And the slow death of radio continues. Yesterday, Scott Muni passed away. For those unfamiliar, Muni was a radio legend who had worked as a DJ in New York for almost 50 years. He was responsible for the success of many bands, and a major player in Rock ‘n’ Roll history. His tribute show to John Lennon is regularly replayed on the anniversary of the late Beatle’s death.
Q104.3 (his last home) is one of the few stations I actually listen to. I can’t help but feel like this is the final nail in the coffin for the radio format. He was one of the last of his kind and, let’s face it, that medium will never produce the likes of him again.
We have lost our common culture. We no longer weep at deaths because those people touched us, so much as we merely recognize their names. In an effort to appease everybody and give them all their own little niche, we continue to isolate ourselves from the ties that bind.
I found a good article on the death of AM radio over at Musicradio.
I usually listen to 104.3 on the way to work, and happened to catch a clip of Paul McCartney singing happy birthday to Scott. I hadn’t heard anything about his death until I read your post just now, so I didn’t think anything of it at the time; I though they were just playing clips of previous shows for whatever reason. I didn’t realize it was a tribute show they were doing.
Actually, I rediscovered radio again thru the web. Especially BBC Radio 1 and several other of their shows. No advertising, only music. But I am sure it’s pretty hard to loose ‘a voice’ that has been there all your life.