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TED MCLENDON

It seems someone’s made a mistake. There must be a glitch in the system. Looking at recent radio charts, I find them topped with such titles as "Backstreet Boys," "Blink 182," and "Smash Mouth."

It’d be a great surprise if these band names were foreign to you. And would you disagree with my asking, "What could possibly be the criteria which defines the charts the place these ‘artists’ above all others currently making music?" Certainly it is no measure of musical talent or artistic integrity.

Indeed, these charts seem to tell not who’s taking on the music industry with bounding melodic innovation, but instead who is best able to conform to the current images that define "cool."

My complaint is not that this trend exists, but that radio is plagued with it. Radio should be about the music, not about the image. For that we have MTV.

That current radio charts present what they do does not necessarily indicate that such things are what people really want to hear. It’s simply what people are willing to hear. These charts are a perfect example of the general public’s willingness to tolerate whatever simplistic tripe is being handed to them.

With all the fantastic and innovative musicians in the world today, it is nothing short of frustrating that when I turn on my radio, I hear the same mediocre song I heard that morning and the night before.

The ironic part of the situation is that so many of these stations pride themselves on their supposed "variety." Perhaps my expectations are beyond reason, but I’d say variety takes more than a five-disc changer and a repeat button. Even the sound between the few songs they do play is lacking in variety. Its as though one big, ugly musical monster named "Hootalie Merchant and the Third Eye 20’s" has its nasty paws wrapped around the media.

If that were not horrid enough in itself, the personalities that haunt the airwaves between the song(s) are some of the most definitively annoying people I’ve ever experienced. Their cheeseball antics such as "be the tenth caller after the next three songs and win" are designed for the specific purpose of keeping you tuned in.

They know full well that their trite commentary and lame music aren’t enough to keep you from turning that dial, so they attempt to coax. Frankly, the whole thing works to nauseate me and I’ve become increasingly intolerant of it.

It is rare anymore that I’ll tune into anything other than talk radio, but simply ignoring the problem doesn’t seem sufficient. Something needs to change. There is a world of music out there, and I’m interested in hearing it and learning about it.