Jacked Up

Word is that radio frequency 105.9 FM (the original KKDJ-FM) is converting from it's current Spanish language format to a McFormat called "Jack." They even brag about a play list of 1,200 songs. Wow! That's a small ipod's worth. And...if you do the simple math....let's say they play 10 songs an hour because it'll be loaded up with commercial content and promotional material. That means in a 24 hour day they'll play 240 songs and burn through their entire "huge" library in 5 days excluding any new material they beat into the ground of course. How many times can you listen to "Dude Looks Like A Lady?" No offense to Aerosmith. What you'll get is vanilla programming that sounds just like every other "Jack" station in America and they'll refer to it as revolutionary, groundbreaking and cutting edge. RIGHT! The jocks will sound the same as the jocks in L.A. They'll read the same liners. They'll do the same tired promotions with cellular shops and car dealers and call it local content. And who knows...if we're lucky...somebody might do that lame Mayflower Van routine at Thanksgiving. Holy Cow...thanks for the innovative programming and for exposing us to some new music that might be meaningful and artistically important. Sad to say it but this is just the product of lazy baby boomers pretending they're "real" business people while they go about their unconscious ruination of the music industry and the fleecing of unwitting advertisers with deceptive hype.

We all really deserve better but commercial radio has become such a huge wasteland that people just accept what they're spoon fed. Thank your lucky stars that Fresno has an oasis like KFSR-FM 90.7 (or at kfsr.org) where you can get a variety of great new music (and some tasty older music as well) presented with loving care and without hype. It's a community artistic institution that should really be treasured for adding to the quality of life of the place we call home.