I arguably live in one of the most musical regions in the country: Los Angeles. Lots of bands here. Lots of recording industry here. And if you’re reading this, you likely grew up with some kind of radio. Some kind of music as part of your life transmitted to you for free across the air.
I used to drive more and I’d listen to the radio a lot. But I realized that every time I drive now, I don’t hear new music. Maybe 1 song in 20 across 8 stations. I’m tuning into some hip, young radio stations, and they’re playing 1980s, 1990s, 2000s. And some stations I still have play much older.
I know there are all kinds of radio formats now, but that’s my point. The days of a building with a giant radio antenna with 4 call letters, KASS, beaming out culture to a receptive audience is…not over, but certainly winding down. And radio was a HUGE part of America (and the world) for about a century. So I just got the idea that it’s ending. That piece of identity is dying and morphing into other things.
And it’s not often I get to see stuff like that. To witness the end of an era. To see people not drinking beer any longer and instead shoving beer suppositories up their asses, will also take me by surprise. Literally and figuratively.
