I suppose I was a little spoiled by Charlottesville radio. I listened primarily to two independent (not owned by Clear Channel or some other huge conglomerate) stations: WNRN 91.9 and WVWV 97.5.. NRN is a non-profit station that plays a variety of stuff. I liked it because of the relative variety and *gasp* I could hear stuff I had not heard of before. Since I am now way out of the music loop, NRN was where I first heard bands like Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins. Sure, it had some issues (an odd station manager, an overabundance of nu-metal in the afternoon hours, same songs at the same time, and some snobbiness), but I liked it. WVWV was classic rock, so you got what you paid for there. I liked the morning show guys and they played the "Peanut Butter Jelly Song" on Fridays, which was always amusing.

Some of thestations I have programed in my radio here are:
95.7 The Ride
93.3 The Planet
106.5 The End

Some general observations about radio here:
1. People talk -- A LOT. There's a morning show where people talk, there's a drive home show where people talk, there's a night show where people talk. I thought music was involved in radio somehow. Silly me.
2. For the "Modern Rock" stations (The Planet and the End) music reached its peak in 1995. 90% of the stuff either comes from the mid-ninties or from bands that sound like they come from the mid-90's. While I like Alice In Chains, I don't need to hear "Would" three times a week. And, really, did we need to hear Candlebox ever again? Then there's all those new bands that sound like Nirvana-Jam-In Chains-Addiction. The epitome of all this was a "special live cut" of Staind (I think) playing Pearl Jam's "Black". That is just wrong on so many levels, it makes me throw up a little in my mouth.
3. I was all kinds of excited by The Ride, which plays deep cuts and album versions of rock songs, mostly classic rock. I heard lots of Beatles. There was Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac and some Steve Miller. There was even some REM. There was also some Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac and Steve Miller, followed by some more Fleetwood Mac and Steve Miller, then some Steely Dan after some Billy Joel. Seriously, I heard "Piano Man" four times in one week. WHY, IN GOD'S NAME, WITH ALL THE MUSIC AVAILABLE TO YOU ON AN ALBUM ORIENTED ROCK STATION THAT'S NOT AFRIAD TO PLAY DEEPER TRACKS, DO YOU PLAY THE SAME SONGS OVER AND OVER? Sorry, I got excited there for a moment. I just don't get it.

I am going to go listen to ITunes and calm down.