When I was a nipper, a friend of mine travelled to Boston to visit relatives. We were both radio nerds. Imagine my glee when he returned to Ireland with a cassette tape loaded with audio from the stations in that part of the world.
I listened to that tape non-stop for days. Analyzing and imagining what it might be like to work on one of these incredible stations.
In the 80s, American radio ruled. It was the greatest in the world. Grown on the efforts of the Rock 'n' Roll DJs of the 50s and 60s...it peaked. Jo Jo Kincaid, Shotgun Tom Kelly, The Z100 Morning Zoo. In Ireland, we aired Rick Dees and Casey Kasem and they became stars and household names, despite having never set foot in the country.
My first proper paid gig was with Sunshine 101 in Dublin...programmed by an American.
Then...something happened.
It was as if a door closed and everything behind the door stopped...while everything on the other side of the door continued to move forward.
Since the mid-90s, UK, Australian and Irish radio caught up and (especially in the case of Australia) outpaced the States.
We saw a promo online today for a cash give-away on a US station. It could have been produced in 1988. Lots of "Hey Guys...your chance to win...Be here..." etc. Topped off with a blonde, buxom woman bouncing in front of the camera. Really???
What happened, America?
We used to look at you with envy and joy. We wanted to be you. Now, you are like that relative who wears his 'good clothes' from 1990 and doesn't realise that they went out of fashion three decades ago.
If you can show me, someone who sounds '2021' (in the same way Greg James and Jace & PJ do), then let me know. I really want to be proved wrong.
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