Despite 60 number one hits, Country superstar George Strait is ticked off at country radio. Strait says Country radio is kicking him to the curb because he’s too old and his music does not fit into the current country format.
In his latest single, “Kicked Outta Country,” Straight sings: “I just got the news today, the record I sent them they threw it away/It don’t fit the format, don’t make the list/They said I’m too old, won’t even be missed/It don’t really matter, because I ain’t gonna change/‘Cause getting kicked outta country won’t hurt a thing.”
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Picture courtesy www.georgestrait.com
I play “TIMELESS COUNTRY” on my 780KCEG from ’48 to the present but mostly the old familiar texture of country rather than the last 20 years of hot top 10 hits that dominates Classic Country and only rarely do I play a Hot Country Hit. My listeners love that old sound but ad agencies are operated by 20 and 30 something staff. Even teenagers in my area love the music when they get a chance to hear it. Now if I can convince our fad happy advertisers that good music still exists …even on AM radio!
And another thing…!!! 🙂
George’s circumstance is not unique. Country Music is replete with a crowd of artists who have been shuffled off the radio turntables for no other reason than they are not “cutting edge, contemporary artists”, so to speak.
As Country continues to be more “rock ‘n roll with a hat” – and nothing wrong with that – huge portions of massive audiences have been discarded and swept away.
There are classic tunes, classic artists and soon-to-be classic artists.
Does this not holler out for an all-encompassing: “New Format”!!??
While George won’t be needin’ a helpin’ hand anytime soon, his points are well-taken.
I’m going to take a stroll into traffic here while I compare the state of corporate, monolithic programming in radio to the results of the most recent presidential election.
Hillary, her advisors and the DNC, in general, missed out entirely. They had no idea what new understandings were necessary to be, not only appealing to, but to the benefit of, regular Americans.
Radio can’t figure out that George maintains a massive audience for his work, but have instead, arbitrarily built walls to separate him (and others) from that audience.
Radio mostly reacts – and responds to spectres of its own imagination. “Thinking” has become an uncomfortable and, therefore, undesirable option.
Welcome to the club, George – I too fondly recall the days when I was playing bass in a Western Swing band. Today I load up on CD’s and enjoy wonderful music while driving down the road (with the radio turned off)
I feel bad for you, George, but I feel worse for the hundreds of folks who have aged out of radio in general. They put in their time, worked hard and were shown the door in favor of someone younger and cheaper. You can console yourself with sixty number one songs and millions of dollars. They have to take part-time jobs or full-time positions that are far beneath their experience and value while worrying that the money they were able to put away won’t last longer than they do.