Entertainment

Oh, radio stations. Why don’t most of you matter any longer? Why is it that for anything new or genuinely interesting the left hand side of the dial seems to always a better option? That’s not the way it should be. And while we all understand that money is at least a portion of the story, the fact that it’s become more business than art or fun is problematic. It hasn’t always been that way, though. Wait, yes it has. Damnable Alan Fried and your payola.

Rodney Bingenheimer, though, wasn’t as dastardly a figure. He may have been just as despised by some folks, but whatever drawbacks the deejay’s approach to running his show or featuring bands that he liked was mitigated by his assistance in nurturing a nascent LA punk scene.