Power pop seriously sucks. The reality of the situation is this: go ahead, right now, turn on your radio to any rock station (light, heavy, etc...whatever) and whatever band you hear first, you can rest assured that if their tour bus was demolished by some act of nature or vengeance, not even their own mothers would miss them. I'm serious.

Give us some examples. Believe it or not, some of us never seem to tune in to anything but classical and oldies stations. There were plenty of one-hit wonders back then, but the kind that will be cherished into eternity. "The Letter" by the Box Tops, e.g....

Ok, Rusty, tell us, in your humble opinion, what music does NOT suck. And where, if not FM radio, do you listen to it? I, for one, like most musical forms. I do not like hardcore/gangsta rap. I do not like the screaming diva R&B style of Patti LaBelle. Don't get me wrong. I love Patti, but not when she starts that shrieking. I do NOT like Bluegrass music, with one exception: Allison Kraus. What a gorgeous voice. Very tiny and small and just heartbreaking. I do not like East Indian or Asian Music. Not just because I can't understand it, but because I just don't like it. So that pretty much leaves a whole lot I do like. From Pop to Classical, from R&B to Opera, from Rock to Country, from Jazz to Broadway (wasn't THAT obvious? Heh), and beyond. I have the following radio stations set on the car radio: FM- Mix 107.3 (self explanatory), Z-104 (Top-40), WGMS (Classical), Oldies 100 (self-expl.), WGAY (extreeeeemely light), WMZQ (Country), WPGC (R&B), 97.1 WASH FM (Light), WETA (Classical), and WBJC (Classical) AM- WTOP (all news, all day, AGAIN and AGAIN... traffic and weather on the 8's) So tell us, oh mighty music critic, what is your type of music?

I ain't Rusty, but I like to think of myself as a mighty music critic, and since you asked... ALL radio may not suck, but Philadelphia radio sure as hell does. Should you ever be in the area and want to know what's of-lesser-evil to listen to, try: 88.5 -- U. of Penn's station that has an insanely diverse mix, everything from kids' music to Indonesian folk songs to New Age meditation to an hour of Tom Waits, so if you don't like what's playing, just wait a few minutes. 90.9 -- NPR 93.3 -- the "rock" station, with what must be the nicest DJ in the world, Pierre Robert. Love him! (But he's only on from 9:15 am to 2 pm, so take heed!) 96.5 -- talk radio, which usually annoys, but one guy, Irv Homer, is very wise 98.1 -- the oldies station, for when you just gotta hear "Time of the Season" by the Zombies 100.3 -- the "modern rock" or "alternative" station, which should be bombed out of existence save for one DJ, Matt Cord, who used to be on 93.3 and is genuinely knowledgable and has great taste, only he's not allowed to exercise it on this realm of evil. That's it. There are some more subversive channels floating around, like 91.7 (Drexel U.'s own), only you can't get a reception at all unless you're within shouting distance of their broadcasting towers.

I live within the frequency range of a station in Dallas, Tx. called KNON "the voice of the people." It's transmitted out an old manor house and has an incredibly eclectic format. It's mostly listener supported with a few underwriters. All dj's are volunteers and create the shows; you actually have to have your own cd's, tapes, etc. if you want to dj. I think every ethnic group and subgroup in the area is represented on air somewhere: Blues, Zydeco, Cajun, Rockabilly, a kind of subversive Country (things like "down to sticks and stems blues" and Pink Floyd's "dark side of the moon" as bluegrass), R&B, Soul, Hip-Hop (knowledge dropped), Techno, Hardcore, Metal, Punk, Calypso, Reggae, African (the dj is from Eritrea, which is between Ethiopia and Sudan and does the show in his native language. The music is haunting), Jazz (the monday and tuesday night d.j. has the ultimate jazz d.j. voice), Latino, Tejano, Bharti, Laotian, Cambodian (I love that show because the Cambodian language sounds to me like Japanese played backwards - the way he gulps his vowels. It's just cool), Native American (which I'm listening to right now), Gay, Polka... There's more, I just can't remember it. It used to be the home of Ivan Stang and Church of the Subgenius (which began in Dallas, I think), but he left.

i'd pay to get you to slap a few maxell xlII's in your tape deck, record some of that and mail it to me. especially the eritrean, cambodian, and native american stuff.

We'll call that plan B. Their web page is knon.org The shows you asked about appear on the schedule as: Cambodian Programming (Sun. 4pm), Beyond Bows and Arrows (Sun. 6pm), and The International Hour with Chief Zahei (Fri. 10pm) You might find something there. I'll tape something if you're serious. Agatha knows where to find me.

I didn,t hear any mention of SKA,the best music,makes me dance.

DEATH TO NSYNC AND THE BACKSTREET BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

according to Karen Bertleson, a group of catholic school students were suspended from school for going to a Backstreet Boys concert. The lyrics to their songs were found to be objectionable by the school.

Think if they went to see Godsmack or Korn. They'd call for a exorcism.