Rock (band) Radio
Alex Chilton is best known for performing with The Box Tops back in the 60s, their song “The Letter” is pretty recognizable on any oldies radio station. However, many have felt his influence throughout the course of music history, including The Replacements. They penned a song, titled “Alex Chilton”, in direct tribute to one of their heroes. Up until I bought Rock Band 2 for the Xbox in August, I had no idea such a song existed or who Alex Chilton actually was in relation to the world. Within the last week I heard “Alex Chilton” on the airwaves, and I thought: do video games influence radio? The answer: yes.
When the first Rock Band came out a few years ago, “Wave of Mutilation” by The Pixies was included in the song list. There was a span of a few months when I heard that song on the air more than at any other point in time. If you check over the list of songs on these games, Rock Band or Guitar Hero, you’ll notice an influx of airtime on your local radio station. It is a clever marketing tool to help promote the music and get people to research bands, but it gets repetitious after a while. You play the songs at home and then hear them four times on the radio.
I have nothing against people getting into bands, but it is too bad that DJs don’t say something like, “Well, if you played ‘Wave of Mutilation’ on Rock Band you’ll totally love ‘Bone Machine’.” Alas, it is not a perfect world, and most kids will download just the one track from iTunes instead of the whole album and really enjoy it. Hey, any exposure is better than none at all.
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