Enough already, John Mayer!

[vovat]

The radio station they play at work is a mixture of good and bad. They play Paul Simon, but also John Mayer. And really, is that "Be Good To Your Daughters" song one of the most incredibly sexist things ever, or am I just too dense to grasp the astounding level of irony? Eh, even if it isn't actually sexist, it still sucks. But anyway, most of the music is of the soft rock variety that nobody really seems to like that much, but they don't totally hate it either. The real problem, however, is that it plays EXACTLY THE SAME SONGS every day. There's a little bit of variation, but not much. And there are regular radio stations that do pretty much the same thing. Do some people LIKE hearing the same stuff day after day? Unless I'm just getting into an album or obsessed with a particular song, I usually don't. It gets to the point where even a variety of BAD songs might be preferable. Mostly, though, I miss being able to listen to my own music at work. It made the time go by so much faster.

Occasionally (as happened today), the music will actually stop for a while, and they'll play infomercials instead. And they're always really lousy infomercials for weight loss products and such. I think there was one time when they played that "natural cures" guy, which is pretty much the lowest of the low. I mean, don't some stores refuse to stock his book because they found out his "cures" could kill people? Yet he's apparently still welcome in the crappy infomercial circuit.

By the way, around where I live, there's a new billboard advertising a fireworks store in Chester, Pennsylvania. Then there's a message at the bottom saying that bringing fireworks into New Jersey is illegal without the proper license. So why bother advertising here? Do they want people to use them before they get back to the state? Or are the advertising in cahoots with whatever agency provides the licenses? Regardless, it's probably still a better use of advertising dollars than when the local TV stations show Sonic commercials, considering that the closest one of those is in Virginia.

Comments

[loz]

I FEEL YOUR PAIN!

My younger brother, for some inexplicable reason, has recently become a John Mayer fan. He plays him all the time. This wasn't bad when I was house sitting for my older brother, but now that I've moved back home it's --- ugh. And I can't just switch Nick off, unfortunately (also, he'd be super offended if I told him how much I dislike Mayer's voice and then he'd play it even louder.)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I'd place Mayer in the same category as Dave Matthews, in that their songs are just so boring that I can't even appreciate them on an ironic level.

[onib.livejournal.com]

Amy & I have complained a lot about that "daughters" song. In essence, it seems to be saying that daughters are fragile little things that must be protected lest they break at the slightest pressure, while sons are big and strong and can take whatever you dish out. If that doesn't fit the definition of sexist, then Webster needs to take another look at that definition.

Also, we discovered that there does happen to be a Sonic on your side of Lancaster, so if you're planning on going to the TMBG show in July, you could release all that pent-up advertisedness. (Chameleon Club is a pretty nice venue to see them in anyway.)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Amy & I have complained a lot about that "daughters" song.

I know better than to assume that everything a person sings about necessarily reflects their own personal views, but I know of no evidence that Mayer is being ironic or singing from the perspective of a character. I'm not even sure he's smart enough to do that; I mean, he IS dating Jessica Simpson (whose father seems to be obsessed with her boobs; is THAT "being good to your daughter"? :P).

It looks like they've apparently built Sonics in Pennsylvania and Delaware since I last checked the website. The closest to me is still almost 50 miles away, but maybe it's a good sign of things to come.

[listenesmerelda.livejournal.com]

At first I read that as the daughters song being the "most incredibly sexiest things ever."

I actually decided just the other day while out shopping that I full-on hate John Mayer. Supposedly he's a very good guitar player, but all I've ever heard is soft crap pop.

Back when I used to have a bulk mail job, the gentleman I worked with played this classic rock station everyday and I learned that, at least according to this station, there are about a grand total of thirty classic rock songs ever.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Supposedly he's a very good guitar player

Well, maybe he IS, but technical competence can only go so far to compensate for dull music and singing.

[travspence.livejournal.com]

I have never liked John Mayer. I hated him right off because of that wretchedly stupid "running through my high school" song.

The real problem, however, is that it plays EXACTLY THE SAME SONGS every day.

The big radio station in my hometown, WLBC, was like that when I was younger. They would play the same songs AT THE SAME TIME every day. I had a home ec cooking class in the 8th grade and the teacher would let us listen to the radio while we worked. From 11 - noon every day it was the same set of songs and it was always "Total Eclipse of the Heart" playing when class was dismissed.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

The station at work does mix it up somewhat. I guess it's kind of like listening to an eight-hour playlist on random. Beth was telling me that the local soft rock station played some songs at the same time every day (including "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad" at 3:00; I WISH they'd play Meat Loaf at my work), but I don't know if EVERYTHING was the same every day. It just seems kind of weird, because I have a lot less music than your average radio station, yet I could go for several days of workday-long listening without repeating anything. There would be far fewer artists involved, I suppose, but a lot more songs.

[colleenanne.livejournal.com]

In the world of overzelous lawsuits, the "illegal to bring fireworks into the state of New Jersey" is a "cover our ass" clause.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I'm kind of surprised that they're allowed to advertise in a place where the product is illegal.

[colbyucb.livejournal.com]

I can't listen to (non-talk) radio for the points you've listed. Also, I really dislike John Mayer and this is an opportunity to say so without seeming like it's coming out of the blue.

[kristenjarrod.livejournal.com]

>>Do some people LIKE hearing the same stuff day after day?<<

The Classic Rock station here is like that. It's like listening to a 46 year old's iPod every single day. I mean come on, its Classic Rock that is a HUGE library. Play some different things.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

That's why at We the Fools, we switch our theme every week. ;) (when IUP is in session, anyway). And have never played John Mayer.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, I think college radio is usually better for playing a variety of music anyway. I occasionally can get in the Princeton station in my area, and it plays some interesting music (although I'm not so keen on the show that plays nothing but Indian music; I lack the patience to appreciate ragas). That's not to say that everything that gets played on college radio is GOOD, just that it's generally not as repetitive as the ClearChannel stuff.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

COOOOOOL! WIUP never had opportunities for VARIETY shows back in the day (seven years ago)! We were only allowed to be creative within the given genre of the time slot. Not that that didn't allow for some interesting things occasionally. Or pretty often.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

Believe me, it wasn't easy selling the idea. We really wanted the 10 PM slot, but it was "punk rock only" every single day. So we settled for 10:30 AM-12 PM, in the "Mid-day Mix" slot, and we can play whatever the heck we want. Good times.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Now THAT'S college radio.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

How much say did you have over what you played when you did the classic rock show?

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Quite a lot really, except that we weren't really allowed to play anything that would fit the format of any of the other shows. Like, I remember a hard-rock fan that called to make a request, and first he requested something that I had to say no because it would be played on the 80s show, and second something that would be on the metal show, and FINALLY he requested Aerosmith and I said I cAN do that. But obviously early Aerosmith. But within that we were pretty free. I played a lot of obscure stuff and did a lot of theme shows, like the Na-na show where every song had to contain a lot of nonsense syllables in the lyrics; the semester I worked with a partner we had a lot of fun with blocks where we'd play two completely different versions of the same song or the time we gathered up every song we could find that was written by Dylan but not sung by him.... we could have had a lot of fun playing ANYTHing

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I played a lot of obscure stuff and did a lot of theme shows, like the Na-na show where every song had to contain a lot of nonsense syllables in the lyrics

I remember Beth saying she wanted to make a mix of songs like that. Do you remember any of the songs you played? (And no, she doesn't like "Brown Eyed Girl." {g})

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

heh heh, I'm not a big fan of Brown Eyed Girl myself, although I think I did play it on that show! I later made a CD of a lot of what I played on the show too... here's the CD list:

Loving Touching Squeezing, Journey (that was the song that inspired the show in the first place, when someone called and requested it as "That Na-Na Song")
Hush, Deep Purple
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, Steam
Hey Jude, the Beatles
Centerfold, J Geils (sp?) Band
De doo doo do de da da da, the Police
Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Manfred Mann
Obladi Oblada, the Beatles
Piano Man, Billy Joel
Me and Bobby McGee, Janis Joplin
Happy Together, the Turtles
Swingtown, the Steve Miller Band
A Horse with No Name, America (I didn't actually play this one on the SHOW, because the kid before me actually played it JUST as I was walking in to ask him if I could borrow his copy for my show!)
Beginnings, Chicago
the Boxer, simon and garfunkel
montego bay, bobby bloom
--heh, whaddya know, brown eyed girl
don't fear the reaper, blue oyster cult
love the one you're with, stephen stills

That's just sthe Cd-- I had more on a playlist on my computer but that must have been before my computer crashed, and I have a cranky baby in my arms so I don't think I'm ding further research into that right now, nor fixing typos.

[slfcllednowhere.livejournal.com]

JOHN MAYER SUCKS SO MUCH, Chris and I have had many, many conversations about this. Why the hell is he so popular? What the fuck is the matter with everyone? ("We could just say, y'know, 'Americans are stupid,' but that would be incredibly mean," says John. It's probably true.)

A lot of the stations here will play commercials bragging about how they won't play the same thing twice in one day, and I really don't understand how that's such an accomplishment. There's so damn much music in the world, and all they mean is, oh, we wait until tomorrow to play it again, and the next day, and the next day. Grr. In conclusion, I love my XM.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

A lot of the stations here will play commercials bragging about how they won't play the same thing twice in one day, and I really don't understand how that's such an accomplishment.

The fact that anyone considers that anything to brag about makes we weep for the state of radio in general. But then, radio station bragging can get pretty ridiculous in other ways, too. I mean, how many stations claim to play "the most music"? They can't ALL do that, you know.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, John Mayer is a bit of a pill. Apparently he has a good sense of humor, cuz I remember seeing him play (non-flammatory and non-hurtful) pranks on people before a concert that was played at some arena and then recorded for MTV/VH1 later on. I guess he's popular cuz he's somewhat good-looking. That doesn't explain Dave Matthews Band and their ilk however.

You should come to Chicago. We actually have an alternative rock station that plays everything and only about once a day. The advantage is that, besides listener requests every hour, the songlist is on the iPod shuffle. That's a disadvantage as well, because you can get some really odd songs on the list, like stuff by the Police or Gym Class Heroes. GCH in my opinion shouldn't even be on rock stations, even though rock stations play their songs. They're softcore rap dammit!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

The random playlist radio station is a bit of an odd phenomenon. It guarantees a greater variety of songs, yet it also seems a bit lazy. Also, there have been many times when I've been listening to a random playlist of 1000+ songs, yet the same ones kept coming up over and over again. Maybe the station has some kind of algorithm or human input to avoid that kind of thing, though.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm surprised I never made a general comment to this post (well, not entirely surprised, I get distracted very easily lately). But probably because it's a subject near and dear to my heart that I've probably already talked about in great depth. The short version is, that's why I feel the need to flip radio stations fanatically.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that seems to be many people's preferred way of listening to the radio (or watching TV, for that matter). Of course, that sometimes involves scanning through the entire band several times before finding ANY music, let alone GOOD music.

[revme.livejournal.com]

I don't get the idea of not being able to listen to your own music. That's silly. And I am really surprised that they're airing infomercials by that guy... or is it just the quick 1 minute spots? Those are called PIs (or, "Per Inquiry"s) and are basically the radio equivalent of those lame ads for various things where you can CALL NOW and NO CODs. If they're actually just doing like, half-hour blocks of infomercial, well, jeez, I would assume that means the station is probably going to flip formats soon since apparently they don't know how to keep listeners...

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I don't get the idea of not being able to listen to your own music.

I think it's because of the greater level of interaction. When I worked at the IRS, it was pretty much just one thing over and over again, and we could do it on our own. At my current job, there are some different things to do, and we have to be prepared to hear what supervisors and co-workers have to say. That's probably the idea behind it, anyway.

And I am really surprised that they're airing infomercials by that guy... or is it just the quick 1 minute spots?

Honestly, I didn't really pay enough attention to know for sure. The infomercials are usually played more quietly than the music anyway (not that that's a bad thing). I'm not totally sure where the stations come from, but I think it might be a satellite feed. I know there are stations they can get other than the soft rock and infomercial ones, but I've only ever heard another one once, and that was probably a mistake or something. Really, if you're going to be paying for satellite radio and only listening to one of its most repetitive stations, I'd say that's a waste of money. But maybe they get some kind of special deal. I don't know.