HELP! I've gotta come up with a radio show!

[Billfred]

Alright, so I'm trying to get a time slot with the campus radio station. If I do get the slot (which seems pretty likely, given the requirements), I'd have two hours to fill.

And I can't play any music from a top 40 artist from the past 40 years.

(Right now, my personal favorite option is to find out what was topping the charts on August 31, 1964, forty years and a day from today. Thus, it's no longer barred.)

So I'd just like to get a feel out there, especially among the college students...what would you listen to in such a predicament?

(And yes, I'll be dropping FIRST in there now and then. Especially when Palmetto hits town. C'mon, you can't forget your roots.)

[MissInformation]

A blues show could be really good, especially older blues. Jazz, I'm not much into, but it's an option. Classical, of course, especially if you have a morning show. Of course, there are some harder alternatives, like punk and death metal (you know the bands where there's lots of hard music and the only singing consists of someone going "rrrar rrrar rrrrraaaawwww!" into a microphone), I don't believe any of these are chart toppers. You could also do an eclectic mix of all kinds of music.

Heidi

[Katie Reynolds]

Hmm with those requirements, I'd go with some classic "oldies" -- Some of these sites might help ...

http://www.severing.nu/music/1964.html

http://www.popculturemadness.com/Mus.../Top-1964.html

http://top40-charts.com/ (look at "Hot Songs from the past" on the right hand side, towards the bottom of the page)

http://users.skynet.be/stonewashed-c...ust%201964.htm

http://www.everyhit.com/retrocharts/1964-AugustC.html

That should get you started. Good luck!

[Brandon Martus]

Download the free mp3s from indie/unsigned bands on http://www.purevolume.com/

[Katie Reynolds]

Originally Posted by Brandon Martus

Download the free mp3s from indie/unsigned bands on http://www.purevolume.com/

Ooh good one. You can also go to www.garageband.com and do kind of the same thing ... only there, you sign up for a free account, review the music, then download it. There're all kinds of great, unsigned bands out there.

[Gary Dillard]

Give a call to recording studios in your area (look them up in the yellow pages) and ask them for some demo tapes from local bands. Once the word gets out they'll come looking for you. Then you can listen and sort according to quality - maybe one week it will be bands with potential and the next week the ones that are painful. Have sort of a "Columbia Idol" show, and I would guess people would tune in to see if they know anyone in any of the bands.

[Jessica Boucher]

You can also spend most of the time talking.

Check out http://radio.babson.edu/ - that's Babson's radio station.

Here's a couple of examples of "talk radio", college radio-style...the title's are first.
"Ming & Travis' Storytime Half Hour" - Basically two guys ranting. They've been known to read things that they found funny over the week.
"Don't Hate Me Because I'm Right" - Political discussion...he regulary has guests in the studio or has them call in and argue with him.
"Bad Boys" - Two guys ranting...mostly about the Red Sox. However, they are more of your classic morning show: they give prizes (like Ernest Goes to Camp posters), have a top ten list, and talk about current events.

Hope this helps!

[RudimentaryPeni]

if it starts going no where go take a break and put on in-a-gadda-da-vidda. Thats what they used to do when they took a cig break.

[Andy A.]

I highly recommend doing a talk show.

Some of my best shows were when the CD player broke, and I had an hour to fill with nothing but me and a friend having on the spot point-counterpoint discussions. You know, I wish we had recordings of some of those shows...

Another option is to have an open Mic night. Invite people to come into the studio and preform and whatnot. Good fun.

-Andy A.

[Alex Pelan]

Play a lot of jazz stuff...a lot of that hasn't been on any top 40 lists because it isn't that popular. Also, a lot of it is from before your deadline in the first place. Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong...its all good. Of course, you could probably do a "morning show" style, where you talk for a couple of minutes, play a couple of songs, talk some more. This sounds like it should be a lot of fun for you. You can just read jokes, make up your own, comment on the news, pretty much anything. I wouldn't recommend spending two hours alone on the air, however. You should find someone to do the show with. It probably would be a lot more fun/funnier then.

[Joe Matt]

Well, I've been thinking of when I go to college I want my own radio program, and one idea I came up with would be called 'Playlist'. Get people you know, like professors and such, to submit a 10 song playlist of oldies and then play it. Try to have four or five in each show. Just an idea.

[Katie Reynolds]

Originally Posted by Gary Dillard

Give a call to recording studios in your area (look them up in the yellow pages) and ask them for some demo tapes from local bands. Once the word gets out they'll come looking for you. Then you can listen and sort according to quality - maybe one week it will be bands with potential and the next week the ones that are painful. Have sort of a "Columbia Idol" show, and I would guess people would tune in to see if they know anyone in any of the bands.

If I were in Appleton and a timeslot at some station was devoted to playing local band's stuff, I know a *ton* of people (myself included!!) would listen it.

[RudimentaryPeni]

The one thing that doesnt have ascap or anyof that cal is punk. just do punk songs all night but youll be cueing up about 7 million records... or youll be carting them the day before becuase they range from 1 minute to 3.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Alright, so I'm trying to get a time slot with the campus radio station. If I do get the slot (which seems pretty likely, given the requirements), I'd have two hours to fill.

And I can't play any music from a top 40 artist from the past 40 years.

(Right now, my personal favorite option is to find out what was topping the charts on August 31, 1964, forty years and a day from today. Thus, it's no longer barred.)

So I'd just like to get a feel out there, especially among the college students...what would you listen to in such a predicament?

(And yes, I'll be dropping FIRST in there now and then. Especially when Palmetto hits town. C'mon, you can't forget your roots.)

Well.. if it were me and it weren't playing top 40 from the past 40 years, I would change the station.

Is this what college radio is all about??
No wonder it has a small listening base.

Anyways.. find artists who just missed making the top 40 from the past 40 years. I'm sure there are those artists out there.