Category Archives: Music

I heard this on this past Saturday’s edition of “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!” (it’s Limerick Challenge #3, which you can see and hear here) – the mystery of why drunks shout “Freebird!” at concerts gets probed by the Wall … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m a little surprised to learn that Kenny G did something recently that should have, but apparently hasn’t, attracted enough outrage for someone like me to have noticed it. I can’t do justice to what he did, but I can … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Sigh. From the day that KLOL changed formats, the rumor has always been that morning DJs Walton and Johnson would return somewhere to pollute the airwaves. New rock station KIOL has been teasing about a “big announcement” the past week … Continue reading → Continue reading →

My hat is off to John Nova Lomax for spending 24 hours doing nothing but listen to Houston radio in order to try and measure just how much it sucks. The verdict: Other than the pop, country, rock, oldies, 80s, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

February 3, 1959, was the day in which a plane crash killed rock musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. “Jape” Richardson, a/k/a The Big Bopper. Here’s a great article about the life of The Bopper, who was a disk … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Rock music is back in Houston, and it’s even a little ahead of schedule. In a not-so-subtle jab at KLOL, which for 35 years billed itself as “The Texas Rock ‘n’ Roll Authority” before switching to a Spanish hip-hop/reggaeton music … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The DC area loses a longstanding rock station. WHFS-FM, the Washington area radio station that was a pioneering purveyor of alternative rock to generations of young music fans, did a programming U-turn yesterday by ditching the genre for a Spanish-language, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Back when KLOL first switched formats, I thought that another station would eventually switch to a similar style to fill the void it left. According to this thread on the Houston Architecture Forum (which is a useful place to find … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron has an op-ed today on the subject of Christmas music and why it’s the same thing every year. Consider that in the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ annual ranking of the 25 most-performed holiday songs, oldies … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tired of the same old Christmas songs every year? Looking for something new and unusual? John Waters has the CD for you. “I’ve always loved Christmas albums. I collect them,” Waters said during a phone interview from his home in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The kids who sang the chorus in Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall” are suing for royalties. Twenty-three teenage pupils from Islington Green School secretly recorded vocals for the track, which became an anthem for children with the chorus … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I just heard a Neil Diamond version of John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War Is Over)”. If the Republican Party wants to use its complete legislative hegemony for good and not for evil, they would take immediate steps to ban such … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The local ABC affiliate did a story on the KLOL format change, with an emphasis on the online reaction to it all. Christopher Jones was one of the impassioned Rock 101 listeners. After the change, the Kingwood College student jumped … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Loren Steffy is in the same boat I am, radio-wise. I’m not a good demographic. That’s not an easy thing to admit. No one likes to be unloved, even if it’s only by marketers. Clear Channel Communications’ decision to pull … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, that’s just too long. It wasn’t so long ago that rock music of the ’80s was punchline nostalgia along with the Rubik’s Cube and Miami Vice. In 1998, Adam Sandler spent a whole movie, The Wedding Singer, poking fun … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kevin notes that the powers that be at Clear Channel in Houston have pulled a few stunts in the past, and wonders if maybe the furor over KLOL’s format change could be another trick on their part. Who knows? I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Found this blast from the past while searching for old KLOL stories. There will soon be something new on the radio: Houston’s first all-talk station on the FM dial — and the first talk station to bill itself as ideologically … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Russell Jones, also known as Ol’ Dirty Bastard, died yesterday at the age of 36. A founding member of the groundbreaking Staten Island rap group the Wu-Tang Clan, ODB – whose real name was Russell Jones – collapsed on the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

When was the last time a radio station format change generated this many articles in the newspaper? Clear Channel Radio’s format switch Friday at KLOL-FM (101.1) from rock ‘n’ roll to Spanish hip-hop and other pop styles aimed at a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

KLOL’s format change was front page news today. In a clear signal of the growing media clout of Houston-area Hispanics, radio behemoth Clear Channel Communications has yanked legendary rock station KLOL-FM (101.1) off the air and replaced it with a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Damn. Did anyone see this coming? KLOL, 101.1 FM announced Friday that station has changed formats. The station switched from a rock format to a Latino music format branded as Mega 101. The station’s web site was listed as under … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Pete and Ginger hash out this article on bad cover songs. I’ve never heard any of them, so I just have two comments. One, I’m not as reflexively anti-“Danny Boy” as Ginger is, so I have to agree with Pete. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, so much for taking Houston’s airways by storm. Syndicated shock jock Howard Stern’s much-bally-hooed debut in the Houston market hasn’t captured listeners. Ratings for Stern’s show, which debuted on KIKK-AM (650) in late July, were so minuscule they didn’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Opera singer and New York Yankees fixture Robert Merrill has died at the age of 87. Merrill died Saturday at his home in suburban New York City, family friend Barry Tucker said Monday. Reference books gave conflicting ages for Merrill, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

What can one say about VH1’s list of the 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs? 1. There are about a half-dozen or so songs on this list that I like, for some value of the word “like”, anyway. There’s no point … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You know what the worst part about the Vote for Change music tour? They won’t come anywhere near Houston. Oh, well. I’m not as free to see live music right now as I used to be anyway. You folks in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, if you hate radio commercials as much as I do, here’s some good news for you. Beginning Jan. 1, Clear Channel — which owns six San Antonio radio stations — will reduce the number of commercials it plays every … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Memo to self: set radio button for 650 AM. Houston listeners will get a chance to hear for themselves Monday, when Stern’s show debuts on KIKK-AM (650) during morning drive time. It will mark the first time Stern’s show has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hmm. I didn’t realize that Howard Stern had already made an appearance on Houston’s airways at the time I blogged about his upcoming presence. Radio listeners expecting their regular dose of business news on KIKK-AM (650) Wednesday morning got a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, well – I may have a new morning radio alternative. NEW YORK — Howard Stern announced today that his syndicated morning show would appear in nine new markets, including four where his show was axed by the nation’s largest … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Michael and Avedon, I bring you the George W. Bush Singers, featuring Texas’ own Guy Forsyth. They have MP3s and T-shirts for your listening and wearing pleasure. Continue reading →

I’m with Alex – it really is appalling and off-putting how many commercials are playing on radio these days. It’s worst in morning drivetime, as far as I can tell from my own listening experience, but whenever it happens there’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The legendary Ray Charles has passed away at the age of 73. Ray Charles, the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as “What’d I Say” and ballads like “Georgia on My Mind,” died Thursday, a spokesman … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Great article in the Press about Arrowfest, the local classic rock’s all-day nostalgia show, and the enduring appeal of the mucis it features, which I’m somewhat surprised to learn, cuts across age groups. This year’s Arrowfest, the crown jewel of … Continue reading → Continue reading →