Fall Out Boy Instead of Flaming Lips

It is 6 P.M. on a Sunday night. At this time, I should be hearing the theme music for either Dallas or Dynasty coming out of my radio, announcing the beginning of The Adventure Club. Instead, I get Fall Out Boy’s “Thanks For The Memories.” Apparently, when Josh Venable was fired on Friday, the show got the can with him.

Right now, words cannot express my disgust at the station. Josh has spent over a decade helping break artists on that show. From Oasis to Old 97’s, many artists have gotten their first airplay in the COUNTRY on The Adventure Club. Who will be there to promote new quality music on the station? And no, Fall Out Boy does not qualify as quality music. Perhaps I’m out of touch, but I don’t see any other mainstream outlets giving exposure to The Shins, The Arcade Fire, or Wilco, all of which are entering the Top 10 Album charts on Billboard.

I haven’t even touched on the effect that this will have on local artists. The Adventure Club was the first place where bands like Tripping Daisy, Old 97’s, and Black Tie Dynasty received radio play. The show has also spotlighted many other local artists such as Sorta, centro-matic, Pleasant Grove, and Smile Smile, which have not broken through with mainstream radio play. True, Ayo still hosts The Local Show at 9 p.m., but the show caters more towards more mainstream and metal based local bands.

I wish Josh nothing but success with whatever he chooses to do in the future. He is not only a man with first rate musical taste, but on the times I’ve spoken with him, he has shown himself to be a very likeable person. I also hope that The Edge will develop a show that will help fill the void that is left by Josh’s firing, but I’m not holding my breath. Why would they do that when Clear Channel can fill the airwaves with more formulaic alternative rock? And by alternative, I mean mainstream, bland music.

Oh well, at least you can still here The Local Show… for now. I’m sure it’s a matter of time before the powers that be figure out that they can replace local music with another hour of “cutting-edge” artists like Plain White T’s and Puddle of Mudd. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll put on some Smiths music and wonder what happened to a station I once loved.