shoo do- shooby doo shoo do- shooby doo
The girl and I stop chasing fireflies. We stare at the grownups. They are all singing along, the women and the men with their funny drinks and half-drunk voices and some men are singing louder than the others and some of the women are giggling.
In the still, still of the night I held you, held you tight
They are swaying and crooning and it's almost embarassing, yet something about it is giving me goosebumps. My mom and dad are holding each other and dancing, and a lot of the other couples have started dancing and the men are all singing to their wives. They sing off key, their voices full of beer. But it's oddly sweet and I stare at them for a minute before the girl I am playing with pokes me in the side and starts giggling.
It was always like this, and it was always CBS. The Sunday night doo-wop countdown was a ritual. Earth Angel would always be towards the top and I could count on my father walking into the room at the moment the song started, singing his heart out, knowing damn well that his voice sounded like that of a wounded animal's. My sisters and I would cover our ears, pretending to be offended, but we'd all start singing eventually.
As I got older and had my own radio tuned to the rock and roll of WNEW, I never tired of hearing CBS emanating from the kitchen or the backyard. I prided myself on knowing all those doo wop lyrics, all those early rock artists. Even now, walking into a store that had CBS on the stereo, to hear the call letters was the equivalent of comfort food; the warm, cozy feeling of your past reaching out to give you a squeeze. It made my heart and soul feel good and now it's gone. I never thought I'd be saddened over the loss of a radio station, especially one I rarely listened to anymore - I've been angry and pissed off and cynical every time a station I like changed formats, but I've never been so sad to see something go.
Article comments
1 - Marc Moss
I never had the pleasure of listening to WCBS. In fact, when I began reading this post, I thought it siad WCSB, a Cleveland college radio station that I used to listen to whenever I could get a signal down in Akron when I lived in Ohio. But your point is well taken. I midd real radio. I have traveled the country coast to coast in the past year, and it saddens me to hear the homoginization of radio. Every station sounds the same, no matgter what town you're in. Same songs, same commercials, same announcers. Amoment of silence for WCBS.
2 - The Proprietor
I happened to comment on this yesterday, as I too was saddened by the format change. Perhaps the last vestige of the glory days of New York's rock radio is gone (unless you count the little ossified bits of Scott Muni that WAXQ parceled out to us in his twilight).
A business decision indeed, and as I pointed out on another thread yesterday, it's interesting that WCBS-FM falls victim to the short-term bean counter view, when its' Arbitrons and demographics were far superior to those of the NYC classical station, WQXR (and to reiterate, the only quibble I have with WQXR is that it is stodgy; classical music can be fun and enjoyable).
While WCBS-FM was an institution, I think there were faults in the playlists that may have led to its downfall. Had they stuck with the more eclectic model of its early days where a show like "Doo-Wop Shop" was possible and flourished, I think it would've generated more interest. WCBS stayed in the comfort zone, playing the same Motown songs ad nauseum until they stopped being fun, no Beatles other than what was on the red and blue albums, not to mention completely ignoring Stax. Part of the problem with WCBS as I perceive it was that they went by what was on the Billboard charts, rather than what was more important to the progression of music in those wonderful decades. WCBS could certainly play Sinatra followed by the Stones, but then you'd get tracks that should be napalmed - things like "Sugar Shack" and "Mr. Lee" being two of the more egregious examples of annoying records WCBS played. Things like Kai Winding's "More" - a nice MOR record, but what the heck did that record have to do with rock?
For all of its faults, it was a bit of a time capsule, and it was about the only way to explain to the young'uns what radio was like before Clear Channel and Infinity lobotomized it. I shall miss WCBS-FM.
3 - Daddypundit
Not living in New York I wasn't exposed to WCBS but love the oldies format. It's a genre that's difficult to find in today's world of pre-programmed computerized playlists. Thankfully Infinity had the good sense to startup WCBSFM.com which plays the same music on the web. I've been streaming it often at work and love it.
4 - artur j. caputo
It's NOT only the music,movie's , entertainment in general has turned to no talent garbage, if the truth be told. That goes for the actors, writers, and now becoming more evident with young kid "executives" at the radio stations who weren't exposed to the talent and good music in their lifetime. They only know garbage ,so that's what they want to give you.It's about controling the money, the profits. Look who is controling "American Idol"the corporations Sadly, the people don/t know what is happening to them.It shows you what kind of people are behind the change at CBS. Heartless, unfeeling, dirt bags. You have to be if you reject the beautiful music called Doo WOP. The slime is winning.They want the kids to be heartless, unfeeling and bad. Hence the slaughter in Iraq . Families being killed and raped by 21 year old American kids - Heartless and unfeeling. Music helps shape personality. Think about what is happening to us, all for money.!!!!!