Monty Python's Flying Circus: I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on the Radio (Buy Album)I often find myself listening to new music with my "DJ ears." That is, any time I hear something new, I ask myself if it passes the radio test. Is this really something that I envision myself playing on the air?
Most of the time the answer is obvious. The song is immediately catchy and passes the test, or it inspires the opposite reaction and gets tossed on the scrap pile.
What makes things tough is when a song that passes the test has to be thrown in the scrap heap due to an unfortunate word or phrase that makes the song run afoul of the FCC guidelines for decency. One four letter word can ruin a four minute song for radio play.
I've struggled with this for a while now as many of my favorite artists have one (or more) of those songs that would likely get me fined or fired if they ever showed up on my playlist. Luckily, I have a blog now.
Here are three songs that rank among my all-time favorites but have never gotten one single spin on the air. I already wrote about Lucinda Williams' "Essence" over at Star Maker Machine. "Come Pick Me Up" is my favorite Ryan Adams song, and Kathleen Edwards' "What Are You Waiting For" contains my single favorite delivery of a naughty word in song.
I'm not particularly proud of what this post says about me as a person... but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.
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1 comments:
Just saw your post. As for songs that never get played, there's always Nilsson's "You're Breaking My Heart".
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