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:

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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.

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

Decorating and listening to Smooth Radio, whatever have you done to deserve that.

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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.

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

Are any of the DJ/presenters real people, or are they simulations?

David

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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] !!!!

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

Is your radio so cheap it doesn't have an OFF switch..............?
Just ignore the bad stations.
Andy

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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.

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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.

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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?)

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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!!

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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.

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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.

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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.

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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?

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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. :)

Re: Repeat guaranteed!!
 

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.