05 Mar Wagoner on Radio: Finding new music that baby boomers will love

Wagoner on Radio: Finding new music that baby boomers will love

The timing was perfect.

I had been thinking about the fact that it is hard to find “good” new music on the radio. Or anywhere else, it seems. What brought it to a head, ironically, was an ad on SiriusXM’s PopRock channel in which someone said it was their favorite channel because “I know every song.”

I’m not sure why, but that struck a nerve in me. As much as I spend my time living in the past – my wife Jean will attest to that – sometimes it is not by choice. Perhaps by ignorance, but not always choice. I just have a hard time finding new music I like, and it is easier to go with the tried and true.

Problem is, I don’t want to be one of those guys who no longer evolves musically. That guy – like my Dad – who only listens to the music of my youth. I don’t want to know every song!

So it was akin to the aligning of the planets when I recently attended a reunion of local radio personalities at Fuddruckers. I happened to meet Lee Wade, writer and editor of BoomerMusicUpdate.Com, an internet site dedicated to finding new music that may be of interest to the Baby Boom generation. “We find current songs that are similar in style to songs boomers grew up with,” Wade explained.

My interest was piqued. Especially when I found out that the curator behind the songs is none other than Dave “The Duke” Sholin, a former personality and programmer of the legendary KFRC/San Francisco. Sholin is considered by many to be a top programmer and music director, able to pick out hits … and he picked many of the hits played on KFRC, the influential Bay Area version of KHJ (930 AM) here in Los Angeles.

Boomer Music Update is much like a blog – Wade has been a writer and editor for online blogs, as well as newspapers including the Riverside Press-Enterprise and the Pasadena Star-News – that also features the songs being compared. Categories include Pop, Top-40, Country, Alternative, and the Weekly Whatever, which is an “Everything Goes,” and can include, well, anything … music, books, birthday wishes.

Can a blog get you up to speed on new music? It’s certainly worth a try. Check it out for yourself and let me know your thoughts. https://www.BoomerMusicUpdate.com