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Repeat guaranteed!!
I'm decorating at the moment - and listening to the radio on a cheap/washable Chinese 'bathroom set'. For the past few days it's been tuned to 'Smooth Radio' .... and with hands and brushes covered in paint I can't be bothered to change it .... albeit that it's driving me up the wall [literally and metaphorically]!! This particular station is like a cracked LP - in so much that the only things that change are the announcers/DJ's! Every [groundhog] day it's the same repeat middle-of-the-road material ..... to the degree that it inspires me to wonder whether they use an endless tape/loop ... paused only to change announcers and broadcast the latest news/traffic reports!!
Most of the broadcast material is 'O.K.' the first time around .... but five [or more] times a day? It isn't even 'comprehensive' ... e.g. I've never heard: Gentleman Jim, Tom Jones etc. (I'm actually a 'Blues Man' ... and feel that I'm being driven to it!!). I know all these 'franchised stations' are much of a muchness ..... but at least Absolute promises a "no repeat guarantee" !! Seasons Greetings to all ...... [especially Mrs Trellis from Prestatyn] Your Honourable and Obedient Servant, Victor Meldrew :wall: |
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I couldn't agree more. The MW transmitters in this area used to carry "Gold" which I listened to, but they switched over to "Smooth" a few years ago. Since then I haven't listened except when checking out restored radios.
The fequencies in this area were originally used by Radio Orwell (Radio Awful!) a local station, but now the only thing local is the ads and traffic reports. |
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Decorating and listening to Smooth Radio, whatever have you done to deserve that.
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A lot of the radio stations in Adelaide (South Australia) used to be like that, same playlist day after day.
Don't know what it's like now, as I haven't listened to any of them for over 8 years. |
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Are any of the DJ/presenters real people, or are they simulations?
David |
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The whole raison d'etre for the broadcast of this 'carrier wave' mediocrity seems to be that of a 'vehicle for advertising'! God forbid, maybe we are moving towards stations that wholly broadcast advertisements and nothing else - a la certain contemporary TV 'sales channels'. The only redeeming characteristic of the latter being that some advertisements can be quite informative/amusing/entertaining.
However - the main feature of 'spoken word radio broadcast' is ........ use of your imagination. Nooooo - I won't go there [certainly with all the paint fumes currently kicking around] !!!! |
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Assuming that there is a station somewhere in the world that you would be happy listening to, is the answer not to retransmit it your bathroom set? I'm thinking of making an internet stream receivable with your cheapie.
Peter |
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Is your radio so cheap it doesn't have an OFF switch..............?
Just ignore the bad stations. Andy |
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If you want continuous music, and are prepared to go down the internet streaming route, then I can thoroughly recommend 'Radio Paradise' - no advertising, but perhaps every 15 minutes there's a very short (10 seconds) message from the couple who run it reminding listeners that it is supported by listener donations details of which can be found on their website. And that's it - the rest of the time its a very eclectic mix of music genres 24 hours a day with very few obvious repeats.
It's our favourite 'station' and we listen to it pretty much every evening whilst we're preparing dinner etc. As such, 'yes', we do donate - about £50 annually but it is not in any sense compulsory. |
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Smooth Radio used to have a gorgeous mix of rich jazz-funk and "grown-up" dance music but that all changed about eight years ago with a move to an easy listening middle of the road family friendly format designed to please everyone, but not me.
Neil |
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Perhaps they all cut costs a bit by using the same material over. The wife listens to Magic, and although I don't, and am seldom in the room, I have noticed certain tracks seem to repeat regularly which has made me think.
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I hear you all - I often listen to Blues Radio [from Athens - Greece] ..... no announcements, no adverts, no weather, no traffic bulletins ..... just great Blues music [with the artist and song/album streamed underneath]!
(And the Greeks {particularly the Athenians} have plenty to moan and gossip about - I used to live there! But it's a shame that radiophiles have to resort to the net eh?) |
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P.S. MOFYA Andy: I've heard better piped drivel in 'The Black Bull' [Fulwood] and The Grapes [Goosnargh] ..... not to mention The Sherwood, and Faltering Fullback etc. etc. .... and they too have no 'off' switch!!
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Hi,
My last job in the UK was on Liverpool docks and the mess room radio was permanently tuned the local independent station on 96.7. They seemed to have a playlist of about a dozen records, plus the usual ads & phone-ins. If I was there on my own I'd put Radio 2 or 4 on, but it was always retuned back when anyone else came in. Our contract cleaners must have taken exception to something (probably the sports scores) on it as, when we came in one morning, said radio was smashed to bits on the floor! Cheers, Pete. |
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The only independent radio station I listen to is Classic FM and that only rarely and in the car, but that too seems to have a very limited playlist. They seem to concentrate on either 'smooth' or 'impressive' music; I call it classical music for people who don't like classical music.
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When on the road, I used to listen to Smooth. Not for the mindless drone, but for the accurate and up to date traffic info. I wish it had been on the air earlier, as a past experience comes to mind. I'd left Reading heading back to get on the M40 via the A329(M), when I came upon a massive jam, caused by the road surface buckling in the heat. I'd just started to filter onto the diversion on the hard shoulder when the station I was listening to gave out a warning of the problem.
AND on the repeat topic- I like many ex GPO/PO(T) blokes will remember the posters in the TEC walls reminding us that repeats ( as in faults) should be left to the BBC. |
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I'm pleased it's not just me that dislikes these Groundhog Day radio stations! We used to have either 6 music (ugh...) or Absolute on at my old job, Absolute used to irritate me after a few days, as the playlist seemed to be the same as the day before, and the adverts would drive me up the wall! I quite like a bit of rock and metal and eventually discovered an internet and DAB station called TeamRock radio, which had a really good varied mix of stuff, and most importantly NO ADVERTS! Well, just the occasional plug for their magazine. Unfortunately they then pulled the plug on their DAB broadcast and went internet only, and then a bit later they ditched all their DJ's and went for a pre-recorded type thing, that's when I stopped listening.
To be honest I don't really like listening to the radio any more! Which is a bit odd since I have so many fully restored sets and don't use them. I end up putting it on and after a few minutes turning it off again due to the irritating adverts. I'll have to build myself a pantry TX, and make up my own playlist! Regards, Lloyd |
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Hi Lloyd - it seems that you and I are reaching the same conclusion {I fully take on board your comments about frequently turning the radio 'on' and then 'off'}. I too seem to be being compelled to build a pantry TX and then stream [or whatever] what I want! Television viewers around the world seem to be suffering from the same malady too - Shango66 out in LA frequently confesses to never watching TV!
What's on this Christmas Day - The Great Escape, Best of Morecambe & Wise, The Two Ronnies, and Goldfinger perhaps? |
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One of the few tv stations I watch is Quest but I have now stopped watching it as every other advert is for a funeral plan. At my age of (mumble) and not being in too good health I really don't need this repetitive depressional reminder of my mortality every ten minutes.
I emailed Quest to tell them that I had stopped watching their channel as the adverts are too depressing and just received a bland reply that they took viewers comments seriously which they obviously don't as the misery keeps coming. Back to Caroline, no misery there. :) |
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I guess that on the current gout of 'classic/oldies' stations there's no real motivation for Payola:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola Apart from Classic-FM in the car [they have a playlist of 300 so at lest there's some variety] these days I find digital-streaming stations to be the thing to go for. www.di.fm is my default go-to - but not everyone's going to be into vocal trance or chillout. |
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At least you can choose to turn it off... :)
At my place of work we are having a very frantic year end and I'm having to spend a few weeks in the production/ATE area. Here, someone has chosen to subject us all to "Heart 80s" all day every day over the intercom system. It really is the same songs played in a different order every day and it is torture for some of us. But the regular staff here seem to love hearing the same songs every day. So I'm going to be subjected to this every day until the end of December. The one that is driving me mad at the moment is 'jump to the beat' by Stacy Lattisaw. I haven't heard this cheesy old disco song for maybe 30 years but Heart seem to play it every day :( Click on the link (below) to this song at your own peril... I can't get this song out of my head because I hear it almost every day at work and it's been like this for a few weeks now:( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtq4PMJvSI0 |
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You need to get some noise cancelling earphones!! I've got some for work, as I'm sat between 3 radios with different stations on at the same time! I think being stuck with Heart 80's would drive me round the twist too. I seem to be stuck between Talk sport, 6 music and someone's iPod full of 90's cheesy pop music.. occasionally Talk sport gets swapped to Radio X.
Regards Lloyd |
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I've tried noise cancelling head/earphones in that sort of situation, they don't work as they don't see (hear?) the varying musak as noise. They do work well in aircraft where the noise is constant. What you need are straightforward ear defenders.
Gordon |
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I've considered getting something discreet to put in my ears but I'm primarily there to provide technical support so I'm regularly talking to other people there. What adds to the mix is that we have a bank of large Thermotron chambers doing burn in and also environmental testing (down to very cold temperatures). These things make a lot of noise and they are in the main production area. So lots of compressor noise and clicking/whooshing valves at regular intervals. Add to this a wailing 80s dance soundtrack and the background noise from a few dozen ATE stations and people trying to talk over it all and you get the stuff of madness... It really is like Groundhog Day every day... week after week ("come on and jump to the beat...!") I'm glad I'm only there for a few weeks. Maybe I'll take early retirement next year in case it all happens again next year :)
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Hi Folks,
My solution to this is a pantry tx relaying Caroline. It has been for 20 years! Back then the tx was fed from an analogue satellite receiver on a sub-carrier, then a digital one, and nowadays a raspberry pi streaming one of their web feeds. Repeats are few and far between, as are adverts (although they could use more) and inane chatter ;) Regards, Stu |
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Definitely Radio Caroline for me. Great mix of mainly prog rock, blues, modern stuff all selected by the actual DJ's who are passionate about the music they play. If a DJ wants to play an entire side of a Pink Floyd album, then they will. You won't hear Stairway to Heaven 10 times a day: in fact the tired old 'classics' are not often played.
If you like older 60's type stuff, then they have their 'Flashback' stream. Most importantly, they don't do the news or travel news and have one or two short ads once per hour. All in all a very refreshing change from modern stations- some of the guys were on the Ross Revenge or Luxembourg. It's a listener supported station and is well worth supporting!! Give it a try :thumbsup: All the best Nick |
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Radio stations have to play performance rights fees for every record they play. So yes some records will be cheaper to play than others. Hence the playlist of the same records over and over again.
If you fill up the shows with phone calls and news and chats, that saves on record fees. It was an old technique from the days when Radio Stations had "needle time". Where they not only paid a fee for the records played, but also had a maximum time limit of the total recorded music played. Live music didn't count, since the musicians got paid anyway. Of course the old Pirate Stations didn't pay anything and didn't bother much with needle time. However later the did start paying to put the critics to rest. So it's very expensive to play a record on the radio. What gets me is that the record companies often get two fees for it. First from the Radio Station, then if it is played in a shop or other place where the public could listen to the radio, another fee from the shop. A local hairdresser, who didn't have music playing, told me she was constantly being harassed by the officials set up to police the scheme. Checking if a radio had been sneaked in or was on the premises. |
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You forgot Zulu on Christmas day.
I could watch Jimmy Stewart in Its a wonderful life every Christmas and still enjoy it. |
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I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Radio 3 yet. No repeat play list, no adverts, no ,or few phone ins, no traffic reports. Just intelligent announcers giving details of the music. Any interviews are with musicians and composers and relevant. The quality on FM is excellent, I cant answer for DAB though as I don't use it.
The only downside is the occasional opera. |
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Some of the stations available only on DAB seem to have no presenters, either; just a continuous playlist of songs and advertisements. The absence of a normal human speaking voice (i.e., not the adverts, which are typically delivered in an annoyingly upbeat fashion) makes them tiring to listen to for long periods.
The other, scary possible explanation for the "sameyness" of moden radio stations is simply that we've just heard every record that everyone ever made already by now ..... |
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I too find Classic FM's playlist rather limited. As much as I enjoy 'Fingal's Cave' it seems to be played every day.
My pantry transmitter is fed from an old Logik IR100 internet receiver, permanently 'tuned' to Radio Dismuke from Fort Worth, TX. Massive playlist of 1925-1935 music and rarely do you hear a repeat. |
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Boater Sam! How could I forget Zulu? !!! That memorable performance of Mr Caine mis-cast as an Upper Class officer .... delivering his lines in his best East-End/Cockney/Estuary English! One of the best comedies I've ever seen !!
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I sometimes listen to Radio 3 in the car, but that involves frequent volume twiddling as they don't use as much compression as other stations. Perhaps they have got the balance just right: insufficient compression for cars, too much for the home? Of course, the right place for compression is the car radio itself, not the broadcast.
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Great feed-back Brethren! Initial suicidal tendencies are now abating - I'm wallpapering and have reverted to a trusty old Nordmende 'Transita Automatic' [not that it's actually 'automatic' ..... but I have no moans/whines/complaints etc. about it's build quality and great performance]!
Oh yeah - prepare yourselves for endless: Cliff, Slade, Wizard, Lennon, Michael etc. etc. etc. ........... THIS IS CHRISTMAS!!! (But in the words of Gloria Gaynor .... "We will survive!) |
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These days I don't listen to the radio much: my PC does its impression of an iPod Shuffle rather well [currently playing: the 'Initial-D' Eurobeat compilation]. |
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Well, there are certainly good and bad presenters. And I might be considered a tad biased, what with radio presenting being in my blood and all that! It's true that some DJs overdo things with the mic, but there is still room for intelligent presenters who see themselves as "your host(ess) for the evening" as opposed to "the star of the show" (as far is I am concerned, the records are the real stars).
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During the recent snowy weather I listened (briefly) to my local BBC local radio station for news of road disruption and school closures. I have to say the presenter was dire. It reminded me so much of 'Radio Active'!
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Back in the 1990s there was a presenter called Graham Torrington who used to do a show across the GWR network called "Late Night Love" -- love songs, messages from people in love to their lovers and discussion about relationship-related topics, with a different overall theme each night. It could have been complete mais en sauce de fromage but for G.T.'s mellifluous voice and thoughtful presentational style; not butting in while listeners were telling their tales on the phone, and sensitively handling more challenging stories of bad relationships and bereavements. My respect for Torrington only increased when he had to stand in on the Saturday night pre-club warmup "Party Hard!", a completely different style of programme, when the regular presenter was indisposed -- and still managed to nail it, as though he was completely at home presenting any kind of show.
Closer to home there was Radio Derby's lunchtime slot from 12:00 - 14:00, with John Stiles, including -- in the days long before eBay -- the Swap and Sale Trail, classified adverts on the air! (that's my Dad, by the way .....) |
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Graham Torrington is still broadcasting on several BBC Midlands stations, including, Derby, Stoke, Nottingham, WM & CWR, from 10PM to 1AM Sundays to Thursdays. I haven't listened to hm for some time, but his style is much as you describe, Julie.
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Ooh! I think I might have to grab a quick listen-in .....
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The song wasn't bad really, and good for it's time, but I appreciate repetitive playing would drive anyone up the wall. It's the same in many shops where the same old songs/tunes are continuously played. The shop staff who suffer this must be affected. The music played in Poundstretcher is particularly annoying. I've found some tunes rhythms are difficult to remove from the brain, the tune keeps playing even when trying to get to sleep. Regards Symon. |
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My daytime works listening is to radio 4 FM, but even that's getting repetitive at the moment. The Today programme, woman's hour, You & Yours, World at One and PM....all discussing the same few topics (we all know what..) from different viewpoints.
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