02-04-25 - We Apologize To Current Generation For Complaining About Their Music After Relistening To 90s Pop Songs And Realizing How Bad They Were And How Radio Helped Push Them

Summary

Summary of Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Arizona Episode (02-04-25)

Episode Title: We Apologize To Current Generation For Complaining About Their Music After Relistening To 90s Pop Songs And Realizing How Bad They Were And How Radio Helped Push Them
Release Date: February 4, 2025
Host/Authors: John Holmberg, Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, Dick Toledo
Broadcasted On: 98 KUPD (97.9 FM)

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Introduction

In this episode of Holmberg's Morning Sickness, host John Holmberg, along with co-hosts Brady Bogen and Bret Vesely, engages in a candid and humorous discussion about the quality of 90s pop music. The episode takes a reflective turn as John contemplates his past criticisms of both contemporary and 90s music, ultimately leading to an apology to the current generation for undervaluing today's musical landscape.

Revisiting 90s Pop Music

John Holmberg begins the conversation by sharing his recent experience of re-listening to 90s pop songs, which led him to question his previous disdain for the era's music.

John Holmberg [02:01]: "She's horrible. She can't sing."

He specifically critiques Sheryl Crow's "Leaving Las Vegas," expressing disappointment with her vocal performance and the overall production quality.

John Holmberg [03:03]: "Lilith Power. Sonny came home. Now, this is a better song than that. Leaving Las Vegas."

Brett Vesely and Brady contribute their memories, agreeing that many 90s pop songs lacked the desired energy and vocal prowess.

The Role of Radio in Promoting Subpar Music

The discussion shifts to the role of radio stations in perpetuating what the hosts consider mediocre music. John reflects on his time working in radio, lamenting the repetitive and uninspired playlists that dominated the airwaves.

John Holmberg [08:53]: "I helped kill radio. I helped years ago by starting by being part of that Zone radio station. Horrible, top to bottom awful."

He criticizes the management's decisions and the pressure to play certain songs, which he believes contributed to the decline of radio's credibility and popularity.

John Holmberg [10:13]: "Roll to me. Is that."

Apologizing to the Current Generation

Acknowledging his past criticisms, John transitions into a heartfelt apology towards the younger generation. He admits that, despite his previous stance, he recognizes the improvement in today's music compared to the 90s.

John Holmberg [04:14]: "I have to apologize. Yesterday, I was sitting there saying things about, you know, this music... I lived through the worst of it. I mean, this music today is 10 times better."

This apology is directed not just at the music of today but also at the impulsive judgments he previously cast on evolving musical trends.

Reflections on Music Cycles and Industry Impact

The hosts explore the cyclical nature of music trends, suggesting that the current music scene mirrors the stagnation they perceived in the 90s. John draws parallels between past and present, indicating a lack of innovation and excitement in both eras.

John Holmberg [32:56]: "Radio had destroyed him."

He delves into the detrimental effects of the radio industry's focus on hit-driven playlists, which he believes stifles artistic expression and listener engagement.

Concluding Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, John expresses regret over his and his peers' contributions to promoting what they now view as flawed music. He underscores the importance of striving for quality and authenticity in both radio programming and musical production.

John Holmberg [35:43]: "We owe OJ a debt of gratitude for not making that entire decade suck. At least he gave us two years of fun."

The episode concludes on a reflective note, emphasizing the need for continual improvement and openness to change within the music industry.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• John Holmberg [02:01]: "She's horrible. She can't sing."
• John Holmberg [04:14]: "This music today is 10 times better."
• John Holmberg [08:53]: "I helped kill radio."
• John Holmberg [10:13]: "Roll to me. Is that."
• John Holmberg [32:56]: "Radio had destroyed him."
• John Holmberg [35:43]: "We owe OJ a debt of gratitude for not making that entire decade suck. At least he gave us two years of fun."

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Key Takeaways

• Critical Reevaluation: The hosts reassess their previous negative opinions of 90s pop music, acknowledging flaws they may have overlooked at the time.

• Radio's Influence: A significant portion of the discussion centers around the radio industry's role in promoting what the hosts consider subpar music, leading to its decline in relevance.

• Generational Apology: John Holmberg extends an apology to the current generation for his past criticisms, recognizing improvements and valuing today's musical landscape more positively.

• Cyclical Trends: The conversation highlights the repetitive cycles within the music industry, suggesting that mistakes and shortcomings tend to recur over decades.

• Personal Reflections: The episode is marked by personal anecdotes and reflections, providing listeners with an insider's perspective on the challenges faced within the radio and music industries.

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the podcast episode, detailing the hosts' journey from critiquing past and present music trends to offering a sincere apology to the current generation. Through engaging discussion and notable quotes, listeners gain insight into the complexities of the music industry's evolution and its impact on both professionals and audiences alike.

Transcript

[Dick Toledo]

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[John Holmberg]

Still streaming Homberg's morning sickness online at 98kupd.com Good morning, everybody. Hello there. Welcome to Tuesday. It is 5:45. This is the morning sickness. My name's John. There's Brady, there's Brett, there's Ladonna. There's big dictator. Because ladonna is everywhere. She is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. Count on it. You will hear her today. Another perfect day in paradise. So stick your head in it and enjoy this glory that we live in. Each and every day. It is just listening to one by Creed there. It's weird because yesterday I did the thing I was. We were talking about the Grammys and stuff and how boring music is to me. Like right now I should be angry at music. Ah, it's too loud. It's, you know, these kids today, I'm not mad at them. I want them to try harder. And I want it to be like more energetic. And look. And then last night, for whatever reason, I'm flipping through some stuff just looking for something to watch. And 90s, the 90s classics were on MTV. So I'm going to what they're playing. So I, I hit the button and there it was. And Sheryl Crow's Leaving Las Vegas was on. How did that song. How what were we do? How drunk were we in the 90s? Give me some of that Brett. Find it.

[Brady]

Give me a second.

[John Holmberg]

She's horrible. She can't sing.

[Brett]

I'm not sure I even remember.

[John Holmberg]

You'll remember it. It was, it's. And then I went back and listened to other Cheryl Crow stuff and I'm like, this is terrible.

[Brady]

The only one I remember was that something in the sun.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. That's horrible, by the way. Also terrible. She couldn't sing. Like the recording's bad that it's. I mean, it's bad.

[Brett]

She talks to that song.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. But it's talked. And then when she'd sing, she's just all over the place and it's just terrible. So I have to apologize to this generation because I went back to the 90s and started to look at what was nominated for Grammys after I saw that. This is just terrible. It's lazy. It's boring. She can't sing.

[Brady]

Sounds like the Joker almost. Peter.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. Oh, there's. It's got that. And there's also another song I think Sean Colvin sang in the 90s on the street. I mean, some producers should have said, you're off key. Like most of the song.

[Brady]

Oh, that's Sean Coleman song sucks.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, my God. And you go through that was nominated. Yeah. This one I went through and listened to a bunch of these and I'm like, this is. I. I can't complain. I guess I've forgotten. That was Lilith Power. Sonny came home. Now, this is a better song than that. Leaving Las Vegas.

[Brett]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

Then cumbersome by 7 Mary 3 came on.

[Brady]

Don't mind that one.

[John Holmberg]

You think you do until you hear it again. She open it is boring. And it's about five and a half minutes long. I remember. I guess this one has a little more life to it. I'm not sure my dad would have screamed turn it down. But got a little more energy to it. Man, that Cheryl Crow. I went back and listened to about six or seven of her hits. If she wasn't pretty, people would have laughed at her for trying to sing. She's horrible. Yeah, this is. This one's badass.

[Brady]

But Brady's right. It's like all that Lilith Fair power, you know?

[John Holmberg]

What were we thinking?

[Brady]

You guys were playing the hell out of it over there.

[John Holmberg]

The Zone. Paula Cole was another one. She won, like, song of the Year for that Cowboys. Then she had hairy armpits and all that. Oh, yeah.

[Brett]

Where have all the cowboys where have.

[John Holmberg]

All the cowboys gone? I. I have to apologize. Yesterday, I was sitting there saying things about, you know, this music, watching that and all the popular music and how boring and awful it is. I lived through the worst of it. I mean, this music today is 10 times better. And here's the thing, to be warned. Everybody I'm talking about came and went because they weren't that good to begin with. At least the people I watched on the Grammys a couple nights ago could sing.

[Brady]

How did you not hang yourself in the studio every day playing this?

[Brett]

He was. He had a box of Kleenex.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, a box of Kleenex. Because I'm like, should I kill it? Should I just end it all now? So I remember back in the radio days of first starting. It was terrible. Try doing this in the middle of the night, Brett. You understand overnight.

[Brady]

Oh, no.

[John Holmberg]

Back when I started in radio, there was no computer stuff running all the show. Yeah. You'd show up and in a box with your name on it, there was a. About six pages of the music you were gonna have to play. Like the schedule. Remember the logs? Yeah, yeah. Oh, no, Brady, I'm. Don't lie. Don't. Brady was into this stuff. He was his own fan. He used to French Kiss Mary McCann and rebel. Mama and Brady were. They love touching each other and hip dancing, they like to call it. But the. God, that's terrible. Horrible. But I remember seeing stuff like that on my music log. I just going, oh, it's gonna be a tough night. Because that is a tough thing to sit through at 3:30.

[Brady]

I couldn't imagine playing that for the 3:00 sideshow.

[John Holmberg]

And people like.

[Brett]

And he got on the cutting edge with Tom's Diner.

[John Holmberg]

Well, Tom's Diner was at least early, late 80s, you know, that was late 80s stuff. So it came out and kind of moved into the 90s because it was. But it was what a boring era of music, the 90s, where I think we're just in that cycle. I think we're in the same cycle we were with. With what was going on then is kind of going on now. Drag.

[Brett]

Yeah. Folky, almost.

[John Holmberg]

Well, that's what now is. That's what's happening right now is that with a few exceptions, it was just a bad time for music, the mid to late 90s.

[Brady]

And we're still stuck with that goddamn Sarah McLaughlin with those commercials.

[John Holmberg]

And that's our fault for going through that. Weird Friends is great. You know, we were wrong a lot in the 90s and I have to apologize to this generation because the 90s was horrible. Belly. Jesus, what were we? So coming out of that grunge time, we went into this weird, almost hippie revival. But bad hippies, the Jewel and like women solo artists that were just not very good. But we, for some reason, Fiona Apple, she had a couple of cool ones. Alanis came through, right?

[Brady]

Oh, Sarah, the song Just Let your.

[John Holmberg]

Love, this was on the radio like people were dry in the mornings. When I did mornings at the Zone, like, you got that ceremony, I'm like, this is going to. People going to kill themselves. They wake up wanting to feel okay. And we're like, all right, everybody, wake up. It's the Steph and John in the morning. Wake up. Here's this.

[Brett]

Driving with your coffee mug, sipping it.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, just pouring it in your eyes. There's no waking up.

[Brady]

Did you not just drive your car into the.

[John Holmberg]

Which one's this? Oh, for Christ's sake. I forgot all about this song. So this was in that Meg Ryan movie where she gets hit by a semi and I think Nicholas Cage is a ghost. Women at Work.

[Brady]

It had the Goo Dolls song on there too.

[John Holmberg]

Yep. That Iris women would cry and talk about it.

[Brady]

City of Angels something.

[John Holmberg]

Is that right? Something like that. That might be right. But she gets hit by a logging truck while she's on her bicycle and he finds her in the road and she looks great. She's dying. You just got hit by a logging truck, baby girl.

[Brady]

That was silly, man.

[John Holmberg]

How's my hair?

[Brady]

1998.

[John Holmberg]

That generation of women. Thank God for porn because this was a group of women that nobody wants to deal with. They were. What an emotional basket of nonsense. So my apologies to everybody who was like yesterday. Oh, the music's not so. It isn't so bad. We lived through the late. The 90s. The zone era, I call it. Oh, what a crud station. No wonder it failed over and over again. I sit back and I think, how come the Zone wasn't the biggest deal in radio? We were, you know, all the people that were on it ended up doing big things. And it's because the management and the music was just. Is an awful radio station. I apologize to everybody for even being part of that thing. For. Yuck.

[Brady]

Sorry. You listened.

[John Holmberg]

What a terrible, terrible thing I did to radio. And I bet you that radio's dying now. I helped kill it. I helped years ago by start by being part of that Zone radio station. Horrible, top to bottom awful. Yikes. Gin Blossoms is another one. Now. They were early 90s and we here, I think we were more excited about the Gin Blossoms. Yeah. From here, man, I think, hey, Jealousy is a good pop song. I think that's a song that kind of just. It's boring. But there was, you know, I said it was like all the music was all these kids on Xanax. I didn't realize that, you know, 25 years ago, the Xanax revolution, it was. It was happening back then. What a boring era of. Then you get into, like, what was going on that I didn't grasp telemetry. Tow the wet sprocket, Towed the wet sprocket.

[Brady]

I remember Dellamitri.

[John Holmberg]

They had A midget just. It was just this weird back of the fair circus tent bands that came rolling in and I should have just jumped on Eminem. Eminem was the only good thing in the era. Eminem was literally. You go back to the like 95 to 2000 and Eminem was the only thing worth listening to, period. End of.

[Brady]

Roll to me. Is that.

[Brett]

Roll to me.

[John Holmberg]

Roll to me. This was a Scottish band that smells like they've been rolling around a manure. This was just ultimate 90s crap. And then I kind of sat back and thought, well, 10 years earlier than that, it was Bang Tango and Faster Pussycat. I'm like, jesus, has there ever been an era of music that's any good? But it's like going back and looking at movies in the.

[Brett]

Imagine going through the whole coffee house thing in the 60s.

[John Holmberg]

Coffee house music was always bad. But movies, like 1% of movies are good. It's like thousands of them released are horrible. Just terrible, unwatchable piles of garbage. And for some reason we place on a pedestal musicians and actors and stuff, and we allow them to call themselves artists. Everything we touch is art. And it's like most of what you do is absolute human on a piece of toast and you shove it down our throats. It is rare. That's why we got to really grab hold of the good stuff. And it is rare that something not only is good when you hear it, but like, you know, creeds one. You just played it, Brett, you know, 30 years later, still mellow, but still a cool song. Pretty decent song. Something that lasts. My God, the 90s were said. Remember, John, how empowered women felt when that Meredith Brooks bitch song came out? I do. And I also remember there was a 30 minute television show about how she was like leading the revolution for women in music and it was gonna be the greatest thing ever. And finally you had to take them seriously. I'm like Carole King, Linda Ronstadt. I'm like, why? When in the world did we just say we don't listen to that? Because it's good. We listened. We never cared. This song has some life to it. Just because she calls herself a bitch. Cussing. I remember there's a girl at work named Lisa that would just rank this in the studio. Like she was proud of it. I'm like, all right, you're done. It's my turn. Don't you call me that. And I'm like, give it. Been barking this the whole time, like, you want this to be you. Oh, my God.

[Brady]

Does she have a follow up song I don't even remember.

[John Holmberg]

No. And that was the other fun part, is that all of these revolutionary 90s artists just died on a vine after their one hit.

[Brady]

It's funny because, like on Spotify, she's got 246 million spins on it. And her next one is 2 million.

[John Holmberg]

Bitch has 246 million spins on Spotify. That's. Spotify is what, only 10 years old?

[Brady]

Right?

[John Holmberg]

So how. That song. She's. She's got a house. And that's the bad thing.

[Brett]

That's better than average, right?

[John Holmberg]

We take. Oh, it's pretty damn good.

[Brady]

Well, Del Metre only had like 22,000 or something.

[John Holmberg]

Because if you play Della Mitri too often, you will start to stink. Your body odor becomes corn nuts and manure. That's the smelliest group of people I've ever been around in my life.

[Brett]

Smell like a bog.

[John Holmberg]

I. Bogs are a cologne compared to Delametri Holmberg's morning sickness. What I was smelling was. Was decomposition. I was in a morgue when I was next to those.

[Brady]

Remember this jump?

[John Holmberg]

Oh, God, now you're getting me going. It's your song. This almost ended my time in radio. The Tangerine Speedo. You know it?

[Brett]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

I broke the CD every time it was on my playlist. And I got into fights with the music director, but this song was not. And it's probably better than half the crap I was playing. This is a mess. And they love this. And I remember screaming at him, you are making a huge mistake here. This is the worst. We cannot pin your. No, no. It's making us cool, like we're that. No, we're not. You're gonna go out of business. The Zone is going to go off the air. If this is cool to you, you gotta quit listening. I hated it. So it was on. I'd break the cd, he'd print another one and break. Break the cd. Print another. I'd break. I said, you can keep doing this, but you better wait till I go home because it's gonna die the second I come back in here. And God forbid you put that on my list. Tomorrow I'll break it again. I'll have 20 of them tomorrow. All right, I'll break 20.

[Brady]

Then there was a band that we used to. I can't remember the band, but here, like when I was still doing part time, everybody would grab the CD and just rub it on the console. And then JJ'd have to print off a new one all the time till we got a memo.

[John Holmberg]

You stop wrecking the discs. A lot of work and research goes into what goes on this radio. Nuh. Not very good stuff or you wouldn't be playing Tangerine Speedo. Once again, I've been complaining that the. And it is the same people that are in charge today that were in charge then. So they're still the ones responsible for the death of this industry. But, you know, they were the geniuses that did the research that Tangerine Speedo was a smash hit. And then a year later, like, that was terrible. And they start pointing fingers at the DJs for not having good ratings. You're fired, Carrie Edwards. You can't work here anymore. Why? If people don't like you, like, I think it's you. They don't like you. Tangerine speedoed me to death. How many times can I play Sarah McBurn, Sarah McLachlan and Tangerine Speedo? And you want me to be entertaining between the songs? This is on you, asshole. So many people in radio who were trying really hard to be good at it drank themselves into comas or shot themselves and their wives because of radio executives telling them that Tangerine Speedo and Sarah McLaughlin were a good idea. Here you played Leaving Las Vegas twice today. And then Those guys in 2004 had so much cocaine coursing through their veins, they'd go out to their Ford Fairlane and shoot themselves in the mouth because they kept getting fired and it was never their fault. DJs across the United States. It was never your fault.

[Brady]

Here's another.

[John Holmberg]

It was Bob's from the beginning. Oh, I. This was a good, good song, Bob. Good getting blown song. This was 1994 and my ex girlfriend, you played. And her mouth just went like. She lost control of her jaw. She's probably right now. If she's listening at all. Doubt it. But maybe she is. I assume she's poor and has a. Like a 1988 stick shift Honda Accord. She's blowing the stick shift right now. She dislodged her jaw like a boa constrictor. Like, what are they just. She's eating a rabbit.

[Brett]

I mean, there's a big push. There always is. On the marketing side of going after the women. Women and music.

[John Holmberg]

Well, then women are boring.

[Brett]

I know. I mean.

[John Holmberg]

And they suck. Because if that's what they were doing and we were trying to target them.

[Brett]

Well, we went to, you know, like I said, a little bit the other way as far as guy music was venting and.

[John Holmberg]

Well, we were trying. When I came back to the Zone after I did Mornings, did well. There. And then they were like, we need to play more. Tangerine Speedo and Sarah McLaughlin and Ricky Martin and Tal Bachman.

[Brett]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

Then I'm like, this station sucks. And I. I was propping it up like, this is the future. I don't know what. I was just blind by the paycheck, I guess. And it wasn't a good check. They brought me back and said, we gotta target men more. We're blowing. They kept saying this was a meeting. I was. How did I not see that radio was filled with dummies? I sat in a room with executives who had resumes the size of a phone book telling me how they knew everything about radio. And I was on a show with a girl, and the girl's name was Stephanie. Stephanie Duran used to work with Pratt here at KUPD before, and she left because eventually everybody finds out. Out Dave Pratt as a thief and a liar, and they leave. So that's what she did. So I'm working with her. I didn't know much from much about the business, so I used to kind of give credit to dudes in suits that they knew what they were doing. And they sat and they said, we're really kind of trying to get the lady who loves Oprah to listen to us, because Oprah's got the biggest audience. And I'm like, okay, so we're. We're gonna do, like, Oprah shows. Like, no, no, you're gonna be, like, appealing to that audience. Like, okay, now at the time, I'm pretty. Like. Like, I'm pretty into the idea of being the host. But, like, I'll. I'll be a second. I'll do whatever. I'm just getting into this thing. So I'm doing impressions and things. Like, what things I do. And then the guy's like, now in the morning, when I listen, you're pretty, you know, out there. Like, you go after it. You want. You want to be the guy. And I'm like, I don't care who the guy is. Like, yeah, but, like, you're the one who always usually comes up with the funny line. And I'm like, well, that's because. Because she's not funny. Like, the problem you have here, if you. If you're looking for two people to be funny, is that one of us isn't. Well, could you deliver, like, your lines to her and then, like, have her do the funny lines? I'm like, you think I write this? Do you think I'm, like, writing Regis Philbin says? I'm like, what is she gonna do when I do it as a character? Well, that's the thing. That's gonna be the fun part. Her failing as characters is gonna be the fun part. Well, she just needs to deliver the cause. We think that women will find her funny, and that'll make it so, like, you can, you know, ying and yang it. And I said, yes. I sat in the thing. All right. Well, occasionally. So there were these dead spaces when I'm just panning out lines, like, say this as reads as Philbin. And then Steph got it. She's like, I'm not the funny one. He is. And it was just. And then. But these idiots. And then they came back, said, you're just not appealing to the audience. I'm like, we're number two with women. Your 1849 women demo that you've been shooting, we're in second, our research says. All right, see you, suits. They've always been terrible at their job, and it's now that we're starting to see that all of it is dead. But Jesus Christ, how in the world. I watched a guy named Freddy Snakeskin about take his life in front of me because radio had destroyed him. And he'd tell me, he's like, I can't do this anymore, man. I can't go bouncing from city to city. And I'm like, like, where's all your money from them, you know, you. And he just pointed to his nose like, you've been doing drugs all. Yeah, it's because they made him play songs like Tangerine, Speedo and then blamed him for nobody listening. You gotta get out of here, Snakeskin. What? Why? Because you just. Nobody likes you. Oh, man. We're gonna get somebody else in here like you to play Tangerine Speedo and Sarah McLaughlin and Tal Bachmann. And then when it doesn't go, go. Well, we're gonna blame him, too. Yeah. Poor bastards. Poor bastards. I was on a slippery slope to becoming one of those people who just agreed with the suits. Luckily, I saw them for what they were early and just did what I wanted. And look, I ignored them for 25 years. And here we are.

[Brady]

Brie, you play this one, too.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, no. Oh, yeah. This is Deep Blue something thing.

[Brady]

No, no.

[John Holmberg]

Vertical Horizon.

[Brett]

Huge hit.

[Brady]

Yeah, I'm sure when your dad tuned in, Dan's like, I knew it.

[John Holmberg]

My son works at a radio station. Which one? Dan? I'd rather not say. He's in a homosexual station. Now you're here and you don't know why.

[Brady]

Oh, man, you know it too.

[John Holmberg]

Skin my of course I do. I sat there at two in the morning sometimes, my head down.

[Brett]

Haven't heard that one in a long time.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, thank God. And there's a reason why it didn't last longer than the four months. It was popular garbage. So my apologies for yesterday, saying that the Grammys are filled with songs that I wasn't even saying back in my day. I'm just saying, where's the stuff that's supposed to make me scream that this is terrible? It was also slow and boring. But Jesus Christ. Christ. So were the 90s. And I think we're living a new 90s. I think we're. Everything's cyclical. I think currently in music, we're in the 90s again, where some of the stuff we like right now is just to fill time. It's not very good. And that's why Taylor Swift is the most successful artist ever is because that basic average woman is the best thing we got going. Because everything is so boring right now. Terrible. That's the reason why when I turned on Netflix last night, the number one show in America was the O.J. simpson documentary. We're dying for, like, something interesting to happen. And I hasten to say that, because last time I did that, I remember saying on the phone, nothing interesting is happening. And then 911 happened the next day because I was talking to my now ex wife on the phone about how everything felt so sort of weird. Like everything was. And it was because of this music. I'd been playing it for five years. I'm like, everything feels so blank. There's nothing exciting in the world. It's all just kind of run of the mill. Groundhog Day. One day after another, she goes, yeah, Just feels like we're in a grind. Like, I know. But then I said something beautiful. I said, just so long as we know we got each other's back. None of this we're gonna make. We're gonna be all right. And she goes, you know what? That's what matters. We are home. Or if you're somewhere and I'm somewhere, because we were living in separate cities. As long as we know that you're there and I'm there, that's our home. We don't have to have the same house to be the same home. Oh, that's beautiful. And then the next day, that terrorist tried to kill her. And then it got interesting for a little while, but Christ on a crutch, boring. And it all started last night with me watching that Cheryl Crow thing. Has put my hands over my ears.

[Brady]

Even the women are complaining. Like Jewel here.

[John Holmberg]

Jewel? Jesus. And there was one reason, one reason only. This Swiss Miss Hootie weirdo that her cans were why she was popular. No man should ever have owned Jules at what we did. And it was just because we hoped at one point or another boobs would slip out of the cd like something. It's all about our cans. Nothing about this is good.

[Brady]

A and R guy was like, that's genius.

[John Holmberg]

Whatever you do is what he was the original porn actor. You mean you sing songs? What? They're so good. You're my stepsister. Listen to that.

[Brady]

We found her in a small town in Alaska.

[John Holmberg]

I'm pretty sure she's the voice of a generation. What are you talking about? She's horrible. But look at her, man. You know what? You make strong points. Oh, it's so bad. Yeah. My dad had to think when I told him I'm working at the 115design. I've never listened to that because I have testosterone flowing through my body. I'm not a wild homosexual. Like, let's meet some of the people you work. Oh, he's a homosexual. There's one. And there's another one. It was horrible. And thinking back, I mean, I used to get excited about Matchbox 20 having a new release. Good Christ. I know. It's a credit to all of them, the whole lot of them. They all knew they had done something terribly wrong to us. And they disappeared. Not one of them still around. Rob Thomas, gone. Matchbox 20, gone. Google doll still hanging around. But they don't run you gone.

[Brady]

They play casinos near you.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, they're. They're gone. And like zero have come out of it to still be around. No one from that era is still pumping out music at all the early 90s. Pearl Jam still tries, but even they got lost in that. Yeah, Just awful. So my apologies. I've been. You know, I won't apologize to the Bob's of radio because you guys have ruined it, but I will apologize that I thought it was new, because it's not. You guys have been wrecking this business. You. You didn't blow it up since the Internet. You've been chipping away at this foundation for about 40 years. So, Bobs, I apologize. I was wrong. You've been horrible at your jobs a lot longer than I've been giving you credit for. How do we get people to listen in the bathroom meetings? That's an idea. They have give away shower radios. What are you asking me for? You guys are the one. Yeah, well, that's my. My answer. Give them a radio. You know what, John? You're not going to have to answer that. Well, no. Give them a radio. You're asking how come people don't listen to the radio? Because they don't have them. Because you guys ruined radio. So they got rid of their radios and they have phones now. So you want them to listen on the app. Like you're asking me to do your job for you. Stop asking the people on the air to come up with ideas on how people can show up. It's not my job. It's your job to get people to show up to the station. It's my job to keep them. That's not a healthy outlook. I'm like, no, no, no. You're just trying to make me do your job for you. You go find out how to bring people. You market. Bring people in. I'.

[Brady]

This guy Gary says he works for Safeway, and basically all the music we've played is what's playing over their intercom.

[John Holmberg]

Gary, I love Safeway, but I'm only in there for a few minutes at a time. Run for your life. Someone's trying to kill you slowly. Holmberg's morning sickness.

[Brady]

I make it through, like one Matchbox 20 song and maybe a half a vertical horizon. I'm out the door.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, I go in, I grab my cup. Coke. Coca Cola.

[Brady]

Yes.

[John Holmberg]

I'm not buying Coke at Safeway. Even though if I listen to that music all day, I'd be looking for.

[Brett]

That aisle going through self checkout. Just the way it is, baby.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, I think that's 80s, too. Brady, you're pointing out that it sucked even before. Was that the.

[Brett]

No, that's the Rembrandts.

[John Holmberg]

I don't remember that. The Friends guys. Yeah, I thought that was the way it is. Big. I don't remember that being 90s. Oh, he's got it. It's so bad. He's remembering B side. I remember the year. Oh, right.

[Brady]

Oh, now I remember this.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, yeah. It makes me think. It makes me think to myself that they have been trying to slowly get us to kill ourselves. No wonder we're all on Xanax and mood. This is terrible. And I know he's your friend, Brady, but the guy that kind of started the Zone, he killed himself. It's the music. Oh, his was worse.

[Brett]

Deeper.

[John Holmberg]

His was worse.

[Brett]

I mean, you're talking about.

[John Holmberg]

That was when the radio station was at its absolute worst that they were trying to be. They did a segment called 10 Songs. You don't know In a row.

[Brett]

That was the marketing.

[John Holmberg]

Kind of like things you never seriously.

[Brett]

Ten in a row.

[John Holmberg]

Why would you do that? Because radio executives have always been stupid. Here's tense. Because that was their clever way of saying, we're cooler than everyone.

[Brett]

The whole premise behind it is you're playing music that people like to listen to.

[John Holmberg]

No, they didn't.

[Brady]

But if you don't know a cult.

[Brett]

Following that knows it, but it just doesn't get radio play.

[Brady]

But that too cool thing doesn't work.

[John Holmberg]

Exactly. Because the Zone had that in mind. And then the people that they hired didn't like the cult factor and they got deeper than the. Here's 10 in a row you don't know. Wasn't for an audience of people that knew. It was for people like, I know more than you. And that's exactly what Gary McCann. And all those stations altered. There was a guy named Toad Hall. They were nice people, but they had this thing that if you'd heard the song that they thought was unique only to them, they get mad. They said, oh, you know, that, like, it angered them when audience would say, like, yeah, that came off the. I know that song. Oh, really? Well, here's one. There's. I guarantee you, that only know for music snobs.

[Brett]

Yeah, that's what the.

[John Holmberg]

But it became a zone.

[Brett]

It was like listening to, you know, like, where else can you get more of the Grateful Dead?

[John Holmberg]

Well, and it became stuff like, here's Grateful Dead songs. None of you know. I'm the only one who knows about it. Like, it was this big.

[Brett]

That's Widespread Panic, man.

[John Holmberg]

It was snobs for snobs. Widespread Panic. It was snobs for snobs. It was like, if I can find something that's so unheard, I'm the one who wrote it. I like, they would take credit for. It's when people send you a meme and act like they wrote it, you know, it's like they found it on the Internet and they're like, yeah, that was. That's one I found. Remember, I sent you that. And like, you found it on the Internet. Like, anyway, you didn't do anything. The Zone was taking credit for, like, somehow or another writing those songs or, like, having some sort of connection to them and all it was, well, there's a.

[Brett]

You know, there's a big. There was a station in KBCO in Colorado. Yeah, that kind of was that eclectic.

[John Holmberg]

The aaa they thought, oh, yeah, this.

[Brett]

Market, there's an opening for.

[John Holmberg]

But again, the goal there was to have radio executives In Colorado. See that? The station in Arizona had found a couple songs they didn't know. The whole goal was to make them go. What's that? Because if it was totally unknown, it was cool. And. And then it just. It was so bad. It was. It was awful.

[Brady]

I don't forget when Katie KB first changed from rock to what they are. Boy, the first program director made it like that exactly turn on. Like, who is that?

[John Holmberg]

I don't want to hear any of garbage. Anyway, my apologies to people of today. And it's. That was. The 90s were maybe worse. Maybe it was just every 10 years in the barrel because we need to have. Well, it was revolution tweaked.

[Brett]

And in being the sales side of it, you know. Oh, you're thinking like four or five different. You know, they said they're going to change failing, but they kept a little.

[John Holmberg]

Bit of the old one, and it was failing.

[Brett]

Let's go.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, let's go.

[Brett]

Ryan Seacrest.

[John Holmberg]

You don't keep changing something that's working. And then when it would work a little bit, they didn't know what to do. They. They kept trying to be cooler than successful. I was in it for five years watching that thing just go, all right, now we got some traction. I'm like, nope, nope, nope. Now we're just doing something that everybody's doing. It's like, you're dumb. They were just dumb.

[Brady]

These guys suck. Widespread panic.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, they're horrible. This was awful music. And these people. Let's see. God forb. As a listener, you would call and tell the person, I love this song. Oh, you do? We'll never play it again. Like, if you liked it, they hated it. Yeah. It was jam bands. It was like Fish.

[Brett]

Yes, fish.

[John Holmberg]

Exactly. Anyway, my apologies. That's all I'll say.

[Brady]

You're apologizing for your past?

[John Holmberg]

Apologizing for my past. It was a terrible time.

[Brett]

Airplane. That's the widespread.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, so, so bad.

[Brett]

That's one.

[John Holmberg]

And you're. Now you're talking about never made it.

[Brett]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

That. There was never any success to it. And these idiots glommed onto it like that was going to be the next big thing. But their whole goal was to stay anonymous.

[Brett]

On the advertising side, it was.

[John Holmberg]

You made money.

[Brett]

I did.

[John Holmberg]

But you were also very young, so what you were making felt like more than you were making.

[Brett]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

If you went back now, you'd say, we're A lot of people in this room are struggling. Their whole goal was to remain unpop. That was cool. What business thinks that way? Only Radio. If we can remain wildly unpopular and play things no one knows, that'll make us cool and people will gladly. They'll gravitate to that. No, you got a bunch of loose.

[Brett]

Well, no, no, I'm saying they played stuff that was different so that I.

[John Holmberg]

The worst station in the city. It was. There's no question. And then it changed into an even worse version of itself and then an even worse version, and then they switched to like, Alice in Chains and Widespread Panic. I'm like, you don't know what you're doing. I didn't know what they were doing. And I think maybe that the guy that you knew that. That we both worked for me briefly and you knew him well, took his own life because of what he had done to our ears for so many years. He took credit for bringing us the Zone. Terrible. So many radio guys have killed themselves. That.

[Brett]

And being bipolar didn't help.

[John Holmberg]

Sure. But what made him bipolar? Probably. Probably what he had done through the. The people. Yeah. Not understanding that it was just all. So many radio guys have been killing themselves for years. This industry drives people into the earth.

[Brady]

You guys play the verb too?

[John Holmberg]

Yes. Oh, these guys. The only good thing about this song was it's a Rolling Stones rip.

[Brett]

Didn't make money.

[John Holmberg]

And the Stones took all of it from them. All of it.

[Brett]

There's a penny.

[John Holmberg]

It was a. They had the. The sample. They allowed him, and they played the whole goddamn song underneath it. And Mick and Keith said, you know what? We get every royalty you've ever gotten. And then they started to sell the song to advertisers and stuff. Killed it. And now these guys are allowed to play it again.

[Brady]

Yeah, I think they gave it back to them after.

[John Holmberg]

After.

[Brady]

Nobody cares.

[John Holmberg]

Nobody wanted to buy it anymore. They gave it back. It was great. Ugh. So what a mess. But, yeah, Sheryl Crow, look what you've started. And I saw her on the Grammys again the other night. She was in a band that was, you know, paying tribute to the LA Fire.

[Brett]

Yeah, she was in that.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, that little All Star Jam. Yeah. And she's good. She looked great. Looked great. And I'm like, oh, Cheryl Crowe, I like her. She's horrible. Just horrible that leaving Las Vegas things enough to want to. I mean, just re. Record it. Anyway. We're in the 90s again musically. And that's what I watched on Sunday night. It frustrated me. And then I did watch the OJ thing over the weekend, and it's got some new revealing parts in it. And if you watch that Everybody's watching it. Evidently. It's number one on Netflix by, like, a ton. I was on when I saw that was number one. I'm like, what. What are the parameters to be the most watched on Netflix thing? And it's. You got to put some numbers up. Like, that's a pretty good amount of people watching.

[Brady]

So there's new stuff in this one.

[John Holmberg]

Four. Yeah, it's four episodes. And, yeah, I'm. I'm one that has followed the OJ Thing pretty closely. Closely. And then. But I had forgotten, having watched the trial, like, pretty much every day at Tony Romas, we'd sit and watch that thing. I'd forgotten how because I was too dumb then. I'm still not very smart, but I'm smarter now than I was then, how badly bungled the DNA part was. And then there's a few things where, you know, just the evidence collection was bad. And I watching this, and I don't know if it's just the documentary or it's pretty even. It's pretty flat, like it does both sides. Having watched that documentary, I'm like, yeah, probably. And the jury told, he's not guilty. I'm watching this documentary and everything they're.

[Brett]

Showing me, you come away thinking, he wasn't alone.

[John Holmberg]

No, he did it. He's just not guilty. Like, they proved beyond a reasonable doubt that what they're saying didn't happen. So they're saying this happened. And the defense was like, I don't know what they're talking about. What they're saying did not occur her. And you start. They might have set him up. Like, they might have started getting so, like, we. We have put all our chips in this basket. We gotta get this guy thrown in jail because we don't have anywhere else to go after this. There's a little of that. He killed her, no question. And at the very end of the documentary, one of his best friends reveals some stuff. And you're like, whoa, this is crazy. And this guy's named Mike Gilbert. He's done this before, but in the way he does it in this documentary, you're like, okay, okay, that's weird.

[Brady]

Worth watching.

[John Holmberg]

Then, oh, yeah, it's great. He killed her. He. In the courtroom, he was not guilty, no question. Because what they were presenting as the case. He didn't do that. He didn't do what they're saying, you know? And then they just blew it left and right, one, one, one after another. And it's the first documentary I've seen that kind of goes to the dude who saw O.J. in Chicago throwing a towel wrapped thing into the trash out of a duffel bag, and then going to catch his flight or leave his flight or whatever, get into a car. But he threw something away in the trash. Maybe it was LAX. He tossed it out at LAX.

[Brett]

It was. Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

And a guy's like, there's O.J. simpson. He was waiting to pick his wife up. Think, there's O.J. simpson. Look at that. How about that? And he reaches into his bag and he looks around. He's got this thing wrapped up in a towel, and he shoves it in the trash. And then he runs into the airport. Be like, look at that. O.J. had to get rid of some stuff before he left. Nobody, of course, knew at that time. Time that was probably the knife, but. And then his friend. Then one thing that was revealed, that his good friend that came over to his house the day after all of it happened is like, you want me to come over? And he's like, yeah, you should come over. And he says, O.J. what'd you do to your hand? Because he had that cut on his hand. And OJ Said, I dropped my phone in between the seat and the console and the car, and I reached down and sliced me up. He goes, oh, okay. Didn't think anything of it. And then another person showed up a few seconds later and said, O.J. what'd you do to your hand? And he goes, I cut it on a glass in Chicago. Chicago. And his friend Ron goes, oh, my God, he did it. Like, you knew immediately it already told two lies in front of him that day. He couldn't explain the cut on this one, so it is worth watching. And Mark Fuhrman, poof. I don't know why he keeps doing these documentaries because this dude gets drugged through it again, I had him. And they made him look worse in this one than ever before. That dude threw the N word out like he was a rapper that was. And he sued the city of Los. I didn't know this. He sued the city of Los Angeles to fire him because he said, I'm too racist to do the job. And he sued him because he wanted pension. He couldn't quit. He's like, I want my pension. And they're like, why, dude? If I could kill every black person, I would. I'm having fantasies about. About it. You got to get rid of me. I'm terrible for this. I'm like, no, you're staying on the. You fit into the LAPD perfectly. And he's like, I Wanna. And then N word this, N word that, N word this, N word that. And they're like, nope, you're staying. In fact, we got a case for you to get on right now.

[Brett]

He was like, racial clinger, trying to get fired.

[John Holmberg]

He was trying to get fired, but he needed his pension. So they're like, why do you want out? Because the N word. N word, N word. And he's like, man, you're a cop. That doesn't surprise us. What else you got? It's like, damn it, that's not enough. I'm too big a bigot. I'm too big. He was telling them he sued them on the grounds of being too racist to work for them. I'm too racist to work here. You're a police officer. That's not even a thing. No, I'm more racist than most cops. Impossible. I mean, a guy sits there and does the documentary again. You just sit and shake your head, just, just like, dude. But he admits because of me that OJ walked free completely. And then he's like, he killed her. Like, there's no question, but because of me. And all those detectives hate each other. It's weird. It's a, it's a. It's worth watching. But we are hanging out.

[Brett]

Battled the dream team.

[John Holmberg]

Carl E. Douglas, who is the. I think that's right. He was Johnny's right hand man. He's in this documentary. And that dude's voice is awesome. He's pretty. Imagine you're eating a giant big ass bowl of spaghetti, and if you're watching, you'll know what I'm talking about. He won't stop saying that. He's. He's pretty great. It's worth it. It's the best here. I'll say this best thing to come out of the 90s, OJ's murder. Because it wasn't music or movies, that's for sure. What a boring time. We owe OJ a debt of gratitud for not making that entire decade suck. At least he gave us two years of fun. The 90s were a drag even in Austin Powers. When they came back, she goes, we gotta go to the future, baby. It's like, are we gonna stop in the 80s 90s? No. We're not missing anything. And then he just moves right forward into the. Don't worry about. We won't miss anything. It's 6:26. Let's get a wake up song. Not from that era. Yeesh.

[Brady]

No. Tracy Chapman was that.

[John Holmberg]

I don't know, was that 80s or that was fast. Car was like 89 or 9.

[Brady]

Was it?

[John Holmberg]

I think so. I think that was when I was in high school.

[Brady]

Well, Luke Combs redid it.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, he did it. And he did it right. He did it. He did it the right way. Is this the new version?

[Brady]

You want the new version? Here's the old version.

[John Holmberg]

So a white man singing about being a lesbian. Because that's what the song is about. A deal. Maybe together we can get somewhere. And that's why Beyonce went and did country. She's like, this is easy. Anybody can do country. And I'll make it great because there's the bar so low. Anyway, let's get a wake up song. 585-9800. A good one. We'll scream it together. It's 98 KUPD. Wake up. Arizona's most powerful rock radio station. He said fully erect. 98.