Country Radio (was Does this bother anyone else?)

[Dib9@aol.com]

I have to admit that I have country stations on most of my FM car presets 
(WTHT,WPKQ,WMCM,WPOR,B-98.5,WCME) but I am dismayed what I find on most of 
the stations.  With the exception of the "Real Country" satellite format on 
WMCM, you are not likely to hear anything older than "Friends in Low Places" 
on any of the stations.  (Alternative WCYY plays more oldies.)  Chuck makes 
an excellent point that many of todays hits are influenced by or covers of 
country classics, but you would never know it from listening to country radio.

TNT recently had a two hour tribute concert to Johnny Cash which included 
people like Dave Matthews, U2, and Bob Dylan playing Cash classics.  Most 
country stations today do not have any Johnny Cash on their play list (he won 
a Grammy for one of his recent albums but it was not played on country radio) 
but a general interest cable network, TNT, gave two hours of prime time to a 
Johnny Cash tribute and replayed it three nights later.

This is only one example, most stations don't just ignore Hank Williams, they 
don't even play Hank Williams Jr., who was one of the biggest acts in country 
less than a decade ago.

It's funny that a more traditional and conservative format, that attracts an 
older demographic, would have less respect for its roots than most pop/rock 
formats.

Dan Billings
Bowdoinham, Maine
At this time of night prepared to debate the merits of the Patsy Cline and 
Cowboy Junkies versions of Walkin after Midnight.

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