The Day the Rumba Died
I just have to share with you folks a sad thing that has happened.
A few months ago I discovered that a Philadelphia adult rock station called Star 104.5 FM had converted to a somewhat eclectic Latin music format, and had been renamed "Rumba Ciento Cuatro Punto Cinco" (104.5). (My brother Gabriel told me today that 104.5 had actually changed a good year or two ago; I was just late finding out about it.) I was thrilled. Except for the occasional English commercial, all the talking parts were Spanish. There was a decent mix of music, including Reggaeton, Salsa-style pop, a lot of soulful ballads, etc. Not the full range of Latin music, by any means, but a decent mix.
Anyway, what I'm getting to is that this became pretty much my one radio station. I occasionally would switch to 91 FM to get traffic, or my now quite small daily dose of national and world news. But when I wasn't listening to an audio book (currently hearing: "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" by Al Franken), I was listening to Rumba.
Well, wouldn't you know, yesterday or the day before I switch to 104.5 for a little idle listening, and... the song sounds like it's in English (yes, I'm an old fogey who often can't make out lyrics in the latest crap that plays on the radio). My little denial machine actually kicked in, and soothed me with the thought that maybe this was one of those songs on Rumba that has some stretches of English lyrics. I switched away, or pushed in the audio book cassette. But then on my way home, it's undeniable: it's one of those noisy yet bland post-grunge rockers, then it's something Eddie Vetter is singing, etc.
So that's it. Just like that. No warning, no explanation, no nothing. Gone. Snatched out of my noncomprehending hands. Like the Orwellian mid-speech switch of enemies from Eurasia to Eastasia.
I guess I'll get over it pretty soon. Maybe this will end up being the thing that pushes me to finally get an MP3 player.
A few months ago I discovered that a Philadelphia adult rock station called Star 104.5 FM had converted to a somewhat eclectic Latin music format, and had been renamed "Rumba Ciento Cuatro Punto Cinco" (104.5). (My brother Gabriel told me today that 104.5 had actually changed a good year or two ago; I was just late finding out about it.) I was thrilled. Except for the occasional English commercial, all the talking parts were Spanish. There was a decent mix of music, including Reggaeton, Salsa-style pop, a lot of soulful ballads, etc. Not the full range of Latin music, by any means, but a decent mix.
Anyway, what I'm getting to is that this became pretty much my one radio station. I occasionally would switch to 91 FM to get traffic, or my now quite small daily dose of national and world news. But when I wasn't listening to an audio book (currently hearing: "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" by Al Franken), I was listening to Rumba.
Well, wouldn't you know, yesterday or the day before I switch to 104.5 for a little idle listening, and... the song sounds like it's in English (yes, I'm an old fogey who often can't make out lyrics in the latest crap that plays on the radio). My little denial machine actually kicked in, and soothed me with the thought that maybe this was one of those songs on Rumba that has some stretches of English lyrics. I switched away, or pushed in the audio book cassette. But then on my way home, it's undeniable: it's one of those noisy yet bland post-grunge rockers, then it's something Eddie Vetter is singing, etc.
So that's it. Just like that. No warning, no explanation, no nothing. Gone. Snatched out of my noncomprehending hands. Like the Orwellian mid-speech switch of enemies from Eurasia to Eastasia.
I guess I'll get over it pretty soon. Maybe this will end up being the thing that pushes me to finally get an MP3 player.
posted by Joel GL at 4:50 PM
1 Comments:
Unsurprisingly, there's tons of Latin music radio in Houston. You'll have to come visit.
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