Local Radio

Along with reading and writing on the internet I often listen to music on the radio and find inspiration. I grew up in the 1990s, but listening to my parents' records of the 1960s and 1970s like the Beatles and Rolling Stones catalog. Now I like to discover new music and artists through the radio, both locally on the FM frequency and searching for songs on free internet sites like Blip.fm and Last.fm. I just got an (RL) Blip.fm account to play some of my favorite songs. These local stations can also be heard free of charge online at their websites, and many also have a presence on Twitter. San Francisco has some great stations with a diversity of music and these are some of the stations I enjoy the most:

Movin' 99.7 plays rap, hip-hop, and pop, probably the closest to a Top 40 station. Music heard includes Lady Gaga (Poker Face, Just Dance), Kanye West (Heartless, Gold Digger), Soulja Boy (Kiss me through the Phone), Britney (If you seek Amy) and Black Eyed Peas (I Gotta Feeling, Boom Boom Pow).

Star 101.3 includes more pop and rock hits like Katy Perry (Waking up in Vegas), David Cook (Come Back to Me), and Kings of Leon (Use Somebody), and has a tie-in with American Idol including the broadcast of Ryan Seacrest's show in the afternoons at 4:00. During the spring season they often have interviews with American Idol judges and singers.

At 103.7 there's the new station the Band, which plays a similar selection to the old 99.7 KFRC of rock band hits from the 1960s through the 1980s. Some songs I hadn't heard on the radio for a while include Led Zeppelin (Stairway to Heaven), the Eagles (Hotel California), Journey (Don't Stop Believin') and Paul McCartney (Live and Let Die).

KFOG 104.5 plays classic and modern rock hits ranging from the Rolling Stones to the Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen. They also bring out more rare tunes for the 10 @ 10 show which features ten songs from one year or decade. I was interested to see that they incorporated the Doctor Who theme and TARDIS sound effects to the new show introduction, as part of the time travel theme. Other times they play songs alphabetically or by theme. I'm currently listening to Kashmir by Led Zeppelin on this station which seems like a very Doctor Who type song with mentions of Time and Space.

Over at Live 105, I've heard new alternative rock such as Green Day (21 Guns), the Fray (Kanye West cover Heartless), Death Cab for Cutie (Grapevine Fires), Weezer (Pork and Beans) and MGMT (Kids). On Sundays they have the Soundcheck program of new music with band interviews such as Green Day.

On the AM dial, for local news, 740 KCBS is a very comprehensive station with frequent updates from correspondents like sports commentator John Madden, film reviewer Jan Wahl and food expert Narsai David. Music expert and Rolling Stone writer Ben Fong-Torres, who has a column in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle about local radio called Radio Waves, was interviewed about Michael Jackson on the station. On the day the news broke about Michael Jackson, I heard about him first on Twitter, then on KCBS, then listened to 102.9 KBLX which was playing a maraton of his music. KNBR 680 is the station for the San Francisco Giants baseball team, with commentary team Jon Miller, Dave Fleming, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper. The commentators also appear at the AT&T Park games and on NBC 11 TV.