Radio Direct Response: Direct Response Radio Advertising Agency | Blog Zone

We asked friends, family, even strangers to tell us what they like best about radio. Here are this month’s comments….

“What I love about radio is that I can enjoy a rich experience while also doing something else, e.g. working, cleaning, fixing my bike, gardening, etc. You can’t do that with television or written material because it assumes you’re visually engaged. Radio provides a rich experience without the visual engagement.”
- Ron, late 40s

“It keeps me company in the car. In today’s world, everywhere you want to go is a distance away. It makes the trip go faster. I also enjoy music & UPBEAT personalities.”
- Renee late 60s

“All I listen to is Talk Radio now. Music radio has become garbage.”
- Mike, 32

“The best thing about radio is the fact that it can be primary entertainment or fade into the background. In other words, the radio can be on in the background while you are having a conversation with another person. When you hear something that sounds interesting, you can turn your attention to it, but otherwise, it just provides background entertainment and laughs.”
- Jeffrey, 21

“I love radio because you can create your own special visuals when you listen to songs, then keep those memories…and pull them back out every time you hear that song. Radio pushes my buttons — hearing certain songs can make me smile, laugh and of course, cry.”
- Ann, late 40s

“What I love about radio is satellite radio. With Sirius at home and in my car, I very rarely listen to terrestrial radio. First and foremost, there is no (Howard) Stern on regular radio. For music, there are too many commercials and too much talking between the music on broadcast stations. Satellite offers a wide range of music without commercials and with a minimum of talk between. I generally listen to radio over four hours a day.
- Nate, 50

Roll down the windows. Step on the gas. You’ve got nowhere to go and all day to get there. Here are some old and new favorites from members of the RDR Staff to keep you company on the open road.

YOU WIN AGAIN (Van Morrison with Linda Gail Lewis) – I was just turned on to this record and now it is a mainstay in my car, especially when I need a “Shot of Rhythm and Blues” (track 8).

VAN HALEN (Van Halen) – No bad songs here. Loud and loaded with fun songs from perhaps the best new band to come out of 1978.

EVIL URGES (My Morning Jacket) – This album came out in the summer of 2008 and didn’t leave my CD player for months. It’s the perfect blend of rock and folk.

A LOVE SUPREME (John Coltrane) – Spiritual, manic and rhythmic music that will make you want to go fast. It’s not your father’s jazz.

THE FRAY (The Fray) – Upbeat energetic music to keep you going.

LOVE (The Beatles) – Put 200 Beatles’ songs in a blender and let George and Giles Martin masterfully reassemble two dozen tracks. Sure, you’ve heard these songs a million times before. Just never like this.

GREATEST HITS (The Cars) – Pure synth-pop, sing-along fun. Great road trip CD for fans of the 70s and 80s.

SOMETHING LIKE THIS (Bob Newhart) – If you pass me on the highway and I’m alone in the car, but laughing hysterically, don’t worry, it’s not a nervous breakdown. I’m probably listening to this Bob Newhart CD for the 100th time. I know all the punch lines by heart, but it makes for very relaxing driving and seriously lowers my threshold for road rage.

Roll down the windows. Step on the gas. You’ve got nowhere to go and all day to get there. Here are some old and new favorites from members of the RDR Staff to keep you company on the open road.

LIVE AT THE FILLMORE (The Allman Brothers) – This recording is one of the best driving records ever. You will be singing along and pounding on the steering wheel.

DECADES (Lil’ Kimmie) – A compilation by my childhood friend and former Napster addict who randomly selected great songs from the last 40 years.

FACES (Earth, Wind & Fire) – The EWF double LP with no hit singles but 15 killer tracks. It’s filled with the energetic funk you’d expect, veering right and left for an occasional ballad or slice of jazz fusion.

GREATEST HITS VOL. 1 (Queen) – Not a bad song on the list. I know every word to every track. I don’t have a great voice and the car is the only place I can sing out loud and believe me, when this CD is playing on a long drive I am singing. I’ll be appearing on the NJ Turnpike, Exit 11, next week.

TIDAL (Fiona Apple) – The songs are very deep; very blues-ish; very easy to relax to.

RESERVOIR (Fanfarlo) – The instruments are the standout stars on this album. They will simply stop you in your tracks.

EVERYTHING OF ALL TIME (Band of Horses) – The first time I heard this CD was driving around the island of Hawaii, so it has stuck with me as a CD I like to listen to in my car with the windows down.

BORN TO RUN (Bruce Springsteen) – The Masterpiece, start to finish, ‘cause you can’t go down any road without some Bruce Juice.

Grab Mom’s iPod. She won’t mind. Burn her a new playlist of songs about mothers. And motherhood. And the love between mother and child. Here’s a list of 25 classics to help you get started.

A Song for Mama - Boyz II Men
I’ll Always Love my Mama – The Intruders
Mama-Genesis
Dear Mama - 2Pac
Mama Used to Say - Junior
She’s a Bad Mama Jama - Carl Carlton
Mama I’m Comin Home - Ozzy Osbourne
Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J
Mama Said - The Shirlelles
Mamma Mia - Abba
Mama - Spice Girls
Mama’s Pearl - Jackson Five
Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys - Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson
Mother - John Lennon
Mother Earth - Neil Young
In My Daughter Eyes - Martina McBride
Mama You Sweet – Lucinda Williams
(You Make Me Want to be) A Mother - Tammy Wynette
Mother - Danzig
Mother - Pink Floyd
Mama’s Song - Carrie Underwood
Mama Tried – Merle Haggard
Mama Told Me Not To Come – Three Dog Night
Mama Can’t Buy You Love – Elton John
Mother & Child Reunion – Paul Simon

It’s always nice to build a warm, holiday mix of music to accompany those roasting chestnuts. Here’s the latest batch from The RDR Staff, including some “wild card” picks that are off the beaten path with comments from the staff members who suggested them.

Happy Holidays!

THE HOLIDAY PLAYLIST
Santa Baby – Eartha Kitt
All I Want for Christmas – Mariah Carey
The Little Drummer Boy – David Bowie & Bing Crosby
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Andy Williams
Wonderful Christmastime – Paul McCartney
Jingle Bell Rock – Bobby Helms
Let It Snow! – Vaughn Monroe
This Christmas – Christina Aguilera
The Hanukah Song – Adam Sandler
The Christmas Song – John Gorka
Christmas Time is Here – Vince Guaraldi
White Christmas – Bing Crosby

SANTA’S SACK OF BONUS TRACKS
Nuttin’ for Christmas – Sugarland (Essentially, this is about a child chronicling his misdeeds followed by the lament “I’m gettin’ nuttin’ for Christmas, ‘cause I ain’t been nuttin’ but bad.”)

Snoopy’s Christmas – The Royal Guardsman (Most kids had a security blanket. I had a security Snoopy. We went everywhere together. It was kismet when I was introduced to this song.)

All I Want Is You This Christmas – N’Sync (Boy bands rule and so does the music in this song. I really liked N’Sync in high school and I’m not afraid to say that “Home for Christmas” is still one of my favorite Christmas albums.)

Christmas in Hollis – RUN DMC (This song appears in the movie “Die Hard,” my all-time favorite movie. A Christmas doesn’t go by that I don’t watch all the Die Hard movies and listen to this song about a hundred times.)

(Don’t be A Jerk) It’s Christmas – Spongebob Square Pants (It’s so true and my kids love Spongebob.)

The “serious” RDR Blog Zone writers are taking a well-earned vacation to make way for a three-part series of “Things We Wanted to Do This Summer.” Here in Part Three, we let our imagination run free to share some things we’d do if time and money were no objects.

I would rent a huge house for the summer and invite all my friends and family to come and spend time and enjoy just being.

I would embark on a summer long European/Asian tour. Stops would include, but not limited to: Barcelona, Spain - Lisbon, Portugal - New Castle, England - Marseille, France - Zurich, Switzerland - Hamburg, Germany - Seoul, South Korea - Nagoya, Japan. Along the way I would take in some futbol matches, fine dining and the night life of each culture. Having friends in Seoul and Nagoya, I would be able reconnect with college friends who I haven’t seen in years. This would be the vacation of a lifetime.

Fly to Fiji and spend three weeks alternating between relaxing on the beach and exploring the rainforest.

If I had unlimited cash, I’d do the last few renovations on my house. We need to put in a new master bath, new screens on the porch and a new driveway. I love my house so much, that every night when I come home, I feel like I have 3-4 hour mini-vacation before I go to bed. We dine al fresco on the patio often, and then we move to the porch, open the French doors and listen to music or listen/watch the Phillies. I’m a simple man. I enjoy a simple life, I love being around my family, my friends and my colleagues. I love my Job (shameless kiss-up) I love playing my guitar on the porch and taking walks. I don’t need to go away to exotic places. I don’t need much.

I’d probably take three weeks and amble through Europe. Northern capitol cities. Small villages. Eat the food. Meet the people. Live the life. Immerse myself in a kaleidoscope of cultures far removed from the western world where my right hand is perpetually cradling a Blackberry.

I would spend six weeks in Provence or Nantucket- spending 4 hrs. a day writing and the rest of the time eating, drinking good wine and having fun!

If money were no object I would hire a personal trainer, travel around the world and sample food everywhere and hire a part-time Mary Poppins for those times that I just need a break.

I have always dreamed of seeing a baseball game in very major league ballpark. Failing that, getting on Chicago’s tour bus and never getting off will fulfill my other lifelong dream.

The “serious” RDR Blog Zone writers are taking a well-earned vacation to make way for a three-part series of “Things We Wanted to Do This Summer.” Here in Part Two, we’ll share some of the things our staff and clients are still hoping to check off their wish list.

Take my nephew to Citi Field and then tour NYC. We have a list of places he wants to see. When he says he wants to tour “The Big Apple” I admit I get a little tear in my eye.

Taking my daughter to Alaska to go dog sledding. There’s nothing like the smell of the cleanest, driest air in the world and the feel of overjoyed dogs licking your fingers to the bone.

Something that I have yet to do this summer is go on my trip to Chicago to see the Phillies play at Wrigley field against the Cubs. It will be my first time in Wrigley and only my second time in Chicago, the first time since I was 14.

I wanted to start running this summer, but health issues have delayed the start date. So…I have six weeks to work up to a very slow and easy mile. I’ll start out walking a quarter mile and then running a quarter mile. I miss the endorphin buzz and the meditative aspect of running-empty mind-breathing and cadence.

Most of mine are for the house we bought 18 years ago. I have design and remodeling plans that I’d like to do that seem to be in the will-get-to-eventually category.

I still have yet to make it to the beach with my family. The weather has been only fair, so I’ve been reluctant to commit an entire weekend to it. Hopefully by August it will finally be summer.

The only thing we said we would do with the kids that we haven’t yet this summer is the Zoo.

The “serious” RDR Blog Zone writers are taking a well-earned vacation to make way for a three-part series of “Things We Wanted to Do This Summer.” Here in Part One, we’ll share some of the things our staff and clients were able to check off their wish list.

We had a huge, huge water party extravaganza. I went to Toys R Us and bought the biggest slip n slide they had, water guns, water balloons, pool toys, sprinklers and tons of bubbles. We invited all the kids in the neighborhood and let them go crazy. It really was a blast. All the moms got involved too! I have also, finally, taken my kids on a whale watch in Boston. It is something we planned on doing last summer, but circumstances prevented us from going. It was well worth the extra wait and even my three-year old had an awesome time!

Catch up with friends and family that we haven’t spent much time with recently. Of course, after catching up with them, now I remember why we haven’t spent so much time together recently.

I promised myself to take a vacation for the first time in three years and I did!! My wife and son and I went to Ocean City, NJ. The weather was not good but it didn’t matter. We had a great time, watching movies, playing cards and board games. We rode bicycles, took naps and went on the beach for 10 minutes. We went out to dinner every night. No crowds. For the first time in twenty years, my son never said, “I’m bored.” It was a sign of maturity and he genuinely had a good time with “old Ma and Pops.” We really enjoyed each other’s company just doing mundane, simple things.

This summer (spring, fall) I told myself that I would make it to 30 Phillies games. With 32 home games remaining in the regular season, I’ve gone to 20. So I’m on course to hit my goal.

I promised myself that I would see Chicago with Earth, Wind & Fire and I did.

Get in shape and lose 10 pounds. Organize all my photos. Not use the TV as a babysitter. I am 0 for 3 right now.

With tens of thousands of online radio stations to choose from, where does one get started? Here’s a short list of favorites from the RDR staff to steer you in a few diverse directions.

Technicolor Web of Sound
60’s Psychedelic music featuring classics, curiosities and obscurities from one of the most unusual and influential periods in popular music. Everything from the 13th Floor Elevators to Jimi Hendrix can be found here for a trippy trip back in time.

The Alex Jones Show
The pit bull of Austin, Texas talk radio, Alex Jones, never met a conspiracy theory he didn’t like. With guests like Congressman Ron Paul, former Governor Jesse Ventura and Willie Nelson, Jones tackles Washington and The New World Order, finding a never-ending list of reasons to fight back or run and hide under your bed. His daily, four-hour, web radio show is repeated around the clock until the next show begins. A two-hour Sunday afternoon show airs live on terrestrial radio, as well as online.

East Village Radio
EVR is an online radio station devoted to educating others about the music and culture of the East Village neighborhood in NYC. Its broadcast originates from a storefront studio, located at 21 1^st Ave. EVR provides 16 hours of programming, in 2-hr blocks, 7 days a week.

Russian Beatles
Imagine a radio station that plays nothing but The Beatles 24 hours a day – all of their studio recordings, rare live tracks, solo compositions and an occasional Beatles’ song covered by another artist. Now imagine if this music-intensive channel ran commercial free, with only an every-third-song announcer voiceover. Oh, and by the way, that voiceover is spoken in brusque Russian. That’s the fun of this web radio station featuring the Fab Four in a fez.

Hy Lit Radio
Hy Lit was one of the most popular and one of the most influential disc jockey’s during Philadelphia’s golden age of AM Radio. Hy was one of the original Wibbage Good Guys at WIBG 99AM and was on the air in Philly at WOGL-FM until 2005. The records that he spun and his voice personified the Philly music scene in the 50’s and 60’s. His legend lives on at Hy Lit Radio. Long Live Hyski O’Rooney McVoutie O’Zoot!

ESPN Radio
I listen to ESPN radio from 9-5 every day during the week. Colin Cowherd, who occupies the 10a-2p Midday slot, is the most insightful sports personality on either TV or radio. The full lineup from Mike & Mike In the Morning to The Doug Gottlieb Show is entertaining and never gets stale even for a daily listener.

Pandora Radio
This Internet radio service and ‘automated music recommendation site’ allows listeners to type in their artist or song of choice to create their own radio station. Based on the music or artist chosen, the service then provides songs that are similar to the musical selections. There is also a neat feature that allows listeners to give their opinion of the musical selections by hitting the convenient thumbs up or down button and also lets you skip through songs about six times. The site also has applications available on iPhones and iTouch.

Slacker Radio
Similar to Pandora, Slacker enables you to create radio stations based on your personal favorite artists or musical genres. One tasty difference is the ability to create a station and enter the names of 15 (or more) recording artists to be played on that station. Once you’ve entered at least 15 artists, those artists will constitute 100% of the music played on your newly created station. >Because sometimes you want to hear something new – and sometimes you just want the musical equivalent of your favorite comfort food.

They come. They go. They leave behind a legacy of pop culture in song ranging from “More Today Than Yesterday” to “Macarena.”

Some are wonderful. Some beg to be burned. Here’s our list of One Hit Wonders featuring favorites from the RDR Staff. Just in case you missed them.

COME ON EILEEN by Dexy’s Midnight Runners - A one-hit wonder that lives on forever…at least for me.  Very 80s, when overalls were big, and I still can’t make out most of the lyrics, but I could play it over and over and have.  A huge retro-80s hit that reminds me of dollar pitchers and playing sit-down Mrs. Pac Man and Galaga for beers during its retro return in the 90s.  Aaah, memories.

96 TEARS by Question Mark & the Mysterians - Who were these guys?  They sounded like the Rolling Stones with an organ player. Big in the summer of 1966, 96 Tears is known for its signature organ licks and bare-bones lyrics, and it has been widely-recognized as one of the first garage band hits and has even been given credit for starting the punk rock movement.

SUMMER SUN by Jamestown Massacre - This one-hit wonder band hit the pop charts with a song that many people mistook for Chicago.  Bright happy guitars, punctuated by a peppy horn section dance around lead vocals reminiscent of Chicago keyboardist Robert Lamm.  It’s pure 70s pop dripping with sunshine and carefree head-bopping.  Give a listen!

BARBIE GIRL by Aqua - This song came out, I believe, the summer of 1997; possibly one the best summers of my life and my first summer in the Hamptons. I was driving my first ever convertible that year–a red Chrysler Sebring. I played Barbie Girl on the drive out to Southampton with the top down. I’ll never forget the guy who pulled up next to me on Route 27 and flashed a card that had “10″ on it. For that moment I was Barbie.

JUST A FRIEND by Biz Markie - This is the only successful single for the rapper, reaching #9 on Billboard.  Sampling the 1968 Freddie Scott song “You Got What I Need,” he alternates between rapping and singing out of tune and stays true to his genre of comedic hip-hop.  If you’re expecting a harmonious and moving song, you’re out of luck but I bet you won’t be able to stop yourself from singing along…out of tune.

THE WAY by Fastball - The band released this one breakout hit in 1998 receiving significant radio play. The band, which hails from Austin Texas, were originally called Magneto U.S.A, but changed their name to Fastball after being signed to Hollywood Records.

VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR by The Buggles - The song describes the end and pending death of the radio era overtaken by the new fresh introduction of the Video era.   The song itself was not a chart topper but the song’s video is best remembered for introducing the world to MTV Music Television on August 1, 1981.  It but featured an unknown Geoff Downes who would later go on to fame and fortune as the keyboardist for super group Asia in 1982 and a little known vocalist/bassist who once recorded with Yes (only for 1980’s Drama album) named Trevor Horn.  Horn would later go on to become a much sought after record producer eventually producing albums for Yes (90125) in 1984 as well as Seal’s debut in 1991, Tom Petty and others.

LOVE CHANGES (EVERYTHING) by Climie Fisher - Climie Fisher were a UK pop duo formed by vocalist Simon Climie and former Naked Eyes keyboardist Rob Fisher. Love Changes (Everything) features peppy vocals with a catchy hook. From the “first strange feeling” of young love to finally finding “the one” it’s pure 80s pop. Bonus points: It was the closing song to the 1989 romantic comedy “How I Got Into College” which starred a young Anthony Edwards and an even younger Lara Flynn Boyle. Check out the video.

DAYS GO BY by Dirty Vegas - This song was a big hit in 2002 and went on to be in a commercial for the Mitsubishi Eclipse. The music video, more than the song, was what made this stick with me. Not another peep from them in popular media outlets. The classic electronic/dance one-hit wonder in the same category with Darude for his 1999 hit “Sandstorm”.