German radio in a perpetual time warp
German radio in a perpetual time warp
What’s up with German Radio? This is a question I’ve been asking myself since I arrived. I have never heard so many radio stations stuck in the past than in Germany. I swear they play bands like Super Tramp and even Cat Stevens all the time, especially Super Tramp which had a terribly saccharine sound when they first came out with music but sounds even worse know, indescribable almost. It’s as if the last 20 to 30 years of music did not exist. No Radiohead, no Beck, no Gang of Four, no punk music, nothing with an edgy sound. I couldn’t even find hip hop when we first arrived.
What made matters worse is that all the stations seemed to be formatless. They would play whatever, whenever, seemingly on the whim of the djs. You would hear an opera song, followed by a pop song, followed by some rhythm and blues and then Super Tramp, (yes Super Tramp!), then some classical, and then talking, endless talking. Not just one station seemed like this. They all seemed like this. It was driving me crazy.
Finally, I began finding a station or two that played consistent formats. There is 105.15 that normally plays contemporary pop and rap music (no punk though – it is as if punk never existed!). And there is a station 91.1 that plays mostly classical music. I’m not that certain what is going on in German radio land, however, and will report back later on this. I’m going to have to try to get an understanding of the industry and find out if there are independent stations, university stations, public radio stations and guerilla radio. There is even American military radio here which I find incredibly bizarre but this is a topic that deserves its own post; I just can't keep my indignant comments to a line or two when it comes to the American military and their continual presence (shall we say occupation) here!
A little bit of music sanity is good for the mind.
What’s up with German Radio? This is a question I’ve been asking myself since I arrived. I have never heard so many radio stations stuck in the past than in Germany. I swear they play bands like Super Tramp and even Cat Stevens all the time, especially Super Tramp which had a terribly saccharine sound when they first came out with music but sounds even worse know, indescribable almost. It’s as if the last 20 to 30 years of music did not exist. No Radiohead, no Beck, no Gang of Four, no punk music, nothing with an edgy sound. I couldn’t even find hip hop when we first arrived.
What made matters worse is that all the stations seemed to be formatless. They would play whatever, whenever, seemingly on the whim of the djs. You would hear an opera song, followed by a pop song, followed by some rhythm and blues and then Super Tramp, (yes Super Tramp!), then some classical, and then talking, endless talking. Not just one station seemed like this. They all seemed like this. It was driving me crazy.
Finally, I began finding a station or two that played consistent formats. There is 105.15 that normally plays contemporary pop and rap music (no punk though – it is as if punk never existed!). And there is a station 91.1 that plays mostly classical music. I’m not that certain what is going on in German radio land, however, and will report back later on this. I’m going to have to try to get an understanding of the industry and find out if there are independent stations, university stations, public radio stations and guerilla radio. There is even American military radio here which I find incredibly bizarre but this is a topic that deserves its own post; I just can't keep my indignant comments to a line or two when it comes to the American military and their continual presence (shall we say occupation) here!
A little bit of music sanity is good for the mind.
posted by paulmediaeye at 4:04 AM
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