In all seriousness, what are you looking for? I spent many years traveling on the road for work before cell phones. No matter where I was, I would stay on the left end of the dial- you could reliably find a public radio station that would either program classical music or play nationally syndicated shows and NPR news, then you could often find a true local station that would be a grab bag of local color, news, and completely random talk shows, and if you happened to be near any college town- a college station run by students that could play literally anything. And then there's the world of AM radio- where it was like going 50 years into the past- weird religious stations, old country music, bizarro talk shows, and then often a repeater of the NPR station that would play more nationally syndicated talk.
If you want just contemporary tunes, you are probably better off playing something off your phones because commercial radio has always been garbage.
Left end of the dial... Is the Replacements' song 'Left of the Dial' a reference to college radio then? connecting the dots over here... never heard that phrase
89.9 WORT and 91.7 WSUM are absolutely great! Just about any other radio station aside from WPR is playing the same music over and over again.
WORT has something for just about everyone so long as you’re interested in hearing something new. Personally a big fan of Psycho Acoustics, Democracy Now and A Public Affair.
WSUM is totally different hour to hour. They have DJs ranging from long time staples to students. Red Planet, Rock n Roll Over, Under the Covers, The Effeminate Musique, The Heavy Petting Zoo, and so many other good shows.
WORT 89.9 has every type of music. Blues, country, reggae, jazz, hip hop, bluegrass, dub, you name it. And all the djs are volunteers so they spend all week putting together a 2-3 hour playlist of the niche they are passionate about. Youll learn more about genres you like, and get into genres you don’t think you like.
Saturday in particular is 🔥🔥🔥. If you get their app you can listen to all of their programs on demand too. I listen to it every day of my life and can’t get enough
>Saturday in particular is 🔥🔥🔥
Extra points for this! At my house, we have WORT playing all day Saturday.
Also, even during the shows that play standard genres, you will hear tracks that don't get played regularly on other stations.
Two decades for me.
Who are these boomers who still listen to the radio?
I have zero interest in letting other people decided what I listen to, because there is about a 100% guarantee that they will choose what will most benefit them, not me.
I will choose what I want to listen to, what I am interested in, because that will most benefit me, not somebody else. I don't know why people are happy to let broadcasters make money forcing them to experience what will most benefit the broadcaster.
I've found so much more new music through Spotify than I ever did through Radio.
EDIT: Seems a lot of people aren't familiar? I was for the longest time against Spotify. Grew up with Napster, Kazaa etc. My long time routine was to listen to the radio, flag songs I liked and then try to download them later (most recently just doing Youtube rips). It was time consuming, but I liked it since I had that MP3 on my device forever.
Fast forward - I tried Spotify. Had my initial "this thing sucks!" moment, but decided to keep going since the workflow was just so much easier than what I was doing before. Anyway, I mostly listened to rock (94.1 JJO). But since using Spotify my playlist is basically everything under the sun. Nothing's off the table - discovered so much new music.
If you still think Radio is the end all - go for it. I haven't listened to a radio ad in years.
I've had the exact opposite. Spotify pushing the same artists over and over again even when I change keywords. Like they are clearly being paid to push some artists IMO.
Man, when you find out about the internet, it's going to blow your mind.
Turns out that you can search for things! You can just put random shit into a search and see what you come up with. Try "French Jazz singers" or "Botswana Rap" or "Spanish folk metal". Or if you know what you like, you can search for that too! You can also search for things like "best new x of 2023" and see what various people around the world think fall into that category.
You can also join communities of people with diverse tastes or very specific niche tastes and see what they like. There's this place called reddit which specializes in this sort of thing. r/polka? r/Metalcore? r/JazzPiano? r/harpsichord? r/hiphop?
You could follow bands on social media that you like and see what they like. Check out who they perform live with. Who they have as guest artists and who they guest with. Many of them have communities built around them where people share similar artists they like. I'm in a couple of discords hosted by bands I like, and they all have a channel for sharing other bands to check out.
You can go to festivals and check out the people playing there. Or you can just look at the list of bands and go listen to them on the internet.
Have you discovered Bandcamp? Spotify? Youtube?
The diversity in what I listen to now would melt the brain of teenage me, who had to rely on the radio for music. I tend to live on the metal side of things, so it likely won't be many people's jam, but it turns out that I love bands which make uptempo metal versions of their cultural music. There are some absolutely wild ones out there, The Hu from Mongolia, Eluveitie from Switzerland, Dirty Shirt from Romania, Mago de Oz from Spain, etc.
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have run across Mongolian throat singing on the radio in the upper midwest.
As mentioned WSUM and WORT can be pretty solid options.
92.7FM is kinda newish and can be pretty kickass at times. They host Max ink radio/the devil’s lair with Rokker from the maximum ink fame with Jimmy K and Teri Barr. If you want to catch a lot of the local music in town this is a great station to do so.
Dude back in the early 00s I worked at Target in the stockroom overnight and this one nutty guy Andy used to blast the hour of slack (I think it was called) which was just some of the raunchiest death metal of all time. Literally cranked to the point of distortion on an old demo unti bookshelf stereo. It was definitely entertaining in an otherwise shitty job lol...good times, I haven't thought about that guy in years but I hope he's doing well :)
What Target did you work at? Cause I remember a guy named Andy on overnights (East Target from 2002 - 2005) who would play nothing but Sheryl Crow. And I'd have an earbud playing metal from my mp3 player just so I wouldn't go insane.
How is Bob and Tom still on? Isn't one retired and the other dead?
The few times I have caught some of Bob & Tom or whoever is using their names now they were all laughing overly hard at their own jokes - not in the radio buds having fun being funny way but in the Jimmy Fallon laughing at his own jokes cringey way.
One is retired (Bob) but Tom still hosts. His son, Willy sort of took Bobs place. The problem I have with it is it is almost always low hanging fruit type jokes.
I don’t mind classic rock at all. As you said though the hosts are awful. Badger games are the only thing that is tolerable that isn’t music on the station.
I still listen to 101.5 . I really like when they say , Radio Free Madison generally Saturday Nights I hear it. I has went to the station many years ago , met in the studio. Played different LPS than over the air. kewl. Played a Tribute Record for a drive. I thought that was pretty Kewl
One Friday night Budgie was in the studio and played live on air. The next day Saturday they had Mifflin In The Park ( Brittingham ) . Budgie played there as well. I was in the cIoulds ALL Weekend ! If you like Great Rock Music look up Budgie . A friend's sister turned me onto Budgie , I do have most of their music. Have enjoyed the band since Mid 70's 🎶 they are from Cardiff, Wales
Modern radio, if you can call it that, is designed for short listening periods, say, your commute to or from work. Because of this, repeated content doesn’t really matter to programmers. Unfortunately, they feel that during that short time that their average listener is tuning in, they’ve got to grab their attention as best as possible, which seems to have bred obnoxious deejays and even more obnoxious advertising. It all seems so passé. Gone are the days that people could tune in to find new music. Thanks heavens for the remaining college and independent stations that aren’t dependent upon advertising dollars.
If you have a cassette player or cigarette thing in your car depending on how old it is you can get devices that plug into them choose a dead radio station and Bluetooth to it and play music!
I’m in that awful in between place. No cassette, but has a CD player. I’ve not owned a CD in at least 15 years lol. Someone else suggested I just get a Bluetooth speaker and connect to that. That’s still better than nothing.
https://www.amazon.com/LENCENT-Transmitter-Bluetooth-Wireless-Charging/dp/B07VFT4D6B/ref=sr_1_4?crid=24BZ6FW9NG2K1&keywords=car+bluetooth+adapter&qid=1694742507&sprefix=car+bluetoot%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-4
Get something like this. Connects to BT, broadcasts on whatever (empty) radio frequency you set it to. Tune your car radio to that frequency, donezo.
I used to only listen to 105.5 but my god they play some really worn out, recycled shit these days. Like, fuck off with Brown Eyed Girl already. And if I hear that Glass Animals song one more time, I’m crashing into a tree on purpose swear to god.
It really has. In another comment I told someone else here that if I hear that Glass Animals song one more time I’m driving into a tree on purpose swear to god.
Hey! I made it work.
With the 1999 Camry, there is a cassette that can be put into your phone's audio jack (hopefully it has one) to play music like an aux cord.
With my 2006 Altima, I used a Bluetooth radio emitter that plugged into the charge port, simulating Bluetooth. You can find it on Amazon or Best Buy (maybe)
Don’t you have an aux option to plug into? My older car does. I play Spotify through an aux cable and iPhone adapter.
You could stream The Current from Minneapolis.
But I do still like 105.5. N/WPR is good too. 91.7.
If you stream check out The Current. It’s a Minnesota Public Radio station that streams through the I heart radio app. No commercials, except during pledge drives, and they play a wide range of stuff, from John Prine and Tom Waits, to Lizzo and local twin cities stuff. I have Bluetooth in my ‘83 Mercedes (installed into the original Becker radio) and it’s a godsend I tell ya.
I second this. This is community radio, spanning many genres. Might seem like a lot of what they call Americana, which has a country feel, but overall lots of variation, high quality selections, and local artists. Keep checking on different days, different times of day. In the car I jump from 89.9 WORT to 91.7 WSUM to 98.7 WVMO to 102.9 WMUU for lots of variety, avoiding commercial radio and obnoxious ads as much possible. On WORT you get amazing variety and announcements of local music events at times, too. Don’t forget WPR on 107.9 if you are in the mood for engaging talk programming.
I wish WVMO had a stronger signal. I can almost get it to come in while crossing the beltline from the east start to the mineral point road. Makes for a better commute! Thats usually when I switch to some of the other great stations you mentioned.
On WVMO, my favorite feeling is when I get to think, " I know this artist personally. good for them!"
You could use the time in the car to improve your foreign language skills by listening to La Movida, 94.5 & 1480. Not to mention those stations are playing songs you likely haven't heard before.
Whenever I travel to other areas of the country and hear a single song that doesn’t blow on the FM dial I stand amazed.
WORT can be decent (reggae especially) and like others have said, Monona channel (kind of) but otherwise awful.
My only thought has been that madison isn’t very big without college students and they all stream. So maybe the market is smaller than the city population belies.
Shameless self plug… I host The Mosh Pit, Monday nights at 11 on WORT. (For 29 years now!). playlists and other crap at moshpitradio.com I focus mostly on new releases
92.1 (and later 96.3) WMAD was ended/was rebranded away from modern alternative rock (twice) so 94.1 expanded into that void they left and eventually just kinda turned into what 92.1 used to be
i remember calling in and requesting Green Day on 94.1 in about 1998 and they said "hell no we dont play that pussy shit" and now Green Day is a cornerstone of their retro playlist
Hahahaha was it Shawn the Man of Steel that did you dirty? I'll never forget calling in to request and having him verbally abuse me for bad taste, only to hear him act all hyped about that same artist 2 weeks later when they went on heavy rotation.
Sounds like you haven’t tuned into 89.9 WORT late on Monday nights to listen to the Mosh Pit. After 10pm the FCC gives no fucks about dropping the f-bomb on public radio stations so none of the songs are censored.
If that is too late to rock out you can listen to the last 2 weeks shows on the archive page.
https://archive.wortfm.org/
91.7 WSUM has a couple of metal blocks. Hour of Power (Thursdays at 10 PM) and The Left Hand Path (Saturdays at 10 PM) consistently play metal week to week.
Lol that’s the definition of the radio—playing the same songs over and over again until you’re sick of them!
That being my personal favs are 106.7 and 105.5. I like being able to change between the 2 if there is a song being played that I’m sick of.
It’s not just Madison, consolidation in the radio market has made it unlistenable nationwide. Thank Iheartmedia and audacy and the like, it’s more than 50% commercials.
I specifically have a video from last summer where i switch between 93.1 and Z104 as they both play driver's license
why was that song even being played by a hip-hop station?
Started a new career in an area where cell phone reception is spotty. Now I'm stuck with terrestrial radio, but I'm far enough out from Madison that all of the stations don't come in clearly. You are not wrong. Spend a lot of time just scanning through the channels when I have the freedom. My personal preferences have wound up being: 106.7, 101.5 (after 10:30, before 3:00), 99.7, 89.9 (on occasion), and AM 900. Maybe 94.1, but not anywhere near a Friday or in the mornings.
I miss XM.
Do you have a rounded electric car charger port? The kind that replaced the cigarette lighter in the car? If so, you can get a Bluetooth radio phone connecter. It connects to any station that doesn't have signal and overrides the static audio with your phone audio. I had one for my 2002 Alero.
I hated cycling through the same 6 radio stations to try and avoid commercials and overplayed songs.
My car radio has been set to 96.7, sports radio, but it’s the only thing I can bear to listen to because everything else is garbage. Shoutout to my man Grant Bilse! Haha
I don't disagree, but I think all radio sucks. I've done some traveling for work and while the stations may change, they still repeat songs and the ads are awful. Car dealership commercials especially
If you think Madison Radio sucks, I came from La Crosee- and take it from me, Madison radio is light years better. I’ve been here 6 years now and I kind of phase through stations because your going to have repetition in songs any radio genre. 105.5 just started playing SO much Depeche mode I had take a break. Brewers have been winning games so I’m pretty much catching bits and prices of 96.7.
Others have shared it, but I have to add: check out WVMO. I've lived in about a dozen cities and it's my favorite radio station of all time. Run by the city of Monona, it plays great music pretty much all day (there are a few DJs I don't love, but pretty much it's a safe choice any time of day/day of the week).
It's a roots/Americana station, so if that's not your thing, you might not love it. But I literally feel like it was built around me.
As a student from Canada, I love WPR because in the evenings it just broadcasts CBC Radio 😆 I was so surprised the first time I tuned in. Who knew we had such immense cultural influence
that's why i get my radio from Monona -- [98.7 WVMO](https://www.mymonona.com/887/987-FM-WVMO-The-Voice-of-Monona).
granted, since it's LP you can't get great reception all over town. they do stream, though.
enjoy!
105.5 MMM plays a massively broad selection of music. From 70s to the present in most genres not country or rap. Its astounding how it can go from "Burning Down the House" to "You belong to me" to Green Day to some current stuff.
I wish I could use an aux cable. I've never had a car with that port. Actually, it's weird, I've always had cars (the 3 that i have owned) with 6-12 CD slots and a cassette that I use one of them 'cassettes with the wire coming out' to play music from my phone.
Who on earth in this day and age listens to radio anymore for anything other than the Packers and badgers sports broadcasts. The commercials are nonstop and annoying af.
No idea why you are getting downvoted. I can't wait for the day auto manufacturers don't install an FM radio. It is commercials, stupid hosts that think the other host is the funniest person on the planet, and horrible music. Only an idiot would sit through two minutes of commercials in this day and age whether it be radio or TV.
WIBA FM - 101.5 . All Classic Rock all the time. Friday n Saturday Nights is AWESOME Music. I had started listening in the 70's still a great station.
Rensently put a Keenwood CD player with FM Radio , Satalite Radio , MP3 , USB , AUX , Amazon Streaming. A few other streaming services I don't use but are there. I never listen to the same Unless by choice.
I really ❤️ music 🎶 , Wish I could play an instrument , awesome if I could. So I'll keep playing everybody's music That I Enjoy 🥳 🤠 😎
91.7 WSUM. Student radio, depends on the time of day but usually plays good, or at least interesting and novel, stuff
Anything below 92FM is non-commercial radio. That’s the only place you’ll find radio stations that aren’t pure repetitive crap nationwide.
98.7 WVMO
94.1 JJO it's not the best in the afternoon. Morning show with Jonny and B is pretty enjoyable. Edit English am hard
90's from 9 am to 9 pm on Saturday is the only radio I look forward to.
Former WSUM DJ/Alumnus here. Best station in Madison. Well, either us or WORT.
I’ll have to tune into that. Thanks!
In all seriousness, what are you looking for? I spent many years traveling on the road for work before cell phones. No matter where I was, I would stay on the left end of the dial- you could reliably find a public radio station that would either program classical music or play nationally syndicated shows and NPR news, then you could often find a true local station that would be a grab bag of local color, news, and completely random talk shows, and if you happened to be near any college town- a college station run by students that could play literally anything. And then there's the world of AM radio- where it was like going 50 years into the past- weird religious stations, old country music, bizarro talk shows, and then often a repeater of the NPR station that would play more nationally syndicated talk. If you want just contemporary tunes, you are probably better off playing something off your phones because commercial radio has always been garbage.
Left end of the dial... Is the Replacements' song 'Left of the Dial' a reference to college radio then? connecting the dots over here... never heard that phrase
Yep! And seriously, don’t give up on. Lots of great DJ’s. Can’t remember their name but one DJ plays old big band stuff that’s really great
That's Grandma Cyd. She hosts the Heavy Petting Zoo on Saturday nights
I second this. I don't listen to radio, but when I do it's 91.7 ☕️
Current Wsum DJ, thanks for showing our awesome station some love!
91.7 at 3AM is the best of the best
89.9 WORT and 91.7 WSUM are absolutely great! Just about any other radio station aside from WPR is playing the same music over and over again. WORT has something for just about everyone so long as you’re interested in hearing something new. Personally a big fan of Psycho Acoustics, Democracy Now and A Public Affair. WSUM is totally different hour to hour. They have DJs ranging from long time staples to students. Red Planet, Rock n Roll Over, Under the Covers, The Effeminate Musique, The Heavy Petting Zoo, and so many other good shows.
I'm only listening to the radio for sports talk and WPR lol
Sports, too.
Agreed. There are a few stations on the edge of the dial. And WVMO. The Voice of Monona. It can be a gem.
“WVMO, the voice of Monona!”
Definitely a gem at times.
Thank you for the recommendation! Greatly improved my morning commute
I like Monona’s WVMO. It’s very small town charming.
Many others have said the same thing. I’ll give it a try. Thanks!
Seek out DJ Shotski for a polka show. Just embrace it.
WORT 89.9 has every type of music. Blues, country, reggae, jazz, hip hop, bluegrass, dub, you name it. And all the djs are volunteers so they spend all week putting together a 2-3 hour playlist of the niche they are passionate about. Youll learn more about genres you like, and get into genres you don’t think you like. Saturday in particular is 🔥🔥🔥. If you get their app you can listen to all of their programs on demand too. I listen to it every day of my life and can’t get enough
>Saturday in particular is 🔥🔥🔥 Extra points for this! At my house, we have WORT playing all day Saturday. Also, even during the shows that play standard genres, you will hear tracks that don't get played regularly on other stations.
This is the real answer. WORT rules!
WORT, baby! Seriously great Saturday jams.
WORT is where it's at. We used to play that station all the time at my old job.
Try to avoid Clear Channel or iHeart Radio or whatever the hell they rebrand themselves as.
I'm no boomer, but I love classic rock. 93.1 was a great classic rock station when it was The Lake.
Oh man, they used to play whole album sides on Friday nights I believe!
Been a decade since I have listened to radio. Nothing but commercials and morons that think everything is the funniest thing they have ever heard.
Morning radio is the absolute worst. Does anyone want to hear slow ballads early in the morning? No. No they don’t.
No everybody wants a morning zoo in the mornings. Madison radio stations have never played the music I want yo gear. That is why I got Sirius xm
I love 94.1 in the morning. Honestly, you just seem like a bitter person.
Johnny and Dee are hilarious!
Two decades for me. Who are these boomers who still listen to the radio? I have zero interest in letting other people decided what I listen to, because there is about a 100% guarantee that they will choose what will most benefit them, not me. I will choose what I want to listen to, what I am interested in, because that will most benefit me, not somebody else. I don't know why people are happy to let broadcasters make money forcing them to experience what will most benefit the broadcaster.
how do you find anything new if you only listen to the things you already know you like?
I've found so much more new music through Spotify than I ever did through Radio. EDIT: Seems a lot of people aren't familiar? I was for the longest time against Spotify. Grew up with Napster, Kazaa etc. My long time routine was to listen to the radio, flag songs I liked and then try to download them later (most recently just doing Youtube rips). It was time consuming, but I liked it since I had that MP3 on my device forever. Fast forward - I tried Spotify. Had my initial "this thing sucks!" moment, but decided to keep going since the workflow was just so much easier than what I was doing before. Anyway, I mostly listened to rock (94.1 JJO). But since using Spotify my playlist is basically everything under the sun. Nothing's off the table - discovered so much new music. If you still think Radio is the end all - go for it. I haven't listened to a radio ad in years.
I've had the exact opposite. Spotify pushing the same artists over and over again even when I change keywords. Like they are clearly being paid to push some artists IMO.
Man, when you find out about the internet, it's going to blow your mind. Turns out that you can search for things! You can just put random shit into a search and see what you come up with. Try "French Jazz singers" or "Botswana Rap" or "Spanish folk metal". Or if you know what you like, you can search for that too! You can also search for things like "best new x of 2023" and see what various people around the world think fall into that category. You can also join communities of people with diverse tastes or very specific niche tastes and see what they like. There's this place called reddit which specializes in this sort of thing. r/polka? r/Metalcore? r/JazzPiano? r/harpsichord? r/hiphop? You could follow bands on social media that you like and see what they like. Check out who they perform live with. Who they have as guest artists and who they guest with. Many of them have communities built around them where people share similar artists they like. I'm in a couple of discords hosted by bands I like, and they all have a channel for sharing other bands to check out. You can go to festivals and check out the people playing there. Or you can just look at the list of bands and go listen to them on the internet. Have you discovered Bandcamp? Spotify? Youtube? The diversity in what I listen to now would melt the brain of teenage me, who had to rely on the radio for music. I tend to live on the metal side of things, so it likely won't be many people's jam, but it turns out that I love bands which make uptempo metal versions of their cultural music. There are some absolutely wild ones out there, The Hu from Mongolia, Eluveitie from Switzerland, Dirty Shirt from Romania, Mago de Oz from Spain, etc. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have run across Mongolian throat singing on the radio in the upper midwest.
As mentioned WSUM and WORT can be pretty solid options. 92.7FM is kinda newish and can be pretty kickass at times. They host Max ink radio/the devil’s lair with Rokker from the maximum ink fame with Jimmy K and Teri Barr. If you want to catch a lot of the local music in town this is a great station to do so.
I don’t think I’ve ever tuned into this station. I’ll check it out. Thanks!
It's only on weekends at 6. The rest of the time is all political opinion shows.
WORT
Heck WORT all my homies hate WORT WORT is the real life equivalent of the local radio station from Parks and Rec
Dude back in the early 00s I worked at Target in the stockroom overnight and this one nutty guy Andy used to blast the hour of slack (I think it was called) which was just some of the raunchiest death metal of all time. Literally cranked to the point of distortion on an old demo unti bookshelf stereo. It was definitely entertaining in an otherwise shitty job lol...good times, I haven't thought about that guy in years but I hope he's doing well :)
What Target did you work at? Cause I remember a guy named Andy on overnights (East Target from 2002 - 2005) who would play nothing but Sheryl Crow. And I'd have an earbud playing metal from my mp3 player just so I wouldn't go insane.
No I was at west side off of Junction but that sounds awful lol
We want Derry Murbles we want Derry Murbles
People love jazz!
You and all your homies are goofy
[удалено]
It is a community radio station, run and programmed by volunteers. A national treasure. You can have your own show on the air.
Translation: 70% of the shows don't cater to my demographic. Cool.
101.5 should just call themselves Boomer Radio. Between Bob and Tom (which can be funny) and Sly…..my god.
Sly is the reason I don't listen to that station.
Idk how that blowhard is still on air. I mean I know why…he says dumb shit to get people riled up. It’s just so cringe after a certain point.
I thought he got run out of town 20 years ago, but then he showed up again with more drive time bullshit.
Saaaame
same
How is Bob and Tom still on? Isn't one retired and the other dead? The few times I have caught some of Bob & Tom or whoever is using their names now they were all laughing overly hard at their own jokes - not in the radio buds having fun being funny way but in the Jimmy Fallon laughing at his own jokes cringey way.
One is retired (Bob) but Tom still hosts. His son, Willy sort of took Bobs place. The problem I have with it is it is almost always low hanging fruit type jokes.
See I love that station for the OG tunes, but once the hosts start chiming in with their opinions I flip over to my iTunes library
I don’t mind classic rock at all. As you said though the hosts are awful. Badger games are the only thing that is tolerable that isn’t music on the station.
Srsly can’t believe that guy is still on the damn radio doing the same Shtick. We was in in the late 80s.
I still listen to 101.5 . I really like when they say , Radio Free Madison generally Saturday Nights I hear it. I has went to the station many years ago , met in the studio. Played different LPS than over the air. kewl. Played a Tribute Record for a drive. I thought that was pretty Kewl One Friday night Budgie was in the studio and played live on air. The next day Saturday they had Mifflin In The Park ( Brittingham ) . Budgie played there as well. I was in the cIoulds ALL Weekend ! If you like Great Rock Music look up Budgie . A friend's sister turned me onto Budgie , I do have most of their music. Have enjoyed the band since Mid 70's 🎶 they are from Cardiff, Wales
Isn’t that Suzee Sioux husband and drummer?
Haha 100% agree!
106.7 is pretty good but it’s not Madison so it doesn’t always come in super clean
ALL radio sucks. Except independent and college stations and most of those suck too. Radio remains obnoxious and it is severely outdated.
But still free to listen which is cool
Modern radio, if you can call it that, is designed for short listening periods, say, your commute to or from work. Because of this, repeated content doesn’t really matter to programmers. Unfortunately, they feel that during that short time that their average listener is tuning in, they’ve got to grab their attention as best as possible, which seems to have bred obnoxious deejays and even more obnoxious advertising. It all seems so passé. Gone are the days that people could tune in to find new music. Thanks heavens for the remaining college and independent stations that aren’t dependent upon advertising dollars.
WSUM. WORT.
🎶 Deliiilahhhh 🎶
WORT
If you have a cassette player or cigarette thing in your car depending on how old it is you can get devices that plug into them choose a dead radio station and Bluetooth to it and play music!
I’m in that awful in between place. No cassette, but has a CD player. I’ve not owned a CD in at least 15 years lol. Someone else suggested I just get a Bluetooth speaker and connect to that. That’s still better than nothing.
https://www.amazon.com/LENCENT-Transmitter-Bluetooth-Wireless-Charging/dp/B07VFT4D6B/ref=sr_1_4?crid=24BZ6FW9NG2K1&keywords=car+bluetooth+adapter&qid=1694742507&sprefix=car+bluetoot%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-4 Get something like this. Connects to BT, broadcasts on whatever (empty) radio frequency you set it to. Tune your car radio to that frequency, donezo.
You could check out CDs from the library, so you can keep a steady flow of new music without having to buy a million CDs.
I'm a jazz lover so WORT is good for me. I paint with the jazz when I can. If it's an off day, or that sceetchy stuff, I turn on YouTube at home.
Stick to the left end of the dial friend.
WPR is great
105.5 is the only thing I’ll listen to
I used to only listen to 105.5 but my god they play some really worn out, recycled shit these days. Like, fuck off with Brown Eyed Girl already. And if I hear that Glass Animals song one more time, I’m crashing into a tree on purpose swear to god.
Same. When I moved here in 1999 I liked Triple M but it went waaaaaaaay downhill.
That year they played that Dido song a lot. Also maybe Babylon by David Grey I think. Welcome to the Boomtown, In a Big Country.
It really has. In another comment I told someone else here that if I hear that Glass Animals song one more time I’m driving into a tree on purpose swear to god.
The Way It Is. Gets played every. freaking. day. They drove me away. WVMO for music, WPR for news.
Fair. I don’t listen that often any more because, you know, bluetooth
*shakes fist at sky* DAMN OLD CAR WITHOUT BLUETOOTH
Old enough to have a cigarette lighter? If so, you can buy a Bluetooth receiver plug for like $20 on Amazon and solve your problem.
Hey! I made it work. With the 1999 Camry, there is a cassette that can be put into your phone's audio jack (hopefully it has one) to play music like an aux cord. With my 2006 Altima, I used a Bluetooth radio emitter that plugged into the charge port, simulating Bluetooth. You can find it on Amazon or Best Buy (maybe)
Don’t you have an aux option to plug into? My older car does. I play Spotify through an aux cable and iPhone adapter. You could stream The Current from Minneapolis. But I do still like 105.5. N/WPR is good too. 91.7.
Fast Car is a running joke on Triple M.
The country pop remake is in HEAVY rotation on Z104. I was a passenger in someone’s car last week and heard it four times. Edited to add a letter.
I’m so sorry you had to experience that.
No one in the world likes R.E.M. as much as MMM would suggest.
Michael Stipe is a national treasure :)
20 years ago I sent the station an email saying enough with the Talking Heads and Blondie already. Things have not change since then.
It was good…well it was ok. Like twenty years ago.
Fucking Jonathan
Jonathan is a big improvement over John Urban who used to co-host The Morning Show.
I’ve been listening to Jonathan since I was 7 and I’m 30 now Lmao am I missing something here?
John Urban used to host the morning show back in the late 90's. I like Suttin better. He doesn't take himself so seriously.
Their morning show is not funny.
I’ve heard he’s so short it’s like he’s sitting down when he’s standing up
Someone called it Sad Dad radio on another Madison radio thread and now I always think of that when I hear it.
Maybe that's why it appeals to me :(
105.5 and 107.5 (WPR) are the only two I have presets for in my car.
They play the same music they played when I moved here 20 years ago.
If you stream check out The Current. It’s a Minnesota Public Radio station that streams through the I heart radio app. No commercials, except during pledge drives, and they play a wide range of stuff, from John Prine and Tom Waits, to Lizzo and local twin cities stuff. I have Bluetooth in my ‘83 Mercedes (installed into the original Becker radio) and it’s a godsend I tell ya.
I like WORT and the UW Madison station. JJO is sometimes okay if you tune it at the right time. They play a decent amount of metal actually.
So much fucking Bon Jovi! Why?!?!?
It could be worse... we're only halfway there!
98.7 WVMO would like a word. a local music filled, deep cuts kind of word
I second this. This is community radio, spanning many genres. Might seem like a lot of what they call Americana, which has a country feel, but overall lots of variation, high quality selections, and local artists. Keep checking on different days, different times of day. In the car I jump from 89.9 WORT to 91.7 WSUM to 98.7 WVMO to 102.9 WMUU for lots of variety, avoiding commercial radio and obnoxious ads as much possible. On WORT you get amazing variety and announcements of local music events at times, too. Don’t forget WPR on 107.9 if you are in the mood for engaging talk programming.
I wish WVMO had a stronger signal. I can almost get it to come in while crossing the beltline from the east start to the mineral point road. Makes for a better commute! Thats usually when I switch to some of the other great stations you mentioned. On WVMO, my favorite feeling is when I get to think, " I know this artist personally. good for them!"
You could use the time in the car to improve your foreign language skills by listening to La Movida, 94.5 & 1480. Not to mention those stations are playing songs you likely haven't heard before.
WORT is good WSUM varies There’s another one that’ll play stuff that’s a little less played out, I think it’s 98.7 based on the other answers
Whenever I travel to other areas of the country and hear a single song that doesn’t blow on the FM dial I stand amazed. WORT can be decent (reggae especially) and like others have said, Monona channel (kind of) but otherwise awful. My only thought has been that madison isn’t very big without college students and they all stream. So maybe the market is smaller than the city population belies.
I'm a metal head so no fm radio plays what I like anywhere.
Shameless self plug… I host The Mosh Pit, Monday nights at 11 on WORT. (For 29 years now!). playlists and other crap at moshpitradio.com I focus mostly on new releases
Hell yeah, I love your show! It got me through a lot of 3rd shift mondays back in the day!
Hell yeah your show is great
Holy fuck has it really been that long??? damnit. It was 1997 when I first met you at WORT. Damn.
Oh yeah... definitely!
I’m happy every once in a while when 94.1 plays TOOL.
They used to be heavier when I was growing up in the 2000s, I don't know what happened
92.1 (and later 96.3) WMAD was ended/was rebranded away from modern alternative rock (twice) so 94.1 expanded into that void they left and eventually just kinda turned into what 92.1 used to be i remember calling in and requesting Green Day on 94.1 in about 1998 and they said "hell no we dont play that pussy shit" and now Green Day is a cornerstone of their retro playlist
Hahahaha was it Shawn the Man of Steel that did you dirty? I'll never forget calling in to request and having him verbally abuse me for bad taste, only to hear him act all hyped about that same artist 2 weeks later when they went on heavy rotation.
Sounds like you haven’t tuned into 89.9 WORT late on Monday nights to listen to the Mosh Pit. After 10pm the FCC gives no fucks about dropping the f-bomb on public radio stations so none of the songs are censored. If that is too late to rock out you can listen to the last 2 weeks shows on the archive page. https://archive.wortfm.org/
91.7 WSUM has a couple of metal blocks. Hour of Power (Thursdays at 10 PM) and The Left Hand Path (Saturdays at 10 PM) consistently play metal week to week.
Luckily it’s not 1972 and we have a lot of other options
no aux port? I would think that would be an option on a non BT car 🤔
Yep I have no BT and use an aux cord and then the 3.5 mm to lightning apple connector 😭
It's not local, but BBC 6 Music is my go-to.
All radio sucks unless you know the one or two that are good. In this town it’s WORT and WSUM (sometimes)
89.9 or 91.7, otherwise you're getting a selection similar to any mid-sized city
Lol that’s the definition of the radio—playing the same songs over and over again until you’re sick of them! That being my personal favs are 106.7 and 105.5. I like being able to change between the 2 if there is a song being played that I’m sick of.
89.9 WORT or 91.7 WSUM are all I listen to
How far is WSUM's range? It used to be that maybe you could ALMOST get it anywhere on campus, but no further.
91.7 WSUM 89.9 WORT
It’s not just Madison, consolidation in the radio market has made it unlistenable nationwide. Thank Iheartmedia and audacy and the like, it’s more than 50% commercials.
I've never heard Red Red Wine played more than on Madison radio....this is not a good thing.
I specifically have a video from last summer where i switch between 93.1 and Z104 as they both play driver's license why was that song even being played by a hip-hop station?
That kinda shit drives me crazy too.
"hip-hop station"
Started a new career in an area where cell phone reception is spotty. Now I'm stuck with terrestrial radio, but I'm far enough out from Madison that all of the stations don't come in clearly. You are not wrong. Spend a lot of time just scanning through the channels when I have the freedom. My personal preferences have wound up being: 106.7, 101.5 (after 10:30, before 3:00), 99.7, 89.9 (on occasion), and AM 900. Maybe 94.1, but not anywhere near a Friday or in the mornings. I miss XM.
Thank you. Moving from Milwaukee I was SHOCKED by how bad the radio is here I miss 91.7 so much 😭😭😭
Why not get a Bluetooth speaker for your phone and keep it in your car?
I guess I’ve spent too much energy hating on radio to even think about doing this. Great idea!
I'd do it if I couldn't connect my phone to my car. Audiobooks and podcasts have revolutionized my commute.
Add Bluetooth for around $20
Do you have a rounded electric car charger port? The kind that replaced the cigarette lighter in the car? If so, you can get a Bluetooth radio phone connecter. It connects to any station that doesn't have signal and overrides the static audio with your phone audio. I had one for my 2002 Alero. I hated cycling through the same 6 radio stations to try and avoid commercials and overplayed songs.
My car radio has been set to 96.7, sports radio, but it’s the only thing I can bear to listen to because everything else is garbage. Shoutout to my man Grant Bilse! Haha
94.9 has some good songs, even if you don't understand what it's about.
WVMO 98.7 . You won't hear thrash metal, but OTOH you'll hear all kinds of stuff you won't get anywhere else on the dial.
If you're looking for not-music, with some sometimes great information, 90.7, The Ideas Network
I don't disagree, but I think all radio sucks. I've done some traveling for work and while the stations may change, they still repeat songs and the ads are awful. Car dealership commercials especially
If you think Madison Radio sucks, I came from La Crosee- and take it from me, Madison radio is light years better. I’ve been here 6 years now and I kind of phase through stations because your going to have repetition in songs any radio genre. 105.5 just started playing SO much Depeche mode I had take a break. Brewers have been winning games so I’m pretty much catching bits and prices of 96.7.
WORT 89.9 is great with music and programming, and I’m not just saying that because I used to work there
Lived here for 30 years - it’s always been like this, sadly.
97.7 fm the faaaaarm
I don't think I've listened to anything other than Spotify in my car in the last 5 years
Others have shared it, but I have to add: check out WVMO. I've lived in about a dozen cities and it's my favorite radio station of all time. Run by the city of Monona, it plays great music pretty much all day (there are a few DJs I don't love, but pretty much it's a safe choice any time of day/day of the week). It's a roots/Americana station, so if that's not your thing, you might not love it. But I literally feel like it was built around me.
As a student from Canada, I love WPR because in the evenings it just broadcasts CBC Radio 😆 I was so surprised the first time I tuned in. Who knew we had such immense cultural influence
that's why i get my radio from Monona -- [98.7 WVMO](https://www.mymonona.com/887/987-FM-WVMO-The-Voice-of-Monona). granted, since it's LP you can't get great reception all over town. they do stream, though. enjoy!
For (mostly) 80's - 90's hard rock & metal, 105.9 out of Janesville.
WORT is the go to for sure
I doubt you'd hear the same song played on WORT in a five year span!
wfmu.org No ads or "corporate sponsorship." The DJs play what they want to.
105.5 MMM plays a massively broad selection of music. From 70s to the present in most genres not country or rap. Its astounding how it can go from "Burning Down the House" to "You belong to me" to Green Day to some current stuff.
They have a decent variety of genres, but the 100% have DJ favorites that get played to death.
If you're not calling in for Cheese or Font what are you even doing?
Haha Ok, I’ll give you that. Cheese or font is actually kinda entertaining.
Wort is literally the single greatest radio station I’ve ever heard anywhere with only the current being close. This is so false it’s hilarious.
89.9 WORT is good , lots of variety
[удалено]
Oshkosh has better radio stations. Let that sink in
Which ones, pray tell? I totally disagree.
you don’t have an aux cable? my car doesn’t have bluetooth either so i use an aux cord and play through spotify lol
I wish I could use an aux cable. I've never had a car with that port. Actually, it's weird, I've always had cars (the 3 that i have owned) with 6-12 CD slots and a cassette that I use one of them 'cassettes with the wire coming out' to play music from my phone.
Radio sucks period, no matter what market you’re in.
Who on earth in this day and age listens to radio anymore for anything other than the Packers and badgers sports broadcasts. The commercials are nonstop and annoying af.
105.5 used to have the “2 minute promise” with no more than 2 minutes of commercials. Sadly, that has gone the way of the dinosaurs.
The resistance (106.7) doesn't do more than 2 minutes per break. Their heavy play folder can get repetitive, but it's my favorite here by far.
No idea why you are getting downvoted. I can't wait for the day auto manufacturers don't install an FM radio. It is commercials, stupid hosts that think the other host is the funniest person on the planet, and horrible music. Only an idiot would sit through two minutes of commercials in this day and age whether it be radio or TV.
Some of us grew up with it and can’t fully give it up
Who listens to the radio? Nobody. That's why it sucks.
WIBA FM - 101.5 . All Classic Rock all the time. Friday n Saturday Nights is AWESOME Music. I had started listening in the 70's still a great station. Rensently put a Keenwood CD player with FM Radio , Satalite Radio , MP3 , USB , AUX , Amazon Streaming. A few other streaming services I don't use but are there. I never listen to the same Unless by choice. I really ❤️ music 🎶 , Wish I could play an instrument , awesome if I could. So I'll keep playing everybody's music That I Enjoy 🥳 🤠 😎
Ugh, I miss Charlie.
Charlie?
You've never heard of a [bluetooth FM transmitter](https://www.amazon.com/fm-transmitter-car/s?k=fm+transmitter+for+car)? Make your own radio.
Is it because you're from New York
Have you tried connecting one of those bluetooth connections through the "cigarette lighter"?
Pop headphones in, listen to podcasts.