Meet the New MPR - Same As the Old MPR
WCAL - formerly the best classical station in Minnesota, by a long, long stretch - is gone, replaced by the new pop potpourri, 89.3 The Current.
I have publicly lamented WCAL's demise; comparing WCAL to MPR's classical outlet, KSJN, in classical terms, was like comparing the late Rev105 to KS95. Their programming was vastly more challenging and interesting - for the occasional but knowledgeable classical listener, it was a delight of constant surprises.
On the upside: "The Current" promises to be the same thing, only with rock/pop/current music.
But remember; consider the source.
Lorika from Secret Farm reviews the station.
She says:
The Current has put me in an optimistic mood. I feel like music is alive again, things are looking up, there is hope for real radio after all. Clear Channel won't own everything. First Air America, and now the Current, what did we do to deserve such radio gems?
First: We didn't do anything to "deserve" Air America. Andrea Yates, perhaps, but not the rest of us. But that's the subject of an upcoming post.
And music is alive, with or without a radio station. In fact, technology is, slowly but surely, allowing musicians to do with the industry what bloggers have been doing to the media; outflank it, get their material out thre without needing the imprimatur of labels and big radio (which is why I'm looking forward to being able to get my old Supreme Soviet of Love stuff online one of these days).
But yeah, 89.3 is a lot of fun. No mistake - I enjoy it. It's vaulted into first place among my choices for music stations after, like, a day, for those days when I'm in the mood for music - which is something I'll have to re-cultivate after more or less falling out of the music radio habit over the past ten years. Truly, aside from KFAI's bluegrass show and the occasional times when KUOM's music doesn't sound like random collections of cell-phone beep tones, I really haven't listened to a lot of music radio in a long time. Talk in all its guises - from the Patriot through MPR - has been a lot more engaging for a long time (although I can only listen to the comically-inept Wendy Wild as a purgative).
So yeah, I'll listen.
But here's the rub:
So I invite you all now, to get out your credit cards (I did say radevangelist) and support this fresh new voice of quirky independence. It doesn't matter where you live, they have CD quality streaming audio. If we don't want to live in a Walmart world, we need to put our money where our ears are, and support Public broadcasting.
And there's the big catch; several straight "alternative" stations have failed in the Twin Cities because - here's a shock - there's no money in it. The alt-rock audience didn't have, and spend, enough money to support the advertisers that were needed to keep any of the earlier attempts - Rev105, the various attempts at 93.7 and 105, the old and terribly-misguided KABL - afloat for any length of time. The fabled local alt community was sort of a legend in its own mind, commercially speaking.
But this is MPR; government radio! And there's the big problem; not just that it's the big, evil empire, or even that MPR is so terribly in the bag with the political left in Minnesota.
No, it's the fact that MPR, led by Bill Kling, has led a long campaign to make sure that all of the listener, and foundation, and tax money that's on the table for publicly-supported broadcasting, goes to them , MPR alone. MPR gobbles up funding to expand an already-expansive network, add to their already-luxuriant studios and offices and heavily-overpadded staffing - at the expense of the smaller community-supported stations like KMOJ and KFAI which serve less well-to-do communities (or, for that matter, the original WCAL). And of course, Bill Kling is an inveterate foe of low-power FM radio, which would allow small community groups to set up their own, pirate-yet-legal radio stations for not much more than you spend for a hi-def TV.
MPR loves diverse public radio - as long as they control it all.
So I'll listen to 89.3. I'll tap my feet and sing along. I'll listen to the stream when I can, and use that listening as inspiration for probably way too many I-Tunes trips.
But for all of you who, like Ms. Lorika, say things like "Clear Channel won't own everything..." - MPR is the Clear Channel of Minnesota; an all-gobbling behemoth that operates in its own purely commercial self-interest. Its programming may (occasionally) be more interesting; its grasping, mediocritizing self-interest isn't really that much different.
Posted by Mitch at
January 27, 2005 07:54 AM
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I also am initially excited about then new station, and wish they had taken out KSJN instead of WCAL. But let's compare MPR's "committment" to diverse programming with that of say, Clearchannel. MPR's total Jazz programming is limited to Leigh Kammon's (wonderful) show, which they pushed back to 9:00. Now, I don't consider 100.3's programming to be "jazz," it's really "crap." But, it was Clearchannel, not MPR which made a $25,000 donation to KBEM to help make up the loss of State funding for traffic programming. MPR doesn't even like public radio, it only likes public radio that it controls. I generaaly oppose public funding for radio/TV, but in the world where we have both, how about dumping some of MPR's money into KBEM? Yeah, I know, me and about twelve other people in Minnesota listen to jazz, but what are you gonna do..
Posted by: Patrick at January 27, 2005 09:52 AMBingo. Exactly.
I'd forgotten about the KBEM example - and it's a great one.
(and 100.3 really is awful, and while I'm not a huge jazz buff, I really am glad that Kamen and KBEM are out there for when the mood strikes)
Posted by: mitch at January 27, 2005 09:59 AMI've been listening as well and have been fairly impressed as well. Mary Lucia completely lost me though when she and whoever was in studio was discussing some bands whose main merit seemed to be that the lead singer was "between genders". This bands latest album was about the lead singer dealing with his wife as he/she transition genders. Know the obligatory "not that there is anything wrong with that" but I have feeling that the main appeal of this band to Mary and whoever is the fact that the lead singer is "between genders". Just play good music please. Goodness knows we are paying for it.
Posted by: paddy at January 27, 2005 10:14 AMpaddy
I've always *wanted* to like Mary Lucia; she's Paul Westerberg's sister and all. And she's had some cool ideas - I loved her old bit at Rev105, broadcasting from Nye's Polonaise (for non-Twin Citians, it's an old Polish lounge bar, with a piano bar and weekly Polka dancing, in Northeast Minneapolis).
But day in, day out, she just bugs the crap out of me; she's all about the sort of thing you describe, raving about bands over things like transgendered singers or cool clothes or...whatever. I get tired of radio personalities that...aren't.
Posted by: mitch at January 27, 2005 10:23 AMI want to like 89.3. I like the idea, but don't like who I have to thank. I also am starting to get really tired of the musical snobs among us. Never had a chance to hear this music before? You've never heard of Radio K? KFAI? KVSC? Dozens of like-sounding stations on the Internet?
For extra fun, read today's Strib: http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5206787.html It's quite sophmoric, sounding like someone who never listened to MPR's classical station before. All of the cliches are thrown out, and we really are quite stupid for listening to radio before MPR saved us all.
For extra fun, make a drinking game: take a drink every time a writer bemoans Clear Channel (even if CC never could legally own 89.3), Rev105, corporations (which MPR is), consolidation (which MPR does), and the lowlifes who listen to other radio.
I will listen to KCMP. However, I'm going to listen because I like the station, not because I'm making some statement about everyone else.
Posted by: Jerry Leigh at January 27, 2005 06:35 PMI was under the impression that 93.7 The Edge was the sacrificial lamb used to counter Rock 100 and Howard Stern. (To protect the cash cows KQRS and the KQ Morning Show.) Beyond that, I was reasonably certain that it was a success.
Could be wrong about the success part. But it was definitely a key part of the Tom Barnard vs. Howard Stern war.
Posted by: Keith at January 27, 2005 09:10 PMKeith,
Posted by: paddy at January 28, 2005 12:23 AMfrom http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/archive/news0997.htm
the entry for 9/19/1997
...The death of The Edge leaves the Twin Cities without a real (commercial) Modern Rock station. The format wasn't doing great in the ratings, but it had a larger audience than some existing stations...
gotta love google
On Dec 17, I made a comment about this move to "the New Rev 105" was just to shut up the people whining about WCAL going away from a classical format. And it seems like that is what's going on.
Posted by: Shawn Sarazin at January 28, 2005 10:53 AMI do enjoy the KBEM, and those guys are really strapped.
Any opinion on The Morning Show, and where it should live?
Between genders -- I bet Lucia was talking about All the Pretty Horses. My Blogumentary premiere was followed by a documentary about their transgender singer Venus: Venus of Mars http://venusofmars.com
I remember telling Scott Johnson about all the great documentary production going on in town, and he said "Like what?" Unfortunately Venus of Mars was the first thing I thought of, and the look on his face told me it wasn't what he was expecting to hear...
Oh - All the Pretty Horses is a pretty awesome goth metal band though. They even win over smalltown redneck metal fans.
Posted by: Chuck Olsen at January 28, 2005 01:43 PMShawn: Are you saying "conspiracy"? Because, like, I hope you are!
Chuck: Dude. Small town metal fans of all neck hues are, if anything, more xtreem than urban metal fans. It's how you say "Ki@@ my a@@" to small-town society, if you don't have the urge or ability to actually get out.
Posted by: mitch at January 28, 2005 01:56 PMMitch,
I am... When MPR bought 89.3 and the news broke, people were up in arms. Someone smart said "I know what we can do, we'll shut them all up real quick" and said to the people: "But, what we're going to do is adult eclectic mix." The Rev105 people got in line (who's the morning DJ, oh yeah...).
Word on the street is Friday thru Sunday there was a big rush on water bongs in the Twin Cities market in preparation for 9AM Monday.
Posted by: Shawn Sarazin at January 28, 2005 10:23 PMLeigh always plays Alice Babs' "Land of the Midnight Sun" as background. Does anyone know what CD I can find it on?
Posted by: Jim Gaines at February 20, 2005 06:41 PM