Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Don't Bull the World

I cannot remember the last time I tuned in to the radio. There are so many things not right with the stations that I don't even know where to start. OK there was actually one station I did occasionally tuned into but it wasn't local, it was the BBC. The local, all crap. I don't remember ever buying a record or a cassette, (I'm from the late 70's remember?), because I heard a song or a band on the radio first. Even now, the latest downloads or CDs I buy are mostly of bands I grew up listening to or I'm familiar with. I used to head down to the many record and CD shops at Orchard and randomly listen through whatever they had. Or I'd mostly get info from my many friends who like me were also musicians. Some of us shared similar taste so it was easier back then to swap stuff. Then there were these few CD shops that actually allowed us to rent CDs. One that I recall was called Recoil, I think. It was over at Midpoint Orchard. But coming back to the local radio stations, I never found them up to par with what was really going on in the rest of the world. Seriously, the first thing I couldn't stand about the local DJs (if that's what they call themselves) is the English used. Speak good English yes, some and I mean very few of them could, but what is with that accent? Is that really how they speak at home or with their friends? They sound like they were born in some foreign land and suddenly parachuted into the radio station. These people eat Nasi Lemak, Roti Prata and Char Kway Teow and here they come sounding like some Angmoh who were born in America. Do they ever look in the mirror? Listening to them speak sometimes is like listening to a very bad comedy. Very torturous. Like nails on a blackboard. And that's another thing. They keep blabbering on and on about some stupid contest or some comic sketch that they have come up with or some other load of crap. I didn't tune in to the radio to listen to them telling their personal sad stories to each other. Where's the music? And when they do start playing, there is that hopeless repetition of the same songs over and over and over and over and over and over and over and. .. . . . . . . . . . .(now you know how that feels). I understand that there is a certain protocol that they are required to follow, but don't they have a mind of their own? Do we have to wait for the song to be a hit in another country before we start playing it here? I can go on but never mind. I'm better off without them. We all are. Thanks to my 'experimentation' with music I now know of bands and music genres that would probably not have seen the light of day on these stations. It's strange but nice to know how a song or a band has become a hit a long time after I'm already bored with it. It's nicer to lead then to follow.

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