Radio & TV Talk

By Blake

July 6, 2007 1:30 PM | Link to this

There is a misspelling in the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame link. It’s “Georgia” not “Georgie”.

By rocker

July 6, 2007 1:32 PM | Link to this

Don’t even get me started on this….it’s just the state of commercial radio today (target a narrow demographic group and play it safe). Thank god for my MP3s and XM!

By 70's teen

July 6, 2007 1:46 PM | Link to this

I was a teen in the 70’s and there were alot more songs than the ones they play over and over on 97.1. I try to listen to the station, but I get tired of hearing the same thing over and over. They need to pull out the actual albums and play some of the more obscure pieces too. What about Yes, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk, Steely Dan, Neil Young, etc…..

By Jessica

July 6, 2007 1:54 PM | Link to this

Yeah, I quit listening to the River long ago when I heard them play Robert Palmer’s Simply Irresistable. Since when are pop songs from the 80’s considered classic ROCK will you be playing a flock of seagulls next? I expect to here lame songs from Applebee’s commercials on B98.5, but a classic rock station? Come on. Oh, and program director for the River….variety is the spice of life. You have decades of music to play and yet you play the same songs over and over. Do you really think that people listen to the fresh content of “non-music stuff?” If I don’t hear a song that I can groove to, then I’m changing the station….and by changing the station I mean plugging in my ipod.

By Maria

July 6, 2007 1:55 PM | Link to this

And this is why I don’t even bother having The River on a preset anymore.

I’m in my late 20s and have my favorite classic rock songs on mp3. I can listen to them any time I want, so hearing them on the radio doesn’t feel particularly special. iPods have ruined that radio magic… I remember being 11 years old and having the luxury of hanging around by my boom box all day in the summer, hoping that Power 99 (!) would play my favorite song of the moment. I suppose The River is targeting the more casual listener who isn’t into music-on-demand technology.

Or maybe they’re just targeting dentists’ offices. My dentist has The River on all day. Glad I’ve never had to go there for any procedure longer than a cleaning.

By Erik from Atlanta

July 6, 2007 1:58 PM | Link to this

How lame!!! Playing the same classic pop/rock tunes over & over without expanding on the vast catalog of tunes. No wonder more & more people are going to MP3,I-Tunes,XM,Sirius etc.

By Kevin

July 6, 2007 2:00 PM | Link to this

Who told you The River was a classic rock station? Technically it is a Classic Hits station. The only reason you think it is classic rock is becaase there is no one else in the market that is playing rock that doesnt make your ears bleed, or make you look in the closet for a flannel shirt and sandals. Bringing radio back to it’s roots will require a massive boycott, and or switch to alternative mediums like Satellite radio, Internet radio, or just bringing your IPOD in the car. Video didnt kill the radio star, Clear Channel did.

By Rip N' Read

July 6, 2007 2:15 PM | Link to this

“The River” is dead! Long live “The River”. An oft repeated opinion that terrestial radio in Atlanta is worthless is exemplified by 97.1 “The River”. Program directors are stooges to corporate string pullers and have no influence. Atlanta radio is the worst in the country. The bandwidth would be better served for data not the garbage that passes for commercial radio. Too bad that FCC decency standards don’t include quality programing clauses.

By gttim

July 6, 2007 2:16 PM | Link to this

So what the heck does the program director do to earn his pay check if they don’t do anything or change up their play list? The station is running on auto pilot.

By JP

July 6, 2007 2:19 PM | Link to this

Eww.

By pedro

July 6, 2007 2:20 PM | Link to this

Why would you have a “program director” at the station if you haven’t: (1.) added or changed your playlist since last fall and (2.) haven’t done any specialty programming day / week in a year?

Of course it doesn’t matter to me - I’ve had XM for more than 2 1/2 years.

Musically, terestrial radio is so dead (at least in this town)!

By Lola

July 6, 2007 2:33 PM | Link to this

Talk radio (640, 750 and 920) are the only stations worth listening to anymore. Once the Regular Guys were fired, I was officially done listening to music stations in this town.

By andy

July 6, 2007 2:36 PM | Link to this

Since when is something over a year old “New”? I get the music, I just cant stand hearing over and over “The NEW 97 one The River”? Hey PD ya got guts admitting you dont do much.

By Mike

July 6, 2007 2:43 PM | Link to this

I can’t remember the last time I listened to the radio to hear music. It’s 80% commercials and DJ talk anyway from what I am told. Ever since I’ve been able to drive I’ve had an 8-track player, then a cassette player and now a cd player. I never listen to the radio, and I mean never.

By jss

July 6, 2007 2:50 PM | Link to this

The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive. The river is still repetitive.

By Bud

July 6, 2007 2:59 PM | Link to this

Sad. Sad. Sad. There is room in this 3 million person city for a 2nd classic rock station. The River is still getting higher ratings than DaveFM and Project961, though it dropped from a 4.3 to a 3.5 for period 2. A competing rock station with 500 or so songs could do well…and give us a break from “The Joker” (which I heard them play this morning on the way to work.)

By Lee

July 6, 2007 3:03 PM | Link to this

I try to catch a little of the RIVER each day but find myself switching back and forth to other formats. The River’s repetitiveness drives me up a wall, and theres nothing seemingly ever added to their playlist to break up the monotony. Furthermore, much of their playlist is geared toward hard rock and they don’t give much room to the softer classic hits. Any station that doesn’t play 1975’s “How Long (has this been Going On? ” by ACE is lacking in genre diversity !

By mayretter local

July 6, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this

WRFG 89.3 in the morning’s for Blues you can use, every weekday from 6-10am.

By Bud

July 6, 2007 3:10 PM | Link to this

Hmm…the population of Atlanta over the age of 12 is now up to 4,085,000…my bad.

By Danko

July 6, 2007 3:23 PM | Link to this

Is The Band less classic rock than Elton John?

By cjclaymore

July 6, 2007 3:26 PM | Link to this

I agree it’s at least time to change the promos…it’s not NEW anymore. This “news” should come as no surprise to anyone who listens to ANY radio stations in Atlanta. Must be pretty easy to be the programming director of a station that doesn’t change its programming. With literally DECADES of music to choose from that can be considered “classic”, why are only 325 songs chosen? Yawn. The only reason this station earns higher ratings is because they play fewer commercials.

By redtop

July 6, 2007 3:32 PM | Link to this

I was curious as to why The River seems to play the same old songs over and and over and over again. They could stand to steal a play list or two from the Classic Rock station in Macon. (107.something) Now they play classic rock the way it should be played!!

By Kathy

July 6, 2007 3:34 PM | Link to this

I’m glad to know I’m not the only listener who is bored with the River. I, too, am a 70’s teen, and I’ll never forget the excitement of discovering FM radio stations that played deep cuts. I have always loved radio for the unpredictability of not knowing what song I am going to hear next, and that means forget 97.1!

By ghost rider

July 6, 2007 3:37 PM | Link to this

I quit listening to the radio years ago…. Atlanta a major metropolitan city has probably the worse stations from which to choose (there are none) they are all the same! Hell! I’d rather listen to the farm report driving through rural Wyoming then the crap Atlanta denizens are regulated to!

By Bob

July 6, 2007 3:39 PM | Link to this

With more baby boomers than any other age group, why not 50s, 60s, 70s but with a LOT more variety than Cox had when they were running Fox 97.

By Pete

July 6, 2007 3:47 PM | Link to this

Isn’t it interesting that The River is promoting the Def Leppard/Styx/Foreigner concert in August at Hi-Fi Buys Ampitheater yet they never play Def Leppard or any hair bands from the 80’s for that matter. Some people, including myself, would love to hear some 80’s hair bands along with the stuff they are playing now. Of course, that would give the station a little more variety and we can’t have that now, can we?

By Up

July 6, 2007 3:50 PM | Link to this

Whatever floats their boat. I mean, if they are making money more power to ‘em. The only time I tune them in is between commercials on the talk radio stations. I’m in my 40’s and can’t understand why people my age quit listening to new music. I’m not talking about the dreck on The Buzz. Commercial music radio to me is dead.

By atl music

July 6, 2007 4:12 PM | Link to this

who are these people they survey?? where do they come from?? maybe we should kill them and they wont take another survey again….

By river listener

July 6, 2007 4:20 PM | Link to this

it is the only station i listen to when i turn the radio on. Most of the time i have a cd in. They play the music i prefer. i hate the project or whatever it is, hate 99x and really really hate country and rap. can’t stand star 94 in the afternoon so what does that leave but the River.

they do need to start looking at groups from the 60s and 70s and 80s and choose other songs, not just stick with the classic songs. Bob Seger had entire albums worthy of air time.

By Najeh Davenpoop

July 6, 2007 4:27 PM | Link to this

Maybe if y’all don’t like the River, we can have our 97.1 Jamz back?

By D's Nutz

July 6, 2007 4:31 PM | Link to this

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CHANGE THE LINEUP! I ACTUALLY SAT THROUGH THE WORST LOOP OF SONGS EVER AIRED RECENTLY… I WAS PAINTING THE INTERIOR OF MY HOUSE LAST WEEKEND, AND HEARD THE EAGLES’ TEQUILA SUNRISE 11 TIMES IN ONE WEEKEND! TWICE A DAY??? CHEA RITE! I LOVE THE CLASSICS, BUT I HAVE TO AGREE WITH SOME OTHER POSTERS HERE, USE THE SAME ALBUM, BUT CHANGE IT UP A LITTLE, THERE ARE MORE CLASSICS THAN JUST THE ONES THEY ARE PLAYING! DOES ANYBODY ELSE GET TIRED OF HEARING THE CALL TAG ALSO….?? 97 POINT 1 THE RIVERRRRRRRRRRRR…. OLD HAT! FIGURES ATLANTA WOULD BE LIKE THIS!

By bennett

July 6, 2007 4:40 PM | Link to this

who else are they going to play?the only good groups from the 70’s were the Rolling Stones,Led Zep,Eagles,Fleetwood Mac,the Doobies,Elton John,Steve Miller,and KISS,everything else in the 70’s sucked!The rest was either disco,sappy soft-pop groups like Captin and Tenelle,the Cartpenters,etc,teen idol groups like the Osmonds,Leif Garrett,David Cassidy,etc,or a bunch of one hit wonders like Peter Frampton!

By neal kelley

July 6, 2007 4:42 PM | Link to this

more like the dead sea…

By Mel in Midtown

July 6, 2007 4:45 PM | Link to this

C’mon Rodney! This surprises you? This is the basic Cox format that they’ve used on their music stations all over the country since the early 1990s. It was developed by Bob Neal, current president of Cox Radio when he was programming “Coast” in Tampa in the early 90s. It was his claim to fame and moved him up the Cox corporate ladder. These stations come out of nthe box strong, peak at about trhe third ratings period and then become hum-drum middle of the packers.

By Gram Parsons

July 6, 2007 4:47 PM | Link to this

Songs I’ll puke if I ever hear again (not that they’re bad, just extremely overplayed):

Hotel California (or anything else by the Eagles) Satisfaction Anything off Beatles Number 1s Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac

My list is much longer, but I’m at work…

The only thing I listen to above 92.1 are the Spanish stations. At least I haven’t heard those songs a million times. They’ve grown on me.

By Buck Naked

July 6, 2007 5:00 PM | Link to this

97.1?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thanks God for 103.7 in Athens. Good music, real variety. Everything from what’s currently hot (Modest Mouse, The Killers) to real classic rock (Stones, Petty, CCR). And every Friday from 7-10, the Big Rock Show which features nothing but 80’s hair bands. It’s the only terrestrial radio I can stomach. Everything else pretty much “creates a vacuum.”

By MG

July 6, 2007 5:15 PM | Link to this

The quote by the River’s PD speaks volumes! Talk about playing it safe. Obviously, music does not matter at the River. This is exactly why FM music radio is on life support in Atlanta. I have had XM for 3 years and with my I-pod on shuffle, who needs Atlanta radio?

By jungleland

July 6, 2007 5:16 PM | Link to this

I was at Lenny Subs on Saturday and heard all 5 of these songs in the same hour. Killer Queen is one of my all-time faves, so I was ok with it. They played The Cars, Boston, a few other things.

Good playlist, but c’mon guys! add another 325 songs…or better yet 325 new songs that still fit the format.

should I stop hoping that 96 Rock, Circa 1988 will come back?

By van sky

July 6, 2007 5:31 PM | Link to this

Repetiton - Listeners - Ratings = I.P.O.D. The first song played on 96ROCK in 1974 was Baba O’Reilly. What year was the River’s PD born? Keep spewing the pablum bud, we’ll keep listening to our own playlists thanks to Steve Jobs.

By Tom

July 6, 2007 5:39 PM | Link to this

Atlanta radio has been “dead air” since November 2006.

By Mike G.

July 6, 2007 5:53 PM | Link to this

It truly is a shame. There was a time when Atlanta had the best music on the East Coast, not to mention the southern states. But, over the last 10 years this has all changed. I could’nt tell you what’s on 97 because I went to Sirius Radio before it ever aired. Go to Sirius folks. (Ch. 14 Classic Vinyl) (Ch. 15 Classic Rewind) (Ch. 16 The Vault)(Ch. 19 Buzzsaw) (Ch.’s 6 & 7 are 60’s and 70’s)..I’m 52 years old, this is our music folks, Oh, and by the way, no commercials.

By Dr. Z

July 6, 2007 5:57 PM | Link to this

RIVER = BORING X 325 times Man does not live by Elton alone.

By Dave

July 7, 2007 6:15 AM | Link to this

We used to have a radio station that played the same songs in order for several days before changing them. At night the announcer only told the time. It was a computer that was in the engineering department of a local TV station and the song list was a digital disc that repeated for 4 hours until it was changed. There was a commercial disc that did the same thing and the computer switched between them. It was called an automated station and since there were no people involved in the broadcast it saved a lot of money. The Atlanta market has it’s own versions of this and The River is close to it.

By Tell it like it is

July 7, 2007 8:29 AM | Link to this

It was great when it came out. But it has gotten as old as the missionary position. Change it up. Too much Elton John…DO a couple of 80’s days.

By James

July 7, 2007 9:24 AM | Link to this

I had high hopes for the River but they play the same songs over and over. The songs they do weren’t that great. In 1970 I was 18 years old and a musician. I know what’s now called classic rock like the back of my hand. I can still play along with most of the songs. Anyway, they should let me program their station. I’d have their listeners back in a couple of days.

By Judy Gex

July 7, 2007 10:44 AM | Link to this

Do yourselves a favor and quit listening to the radio drivel. Get Sirius Satellite, and I guarantee you’ll never go back to the crap on regular radio stations. Can you say, “NO COMMERCIALS?”

By R

July 7, 2007 11:36 AM | Link to this

Im shocked not to find Supertramp in the top 5 because I swear every time I turn on the River they’re playing Supertramp. It must be in their contract to play them every hour.

To all the naysayers, I say- give them some time. Yes, land radio is getting their butts handed to them by XM/Sirius, but sometimes hearing a local station does something to a person. Im sure The River will add more songs. If they don’t, then we let them know even louder.

By R

July 7, 2007 11:37 AM | Link to this

Im shocked not to find Supertramp in the top 5 because I swear every time I turn on the River they’re playing Supertramp. It must be in their contract to play them every hour.

To all the naysayers, I say- give them some time. Yes, land radio is getting their butts handed to them by XM/Sirius, but sometimes hearing a local station does something to a person. Im sure The River will add more songs. If they don’t, then we let them know even louder.

And to Judy’s comment about Sirius, can you say “

By R

July 7, 2007 11:37 AM | Link to this

Im shocked not to find Supertramp in the top 5 because I swear every time I turn on the River they’re playing Supertramp. It must be in their contract to play them every hour.

To all the naysayers, I say- give them some time. Yes, land radio is getting their butts handed to them by XM/Sirius, but sometimes hearing a local station does something to a person. Im sure The River will add more songs. If they don’t, then we let them know even louder.

And to Judy’s comment about Sirius, can you say “

By R

July 7, 2007 11:38 AM | Link to this

Im shocked not to find Supertramp in the top 5 because I swear every time I turn on the River they’re playing Supertramp. It must be in their contract to play them every hour.

To all the naysayers, I say- give them some time. Yes, land radio is getting their butts handed to them by XM/Sirius, but sometimes hearing a local station does something to a person. Im sure The River will add more songs. If they don’t, then we let them know even louder.

And to Judy’s comment about Sirius, can you say “NOT EVERYONE CAN AFFORD AN XM/SIRIUS SYSTEM AND SUBSCRIPTION IN THEIR CARS?”

By DD

July 7, 2007 12:07 PM | Link to this

Repetitive music sucks. It still beats WSB and their like with their conservative slant programming.

By fer

July 7, 2007 12:14 PM | Link to this

The River is great for a few hours of running errands, jumping in and out of the car, or a physical therapy session, but if you listen to it all day around the house, you start hearing all the repetitions. The songs are great but another 325 would be good, and yet another 325 after that would be great!

By fer

July 7, 2007 12:14 PM | Link to this

The River is great for a few hours of running errands, jumping in and out of the car, or a physical therapy session, but if you listen to it all day around the house, you start hearing all the repetitions. The songs are great but another 325 would be good, and yet another 325 after that would be great!

By Ed R

July 7, 2007 3:01 PM | Link to this

Check out this Youtube commerical spoof. You can substitute 97.1 for this station.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VveZdp8OLh0

By Walter

July 7, 2007 4:26 PM | Link to this

325 songs? 325 songs??? I have more than 7x that much on my iPod and I get bored with THAT sometimes. Indeed, what the hell does that program director DO for a living? (It’s obvious the DJs don’t know anything either.) Lame, lame, lame.

Music for people who don’t care about music. Radio is dead, and good riddance to it.

By ChrisD

July 7, 2007 6:38 PM | Link to this

BTW, Def Leppard’s great in concert. I saw them in 1988, and I saw them in 2006. Sweet.

By donal

July 7, 2007 7:44 PM | Link to this

Shutup cry babies.

By kellix

July 7, 2007 7:53 PM | Link to this

Atlanta has always been this way, even before Z 93 made their switch and 96 rock made their switch. There are other songs that they have personally have killed that I will never listen to again willingly. How about Guns and Roses “Sweet Child of mine” or aerosmiths “Walk this way”. I have always hated Atlantas radio. Funny thing you go to some place like the Gulf coast. Panama City, Pensacola, and Destin. And their rock radio stations blow Atlantas away. I have heard songs there, that I haven’t heard in a long time, and it seems they don’t care about demographics. It shows you when you have about 6 radio stations competeting against each other instead of like the ones here do, the quality of the programming gets better. Go figure, you would figure a big city like Atlanta would have great radio, but beach cities blow it away. I have lived here all my 38 years and it always has ben that way. It’s like a stranglehold.

By Radio Listener With No Home

July 7, 2007 9:35 PM | Link to this

The River is the AOL of the atlanta music industry.

The people who really are regular and “harder core’ radio listeners (more than the one hour a day listener mentioned by Chris Miller) just get blandness and adequacy. Sick of it.

For example, neither River, nor any other station in Atlanta, plays AC/DC despite the fact that it is one of the BIGGEST selling rock bands in history. (though 96 still plays it once in a blue moon).

No faster paced ozzy (crazy train?), just no hard rock. These and other classic rock bands are avoided.

COME ON GUYS— HOW OFTEN DO I HAVE TO LISTEN TO BOSTON? I used to like them until this station overplayed them beyond belief. I simply grew sick of the station…

By Radio Listener With No Home

July 7, 2007 9:43 PM | Link to this

The River is the AOL of the atlanta music industry.

The people who really are regular and “harder core’ radio listeners (more than the one hour a day listener mentioned by Chris Miller) just get blandness and adequacy. Sick of it.

For example, River never plays AC/DC despite the fact that it is one of the BIGGEST selling rock bands in history. (and neither does any other station…though 96 still plays it once in a blue moon).

No faster paced ozzy (crazy train?), just no hard rock. These and other classic rock bands are avoided.

COME ON GUYS— HOW OFTEN DO I HAVE TO LISTEN TO BOSTON? I used to like them until this station overplayed them beyond belief. I simply grew sick of the station…

By Pen

July 7, 2007 9:59 PM | Link to this

325 songs is still better than “Good Times and (Eight) Oldies” station that Randy and Spiff use to be on. I swear they only had 25 songs on their playlist and I only liked 5 of them. The River will soon die now that they’ve been outed, unless they do something quick. I actually like the format, just take requests, have one-hit wonder day, do something to keep us from feeling like we are so stuck in the past that we cannot progress.

By Wally Ray

July 7, 2007 10:59 PM | Link to this

Broadcast radio is run by cowards programming for people ashamed to admit they’d prefer elevator music. Does anyone remember that whole ‘Rock Without Rules’ junk when Dave FM started? They settled really quickly into their own brand of boredom, samey jam bands and dreary singer-songwriters… is there anywhere rock is FUN anymore?

Yeah… on my iPod!

By Mark

July 7, 2007 11:13 PM | Link to this

Augusta has an identical station called “The Drive” and I wouldn’t be surprised if all their music was the same playlist fed from a computer somewhere. It seems totally corporate data driven like most of the radio stations these days.

By DD

July 7, 2007 11:28 PM | Link to this

“Augusta has an identical station called “The Drive” and I wouldn’t be surprised if all their music was the same playlist fed from a computer somewhere. It seems totally corporate data driven like most of the radio stations these days.”

Ditto for Birmingham, they have “The Fox” identical same crap as “The River.”

By Trudy

July 8, 2007 7:32 AM | Link to this

I’m like Lola, I listen to 750 in the morning and I don’t even like Boortz most of the time - but at least it is different every day and interesting to hear what the crazies have to say!! Try Walter Reeves in the AM on Saturday - he is good.

By Tom

July 8, 2007 8:06 AM | Link to this

Ed R…thanks for the link…still laughing! That commercial fits EVERY radio station in Atlanta, not just the “River”. And the “Clear Channel…we own everything!” was very appropriate!

By Tater

July 8, 2007 8:09 AM | Link to this

If I hear “the new 97.1 the river” one more time I think I’ll go crazy. For God’s sake, you are not new any longer. Re-image the station and add some “new” material.

By E=mc2

July 8, 2007 8:51 AM | Link to this

If I have to listen to terrestrial radio in Atlanta, I like the college station WRAS 88.5 FM “Album 88” for diversity. Other than that, it’s Internet “radio” for me. The best is WWW.RADIOPARADISE.COM. Commercial-free, nothing to download or register for, and FREE! Programmed by Bill Goldsmith, a REAL DJ from the early days of FM radio, it offers the most diverse playlist I have ever heard. Everything from Rock Classics to Classical. It truly is RADIO PARADISE. Fast 128 and 192 kbps streams are available for exceptional sound quality on high end computer speakers.

By Kitty

July 8, 2007 8:55 AM | Link to this

I stopped listening looooong time ago when every day for a week whenever I tuned the station, an Elton John song was on. I was beginning to beleive, HE owned part of the station…does he? What happend to the Doors? Moody Blues? Led Zeppelin ? Jeff Beck ? AC/DC??? Metallica? I love my cds…thankfully I have a damn good collection and dont need to listen to commercial radio.

By Susan

July 8, 2007 9:52 AM | Link to this

Try Magic 102.9 for some variety. You won’t hear the same song all day long.

By Lennie

July 8, 2007 9:53 AM | Link to this

Disclosure: I don’t like classic rock. That term is just a euphemism for overplayed brainwashwater for the masses of musically retarded consumers. But I do still love good music! In Atlanta, I prefer the NON-commercial radio choices: WRAS 88.5 is consistently progressive and interesting. Be sure to tune into the Georgia music show! I also like WREK from Ga Tech, and good old WRFG deserves our support, as well. They are truly home-grown. Having said that, I admit that I use internet radio more often now than the old crystal set. And yes, we can blame Clear Channel, and other corporate media giants for killing the radio star. And they’ve got their sights trained on Internet radio. Speak up!

By Kathy

July 8, 2007 10:06 AM | Link to this

The River has never been any good since day 1 in my opinion. I gave it a try after it took over Fox 97 but wasn’t impressed. I’ve tried it several times since then but it’s still no good. They haven’t improved it at all.

By McDonoughDawg

July 8, 2007 11:53 AM | Link to this

I’ve got classic rock playlists on my IPOD longer than their entire library. What a joke this station and ALL of the mainstream Atlanta stations are.

Give me a break…

By T. Sasscer

July 8, 2007 12:03 PM | Link to this

Used to be, way back when people were shorter and lived near the water, that the primal rhythms and adolescent energy of rock and roll was a liberating energy, an elixir of freedom from church, crew cuts, elbow-jerk reactions to the flag and gray flannel suits. Go east, young man, go west or north, but go, cat go. Now, that was a lot of fun, but over time, it became apparent that it didn’t take, at least not down deep, not with everyone.
Forward to the current era and we see so many people that have become their grandmothers. They do not go boldly into the new. In fact, they try to actively hinder the new, both within and without. Within, they listen to the soundtrack of their pimply pubescence almost exclusively, content for that fantasy to generate their feelings of love and happiness. Without, they angrily elect leaders who will retard the future, who view change as something to withhold from a street person’s outstretched hand. But not to blame the messenger. The River is merely a conduit, a merchant, a pusher, supplying the W sticker’s with the aural blinders they need to plow their SUV’s past the knowing stares of human beings. For the River, it is just business, and in our America, business is justification enough. There is some hope to the ending of our tale. Some people did finish high school. Some people had the immense good fortune to be raised by loving, intelligent parents. Some people traveled the world, either literally or in books, and got a glimpse of humanity. These people TURN THE DIAL, these people HAVE INQUIRING MINDS and they want to embrace what comes next. They hear the IGGY’s (Pop and Stravinsky), Bartok, Bad Brains, high lonesome mountain music and Fela’s dense jungle funk, Arvo Part’s northern atmospherics, Chinese jazz, Brazillian sex music, and even the Rolling Stones (although only up to Some Girls). These happy would no more listen to the RIVER than they would stifle their minds with meth,god, or BUSH.

Tim

By XM listener

July 8, 2007 2:07 PM | Link to this

My favorite radio station is from Houston of all places. Heard while I was there a few years back. Thank goodness for internet links. I had to get XM satellite radio for my long commute. I was going broke buying CDs. Now I have classical, jazz, rock and anything else you can think of at the push of a button. Atlanta radio sucks. Majorly sucks. I listen to the River about 10 minutes a week as I drive to the grocery store because I didn’t want to bring my XM radio with me. I don’t think I could stand more than that.

By Annier

July 8, 2007 3:41 PM | Link to this

River 97 was cool like the first 3 months it was in business, ever since then I could listen to my own cd collection and get more variety.

By Greghard

July 8, 2007 4:24 PM | Link to this

To Kevin & like-minded idiots: even when COX owns the Station, you blame it all on CLEAR CHANNEL! All CC had the balls & brains to do was to grab upon a very successful business model, running well with it since 1973. ATL radio has sucked for around 30 years; the bright spots are WCLK & WRFG, and it’s all downhill from there. Since the early ’60s, the most innovative programming has been on AM…WQXI’s pioneering early ’60s Top 40, nicely augmented by WFOM and WIIN leading into the ’70s. Damn near everything else was paid-preachers (still too heavily repped on the ATL dial), and the commercial FMers are way-gone All Formula, also consistently for the past thirty years. That’s just ATL, that’s just a quick-scan summary of what’s stinking up the dial. Radio’s problems are way too big to be universally blamed on Clear Channel. If Kevin cares to pull his head out of his ass, he can go to , and look up station ownership, under the call letters WSRV (spelled just like it sounds). Point being: last I heard, Cox IS NOT a division of Clear Channel!

By FM Fats

July 8, 2007 7:40 PM | Link to this

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a non-commercial station in this area that was a national force in grown-up music like Philly’s WXPN or WFUV in New York? A voice like Meg Griffin, Vin Scelsa, or Nic Hargrove? A playlist that would encompass the Decemberists, Bruce, and Lady Day? It’s not bloody likely, though. Thank heaven for Sirius Disorder.

By Leigh

July 8, 2007 8:28 PM | Link to this

I too enjoyed the River when it first came on but now I’m not as thrilled. I knew I heard a lot of the same songs over and over again but didn’t realize the info in this article. I have traveled a lot on business and unfortunately have driven to the other cities (or rented a car when I got there) and even cities in the Midwest have better stations than Atlanta has. I don’t understand how this large of a city can have such a crappy choice for radio. I am now listening to talk radio through the week and the River only on the weekends. Come on ya’all at the River put some new (old) songs on!

By jaxon

July 8, 2007 10:17 PM | Link to this

Ed R thanks for the http://youtube.com/watch?v=VveZdp8OLh0 link. It took me an hour to get back to Rodney and the AJC

By Braves Fan 79

July 8, 2007 10:55 PM | Link to this

i miss 96 rock!

By X24

July 9, 2007 8:52 AM | Link to this

I have lived in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, North Carolina and, for the past 20 years, Atlanta. Only North Carolina beats Atlanta in terms of bad FM radio. Here is just a sample of bands that you will never hear on Atlanta “rock” stations: The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash (pre Rock the Casbah), Joe Jackson, Jethro Tull, Ted Nugent, Iggy Pop, Traffic, Elvis Costello and many more. These are not esoteric names - they have probably sold more albums than Styx, Steppenwolf and all that other crap they play on Atl radio.

By Who's in charge here?

July 9, 2007 9:37 AM | Link to this

You won’t hear Rush either. And according to the River, the only song Paul McCartney ever recorded was “Maybe I’m Amazed.” Likewise, the only song Yes ever recorded was “Owner of a Lonely Heart.”

But hey, we still get multiple spins of Elton, Fleetwood, and the Eagles.

Give me 20 minutes, and I could give the River’s PD (now there’s an oxymoron) 325 new songs that would garner the same—or better—ratings.

By Mark Peoski

July 9, 2007 3:06 PM | Link to this

I HAVE WORKED IN ORLANDO RADIO FOR 10 YEARS AND IT IS ALL THE SAME. EVERYBODY IS A WANNA BE PROGRAMMER. EVEN I THINK I COULD MIX UP A PARTY WITH SOME TUNES.

I LIKE THE BOB NEIL COMMENTS FROM EARLIER AND THE GUY WHO WENT ALL POLITICAL DREAMY PASS THAT S** OVER HERE BABY!!!!!

DONT WORRY TV IS NEXT

By Greghard

July 10, 2007 3:11 AM | Link to this

For X24: Back in ‘73, ATL was one of Jethro Tull’s hottest markets. Joe Jackson used to play dates at the old Agora Ballroom, at the Georgian Terrace Hotel, circa ‘78. Ted Nugent tracks were pretty regularly heard on WQXI—790 AM—right around then. One year after that, we were lucky to hear plenty of Elvis Costello on 96 Rock and WRAS. Just thought you’d wanna know.

By Rodney Headed Ho

July 10, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this

It’s the dumbing down of America. Don’t force us to think, and soon we will be gullible enough to support more silly wars like the one in Iraq. Go back to bed America……Go back to bed.

By Just wondering

July 10, 2007 5:56 PM | Link to this

There are radio stations in Atlanta? Do they play anything besides country, hip-hop, or rap? Anything at all for the “boomers” who brought ROCK into being, who haven’t been planted in the ground and fertilizing grass yet? Sheesh! If it weren’t for “boomers”, we’d all be listnening to big band music from the 30’s and 40’s still. And, I do like my parent’s music, too.