Don't Be Funny: The Music Is Money

The radio station that I used to listen to when I was younger (back in Phoenix) was an album rock station. They really played good music, but I didn't especially appreciate it then. I tolerated their music mainly because I liked the other things that they did, and chief among them was the comedy stuff they put on. I used to think their morning DJs were really funny, but looking back I can't say that I would think the same thing today.

Some of their best bits were things like a parody of the Lone Ranger wherein the titular character was flamboyantly gay, and they would do clumsy parody songs of local current events. They had a dynamite bit where they would report and comment on some stupid criminal story, and this would be capped off with a censored version of a line from "Blazing Saddles". I really did think all that stuff was awfully funny, and wished I could listen to all the three or four hours of their show every day.

Some of the other stuff the station did still holds up. Actually, the only thing I can think of is the Five O'Clock Funnies, which were just them playing recordings of comedians. Oh, and of course the music holds up. I am much more into music than I was then, and I will actually enjoy them playing a bunch of Who and Led Zeppelin songs instead of biding my time until the next hilarious burst of talk time from the DJs.

Here in LA there's what is more or less a similar station, although I don't know whether any station leans as heavily on its DJs as they used to. That's all right. I'm not as eager to hear them talk as I used to be. If they were really worth listening to, they would probably be on an AM station or someplace else where they're more than a delivery vehicle for contest news and the time. Anyway, the station plays pretty good music.