Country Mike Blog

Longing for the old days of radio

Mike Sudhalter  |  January 15, 2009

I don't really remember the old days of radio, since I was born in 1979. But I've listened to several radio programs over the years where the disc jockey didn't sound like a designated robot. I long for the days when a DJ determined the playlist, instead of some market research.

I thought there would be a radio revival when Internet stations started popping up all over the place. But just like on the regular airwaves, the big players (backed by politicians) made it more difficult for independent radio stations to thrive.

One of the stations I listened to over the Internet - Carolina Country Radio - is no more. That was a really neat experience because the DJs chatted with you online during the show and took your requests. It introduced me to the world of traditional Australian Country Music, something I'd never been exposed to in the past.

I sometimes dream about what it would have been like to be a country music DJ back in the 1950's and 1960's. Spinning the records, having aspiring stars walk into your station, shake your hand and give you their latest record.

I would like to host a one or two hour show as a hobby. It would be great to picture myself playing albums digitally with the same old time approach that DJs used with vinyl records.

Heck, maybe I could even perform a couple of songs in that spoken-word, Bill Anderson-Luke The Drifter style.

Another thing that caught my eye was the fact that Country Weekly magazine won't be delivered to my home anymore, and that I can only buy it at the supermarket or on news stands. It will be going from biweekly to its original format of weekly.

I have been a Country Weekly reader (and subscriber) on and off since the mid-1990's. It will be different not getting that CW issue in the mail each week. I guess I'll just have to budget a couple extra dollars of grocery money towards reading the 1,000th story about Blake Shelton, what he does in his free time and his relationship with Miranda Lambert.

It seems like CW always asks if the couple is close to getting married? And every time, their answer is something along the lines of "probably not."

Or I might miss getting the 2,000th cover of Kenny Chesney or Toby Keith.

With long lines at the grocery store, I should be able to speed-read my entire way through an issue.