The Best of 2010

[zipzap]

With the Hummingbirds apparently playing a blinder yesterday at the Sydney BDO it does make you wonder what could have been...

Yeah but they were on a hiding to nothing folliwng up their first two albums.

Must have been soul destroying going from being press darlings, making great inroads in the US College market and being touted as the 'Next Big Thing' everywhere one minute, to their record label refusing to release their second album overseas and dropping all support here the next. There wasn't much hope left after finding themselves miming a Donovan cover on Hey Hey.

[zipzap]

JJJ is still the first place that these songs get played. Once they start to become popular the commercial stations get a hold of them and flog these songs.

Not the first place. Usually the fifth. AFTER RRR,PBS,ZZZ, and 3d.

I've never heard of them...
Well, I think i might have heard of 3D before.. maybe?

JJJ still has a great role to play for sure. The thing that saddens me most though is that almost all the announcers give the impression of being wacky, zany airheads who are more interested in being funny and 'cool' than in talking knowledgeably and passionately about music first and foremost. It's a different priority these days and if you like it, then fair enough, things change. But like a few other bitter old gits here I miss what JJJ used to be and it's still why I enjoy stations like those LL mentioned above.

[LMA]

JJJ is still the first place that these songs get played. Once they start to become popular the commercial stations get a hold of them and flog these songs.

Not the first place. Usually the fifth. AFTER RRR,PBS,ZZZ, and 3d.

I've never heard of them...
Well, I think i might have heard of 3D before.. maybe?

JJJ still has a great role to play for sure. The thing that saddens me most though is that almost all the announcers give the impression of being wacky, zany airheads who are more interested in being funny and 'cool' than in talking knowledgeably and passionately about music first and foremost. It's a different priority these days and if you like it, then fair enough, things change. But like a few other bitter old gits here I miss what JJJ used to be and it's still why I enjoy stations like those LL mentioned above.

Hence why the impressionable vote for the carp like Radar Detector and the song Quichey put up. I nearly threw my speakers over the fence while trying to endure the finale of Radar Dector the other day

[The Real Number 3]

Best song of 2010 was Hello - Martin Solvieg.

[Interceptor]

Not the first place. Usually the fifth. AFTER RRR,PBS,ZZZ, and 3d.

I've never heard of them...
Well, I think i might have heard of 3D before.. maybe?

They're community stations -4ZZZ is in Brisbane.

Started listening to 4ZZZ in the mornings, because I just couldn't stand the dropkicks JJJ had on their breakfast show.
Different host each day, which provides some good variety.
Sports show on Saturday mornings starts with 'Up There Cazaly'

[Gingernuts]

Not the first place. Usually the fifth. AFTER RRR,PBS,ZZZ, and 3d.

I've never heard of them...
Well, I think i might have heard of 3D before.. maybe?

They're community stations -4ZZZ is in Brisbane.

Started listening to 4ZZZ in the mornings, because I just couldn't stand the dropkicks JJJ had on their breakfast show.
Different host each day, which provides some good variety.
Sports show on Saturday mornings starts with 'Up There Cazaly'

Another big difference though - JJJ is nation wide and in rural areas. They still do play it first for many parts of the country. Aust doesn't stop with the suburbs.

I still think as a govt funded station they fulfill their role as promoters of new music and artistic talent in Australia. They may have some average stuff on their playlists, and their presenters may be annoying at times, but they still get the job done IMO.

In the end has JJJ changed? Or have some poster's musical tastes stayed the same?

[Dogwatcher]

Bah, Angus and Julia Stone indeed. I remember thinking the same thing when Powderfinger and Bernard Fanning kept topping the Hottest 100 - bland, safe, corporate indie.

Triple j has been pooh for years. In a former life in Brissy when I had vague journalistic ambitions (you're living the dream DW!) I did a story on the selling out of JJJ. This was not long after the mass sackings of anyone interesting from the early days of the national network and for some reason they had Crowded House's Woodface on heavy rotation, like some sick joke from Flight of the Conchords.

Anyway, I interviewed Ed Breslin then the head of B105 (equivalent of SAFM) about his perception of JJJs growing commmercialism from the point of view of a commercial network. He said he thought it was fantastic. In a year or so later he was appointed station manager of JJJ and all hope was lost.


EDIT: I had this flashback that I had told that story before and after a quick check found that I had - in a thread where we were all bagging the hell out of the 2005 Hottest 100. Good to see nothing changes!

Hmmmmm....this isn't quite the dream I had in mind. But, at least you think it is

As for JJJ's commercialisation. I agree with what you're writing. For me, JJJ changed with Nirvana. Once Nirvana went commercial and the impact of that was realised, JJJ started to see itself as a transit lounge for music on its way into the charts. That's the way it's stayed.
I'm a big Public Enemy fan, and I'll never forget the time I was at someone else's house with SAFM on and they played this hot, new track by PE. It was Bring Tha Noise featuring Anthrax (an all time PE classic) and it was over a year old!

However, of late I've noticed that a lot of the songs that top the Hottest 100 are the sort of tunes being played on local ABC because it is safe, new music. I'm wondering if the play list is partially being worked to get the kids into the ABC young and then for them to transfer across to ABC Adults once they grow out of 'youth' music.

Nirvana didn't go commercial. The commercial side of the rock industry "discovered" it. When I was at Triple M (3d) we played Bleach on high rotation, as did Triple J before in the days before it went national.

DW and Zip Zap have you ever guys ever read a book called The Sell in? If you haven't get one as soon as you can. It covers this era of australian music really well, and what went horribly...horribly wrong.(JJJ gets a fair share of the blame too).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sell-In

You're right LL, Nirvana themselves didn't go commercial. I did mean that their music went commercial.
I haven't read The Sell In but it sounds like something I would be interested in.

[Dogwatcher]

In the end has JJJ changed? Or have some poster's musical tastes stayed the same?

It certainly has changed.
Much of the music played used to be about challenging the status quo (not the band, by the way).
Now, as I said earlier, it is a transit lounge to the charts. Which is something not in its charter.
The change started once it went fully national.
I am a long time listener and started during the testing phase in Adelaide.
I now live in the country and have very much benefited from having JJJ here, rather than having to listen to the schmaltz on commercial radio.
However it has definitely changed. There is little cutting edge about what is on JJJ any more.
Maybe I'm a grumpy ol' bastid, but I don't really think so.

[Gingernuts]

In the end has JJJ changed? Or have some poster's musical tastes stayed the same?

It certainly has changed.
Much of the music played used to be about challenging the status quo (not the band, by the way).
Now, as I said earlier, it is a transit lounge to the charts. Which is something not in its charter.
The change started once it went fully national.
I am a long time listener and started during the testing phase in Adelaide.
I now live in the country and have very much benefited from having JJJ here, rather than having to listen to the schmaltz on commercial radio.
However it has definitely changed. There is little cutting edge about what is on JJJ any more.
Maybe I'm a grumpy ol' bastid, but I don't really think so.

Yea, just throwing the question out there TBH Dogwatcher.

JJJ has changed, but is that change just a reflection of society and current youth culture? And if people don't really like what JJJ is now, does that mean JJJ has jumped the shark or is it more about the individual moving on and not being a part of the current youth culture anymore?

I mean, you talk to anyone, and current music is never as good as it was in their hey day. The older we get, the more we stick with what we like.

Again, just throwing it out there for discussion.

[Magpiespower]

Listened to Kanye West's album over the weekend.

For some reason, many are claiming it to be the 'Album of 2010'.

Grandiose, vainglorious, over-produced dud.

Only decent track had RZA's fingerprints all over it...

[McGovern]

Sadly this isn't the only time a song like this has topped the 100:
Thankfully we've had some rippers in between:

1996 - Buy Me a Pony
2002 - No One Knows
2003 - Are You Gonna Be My Girl
2004 - Take Me Out
2007 - Knights of Cydonia

BG, you are spot on. No. 1 has got to be a song that gets everybody singing and playing air guitar. Nothing worse than getting to the end of the countdown and having that anti-climax, should build to a glorious crescendo!

[Leaping Lindner]

In the end has JJJ changed? Or have some poster's musical tastes stayed the same?

It certainly has changed.
Much of the music played used to be about challenging the status quo (not the band, by the way).
Now, as I said earlier, it is a transit lounge to the charts. Which is something not in its charter.
The change started once it went fully national.
I am a long time listener and started during the testing phase in Adelaide.
I now live in the country and have very much benefited from having JJJ here, rather than having to listen to the schmaltz on commercial radio.
However it has definitely changed. There is little cutting edge about what is on JJJ any more.
Maybe I'm a grumpy ol' bastid, but I don't really think so.

Yea, just throwing the question out there TBH Dogwatcher.

JJJ has changed, but is that change just a reflection of society and current youth culture? And if people don't really like what JJJ is now, does that mean JJJ has jumped the shark or is it more about the individual moving on and not being a part of the current youth culture anymore?

I mean, you talk to anyone, and current music is never as good as it was in their hey day. The older we get, the more we stick with what we like.

Again, just throwing it out there for discussion.

JJJ is conservative these days no question. I see live bands regularly and i could name six bands who gig regularly at the moment (whose members are all under 25) and shit on ANYTHING I've heard on JJJ in a while. Remembering I've been seeing live bands since 1980, so I'd say it's more a taste (or lack of) thing than age.

[fish]

Pumped up Kicks - Foster the People.

A very catchy and somewhat ethereal tune. The lyrics are creepy.

[fish]

Pumped up Kicks - Foster the People. A very catchy and somewhat ethereal tune.

The lyrics are creepy.

Robert’s got a quick hand
He’ll look around the room, he won’t tell you his plan
He’s got a rolled cigarette
Hanging out his mouth he’s a cowboy kid
Yeah, he found a 6-shooter gun
In his dad's closet, hidden in a box of fun things
And I don’t even know what
But he’s coming for you, yeah, he’s coming for you

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, outrun my gun
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, faster than my bullet

Daddy works a long day
He be coming home late, yeah, he’s coming home late
And he’s bringing me a surprise
Cause dinner’s in the kitchen and it’s packed in ice
I’ve waited for a long time
Yeah, the slight of my hand is now a quick pull trigger
I reason with my cigarette
And say your hair’s on fire, you must have lost your wits

[Baron Greenback]

I don't care what anyone says, JJJ still shits all over any commercial station.

Of course you're completely right. But under the ABC Charter it's meant to be providing an alternative service to that provided by the commercials (and not chasing ratings), and for whatever reason, over recent years it has been getting closer and closer...

Spot on ZZ.

[Pidge]

Best song of 2010 was Hello - Martin Solvieg.

Afrojack ft Eva Simmons - Take Over Control

That's definitely up there too..