  Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 6313 Registered: 11-2004 |
I guess in this day & age of radio, it's still sad to see a radio personality shown the door. I guess the News article said that Tom Ryan had been with the station for over 18 years. No other reasons were given for his & his partner's dismissal. So much for loyalty. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/U PDATE/711030414/1361 | ||
Ed_golick Member Username: Ed_golick Post Number: 846 Registered: 10-2003 |
I'll bet that Tom and Mindy won't be out of a job for long. | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 6315 Registered: 11-2004 |
I wonder what Dick Purtan thinks of all this. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1400 Registered: 12-2003 |
I don't know Ed, they're pretty tied to the oldies format, don't you think? | ||
Ed_golick Member Username: Ed_golick Post Number: 849 Registered: 10-2003 |
I think Magic 105.1 would be a good fit for Tom and Mindy. | ||
Ltdave Member Username: Ltdave Post Number: 103 Registered: 09-2006 |
the way radio works is if a new owner comes in, they can dump anyone at any time for any reason. everyone is an 'at will' employee... my friend was an engineer at a station from 1966 until 1998 with a 3 year break from 67 until 70 for a stint with the Uncle... the station was sold, the new owners came in one day with a new manager and engineer and said "Hi Guys, this is so and so and they just took your jobs. Good luck and you should get your last checks by friday." and that IS a direct quote... he lived off his 401 for about a year, went to a hip-hop station, lasted 6 months and told THAT mgr that the music was the worst shit hed ever heard and walked out the door. he works for the state assembly (Cali) now for more money, better hours and much better people to work with. professional people vs. hip-hop, thug culture, punks... | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1401 Registered: 12-2003 |
Magic -- hmmm, yeah. LtDave -- WOMC is still owned by CBS. No change there. Are there any stations in Detroit with unionized on-air talent? | ||
Jenniferl Member Username: Jenniferl Post Number: 406 Registered: 03-2004 |
I can remember listening to Tom Ryan's morning show in the mid-80s, when WOMC was still playing then-current pop and soft rock songs. It's sad that they let him and Matinee Mindy go. | ||
Fordaspiregv Member Username: Fordaspiregv Post Number: 16 Registered: 07-2007 |
Magic will take them I bet. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 42 Registered: 08-2007 |
count scary outta a job? thats too bad,i listened to tom ryan for alot of years. good luck to him. | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 6318 Registered: 11-2004 |
If Magic takes him on, who's gonna get the short end of the stick there? There's only so much air time nowadays. And is Tom Ryan really THAT distinctive of a radio personality? Does he really have a schtick that I'd follow him from one station to another? I've always contended that within the last dozen or so years, there really aren't true radio personalities that have such unique insights (either musically or otherwise) that would compel me to follow them up or down the dial. No disrespect meant to Tom Ryan, but I wonder if he's just another voice on the radio dial now forced to play someone else's playlist. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 43 Registered: 08-2007 |
went to womc website, ridin w /ryan got replaced with a jc penny ad. my radio don,t work in my jeep & i don,t listen at work anymore so i don,t know what goes on in detroit radio. | ||
Parkguy Member Username: Parkguy Post Number: 138 Registered: 04-2007 |
Radio has been losing total listenership numbers for a half-dozen years. Execs are worried and try to pump up the numbers with new technologies, such as automated shuffle formats, but people keep leaving, especially young ones. They like their iPods better. Can't blame them. Radio is bland, except for NPR and the few non-corporate stations left. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2065 Registered: 04-2006 |
He might be another victim of syndication. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1402 Registered: 12-2003 |
'OMC's audience aren't really the iPod generation. But the station faces stiff competition from XM and Sirius satellite radio, that play lots more oldies than they do. | ||
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 504 Registered: 05-2004 |
They probably didn't want to pay him what he was making. Sargent Sacto gets the double pump and is fired. | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 256 Registered: 06-2007 |
WOMC seems to have changed direction themselves. It appears A lot of the motown/bubblegum/Beach Boys-style music is being replaced by something more wcsx-like. But what do you expect? Regular rock stations are saturated with classic rock as well. That "doug" station claims to play "everything", but my estimation is over 60% of it is classic rock. | ||
Cmubryan Member Username: Cmubryan Post Number: 471 Registered: 11-2003 |
Also for a couple years there WOMC was not called "Oldies 104.3." They just restarted calling it Oldies again a few months ago. It was called "The Motorcity's 104.3" The music was the same, they just dropped the "Oldies" title. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1404 Registered: 12-2003 |
OMC has dialed back on the WCSX/'70s soundalike stuff and returned much of the '60s music to its playlist. They did that when they renamed it "Oldies" ...after WCBS wisely went back to the format. | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 257 Registered: 06-2007 |
Agreed. But just last night they played Eddie freakin' Money. Even his earliest stuff is a bit too contemporary for the Four Tops/ Gary Puckett crowd. I believe "oldies" and "classic rock" are 2 different things.Oldies=Franki Valli. Classic rock=Led zeppelin. Only a few, like the Beatles, can cross over into both. | ||
Zephyrprocess Member Username: Zephyrprocess Post Number: 519 Registered: 08-2006 |
Soon enough, there will come a time when JJ & Lynne start reading commercials for Wright and Filippis, but right now that's one of Purtan's sponsors. Do the math--the Four Tops were formed more than 50 years ago, the Four Seasons more than 45 years ago. If this was the music you grew up with, then you are part of a demographic whose physical health and purchasing power is beginning to decline. | ||
Hornist9 Member Username: Hornist9 Post Number: 52 Registered: 05-2005 |
Speaking of JJ & Lynne, what ever happened to George Beire when he "retired"? His voices made those two in my opinion. I didn't care much for classic rock when I started listening to them, but it grew on me... I miss the Bruiser, Coleman Young (Aloha, Motherfuckah's) Popeye and my favorites Rocky and Bullwinkle.... | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1405 Registered: 12-2003 |
Who has more money to spend, someone in their '50s or '60s, or someone in their '20s or '30s? | ||
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 505 Registered: 05-2004 |
Guess it depends who has the better paying jobs. | ||
Flyingj Member Username: Flyingj Post Number: 39 Registered: 08-2006 |
Gosh, 12,000 Chrysler employees or a sidekick who made his biggest splash blatantly stealing from SCTV 25 years ago, who to feel for?.... | ||
Ed_golick Member Username: Ed_golick Post Number: 855 Registered: 10-2003 |
Flyingj puts it into perspective! | ||
Michigan_oldie Member Username: Michigan_oldie Post Number: 1 Registered: 11-2007 |
Listening to Tom's show for about 15 or so years now, I realized something was up. His format had changed dramatically in the past two years - gone were all the voices - Art Melin, Mary Hart, Joan Rivers, even Letterman disappeared before the end. Gone were many segments - James St. James, Touchdown Tina, Fast fax, Joke of the day reduced to only email, etc. Also, if anyone noticed, Mindy's on-air time was greatly reduced. Even his joking with the traffic reporter, Kelly, was lessened. So, about 6 months ago, I figured out it was only a matter of time. Sad, but not surprising. And I guess in response to the changes above, I had started switching around, too, several months ago. Also, if anyone's paying attention, Purtan's program has changed too, the voices have been greatly reduced, leaving the staff to pretty much talk about 1. current events (ripped from the National Enquirer)...and their children - interesting,to a degree...and basically boring. Change is the only constant. | ||
Gingellgirl Member Username: Gingellgirl Post Number: 76 Registered: 04-2007 |
From the Freep: "Consultant Gary Berkowitz took over guidance of the slumping station, moving over from soft rock WMGC-FM (105.1). He streamlined the playlist and greatly cut DJ chatter, outside of Purtan's morning show. Berkowitz's alterations seemed to work, bringing a ratings rebound." Check him out at www.garyberk.com In the words of Tom Petty: Well you can't turn him into a company man You can't turn him into a whore And the boys upstairs just don't understand anymore Well the top brass don't like him talking so much, And he won't play what they say to play And he don't want to change what don't need to change There goes the last DJ Who plays what he wants to play And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey... And there goes your freedom of choice There goes the last human voice There goes the last DJ Well some folks say they're gonna hang him so high 'Cause you just can't do what he did There're some things you just can't put in the minds of those kids As we celebrate mediocrity all the boys upstairs want to see How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free There goes the last DJ Who plays what he wants to play And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey... And there goes your freedom of choice There goes the last human voice And there goes the last DJ Well he got him a station down in Mexico And sometimes it'll kind of come in And I'll bust a move and remember how it was back then And there goes the last DJ Who plays what he wants to play And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey... And there goes your freedom of choice There goes the last human voice. And there goes the last DJ | ||
Hornist9 Member Username: Hornist9 Post Number: 53 Registered: 05-2005 |
Berkowicz...Wasn't he the jerk that trashed WQRS into the Edge? (I called it the edge of abyss) To this day, I will not listen to 105. (whatever it is) because that jerk took classical music from Detroiters for damned near 10 years. QRS was making money, they had decent ratings but NO!•• that total anal cavity had to make it another clone station. WQRS offered an oasis in a sea of redundancy on the Detroit radio dial. Thank God for WRCJ where I can listen to classical music for 12 hours a day, and good progressive jazz at night. | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 260 Registered: 06-2007 |
Why did the Edge go under? I knew a lot of people at the time that really liked that station. | ||
Jenniferl Member Username: Jenniferl Post Number: 408 Registered: 03-2004 |
A listener's guide to old popular music: OLDIES= Late 1950s through most of the 1960s. Some of these songs and artists may have shocked the world back then, but they mostly seem fun, squeaky clean, and innocent now. Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, the Everly Brothers, the Phil Spector girl groups, all of the old Motown, the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, the older, less heavy stuff by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. CLASSIC ROCK= Music by mostly white artists (Jimi Hendrix is one exception) from the mid-1960s through the 1970s. Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Doors, Elton John, early Bruce Springsteen, early Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac (one of the few bands in this genre that includes women in its line-up), the Eagles, all those progressive rock bands with one-word names (Yes, Styx, Foreigner, Boston). OLD SCHOOL= 1970s and 1980s and some early 1990s R&B, disco, funk, and some rap music. Barry White, Donna Summer, Parliament/Funkadelic, Grandmaster Flash, Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson, Prince, Teena Marie (one of the only white artists you'll hear here), New Edition, En Vogue, Boyz II Men, Soul II Soul, Salt n Peppa, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. RETRO= Punk, new wave, and other various sub-genres of alternative rock that came out before the grunge invasion of 1991. These artists are mostly white, many of them are British. The Cure, the Clash, the Ramones, Depeche Mode, the Smiths, Joy Division/New Order, Siouxsie & the Banshees, the B-52s, X, early Elvis Costello, any REM song that came out before "Losing My Religion". | ||
Harpernottingham Member Username: Harpernottingham Post Number: 302 Registered: 04-2006 |
So what the hell is "alternative rock" anyhow? And does anyone listen to 88.7 anymore? I don't even know what they call that station. I've completely forgotten. Come to think of it, I tune in to 96.3 FM every once in awhile, and I can't hear anything. By that, I mean it seems that they have no identity whatsoever. | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 6369 Registered: 11-2004 |
A lot of the local stations lack personality. Are there really any more radio personalities that play music? Sure there are syndicated talk show people like Rush, Dr, Judy, Jim Rome, Dr. Ruth, etc. but there really hasn't been anyone on any sort of scale that plays their own personal blend of music any more. Quite frankly since the demise of WDET, I've had to resort to internet radio to listen to anything even mildly unique. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 630 Registered: 04-2006 |
who says just middle aged people listen to WOMC? I am part of the iPod generation, but for my money, if in my CDplayless car, when there isn't a good show on WDET, I tune to WOMC. (except when driving on the weekends, I like flashback weekends on WNIC) | ||
Mtm Member Username: Mtm Post Number: 259 Registered: 06-2006 |
I do still listen to 'CSX on the way in to work. I wouldn't mind listening to something else but not much on at 5:30. JJ&Lynne are okay but I REALLY miss the old days of George Beire and the great parodies he came up with, as captured on their old "Parodies for Charities" CDs which I still often listen to when the inane chatter becomes too much. Anybody up for "Bomb Iraq"?? A GREAT parody based on "Like a Rock". | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 390 Registered: 02-2007 |
Isn't the issue one of lost local content & character? Not so long ago "radio" reflected the communities into which it broadcasted. Playlists, personalities, conversation, etc., varied by city, and one could "hear" the regional flavor change when on a long drive. IMO Tom Ryan was as entertaining as drying paint, but he was a local voice. For this I will miss him. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1408 Registered: 12-2003 |
Ryan is not a good example of the golden age of "personality radio" ...so I have to scratch my head at the wails. He'll be replaced by a local voice, no doubt. Dana whatever her name was who was let go by WOMC a while back had a screechy voice ...what happened to the concept that you had to have a pleasing voice to be on the radio? The men usually do but women with awful voices keep popping up on the air. | ||
Mtm Member Username: Mtm Post Number: 262 Registered: 06-2006 |
...and I'm sorry but Mindy always sounded like she had a sinus infection. Had to blow my nose any time I caught her on the air. |
