Gregory Szorc's blog

Does Cleveland 'Rock'?

"Cleveland rocks." We've all heard it. We all know Cleveland tries to crown itself as the king of rock and roll because it is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, with respect to radio stations, Cleveland does not rock.

I enjoy listening to music. I enjoy listening to the radio because it offers musical selections not present in my music library. Specifically, I listen to classic rock radio stations (what can I say, the current stuff just doesn't make the cut). For people like me, you have two choices for classic rock radio, 98.5 WNCX out of Cleveland, and 97.5 WONE out of Akron. Both of these stations claim to be the classic rock source, with WONE offering modern rock on top of the classical offerings.

This saturday, I sat down to work on the USG Funding System. As I always do, I turned on the radio to help pass the time. Six hours later, I was about ready to kill myself. Both WNCX and WONE had irritated me with their repetition of a handful of songs. I swear I heard Layla 4 times in one day and Stairway 3! Can someone explain to me why a radio station with more than 3 decades of selections from which to chose only manages to find the same 2 or 3 tracks per artist? These classic rock stations are no better than pop stations, except of course the material is much better and their targeted audience is competent.

If all classic rock stations in the country were like this, I couldn't complain, however I know for a fact that much better stations exist. I was fortunate to grow up within tuning distance of WFBQ (Q95), home of Bob & Tom, and some of the best classic rock ever recorded. Every time I drive home to Indiana and come within range of the station, I tune in and am swept away by the music. Every time I want to call up the station and tell them how much they rock compared to stations here.

So what makes Q95 a superior radio station? The answer is simple: they play more than the typical 2 or 3 songs per artist and they do it with class. During the lunch hour, they don't talk and play the occassional song, as WNCX is doing right now, they take requests (off air) and play them so you and me can rock out during break. All day every Tuesday is a double shot of every artist. Excited that Van Halen came on, good, because now you have another song from them coming soon, without interuption. I could go on for paragraphs about why Q95 is a better radio station, but I will save everyone my rambling.

The bottom line is that the Cleveland classic rock stations just don't measure up. It is a shame that the city that claims it rocks doesn't have a radio station to rock to.

You can ping this entry by using http://blog.case.edu/gps10/mt-tb.cgi/2429 .

Greg,

You crazy young kids and your classic rock!

You would have probably appreciated the WMMS of my youth. Back in the dark ages they played album oriented rock. Rather than playing the hit singles of the day, the DJ's played the songs they liked from the various albums, often creating hits. Diversity was the rule and back then one could actually learn about new bands by listening to that station.

As one who enjoyed 80's music (Joy Division, The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, etc.), I have no idea what to recommend radio wise for your taste. (I'm more into alternative, goth and trip-hop depending on the mood.)

For that, http://www.somafm.com/ does a great job—I listen their stations via iTunes. But if you are listening near a computer, I would think that there must be some cool classic station dishing up tunes over the 'net.

Good luck with your quest!

The problem you described is exactly why I recently splurged and got XM Online. It's about half the monthly price of regular XM radio ($7.99 a month) for well over 100 commercial-free radio stations. I don't need to spend the money for XM in my car or anywhere else, for I have my iPod and a mp3 player in my car, but at the computer I like to discover new music. It sucks that I have to pay for music, but it's not that much a month, and the variety I can get with the click of a mouse is unbelievable. I'm not sure if Serius has the same thing, but I'd imagine it has something.

Why is it when you have a band out since 1968, massive albums and cd's, three new in the past year and a half, can't the Hall of Fame recognize that they deserve to be there.

POCO..................They deserve it. They paid their dues..

INDUCT POCO INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

thanks, Geoff

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You are so right. Classic rock is the best, and the few stations that do play it need to have a bigger variety of songs. I heard the same song twice in two hours. And then again later that afternoon. So, rock on, but not twice in one day at least.

Cleveland does indeed, sort of, rock - if you're a concert veteran. A classic 70's metal band named STARZ just released a CD through Sony that was recorded live in Cleveland at The Beachland Ballroom. The crowd sounds awesome and is really into the band. It's how audiences from the 70's and early 80's used to sound at places like the Agora and the Coliseum. Well, the crowd was older and had probably seen a lot of other fine concerts in the past.

It must be a generation thing. Kids today are too uptight and don't take active roles in having a good, good time at their concerts anymore. A typical young person today seems content to sit and watch instead of participating and maybe making a playful fool of themselves. Plus, you never get that gentle smell of pot wafting your way at a concert anymore. It's not PC to say, but grass has made prior generations laugh and have a good time at concerts.

So, yeah, Cleveland hardly rocks anymore. For some reason (maybe it's their parents' fault), kids today act like mannequins at concerts and sporting events.

But don't feel bad. No place else in the hung up, uptight, tight lipped USofA seems to rock anymore, either.

I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.

I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.

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