Jun 7, 2010

The End. Of "The End." The. End.


"This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end"

I'm a bit late to the party, but as of April 21, 2010, 101.9 The End is no more. It was the one good radio station in Utah, and now it's playing DJ-less, 90's music. Instead of "Today's Hits, Yesterday's Favorites" as it used to. No more Chunga in the morning. How am I going to stay awake driving to work? Now, instead of complaining that he's not funny anymore, I have to complain that he's not on the air anymore. It's difficult for me.

I wrote about The End previously here and here (not here). Dear End, without whom I never would have been on the radio or heard of the bands O.A.R. or Thriving Ivory, and several others. I wouldn't have the funny memories of driving to Nephi, Heber, or (heaven forbid) Tooele while a carpet cleaner with Chunga to keep me entertained and awake.

Also, how am I supposed to keep up to track with what the kids are listening to nowadays? Watch "The Hills"? I mean MTV? Before I could listen to The End, hear the good stuff from the past, and get up to what the new singles and hits are. Now it just plays stuff from the 90's. It's as if the powers that be are deliberately trying to make me older. Is this what those of you who grew up in the 70's felt when they termed your music "Classic Rock"? Or those who grew up earlier than that, when they termed your music "Old people music"? That's gotta sting.

Now I listen to Beatles CDs, mixes I made, and get my news from The Soup or whatever issue of People is currently in my in-laws bathroom. Why me?

What are you listening to?

Any suggestions for me? (Besides get over it, how about all the poor pseudo-celebrities and radio people out of a job? Ever think of them? You make me sick.)

Would you like me to blog about anything else in particular? Like this wacky weather? What happened to Spring? Did my cacophonous complaining create some type of weird weather warping vicious voodoo vortex that destructively demolished Spring and brought malevolent mid-summer in frighteningly fast full force? Not that I'm complaining. I can wear my sandals much easier now that it's hot outside. Sandals and snow don't mix.

7 comments:

Jasmine said...

I just heard about that a few days ago, and even though I'm not in the Utah listening audience anymore, it still makes me sad. It was the one good radio station left in Utah. I wish I had a suggestion for a replacement.

If you're ever driving in Cali, though, listen to KROQ in the morning with Kevin and Bean. It's pretty much the best.

Austin said...

Kevin and Bean is STILL on? Wow, they were doing the KROQ morning show when I was in Jr. High! Way to go, K&B!

Charlo said...

I can't tell you how popular most of these are, but these are some of the ones I've been listening to a lot lately

mellow (mostly alternative):

BLIND PILOT (3 rounds and a sound album);
GUSTER (lost and gone forever album, some from ganging up on the sun album);
DIDO;
SHE & HIM (Zooey Deschanel singing odies-ish retro modern folkish something)-Why do you let me stay here, Sentemintal Heart;
ELLIOT SMITH;
THE PERISHERS-Trouble sleeping



International (french):

CARLA BRUNI- L'amoureuse, Quelqu'un m'a dit, You Belong to Me, etc. GEORGES BRASSENS (cafe music)


Pop:

MIRANDA COSGROVE (iCarly)- bam;
SELENA GOMEZ- naturally


Alternative:

ONE REPUBLIC- All the right moves, good life, Marchin On, Aplogize, All this time, Stop and Stare; MAT KEARNY- In the middle, breath in breathe out, All I need


Techno/electronicish:

OWL CITY- Hello seattle, rainbow veins;
METRIC - Gimme Sympathy, Help I'm Alive, Gold Gun Girls, Sick Muse, Collect Call, Waves;
SHINY TOY GUNS - Gost Town, Le Disko, Don't Cry Out, Major Tom, Stripped, You Are the One, Rainy Monday
HUSKY RESCUE-Nightless Night, New Light of Tomorrow;
APPARAT & ELLEN ALLIEN-leave me alone;
KELLY POLAR-Entropy Reins, Here in the night

Jacob I. McMillan said...

I liked listening to 90.9 and 91.7 FM when I lived in Utah. They both play a pretty good mix of established stuff and unknown/weird.

I'm not going to describe any of these recommendations to you. Instead I will group them by how hesitant I am in recommending them.

RECOMMENDED WITH NO HESITATION
Spoon
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
A Fine Frenzy
Phantogram
Yeasayer
RECOMMENDED WITH SOME HESITATION
Jucifer
Jesu
The Mae Shi
Holly Miranda
Marina and the Diamonds
RECOMMENDED WITH A BUNCH OF HESITATION
Kayo Dot
The Knife
Joanna Newsom
Clipd Beaks
Maps and Atlases

By the way, hesitation doesn't mean I like that stuff any less, it simply indicates I have absolutely no idea how you'd actually react to it. If you like, think of it as starting normal then moving into weird.

Teacher Eli said...

I hear you--I haven't been able to find a station I enjoy here in Vegas, so I end up listening to NPR and a whole lot of podcasts via cool and hip new ipod. But a great way for finding more music to love? Pandora is the best! I wish my car was wired with wi-fi!

Austin said...

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll have to check them out, weird, alternative and otherwise.

Ammon said...

I never listen to the radio if I can help it, but I do listen to lots of audio content wherever I am. Here are some picks to help enhance your commute, workout, cleanup time, etc.

Audiobooks: Lots of people say they'd read more if they could just find the time. Audiobooks let you cheat by reading when your eyes are busy elsewhere or you just can't hold a book. The trick sometimes is finding the right narrator, but when you find a good mix of narrator and author it can be a match made in heaven (think Jim Dale and the Harry Potter novels). A few good picks I've "read" recently: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and Ringworld by Larry Niven.

Podcasts: These can be a great way to catch up on news or topics that interest you. If you can think of it, then someone already has a podcast about it. I like ESPN's Pardon the Interruption (PTI), MacBreak Weekly and This Week in Tech. Browse the Podcast section on iTunes and I guarantee you'll find something to interest you.

Music: There's still plenty of good music out there even if Alternative Radio is fading into the ether. Charlotte and Jacob had some good picks, so I'll echo their votes for She & Him, OneRepublic, and Spoon. Here are some other bands that I'm listening to right now that I'm sure you'd also get a kick out of, in no particular order.
Them Crooked Vultures
Arctic Monkeys
Keane
The Smiths
Social Distortion
Muse
Joy Division
The Cult
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Wolfmother
The Raconteurs
The White Stripes
Silversun Pickups
Belle & Sebastian