Can radio get any more random? Yes
By Dean Johnson
BOSTON HERALD
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Is Boston radio ready for “Jack” or “Ben”?
Those are the nicknames for a new free-for-all format spanning 30 years of pop music that has already popped up in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, among other cities. It has been described as radio’s version of an iPod on shuffle mode, with an emphasis on ’80s hits. Now there are rumors the music-heavy format may be due for Washington, D.C., and . . . Boston?
That’s what the publication Inside Radio pitched yesterday. Since “Ben” went on the air this week at a Greater Media-owned station in Philly (the name perhaps a play on Ben Franklin), IR wondered if one of the local Greater Media properties such as WROR-FM (105.7) or WBOS-FM (92.9) might be ready to take the plunge. Greater Media didn’t return the Herald’s calls yesterday.
Here’s a recent set list on “Ben” (no one can explain the Jack moniker): Jessica Simpson/Grateful Dead/New Order. Or how about: Peter Gabriel/OutKast/Guns ‘N Roses/the Village People/the Clash. OK, here’s one more: Shawn Colvin/the Bee Gees/Suzanne Vega. Now here’s a new name suggestion for the format: train-wreck radio.
