Put WDET 101.9 radio back together again

[ronaldj]

Cannot forget Gene Elzy, DET from WJR, with the Bluesy Side of Jazz and the Jazzy Side of Blues.

[noise]

And that's one thing they don't get. As a sustaining member, I wanna hear MORE MUSIC! They need to stop the talk around 5 or 6 pm and have music for the rest of the night during the week and all music on the weekends. I wanna here music selected by knowledgeable hosts. I wanna hear more Ann Delisi, Chris Campbell, Jon Mosier. All that talk radio radio is for the birds. I can take it up to a point, but they don't get that and haven't gotten that since when they purged the station of its music personalities 7 or 8 years ago.

This is interesting to me. I don't want to hear any music on WDET. I listen for the talk shows. I've never heard anything that interested me, musically, on this station. And I say that as somebody with a rather large vinyl record collection, who has toured the country playing in bands.

Then again, maybe that's why I'm not interested in hearing music on this station. I'm relatively tuned in and know exactly what music I want to hear. Stubborn, perhaps.

[G-DDT]

Cannot forget Gene Elzy, DET from WJR, with the Bluesy Side of Jazz and the Jazzy Side of Blues.

Ah yes. Gene.

[ordinary]

Ann Delisi's sycophantic blather annoys me. Good grief Ann, they're just musicians! I miss Larry McDaniels.

[etbusch]

Here is a link to a survey about current and future WDET programming. If you have an opinion on it, please fill it out.

http://wdet.org/survey

[DetroitRocks]

Here is a link to a survey about current and future WDET programming. If you have an opinion on it, please fill it out.

http://wdet.org/survey

You all should just refer to this thread. Tried filling out your survey and I would need to block out an afternoon to get through all those questions.

Just give us more music, less talk, and more programs that are locally produced.

[gazhekwe]

I miss Larry McDaniels, too, and Matt Watroba. DET had folk programming since Buck Dancer's Choice with Phil Marcus Esser in the early days. They also had important local ethnic music, with Indian to Indian [[Thurman Bear - RIP) and La Raza [[Tish Hinajosa). I miss all those. Saturdays are not the same.

I could do without some of the talk shows to have the music back during the week, too.

I agree the newer folk on the Detroit show will improve. Craig was pretty raw for awhile when he first started the program. He listened and learned to correct some annoying speech habits and became a more balanced interviewer as time went on. Definitely I miss him, but at the same time, stepping aside to let new talent grow is a good thing.

[Ron Detroit]

I used to start Judy Adam's Morphogenisis theme music every weekday afternoon on one of those huge turntables the size of a washing machine. I think it was by the Paul Winter Consort. WDET was very local all day and night back then. People in and out all day recording shows. 1975.

[Gannon]

I'd prefer to not lose Krista Tippet's amazing program On Being, but it doesn't need to be in prime time...early Sunday morning is just fine, when most of the non-mystics and irreligious would be sleeping off the night prior.

Would love to hear more music during the weekday...at least a few hours just after lunch, perhaps. If the weekend djs are busy during their week, or don't want to commit to five more days of work...perhaps they can make a rotating host cycle, not unlike what they did when Fahle bailed. It would be cool to have a late-night show co-hosted by some of the more eclectic owners of record stores in the area...those cats all have such strong opinions on music, and amazing depth of knowledge.

He left some big shoes to fill...but it seems the new team is on a quick learning curve. They lose me less often now than at first...although I'll admit to not suffering Craig's move well...I'm sure I reacted poorly to any voice that wasn't his for a while.

Their weakest point of the schedule is overnight for me...although I spend that time most often with WCSX's Uncle Buck, who've I've known since grade school. I wouldn't have even noticed what WDET was doing overnight if they hadn't messed with his schedule a while back when THEY culled their staff...other than being bombarded by repetitive electronica if I tune in before the news in the morning. That is a harsh wakening...I'd just as soon listen to the tone generators down in my audio lab.

Thanks for the link to that survey, etbusch, the one from my e-mail didn't work because I'd already done it. At least they are guarding against folks cheating the survey...


Cheers

[Vic01]

You all should just refer to this thread. Tried filling out your survey and I would need to block out an afternoon to get through all those questions.

Just give us more music, less talk, and more programs that are locally produced.

I doubt if WDET is going to factor in the comments in this thread, not likely. I "blocked out an afternoon" and took the survey... it took about 10 minutes to fill out 6-7 pages of questions.

Yes, it took longer than blasting off a couple of comments on Dyes, but come on folks, if you can't take 10 minutes to express your "input" through the survey and get it to WDET... then it must not matter much to you after all.

Online bitchin' is easy, 10 minutes of effort on a survey must be too much like work...

[Gannon]

I doubt if WDET is going to factor in the comments in this thread, not likely. I "blocked out an afternoon" and took the survey... it took about 10 minutes to fill out 6-7 pages of questions.

Yes, it took longer than blasting off a couple of comments on Dyes, but come on folks, if you can't take 10 minutes to express your "input" through the survey and get it to WDET... then it must not matter much to you after all.

Online bitchin' is easy, 10 minutes of effort on a survey must be too much like work...

I'm with ya...it is a multi-page survey, but there are only two or three questions per page. Always curious to see how surveys are worded, many times you can see what they're trying to confirm, or a bias leaning, or even gaps in their vision quest.

To that end, they should read public feedback, if they've the time...because words can often complete what they didn't leave room for with their questions.

For instance, the question on the personalities will probably not yield any useful feedback. I would bet that most of 'em get the middle or upper-middle choice of the five [[cannot remember their differential terms). I'm guessing they could've gotten more precise feedback if they asked which personalities were amazing or awful, and perhaps dialogue on 'why?', instead of a middling average of ratings.

I didn't check anything about Sports, although I LOVED the interaction between Fahle and Pat Batcheller...I guess Pat's my kind of NPR newsie with a passion for sports which I can tolerate. I cannot imagine him having similar conversations with any of the current hosts, though.

Cheers

[Vic01]

To that end, they should read public feedback, if they've the time...because words can often complete what they didn't leave room for with their questions

Along with the "ratings" I think that there were at least two boxes to enter "additional comments/suggestions", I don't remember the "x?x character limit" but I'm fairly sure that at least some of the shorter posts in this thread would fit

[ordinary]

etbusch,
Thanks for the link. I filled out the survey. It didn't take too long. I don't understand why they can't throw in a program or two of classical music even if it's in the dead zone of Sunday evening. I imagine they still have some kind of library of that stuff in there. I know they're trying to attract younger viewers but throw this old fuddy duddy a bone. I know a lot of people would like more music and I can appreciate that but the only thing that keeps me listening, and contributing, is the story programs.
Also, Hockenberry has to go, he grates my nerves.

[DetroitRocks]

Here is a link to a survey about current and future WDET programming. If you have an opinion on it, please fill it out.

http://wdet.org/survey

Thank you! I filled out the survey. It was kind of long but well worth the time.

A couple of observations hit me as I was filling out the survey. WDET needs to be more inclusive. The station appeals to a white liberal base of 55+ and over. Which is fine for fuddy-duddy's like me, but I want to tune in to discover new and fresh perspectives, especially as they relate to music. There should be a happy medium between programming that appeals to a somewhat younger and culturally diverse demographic and for my age group as well.

[Hypestyles]

Bankole Thompson speaks on his role at WDET and on NPR in general:
http://michronicleonline.com/2015/02...-public-radio/

excerpt:

I also realize that journalists like myself in the Black press and other Black oriented media outlets would not be here had it not been for the weight of history. The history of Blacks being projected in cruel and negative ways in the mainstream press gave rise to Black oriented media organs.

The history of denying Blacks principled and meaningful voices in mainstream media to discuss the plight of African Americans is what triggered giant men and women like W.E.B. Du Bois, Frederick Douglass, Ida B Wells and others to establish platforms that would champions causes of their people.
Today, we can say we are much better off since the days of Douglass, Du Bois and Wells. But the double standards still exist in terms of the kind of treatment and prominence that is given to legitimate Black issues in mainstream media, when compared to non-Black issues. I get calls, like the one last week where I met with some prominent Blacks in the city concerned about African American participation in Detroit’s comeback.
However, there are mainstream media outlets that know all too well that their relevance in the Black community and other communities of color is tied to opening their platforms to unusual and non-traditional voices.
Outlets like public radio have a responsibility to serve the public good. That responsibility is even greater in light of a recent report about how White National Public Radio has become.
NPR, in an astonishing way and a display of race guilt, began a national conversation on its Whiteness by airing a bold commentary, “Challenging the Whiteness of Public Radio,” on its signature program “All Things Considered.”
The piercing commentary by an African American professor of communication, Chenjerai Kumanyika, hit a nerve. It has caught fire all over the Internet.
“Without being directly told, people like me learn that our way of speaking isn’t professional. And you start to imitate the standard or even hide the distinctive features of your own voice. This is one of the reasons that some of my Black and Brown friends refuse to listen to some of my favorite radio shows despite my most passionate efforts,” Kumanyika said.

[G-DDT]

Anyone know what became of Willy Wilson [[found one of his old calling cards from Car City Records)? He used to hang with some of us [[along with Kim Sorice who moved to Louisville) back when. He was really good with playing some old, rare blues singles.

[stromberg2]

Willy is a good friend of mine. I see him occasionally out and about. He's on Facebook and spins records on 99.1. Good guy.

Stromberg2

[G-DDT]

True, that is true.

[kryptonite]

I was a listener/contributor to Wdet for many years until the format changed over to talk radio about 12 years ago. What originally captured my attention in the 1980's was the incredible music programming on the station. Back then I thought it was perfect. Times change though, talk radio is not my thing but it is popular. Luckily I have satellite radio for listening while I drive. WDET had some brilliant DJ's back then: Dave Dixon, Martin Bandyke, Ann Delisi,The Blues man late night, the jazz guy in the evenings, the late night lady with the alternative music. Wow, the names have faded from memory even, there was some awesome music on WDET then.

[Honky Tonk]

I was a listener/contributor to Wdet for many years until the format changed over to talk radio about 12 years ago. What originally captured my attention in the 1980's was the incredible music programming on the station. Back then I thought it was perfect. Times change though, talk radio is not my thing but it is popular. Luckily I have satellite radio for listening while I drive. WDET had some brilliant DJ's back then: Dave Dixon, Martin Bandyke, Ann Delisi,The Blues man late night, the jazz guy in the evenings, the late night lady with the alternative music. Wow, the names have faded from memory even, there was some awesome music on WDET then.

Ed Love did and still does the Jazz show, but only on Saturday nights now. Liz Copeland did the alternative music show. If you liked her show, check out Lori Brown's "The Signal" on CBC, 89.9 FM, 10 p.m. -12 a.m.

[DetroitRocks]

WDET still have brilliant DJs today. I'd put Ann Delisi, Chris Campbell, Jon Mosier, Rob Reinhart up against the likes of Judy Adams, Martin Bandyke, Chuck Horn and any of the other past personalities from back in the day. What 'DET fails to do is PROMOTE their music shows. Outside of Ann Delisi, Detroit Today and Culture City, they do a piss poor job of promoting their on-air music shows and that's half their problem.

[noise]

WDET still have brilliant DJs today. I'd put Ann Delisi, Chris Campbell, Jon Mosier, Rob Reinhart up against the likes of Judy Adams, Martin Bandyke, Chuck Horn and any of the other past personalities from back in the day. What 'DET fails to do is PROMOTE their music shows. Outside of Ann Delisi, Detroit Today and Culture City, they do a piss poor job of promoting their on-air music shows and that's half their problem.

They're also dealing with a more diverse listener base, than say WCSX, when it comes to music. While I listen to their talk programming, I can pretty much guarantee they will never play music I'm interested in hearing.

[G-DDT]

WDET still have brilliant DJs today. I'd put Ann Delisi, Chris Campbell, Jon Mosier, Rob Reinhart up against the likes of Judy Adams, Martin Bandyke, Chuck Horn and any of the other past personalities from back in the day. What 'DET fails to do is PROMOTE their music shows. Outside of Ann Delisi, Detroit Today and Culture City, they do a piss poor job of promoting their on-air music shows and that's half their problem.

Yeah, but Mosier was there back when Bandyke, Valdez, Copeland, Wilson, and Horn were all kickin' it. Jon's been around a while. He's not only a prolific radio presence who handles Oakland Community College's station, he'd sneak over and do CJAM. Also, he's a great drummer to boot.

[DetroitRocks]

They're also dealing with a more diverse listener base, than say WCSX, when it comes to music. While I listen to their talk programming, I can pretty much guarantee they will never play music I'm interested in hearing.

What kind of music do you listen to, Noise?

[gameguy56]

Would be nice if there was a radio station in detroit that had the same programming as a station like WXOU or WCBN. WDET just isn't that station.