Go Forth & Be Paranoid

I’ve had a total lack of things to talk about the last few days.  About the biggest news outside of the real life drama in the World—Beirut and Israel and what will probably be the end of the United Nations, the pending situation in Cuba, the flooding in Ethiopia, the imminent explosions due at the Mayon volcano in the Philippines, North Korea and its toying with Brinksmanship, the continued inability of the American people to see through the lies and subterfuge that the Gang of Four (Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice) continue to spew to keep us locked in this failed attempt to subdue Iraq, BP’s oil pipeline shutdown, and the fact my city is one of the top ten car theft towns in the US yet again—was the fact that Shawn Cash & Jeff Jensen, “Shawn & Jeff,” the morning drive-time DJs on KZZO 100.5, were removed from their positions last week.  Teamed for 13 years, first at KWOD 106.5 and then at KZZO the last four years, the fourth consecutive Arbitron slide spelled disaster for the duo.  Cash was put in the less than desirable 2-6pm slot and Jeff Jensen was terminated.  This was on the heels of getting rid of their news guy, Marshall Phillips, just weeks before.  Thankfully, he landed on KSTE 650 AM, which is great because I always now listen to “Armstrong & Getty” in the morning.

Now, I know you are thinking, as did I,  “So?”  Maybe it is a “So” in the scheme of things, but I had listened to Shawn & Jeff since my arrival in Sacramento in 2001.  Their banter was fun and their schtick was entertaining to me on my drive in.  I got some air time myself via my storytelling, when I entered a couple of writing contests (and once won the Wiener Wednesday competition, which later became a “Best of Wiener Wednesday”).  One thing I noticed though, they only seemed to play about 12 songs all day, over and over, for months and months on end.  While Radio Alice 97.3 in San Francisco always seemed to be on the cutting edge of what was new and fresh, our little station seemed to be in a constant rut.  About a year or so ago, I gave up, switching to Radio Bob, then the JACK format, just because I didn’t want to hear the same thing over and over.   This lack of an innovative playlist is what killed Shawn & Jeff.  No matter how much I enjoyed them, I couldn’t listen to the music anymore and I got tired of checking back to see if anything changed.

Infinity Radio, a megalithic offshoot of parent Viacom, owns over 185 stations across the country and ranks up there with Clear Channel in influence of the radio waves.  What I’m saying here is long gone are the days of independent radio stations where many types of music could be heard and enjoyed.  Now, if you aren’t part of a staple of singers being supported and marketed through one of the big companies with deals with these stations, you don’t have a shot in hell of getting air time.  I’m not quite sure why these organizations haven’t been busted up in a big way with anti-trust laws, but something’s going on.  Shawn & Jeff, I wish you luck--I loved you, man.  And, I am sure the entire situation is a part of a greater right-wing conspiracy having somehow to do with the evil machinations of Karl Rove, I just haven’t figured out how.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you

~ Kurt Cobain

Published on: Aug 8, 2006