WYEP - 91.3 - "Where the Music Matters" - Likely the local favorite of all Sitkot readers for good reason. Skews the most in our musical direction, hosts great events, fre
e in-studio concerts. Cindy Howes is great on the morning mix. Perfect morning voice and good playlist and I love the the 'my 15 minutes' feature and the traffic jam after the 8am news. Midday Mix selections can get a little schlockey but on the whole are a better bet than most anything else you'll find on your radio dial. The Drive Home with Rosemary Welch is where I tune out. Her voice reminds me too much of nagging church ladies I used to know and her playlist is too... well, one Indigo Girls' song a year is enough for me. The Saturday Soul Show and Sunday Morning Roots and Rhythm Mix are both highlights of the weekend. All told, sure YEP could be better, more innovative, more underground - but it's the best we've got for now.WDUQ 90.5 - The Jazz and NPR institution. Despite a recent, unpreced
ented fund drive haul to try and keep the popular Jazz and NPR News station afloat, it is uncertain what will become of it amidst speculation that Duquesne University, the owner of the license wants to sell it. What is certain is that Bob Studebaker and Tony Mowod are pillars of the local jazz community and two of the Burgh's best radio voices. Tony has been criticized for focusing too much on 'old jazz' his nightly show, but I don't mind the standards. I do mind his proclivity for warbly vocalists. But I've learned a lot from him since I started tuning in 5 years ago. DUQ keeps Pittsburgh's proud jazz tradition alive and is the ideal outlet for NPR news and programming. Let's hope it stays.WDVE 102.5 - (Classic) Rocks. It's been said that this is Pittsburgh's quintessential station; likely true. Its classic rock, comedy cuts and morning show scream Yinzburgh culture. Being the Steelers' flagship doesn't hurt either. Great to have Randy back on the morning show after what was rumored to be a contractual impasse. Jimmy
Krenn and Randy Baumann have an undeniable rapport and without Randy it seemed like the show was adrift, relying on Prisuta for comedy bits was untenable. Love the GunSlingers, Merrill Hoge and all the other comedians in the mix (except, of course for Mike Wysocki). Michelle Michaels, host of the lunch request show is likely the runner up for best radio voice in the Burgh behind DUQ's Tony Mowod. And Sean McDowell's stoned-out vibe on drive time show is always enjoyable. DVE offers what you want in a classic rock station - 50/50 odds that you'll hear a Skynyrd or Hendrix song any time you tune in.WXDX 105.9 - Buttrock, the Pens Flagship and the SuperGenius. Can't get enough Linkin Park, Slipknot or 90's power rock? The X is your home. Don't get me wrong, they'll occasionally throw in some Beasties or Sublime that we can all get down to, but rest assured that'll be followed up
with the newest power-chord-screamer on the airwaves. Their morning show will always play second fiddle to DVE; Tim Benz just isn't that entertaining or insightful. Of course, the X can't be mentioned without a glance toward the enormous shadow of Mark Madden. The ex-ESPN1250er hosts the drive time show there. He brashly pontificates on the days' sports stories, boasts wildly of his talent and dominance, belittles callers, interviews headlining strippers as they make tourstops at our local establishments, and breathes very heavily into the mic. Thing is, I can't stop listening to him. He's wildly entertaining. I enjoy his show the way Mrs. Kleber enjoys Gossip Girl. We both recognize the trash-factor, are kind of repulsed by the content, but for those reasons are drawn in.Those are the 4 that I listen to in the car or when the iPod is dead. Of course, there are tons of other stations on the dial. What do you like and why? What did I overlook? What should we be listening to? Sound off in the comments.
7 comments:
Thanks for the shout out!! So awesome :) ... One of my favorites in Pittsburgh is The Pickle. I find that it only comes in on Bigelow Blvd (near Polish Hill) or outside the city: http://www.picklefm.com/ ... when the Pickle doesn't come in, WPTS usually provides some nice collegey music.
I like a little 3WS from time to time. Not enough to be familiar with the DJs, but enough to know that about 60% of the time I can catch a solid block of oldies. They can hit some rough streaks as well, though, especially when they go beyond 1972 or so. Which always gets me wondering how they go about updating their playlist of "oldies" as the decades pass.
As for the Pickle, who knew! I see Neil Diamond and the Beach Boys on the web site, which seems like a pretty good start to me.
As for YEP, is there any particular show/DJ I might be missing that has a little more edge? If there's one criticism I consistently find myself thinking when I tune in, it's that it doesn't rock enough.
Not that it rocked, but I used to realy enjoy that Sunday afternoon show, "Reprise" or something like that. Does YEP still do that? I'm in the car so seldom anymore it's tough to keep up.
wrct has some good programs and has a pretty wide range.
i wonder how the hd radio landscape is shaping up?
also i really hate that bobfm sucks so much, since their owned by the same company as the city paper, you think it'd be a good oportunity to put some more "indie" type music on radio.
Good call on the WRCT. I actually didn't even know what it was until I googled it, but I definitely have 88.3 in my pre-sets.
There's some station which I assume is in some way WVU affiliated that comes in and out when I'm on 79 between Washington and Morgantown, and I always seem to catch good and/or interesting tunes on there. Heard some Blond Redhead last time I was down there--probably a first in my radio-listening days.
What about WQED? Don't get me wrong, more often than not the music played on that radio station is nothing special or impressive - but then the station has, for example, broadcasts of the Pittsburgh symphony orchestra - one of the best orchestras in the nation.
I just find it rather sad, as an avid lover of classical music that, for all the music everywhere in Pittsburgh, when I bring up classical music in a conversation I feel like I might as well be speaking Greek.
92.1 wpts - university of pittsburgh's radio station is pretty good most of the time, when they're not running commentary on stupid things.
I'll definitely keep an ear out for the Pickle, thanks Cindy!
As for QED, Chris, don't get me wrong there's a time and place for classical but that's not really in the vein of this blog. I do tune in on my bedroom Bose radio as I'm trying to fall asleep sometimes. That said, I hear QED has been very cool about the DUQ debacle and is willing to do what they can to help keep it afloat or at least absorb some of their best programming.
And as for the Anon. suggestion for PTS - right on. I'll give it a listen.
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