One of the music radio stations I listen to is WXRT here in Chicago. It’s a very good station overall. I like it. But.
About a year or so ago I noticed that Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” started to show up in their music mix, which normally consists of rock/alternative/etc. music. So you’d have Wilco, R.E.M., and then Billy Idol. It just seemed weird. But you know, sometimes radio stations will throw in an artist like Billy Idol to be hipster cool. “OMG, remember the 80s?!”
Thing is, now “White Wedding” is a part of XRT’s regular mix. And they’re not being hipster cool. I’m trying to figure out why this is. The song isn’t very good overall (it’s a passable pop song, not much else) and boy, they play it enough.
My theory is that Jason Thomas, XRT’s newest DJ, is behind all this – because he sucks. And so does “White Wedding”. So there you go.
Posted in Television, Movies, and Music
Ryan September 21, 2007, 2:20 pm
I’ve been a closet fan of Billy Idol’s stuff since I was a kid. The video for “White Wedding” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AofzLsvTsM0) creeped me out a bit, but loved the “Dancing With Myself” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VNx78SAq8M) and “Rebel Yell” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToeY7MkCm0c) videos.
Merle September 21, 2007, 9:18 pm
Hey! “White Wedding” is pretty cool. If quite long and drawn out.
Many DJs have a lot of leeway in terms of what they can play, so long as the station remains popular, so it probably is the DJ.
Alan Bluehole September 23, 2007, 4:21 pm
You are wrong.
Steve A September 27, 2007, 11:12 am
Sometimes it’s not so much about the song but the duration. When I was on radio timing was of the essence. The Box Tops (remember that?) credit their hit *The Letter* to the fact it was only a few minutes long. It would usually get played just before newcasts at the top of the hour because there was time for it, but not much else.
Ciao,