Is there anything more universal in appeal than a Sam Cooke song?
What a wonderful blend of interview segments and music. This piece totally de-stressed my day. I decided to listen to this piece as a bit of a diversion from the work day...you know those days...Hurry up, Hurry up and Wait Wait....well this piece told me.
Told me so much about someone I have known all my life but never had taken the time to get to know. WOW. This is called the definition of Compelling Content. Joyride Media knows how to create magical public radio moments. We should be happy to have such a production house with access and content AND the public radio values system firmly intact to create these wonderful stories.
Essentially taking us on the journey of Sam's life, this piece is expertly produced. We learn about his gospel roots and the transition to popular music and the subsequent integration into a sound that defined music for much of a generation. Early on, we are treated to an example of a single song that details this transition. Public radio listeners are going to eat this up like cake and ice cream.
The interviews, both with historians and participants, are credible and nicley placed. Full cuts of songs are integrated in a really wonderful way.
This is NOT a doowop show. Nor is it an oldies show, nor is it exclusively a music biography. It has a lot to say about the socio-economic state of our country during Sam's rising. You can't really say it's aimed specifically at African Americans either. It's universal, just as his music.
I might proffer that the narration, while confident and well paced, is a bit out of sync in the energy of the interviews and songs. This is nit picking, and is not a reason to not to air this piece.
Here is our challenge as programmers. Hour long specials are wonderful, but many listeners don't have an hour to relax and soak this format in. How do we schedule and promote this show, and others like it, so that we can encourage as many listeners as possible to make time for it in their busy lives? I'm sure we all have our opinions...now test them out by scheduling this program and promoting the hell out of it.
Review of Sam Cooke: Bring it on Home to Me
Steve Yasko
Posted on December 06, 2005 at 08:41 AM
Is there anything more universal in appeal than a Sam Cooke song?
What a wonderful blend of interview segments and music. This piece totally de-stressed my day. I decided to listen to this piece as a bit of a diversion from the work day...you know those days...Hurry up, Hurry up and Wait Wait....well this piece told me.
Told me so much about someone I have known all my life but never had taken the time to get to know. WOW. This is called the definition of Compelling Content. Joyride Media knows how to create magical public radio moments. We should be happy to have such a production house with access and content AND the public radio values system firmly intact to create these wonderful stories.
Essentially taking us on the journey of Sam's life, this piece is expertly produced. We learn about his gospel roots and the transition to popular music and the subsequent integration into a sound that defined music for much of a generation. Early on, we are treated to an example of a single song that details this transition. Public radio listeners are going to eat this up like cake and ice cream.
The interviews, both with historians and participants, are credible and nicley placed. Full cuts of songs are integrated in a really wonderful way.
This is NOT a doowop show. Nor is it an oldies show, nor is it exclusively a music biography. It has a lot to say about the socio-economic state of our country during Sam's rising. You can't really say it's aimed specifically at African Americans either. It's universal, just as his music.
I might proffer that the narration, while confident and well paced, is a bit out of sync in the energy of the interviews and songs. This is nit picking, and is not a reason to not to air this piece.
Here is our challenge as programmers. Hour long specials are wonderful, but many listeners don't have an hour to relax and soak this format in. How do we schedule and promote this show, and others like it, so that we can encourage as many listeners as possible to make time for it in their busy lives? I'm sure we all have our opinions...now test them out by scheduling this program and promoting the hell out of it.