Re: Mainstream Music.

[ebm@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (Grady Toss)]

Hey--HEY!  DO I HAVE TO COME BACK THERE?  Or, as Dana Carvey would
say (in the voice that everyone's 3rd grade teacher had):  Settle.

If you saw the sheer volume of records that comes into KALX every
day ('cept Saturday and Sunday), and split them into "mainstream"
and "non-mainstream."  You'd be surprised that the percentages of
quality and garbage are not that different.  The big differences are
that (1) The Mainstream material comes out in an absolute higher
volume, and (2) The radio and retail outlets for "Mainstream" mat-
erial.

I'm constantly amazed at the volume of absolute "alternative" GARBAGE
that makes it to vinyl.  One of the side effects of the anyone-can-
put-out-a-record scene is that often Anyone does.  Sort of the
Shaggs 1980's scene.

I would agree with Mr. Hofmannnnn's picks of interesting "mainstream"
material.  I think one of the major contributions that Paul Simon's
"Graceland" has made (and is making on tour) is to alter the boundary
between "Mainstream" and "Non-mainstream."  A lot of the South African
sounds he utilized will start bouncing in people's heads who would
have otherwise never been exposed.  Similarly his use of Los Lobos.

Mr. Hofmannnnn is also right about the current trends in radio.  Let's
face it, other than non-commercial radio, and a very few adventurous
outlets here and there, FM radio is in a dieing pattern.  After the
Crock of the 80's scare panned out, everyone's sitting with their
thumbs up their asses waiting for the next bandwagon to drive by.

Here in San Francisco (well, there, since technically I'm in Berkeley)
we have a flailing commercial outlet -- KITS, "The Live 105" -- that's
trying to resuccitate themselves by programming "New Wave" or "New
Music."  Bacially they're trying to sweep up the listeners from the
failed Roq of the 80's ratings loser KQAK ("The Quake" or "The Quack"
depending on who you talk to), while simultaneously drag listeners
away from SF big time college newvowavo station KUSF.  There numbers
are in fact picking up.  But they're not really being adventurous...
every step of their way is as calculated as possible.  In fact, by
lying to the pollster on the telephone I've become a weekly music
survey reviewer for them.  Actually, they never specified it was for
KITS, but the questions are pointed enough to make it obvious.  They
call me up about once a week, play me 5 seconds or so from about 40
different songs and have me rate them (from "Non-Familiar Hate It"
"Non-Familiar Neutral" "Non-Familiar Like It" "Hate It" "Neutral"
"Like It" "Favorite" "Tired of It").

Radio is too much like television these days.

... gt
-- 

		"It's not as if it's brain surgery.  After all, it's only
		 rock 'n' roll drums."

		--Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees