Is Nowhere
16 Jem Finally Woken
17 The Concretes The Concretes
18 Elliott Smith From A Basement On The Hill
19 Air Talkie Walkie
20 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus
21 Pixies "Bam Thwok" single
22 The Fall The Real New Fall LP
23 Ash Meltdown
24 The Cure The Cure
25 The Twilight Singers She Loves You
26 U2 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
27 The Black Keys Rubber Factory
28 Snow Patrol Final Straw
29 Phoenix Alphabetical
30 Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose
31 Belle & Sebastian Books EP
32 The Ponys Laced With Romance
33 Bjork Medulla
34 Guided By Voices Half Smiles Of The Decomposed
35 The Delgados Universal Audio
36 The Dears No Cities Left
37 The Beta Band Heroes To Zeros
38 Elvis Costello And The Imposters The Delivery Man
39 The Hives Tyrannosaurus Hives
40 Delays Faded Seaside Glamour
41 Earlimart Treble & Tremble
42 The Whole Fantastic World Chime!
43 McLusky The Difference Between Me And You Is That I'm Not On Fire
44 The Walkmen Bows + Arrows
45 Beastie Boys To The 5 Boroughs
46 Toots And The Maytals True Love
47 The Streets A Grand Don't Come For Free
48 West Indian Girl West Indian Girl
49 Forget Cassettes Instruments Of Action
50 PJ Harvey Uh Huh Her
51 Sondre Lerche Two Way Monologue
52 The Libertines The Libertines
53 Robbers On High Street Fine Lines EP
54 Drive-By Truckers The Dirty South
55 Stereolab Margerine Eclipse
56 The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat
57 Hope Of The States The Lost Riots
58 White Mud Free Way Last Year's Junk
59 Astral Orchids
60 Rogue Wave Out Of The Shadow
61 Zero 7 When It Falls
62 Graham Coxon Happiness In Magazines
63 Tegan And Sara So Jealous
64 + / - You Are Here
65 Joseph Arthur Our Shadows Will Remain
66 Autolux Future Perfect
67 Le Tigre This Island
68 Matt Pond PA Emblems
69 !!! Louden Up Now
70 Martina Topley-Bird Quixotic
71 Muse Absolution
72 Radio 4 Stealing Of A Nation
73 John Vanderslice Cellar Door
74 Blonde Redhead Misery Is A Butterfly
75 Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters
76 The Roots The Tipping Point
77 Gomez Split The Difference
78 Tom Waits Real Gone
79 VHS Or Beta Night On Fire
80 William Shatner Has Been
81 Bloc Party Bloc Party EP
82 RJD2 Since We Last Spoke
83 The Shins Chutes Too Narrow
84 Luna Rendezvous
85 American Music Club Love Songs For Patriots
86 The National Cherry Tree EP
87 Blues Explosion Damage
88 Faithless No Roots
89 Belle & Sebastian Dear Catastrophe Waitress
90 Mark Lanegan Band Bubblegum
91 Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros Streetcore
92 Lali Puna Faking The Books
93 The Icarus Line Penance Soiree
94 Johnny Cash Unearthed
95 Paul Weller Studio 150
96 Ambulance Ltd. LP
97 Palomar Palomar III: Revenge Of Palomar

WOW, YOU HAVE A LOT OF TIME ON YOUR HANDS.

Yeah, but it looks like it's being put to good use in providing some insight to that which is not rotated to death on the airwaves, for the benefit of other board members instead of continuing the pointless sniping about how stupid other posters may be, or how nothing is the same 20 some odd years down the road.

A few months ago, I had the chance to have a chat with an ex-staff member who was on air during the 'spirit' days of cfny and I was asked to which stations I am currently listening.
It wasn't until I responded with 'cfrb' that I truly realized how sad the current state of radio truly is compared to what we enjoyed back in those halcyon days of the late 70's to mid-80's, and how fortunate we were..... but you try to tell that to the young people today....

The current CFNY is nothing more than a glorified Top 40 station. You are right A. Nonymouse, the current state of radio is beyond sad.

VectorX - Thanks for the support.

The sad thing is that radio is and has always been a numbers game. The owners aren't interested in providing exposure for anything unless they can draw in advertisers to pay the bills and to generate a profit. It's a business, nothing more and nothing less.

As a program director, you're only as good as your last ratings period. You can be a hero one month and a piece of sh*t the next.

As listeners, we were fortunate to have David Marsden as a believer who understood that with the right approach and promotion, it was possible to provide an alternative to the "charts" and to create a chart profile that was unique to the station.

We got to hear and enjoy a lot of music months before it broke in the mainstream and was then over-played beyond redemption by the old guard.

It was rated based on whether you wanted to hear it again or not... it was that simple.

The 'politics' (sexual or otherwise) of various artists was never a concern (and nor should it have been) as to the actual musical integrity of the music that was introduced to us by Ivar Hamilton, Eddie Valiquette, David Marsden, Lee Carter, et al.

The other difference is that 20 years ago, life had a slower pace to it and you had time where you could actually listen to the station and the jocks for extended periods, because the music was new and exciting and the announce breaks were informed, enlightening and often hilarious.

Today, the radio is background at best while we scurry about to complete our tasks.

Which is not to say that there isn't a huge assortment of music out there that's just waiting to be heard, but it does not have the forum that it once enjoyed by listeners of cfny, WLBJ-FM in Detroit, and a few others.

The closest thing I've found these days is the NPR station from Detroit (wdet-fm) and BBC Radio 6 for new music. Also, flashbackalternatives.com is a fave for retro.

The reality is that the station has to reflect the changes in the times and that they have to try to position themselves so that they can remain profitable and continue to issue paycheques to their staff.


If you don't like what they're doing, don't listen. It will show in their ratings and then the pressure will be on them to make changes to reclaim their listener base.

The songs of popular music are no longer reflective of social change as they were in the 60's(yes, I'm that old), 70's and early 80's

Perhaps this is cyclical and in another few years there will be an insurgence of music that is different, that will challenge the listener, and we'll have something that will set itself apart from the current offerings on the airwaves.... but I'm not holding my breath.

Here endeth the rant.

Time matters:

The post took about 20 seconds to compose using cut 'n paste. It certainly highlights the inadequacy of the music on 102.1 at present.

"The other difference is that 20 years ago, life had a slower pace to it and you had time where you could actually listen to the station and the jocks for extended periods, because the music was new and exciting and the announce breaks were informed, enlightening and often hilarious."

Technology has helped to create the situation. I started listening to CFNY on my car radio and had to fiddle with the dial to get adequate reception. Back then we only had five presets and they didn't work that well. Just like with tv before the remote, it required effort to tune into a new station, so listeners and viewers would give the program more time. Now it's a constant stream of instant gratification.

Even poor reception of a great station is better than clear reception of one that is mundane.

Well said. We were extremely lucky to have had The Spirit. As for http://www.flashbackalternatives.com/ it is by far the best retro 80s station on the internet. Many of The Spirit of Radio exclusives can be requested there.

I listened to WOXY....it's Great!!!

First off, WOXY is freakin' fantastic. I think everyone on this board should be listening www.woxy.com

Secondly...

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The reality is that the station has to reflect the changes in the times and that they have to try to position themselves so that they can remain profitable and continue to issue paycheques to their staff.
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I don't agree with this. CFNY was a profitable station in the day. Here's the issue that PDs and Station Managers ask themselves...do we want a relatively profitable station that's truly alternative? Or do we want a super profitable mainstream station that will appease our shareholders? That's the difference between what CFNY was and what The Edge is.

WOXY is great. Notice that a Canadian indie band is #5. How does The Arcade Fire become the hottest Canadian indie band in the U.S. and never, ever, ever get even mentioned on The Edge. It's kinda creeping me out.

The Edge is nothing more than a glorified Top 40 station. The only people who think it's any good are themselves. It is absolutely amazing how a Canadian Indie band is better known in the U.S. than here in Canada. This would have never been the case in CFNY's days. WOXY is amazing....

The Edge actually played The Arcade Fire today....maybe someone's reading this stuff. The Edge still stinks though...

Typical edge...wait until everyone else has discovered and praised an indie artist, then play it when it's safe. CFNY used to be the musical trend-setter, now they just watch and follow.