Hard Drivin'

["Bill O'Neill" <billo@erols.com>]

Well, the annual trek to OH is history.  Hoping to bring forth some
enlightening news of radio from that neck of the woods, but....  The
trip was all of 84 to 81 in PA, south to MD then east via 64 to WV, a
few jumps into OH.  Very short list of note.  "Froggy 101" WGGY (101.3
Wilkes-Barre, PA) consistently stood out as a good all-around station.
Country well presented, jocks very at ease, not full of themselves
with that radio-voice thing going on all over the place these days.

West Virginia Public Radio did an outstanding job with weekend
programming, primarily folk, traditional, bluegrass (CL during the
week).  Hosts were very much at home amidst the beautiful green
mountains and relaxed pace of the region.  Some of the 'names' within
the genre that 'happened by' the studio with instruments caused me to
double take at the radio just to confirm it wasn't canned or national
via bird or disc.  Nope. Live.  Many times throughout the week I
thought how fortunate that tri-state region was to have public radio.

Driving though much of the deadzones (PCs must have been down for Y2K
compliance checks) was WBZ Boston.  The irony was deafening - here I
am, 600+ roadmiles from home in the middle of the night and I am
listening to a Boston station on the skywave.  Listened to Paul
Sullivan then Jordan Rich, L&C.  Bouncing back to Jordan's later hours
(3-5a) were particularly reminiscent of late night listening to Larry
Glick.  Jordan's easy, relaxed connection to the (distant, NC, VA)
callers was refreshing.  He got a call from the infamous caller of
yore who phoned Glick with a story about a graveyard that put the host
in stitches of laughter.  The bit was replayed numerous times.  A
subsequent caller told Rich she'd get him a copy of the call.  Rich
said he'd try to get the caller to re-enact the moment.  Good approach
to getting callers back next time and by getting new listeners up to
speed on some history.

The Huntington-Charleston WV market is pretty much unchanged, but I
did notice increased inventory on some of the local stations, 93.7
"The Dawg" Wxxx.  Country - no filler or byproducts here. The morning
show "The Dog House" was a scream (honestly).  They had this sidekick
that had Foxworthy all over his shtick, since Foxworthy's deal is not
too unusual there, one could say....  "I have fond memories of kissing
my grandmom.  Gettin' in real close and giving that old arm fat a big
shake (bpbpbpbpb) (laughter)."  Then there's a stop set where they
(fake) finishing their breakfasts. "You gonna eat that fat!?"  Puttin'
the humor right out there, not doing what so many southern market
stations are attempting to do - to try to be cool, urban, big city.
They seem to know that they are playing to KY, WV, and rural OH where
there is still a craving for down home humor with some (relatively
innocent) purility.

WMGG (Gallipolis, OH)//Huntington, WV) is now WRYV ("The River") under
new ownership since January. http://www.1015theriver.net/  Not sure
which group owns them.  A less adventuresome AAA hybrid, dosed with
softside CR and 1-2 early (lost) 80s singles an hour.  The latter may
be designed for one to perk up and say, "Been a while" but it mostly
triggered a dial change for me.  (If I didn't like a sound (Journey,
Styx, etc.) when it was current, I find myself still not liking it
today.)

Most of the "problems" with stations out there are the same ones we
are living with: fading identities, fading risktaking.  Less and less
to remember about why you listened the day prior.  Lots of hype about
"more fun."  ("More fun" is code for "As entertaining as Al Gore at a
Michael Bolton/John Tesh/Yianni concert.")  Hey Al, you gonna eat that
fat?

Bill O'Neill

------------------------------