Down on “The Boulevard”

Boulevard.jpg

David Cantwell writes:

A while back I emailed a version of the following letter to Kansas City’s newest radio station, and thought some of you might be interested in discussing the points it raises.

Dear “The Boulevard,”

I’ve heard quite a bit of good stuff on the Boulevard 99.7 FM since it replaced KYYS several weeks ago. Just as often, however, I feel condescended to by your incessantly stated missions of playing 1) “the artists that matter,” 2) “quality rock,” 3) “radio without boundaries,” and 4) “the full spectrum of music.” 

Even the most casual music fan can’t fail to notice that the full spectrum of music—even if we limit ourselves to the rock and roll era; hell, even if we limit ourselves to the post-Beatles/Dylan rock era–would necessarily include not only music from the 70s, 80s, 90s and now but from at least the 60s and probably the 50s, as well. What really rankles, though, is the unexamined classist and racist assumptions that apparently have gone into deciding who is an artist who matters and what defines “quality rock” in the first place.

In some ways, the Boulevard recalls to the type of variety that KY exhibited when it began in the 70s—the return of artists like Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison and Jackson Browne, Rickie Lee Jones, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, the Police, Dire Straits, etc to the Kansas City airwaves is appreciated. But with the welcome additions have come as many deletions—where’s the REO, Foreigner, Boston, Styx, ELO, Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and southern rock generally, where’s Billy Squire (his provided the last track ever played on KY) and Bob Seger and Van Halen, etc etc. etc. Leaving out blue-collar rockers, while reinserting their more college-grad approved contemporaries, signals that the shift in programming has nothing to do with providing a full spectrum and everything to do with also courting a middle class demo while offering a big “Fuck you!” to KY’s predominately working-class audience. Their now missing rock favorites don’t qualify as quality rock, apparently, nor do their pocket books.

Well, of course. Everyone’s after an upwardly mobile, college-educated clientele. I’m not sure how much sense it makes, however, in the long run. After all, fewer people, especially fewer college-educated middle class people who are the ones using iPods, streaming audio and listening to satellite radio–are listening to old-school FM radio. While working class listeners, who I’m assuming are the least likely to be wired and are therefore the most likely to listen to stations like the Boulevard, find their music shit-canned. So much for the full spectrum… 

Which brings me to the most expected but also the most troubling aspect of your formatting choices: Where are the black people? I mean, who aren’t named Jimi? I imagine some would say, well, it’s a ROCK station, so black music is necessarily excluded. But that’s an example of the unexamined racialism I’m talking about—after all, there is no aesthetic justification for including, say, Joe Cocker and Randy Newman but not Ray Charles. No sense in programming Stevie Ray Vaughan but not Son Seals or Albert Collins. No reason you can spin “Golden Years” by David Bowie or certain tracks by Hall and Oates or Elton John but not the 70s soul music those records copy. No sense, either, in playing blue-eyed soul acts like Steve Winwood, Blood Sweat & Tears, Van Morrison, and on and on while not playing their brown-eyed inspirations and contemporaries. You can even play disco—but only as long as it’s by Rod Stewart or the Rolling Stones. Hell, you guys aren’t even playing Prince, Living Color, Lenny Kravitz, or Stevie Wonder. I understand that this kind of segregated programming has been par for the American radio course for…for forever? But it’s still bullshit.

*****

I didn’t expect a response to my letter and haven’t gotten one. And, honestly, I’m not sure even I would really want a station to play the FULL spectrum of music, mixing in Mozart, Gregorian chants,and the Barney soundtrack along with the obvious rock staples. Maybe nobody does, really. The type of music we listen to, and the type we make it a point to let others know that we don’t listen to, is one of the ways we express our identities to the world, a way we signal to others that we are this kind of person and not (horrors!) that kind. What we usually downplay as merely personal aesthetics always come with loads of political implications. We had to learn to like what we like, after all, and these self-segregating lessons naturally mirror a society already segregated by race and class. 

What I’m wondering is this: Do you any of you know of stations—old-school or online—that really do play a full spectrum of American popular music, more or less all mixed up together, including the full spectrum not only of eras but genres, and doing it all day long rather than splitting it up into hour-long slots here and there throughout the week? I mean, where is the radio station equivalent of, say, my colleague Charles Hughes’ iTunes? Where is the station that sounds like America?

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16 Responses to “Down on “The Boulevard””

  1. steve Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 2:18 am

    Here in northern Delaware, many of us listen to WXPN, the University of Pennsylvania’s radio station. But they are far from what I think of as college radio, even in a big city like Philly. They have a $5 million dollar budget, for one. And a revolving door of mid-level artists who visit their station.

    Their music ~is~ wide open in many ways. You can hear Nina Simone. You can hear Graham Parker (the only place I ever have, outside my own record player). You can hear Arcade Fire, Feist, Marley, the Clash, and really, a whole bunch of shit.
    But the other day, I was thinking about Tom Petty, and how he maintained radio airplay for a pretty long time past his considered contemporaries. XPN plays him, too. And Springsteen and Mellencamp. But no fucking Seger. And this is a guy who can write better than two-thirds of that little group, and sing better than any of ‘em. I mean, how do you justify that?

    XPN more or less invented the Adult Alternative format. The World Cafe show (heard on an NPR station near you) is produced there. I think you hit it square when you say it’s very class, or at least, education biased. How can you play the Sex Pistols and not Black Sabbath? Or a live version of Train doing “Dream On,” but not Aerosmith’s superior original?
    Really snobby, and self congratulatory. And yet, I like a lot of the music.

    Sorry this is unfocused, and maybe not even pertinent. I ponder it a bit. The station I like to hate and hate to like.

  2. Roy Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 4:02 am

    While I’m not sure what you mean by “more or less all mixed up together” and “doing it all day long rather than splitting it up into hour-long slots here and there throughout the week,” I’d say KDHX 88.1 FM in St. Louis (www.kdhx.org) comes very, very close to “sounding like America.”

  3. CG Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 4:27 am

    WFMU.org in Jersey City NJ
    91.1 FM in NYC area

  4. David Cantwell Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    I almost mentioned KDHX, where Roy has a great show called Feel Like Going Home and where John Wendland has another program entitled Memphis to Manchester (see links at right). it is a great radio station. Ditto for KEXP in Seattle, which plays a tremendously wide variety of music. But as good as those shows are, they don’t do what I’m wondering about: Do any stations play jazz in all its permutations, rap, country in all its forms, soul, gospel, reggae, metal, punk, new wave, alternative, latino, good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll, classic rock, AOR, adult contemporary, easy listening, the blues, and so on…and play them all together rather than having a blues program in this slot and a jazz one there, and maybe a hip hop show over there. A station–or even just a program–where you might regularly here Armstrong, Metallica, Costello, Gaye, Muddy, Haggard, Monroe, Rodgers, Jolsen, Coltrane, PE, Rhiannon, Mahalia, Sinatra, Guthrie, Robeson, Gershwin, Dylan, and, well, you get my point…all back to back to back…like my iTunes playing on “party” mode. Surely there has to be at least one station or program that does it, what with the explosion of online and satellite radio…

  5. Spencer Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 6:36 pm

    You’re dreaming David. Unless we start our own station - there ain’t anything close out there. KDHX and the community stations of the world are playing the most diverse artists. Those radio stations are like libraries - or DJ’s that are educated about what they play.

    Commercial radio is fucked. It’s been for a long time. And by the way, how much more REO, Foreigner, Boston, Styx, Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Billy Squier do we have to hear? Shit, you can find that stuff all over the radio dial…

  6. Roy Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 7:12 pm

    I think you’re asking a rather narrow question, David. But to answer: at least two shows on KDHX, Sound Salvation by Steve Pick and The Underworld by Doug Morgan, regularly play jazz, rap, country, soul, gospel, reggae, metal, punk, new wave, alternative, latino, good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll, classic rock, AOR, adult contemporary, and the blues–and do so, as much as possible, within a 2 hour framework. No, not every week will they play all those genres, but over the course of a few months, sure, they will.

    Now, you’ll notice that I altered a few of your concerns: “jazz in all its permutations,” “country in all its forms,” and “easy listening.” I left those out because 1) I’m not really sure I know what you mean (does Van Morrison count as “easy listening”? if so, go ahead and add that to the genre list; and 2) I don’t think all these very specific genre requirements are relevant to the general point you’re raising. All DJs at KDHX have blind spots–I know I have mind. But if you take a wide view of the station, listening to it over the course of an entire week–and get beyond hang-ups about how many of the shows are genre-specific, as that’s a necessity of the volunteer nature of the station, not a result of aesthetic or philosophy–you’ll hear, I’d wager, A GREATER variety of music than even the mightiest of mighty iTunes libraries on party mode for a year would play.

    In other words, I think you’re drawing distinctions that are too fine to ever be met by reality–unless that reality were programmed by you. :)

  7. Chris Manson Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 7:19 pm

    I’m sure I’m not the only person on Earth who likes Burial, Chamillionaire, Elvis, John Anderson, Sonny Rollins, etc.etc.

  8. Spencer Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 7:29 pm

    Maybe you guys have seen this - maybe not. Here’s a link to Little Steven’s 2005 keynote address to radio programmers.

    I couldn’t sum it up any better!
    http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/10/little_steven_v.html

    hope the link works.

  9. Spencer Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 7:41 pm

    Disregard that last link since it doesn’t have Little Steven’s complete transcript.

    Here it is: http://www.dustbury.com/archives/004905.html

  10. David Cantwell Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 10:02 pm

    I’m not sure I’m expressing myself, I guess, Roy. I’m wondering if there isn’t somewhere out there where the distinctions are erased, not drawn. Does Van Morrison count as easy listening? It doesn’t matter, cause he’d get played regardless.

    And, of course, I AM dreaming. Wishing and hoping too. (I thought that was plain! I certainly don’t expect there to be a commercial station that meets these requirements, but I thought there might be a community station somewhere that at least attempted them. I’m glad there are genre shows–I listen to them–and am especially glad there are people like you who push the concept of genre to near its breaking point. I’m sure, too, that you’re right about the variety I’d hear if I listened to your station for a whole week or across several months. But I don’t listen to radio THAT way, I don’t have the time…

    Genre shows, at any rate, are not just a consequence of volunteer DJs. (For instance, I know that at KDHX there’s at least two volunteers with few enough blind spots to pull it off what I’m talking about). The focus on genre shows is, by its nature, aesthetic and, in most cases, likely to be philosophical as well–what gets counted as in and what’s left out is not just an aesthetic distinction, ever, as I said in the post.

    More to the point, I’d imagine most stations would lose listeners if they didn’t format by genre in some way. As I also said, most people aren’t looking to hear that much variety (though I suspect most listeners have more varied tastes than most radio stations give them credit for; same goes for music magazines and their readers…) But it’s odd, then, that with the explosion of satellite radio and mp3 players and online stations that the result has been to draw finer and finer distinctions, programing that targets smaller and smaller niches…and still (apparently) there isn’t even one outlet catering to that niche of folks, like us, with eclectic tastes.

    Has anyone heard a program (on either XM or Sirus) called The Vault? Is it what I’m looking for?

  11. Spencer Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    David, I haven’t heard “The Vault”. I don’t subscribe to satellite. I’m very passionate about radio and happy you brought up these valid points. These are questions I’ve asked for years too. While in Columbia MO, I had a weekly radio show at KOPN (community radio station) and I played pretty much every style (minus jazz, since I know the least about that) and I meticulously planned every show. It’s frickin’ hard to do - at least for me. It’s not just putting my 160gig iPod on shuffle and getting off on my awesome music collection at random. Seriously, not to toot my own horn, but I think I did alright. My Dad emailed last Friday to say hello and ask if I’d make a gospel music mix (since it’s the beginning of lent and he was still wiping the ashes off his forehead) and since I’ve made one for him the last few years I was happy to comply. I made a mix right there at work in a couple hours (since my cubicle environment allows me to zone out when I want to - imagine that?).
    Here’s the mix I made him:
    Hammer And Nails - The Staple Singers
    If I Had A Hammer - Willie Hightower
    Makes Me Wanna Pray - Christina Aguilera Feat. Steve Winwood
    Have A Talk With God - Stevie Wonder
    Who Says God Is Dead - Loretta Lynn
    Love On My Brain -Jim Ford
    He Is Your Brother- ABBA
    “I started in the church” - Arthur Alexander
    Every Day I Have To Cry (Live On Fresh Air) - Arthur Alexander
    Jesus Gave Love Away for Free - Stephen Stills
    The Angels Rejoiced Last Night - Gram Parsons
    Ain’t No God In Mexico - Waylon Jennings
    When Doves Cry - Prince
    Wake Up Everybody - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
    Long Black Veil - Sammi Smith
    Will He Be Waiting For Me? - Sarah Harmer
    If I Should Fall Behind - Dion
    He Made Woman for Man - O.V. Wright
    Everything I Own - Bread
    Walls Of Time - Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys
    Country Comfort - Elton John
    Gentle On My Mind - John Hartford
    Heaven Bound - Kelly Willis

    not bad variety, eh?

  12. Rank Outsider Says:
    February 14th, 2008 at 9:21 pm

    I generally find the most diverse music on large college radio stations. Other than that, In the DC area there is WRNR (103.1) and WTMD(89.7 and 105.5). Of course TMD is non-commerical and subsists through donations. I have had good luck with these. They are both more Baltimore based and I don’t know why Baltimore has two decent radio choices and DC none.

  13. James Says:
    February 15th, 2008 at 9:38 pm

    David-

    This doesn’t answer your main question, but at one point you ask why the local classic rock station doesn’t play many black artists…what a lot of people tend to forget is that 70’s FM stations usually had some kind of soul music in the rotation. Not so much the commercial acts like the Spinners or the Stylistics, but more like progressive soul artists like Stevie Wonder, War, Rufus, Mandrill, Osibisa, Funkadelic. There were even quite a few black fusion artists like Billy Cobham who used to show up on rock radio back then. But these acts are hardly staples of classic rock radio today. Like it says in SOULSVILLE U.S.A. (Rob Bowman’s history of Stax Records), jazz and FM rock stations played Isaac Hayes’ HOT BUTTERED SOUL long before the soul stations did.

  14. Barry M. Says:
    February 16th, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    I think Dave’s questions are the right questions-especially for those of us who respond to the variety of music he’s advocating get back together there. But I also think we know the “answer” in advance:
    They’re not identifying enough of a set of like-minded buck-to-spend people who are eager for the same mix. And as we know,t there’s a radio ownership preference now to keep genres separated on a demographic defined-. Tey WANt “cuntry” to be for yiung mothers, to push guys to sports talk radio and, well, forget about Skykrd fans if they can keep them buying beer and trucks (there’;s a huge drunk driving market) through a little male protest country and lots of NASCAR.

    I would not look to such people to fill musical needs any more, period. the community stations and digitals are the place to go. If anything, we should all try to see that THOSE places don’t make themselves so NPR Effete or so over-sliced up that there’s no popular musical center to hold.

    Barry

  15. Rediscovering Lost 45s « The Hits Just Keep On Comin’ Says:
    February 19th, 2008 at 12:00 am

    […] Recommended Reading: Last week I linked to a post at Living in Stereo about the demise of Kansas City’s classic rock station. David Cantwell followed up with the text of an e-mail he sent to the station. The crux of it is this: Where are the black artists not named Jimi? If the station is going to play a blue-eyed soul shouter like Joe Cocker, it ought to be playing Ray Charles, too. If bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan is OK, then why not bluesman Albert Collins? Cantwell’s still waiting for an answer, and it’s my guess he may be waiting for a while. No genre segregates itself from its roots and influences more strictly than classic rock, or is less willing to face up to the segregation. […]

  16. Steve Pick Says:
    February 24th, 2008 at 2:42 am

    Since Roy was kind enough to mention my show, and since I have about a zillion opinions on this subject, I’m gonna chime in.

    First, fuck Little Steven. I mean, not really, because I love his show myself, but he’s full of shit when he thinks he’s any less narrow-minded than the average commercial radio programmer. He’s got a niche, and it’s a good one, but it’s far from the ideal station in my mind. For one thing, he hates disco. For another, he pretty much only likes a certain style of rock influenced largely by the styles of rock he grew up with. Nothing wrong with that. It’s kinda the normal way people experience music. They don’t change much after college (or its equivalent, like becoming a major league rock star before you’re 30).

    Anyway, David, I think you’re asking for something so amorphous as to be completely unmarketable. Not that there’s anything wrong with playing music qua music as opposed to music qua genre (do I have any understanding of Latin, or am I just babbling?). I’ve started reading “Escaping the Delta,” by Elijah Wald (an Xmas gift from Roy, in fact), and he talks about the importance of understanding early blues artists in the context of a complete lack of genrefication in their day. Genres were invented by record stores, according to him, and they have their role, but they don’t really serve musicological purposes. Don’t believe me? Try randomly asking a couple dozen people from different walks of life what “soul” is.

    I try never to think about what genre I’m playing, except I never let myself stick too long in one type of music. I could play two hours of just jazz, but I don’t do that largely because I know my audience doesn’t care for that as much as I do. I wish they did, and they definitely seem to like it when I throw in a cut or two surrounded by more familiar forms, but jazz fans tend to think they are better than everybody else, and non-jazz fans like Spencer think they have to know more about it before they can play it a lot.

    Give me a commercial radio station, and I could program the mix of your dreams. I truly believe there is no bad genre of music. But, I’m still going to be prejudiced against music I don’t personally like, and some of that is going to be music that you happen to want in your mix. In two hours, the same thing goes, but I can’t fit it all in.

    Genre shows on community radio are a function of the fact that it’s damn hard to find volunteers who really know their shit. Whether it’s a free ranging show like what John does, or Doug Morgan, or Rene Saller, or Roy, or a tightly focused genre like the great Fred Gumaer with country, really good djs don’t grow on trees. I’ve had really good friends who know tons about music who couldn’t figure out how to make a decent radio flow when given the opportunity. So, the station makes use of what resources it can, and does actually try to think about ways to get people to listen to it. Some level of predictability seems to bring more people back (and more pledges in at membership drive time).

    I’m rambling, I know, but this is a topic I could go on about all night.

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