More Radio Contest Ramblings

Just like last year, this week I once again tried to win a radio call-in contest for some free golf tickets. And, just like last year, I came away empty-handed, save for some observations. Rather than clog up my Twitter feed with them, here they are, in no particular order.

-Despite not trying as many times this year (Hurricane Irene prep on Thursday and Friday cut into my efforts), I managed to get through just as many times as last year. I spoke to an actual human 4 times, when I was caller 4, 21 (Which totals up to 25, which was the caller I had to be to win. You'd think that would get me something, but it didn't. Damn arithmetic.), 1 and 16. So, while I didn't get any free stuff, at least I improved my percentages on the attempts-getting-rings-versus-busy-signals ratio. I know moral victories usually aren't worth a damn thing, but they take on added importance when they're all you've go to work with.

-On the call in which I was the first person through I was very surprised, because I'd never pulled that one off before. I told the guy I thought I should get something for being the fastest dialer. He laughed and hung up. I guess he thought I was kidding.

-One time after they played the "cue to call" the song which followed was Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" which also doubles as the most-played song on my iTunes (those of you who know me are probably not surprised by that fact). I took this song choice as a good omen. It was not.

-Another time the cue was followed by ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man", another song that is high on my personal playlist. I figured this time was the good omen. Again, it was not.

-I can not tell you the level of hatred I have for the people who were caller 25, but had no idea what they had just won. One guy said he looked forward to seeing Tiger Woods. Tiger won't be playing next week and people have known that for about a month now. I demand that man return the tickets, because he clearly isn't a golfer and won't appreciate the experience. This is why I prefer radio contests that have a trivia question involved. Weeds out the people who are just full of dumb luck.

-This was probably the most radio listening I have done since.... well, when I was trying to win tickets last year. And my time spent listening has led me to conclude the lack of variety on classic rock stations is a little disturbing. It's basically the same 15 musical acts and the only thing that really changes are the songs selected. I mean, they'll toss in a few random bands in the mix just to break up the monotony, but for the most part it's the same groups over and over. I know that not every band can be considered 'classic', but how many times in a day can I hear the Rolling Stones?

-Still, I think the more disturbing trend was the station playing recently-released music from those same 15 bands. I'm not a fan of musical acts skating by on reputation. Just because they churned out a few hits 40 years ago doesn't mean everything they touch turns to gold. Why don't we give the new stuff a few years to marinate before we consider it 'classic'?

-This lack of variety leads to a discussion point: just how old does a song have to be to move into the 'classic' category? The newest song that I heard came out in 1987. Wouldn't you think the very passage of time would lend itself to more music being available to be added to the station's library? I understand they can't exactly be playing songs made in 2000, but you could at least move to the early 90s, couldn't you? The last thing you want as a radio station is to give the appearance of being one of those crotchety old hippies who sit around and talk about how there hasn't been any good music made since you were a kid. Because if you notice, after a while those people always wind up talking only to themselves. That's a problem for a radio station.