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Lincoln Journal-Star (Neb.)If you’re a member of the transistor radio generation, you’ll instantly get “Something in the Air,” Marc Fisher’s new book that’s very appropriately titled “Radio, Rock and the Revolution That Shaped a Generation.” If you’ve got no idea what a transistor radio was and prefer your iPod to anything that comes over the air, “Something in the Air” is also a book for you—an explanation as to why there will never be a single song that unites the vast majority of listeners ever again. Beginning with the oft-told story of how Todd Storz “invented” Top 40 radio in Omaha in the early 1950s, Fisher traces the history of the medium that brought generations of American kids the music that changed everything. Cogently describing how rock ‘n’ roll radio went from being the province of DJs like Alan Freed, who were initially playing black R&B for white kids on AM stations to the bland, corporate, highly niched FM of today, Fisher tells the radio story of the splintering of mass music culture into ever smaller pieces. He also delineates the dulling role played by consultants, who, in the ‘80s turned nearly every station in the country into a bland, highly formatted outlet, the better to sell commercials to a very narrowly defined audience, but the worse for music. The irony of “Something in the Air” is that Lee Abrams, the man who was responsible for most of the ‘80s formatting, is now being hailed as a hero for his role in developing satellite radio—the only real alternative left for those who want to hear something new and exciting, even if they have to pay for it. Along the way, Fisher spins out the story of the rise of FM radio, which was very hip and free-form in the early to mid ‘70s and touches on the talk radio revolution that took over AM after music shifted to the far better-sounding FM band. None of this is new information. But Fisher, who writes a radio column for the Washington Post, pulls it all together in a compelling history that is as much about the personalities he chooses to highlight as it is about technology and numbers and formats. Those personalities include the famous and familiar, such as New York’s Cousin Brucie, San Francisco “underground” FM pioneer Tom Donahue, the comedian Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern. But he also tells the story of legendary radio figures like Jean Shepherd, the guy who wrote “A Christmas Story” after honing his tales by talking all night on a New York station. It is that connection between the DJ/radio performer, the music and the audience that has diminished and nearly disappeared in Clear Channel America. It can never be replaced by downloading or podcasts, which lack the immediacy of a live broadcast. Nor is the local sense of community possible to replicate on satellite radio. For me, who got a transistor for my sixth birthday, that makes Fisher’s tale in “Something in the Air” kind of sad, a recounting of a golden age for music and medium that won’t ever happen again.—-L. Kent Wolgamott |