Whaddya know!

I found the hard copy of the piece I wrote for Don Barrett's "LA Radio" website, back in June, 2000. I've transcribed the hard copy to a word processing program for easy transfer to this blog. I'll run it in a day or two.

I'll publish it, and some of the emails I received following the piece. I even heard from some of the people I worked with back in the late 60's and 70's.

Although written eight years ago, it is still relevant today. Radio in general sucks; and LA radio sucks in particular. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, is doing anything new and creative in radio broadcasting today. It's become a vast wasteland of automation, voice tracking, and repetitions beyond belief. (Lately, I've heard some of the jokes I heard as a kid growing up.)

Radio is losing listeners by the multitudes, some in thanks to iPods, and others are migrating to television and video (where it's getting to be as boring as radio). Radio is loaded with "yes" men, afraid of losing their plush jobs if they should think of something different. Radio is being run by surveys, polls, ratings, and whatever paperwork comes across the paths of programmers.

One of the people seeming to break the mold is Larry Miller of Sit 'n' Sleep mattress stores. "If I can't beat the advertised price, your mattress is FREE!!!" Larry's innovative way of selling mattresses is one for the books. He and his "accountant" Irwin come up with fast, easy to understand and humorous commercials. ("You're killing me, Larry.")

Aside from Sit 'n' Sleep ads, radio is boring, run by corporations loaded with greed. The only reason for programming is to separate the commercials (spots). If it wasn't for the Internet and my iPod, I'd have nothing to listen to.