grodscorp@grods.comTriple J’s downward spiral
 | Posted by The Editor on Wednesday 14 May 2008, 4:39 pm Categories: Bogans, Media Tags: radio, TripleJ |
Last night at our traditional GrodsThink debrief over pizza and beers we discussed the ways that Triple J had gone bad since we were its target audience. Ant, Wah, John and I basically agreed that it wasn’t just us getting old and grumpy but rather the presenters are now completely unlistenable and the format is in desperate need of an overhaul. Singled out for particular scorn were Robbie Buck (time server), Marieke Hardy (good reading but bad listening) and Scott Dooley (utter, utter cunt.)
I’m cursed in my classroom with poor radio reception and if I leave my iPod at home I’m forced to listen to Triple J before and after school because I can’t tune in 3RRR or 3PBS. Just now I was listening to the afternoon show with presenter Linda Marigliano and I was pleased to hear that at least the inarticulate phone interviews with idiot listeners haven’t changed over the past ten years.
Linda: So, dude, you’re in year nine.
Idiot listener: Yep.
Linda: I seem to remember that year nine is a pretty rebellious year.
Idiot listener: Yep.
Linda: So have you been rebellious?
Idiot listener: Oh, yeah.
Linda: Well tell us about something rebellious you’ve done then.
Idiot listener: Oh…
(uncomfortable pause for two seconds)
Linda: Go on! Tell Auntie Linda.
Idiot listener: Ergh…
(total silence for a good five or six seconds)
Linda: Okay, well that’s enough dead air for me.
GrodsThink Ep.29 (26/8/08)
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 4:46 pm #Daddy Dave, homeless winged monkey
Well here’s something I’m in complete agreement with you on. I guess it had to happen sometime. Triple J have attempted to do the impossible, which is to institutionalise innovation.
They tried to rivet down their cutting, leading edge of two decades ago, and all they’ve ended up with is a museum of youth culture in the 70’s and 80’s, kind-of-sort-of with a post-millenium angle. But not really.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 4:48 pm #The Editor
Consider the bowl of milk placed on the doorstep for a lost pet in need, Daddy Dave.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 4:51 pm #Bron
Haha. That’s hilarious, Ed. Now I remember why I haven’t listened to the jays in years. It went downhill after Adam & Will finished their breakfast show.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 5:04 pm #The Editor
Wil Anderson is the devil incarnate. Never speak his name at this site again.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 5:13 pm #Damian
It’s a far cry from the days when me and the boys, slightly tipsy on lemonade, would call Merrick and Rosso (funny back then) from the uni bar to tell stories about Tim Rogers and Glen 20.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 5:28 pm #Evil Bill
I would say that the station has been unlistenable for a very long time. People commenting that the peak was Adam and the person who shall not have their name should not be mentioned on this site, or when Merrick and Rosso were on the air, either have rocks in their head or live in Sydney.
Things went downhill once Biggsy was forced out by being forced to play shit music. My favourite Biggsy quote while he was on JJJ was: ‘We’ve got some good stuff coming up for you in the next hour and we’ve got some shit. This is some shit.’ Brilliant. You would never hear that these days as the hosts are clones.
Marieke Hardy was listenable when she was on RRR as Holly C but I assume (as if I would listen to JJJ these days) that she has gone through the JJJ cloning process when she arrived in Sydney.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 5:38 pm #Anne
Wil Anderson is indeed the devil, but Adam Spencer made him sound like he wasn’t. All power to the geek.
Like you, I’ve been wondering if it’s my age or if Triple J really is suckier than ever. But you forgot the worst presenter, the squeaky, vapid, annoying-as-hell Rosie Beaton. Surely Micheal Tunn, annoying in his own way, was better than this idiot?
Thank gods we Sydney folk have FBi.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 5:43 pm #Damian
Evil, I was living in Sydney back then, but I have rocks in my head nonetheless.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 6:57 pm #Bron
I have rocks in my head too. I once went to see Wil onstage during one of his ‘comedy’ shows. However, in fairness to myself, seeing him do stand-up cured me of any nice thoughts I might have had about him. But I still have rocks in my head, although they more resemble pebbles.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 7:03 pm #brokenleftleg
I switched stations halfway through that conversation for a good reason.
i simply didn’t want to hear where it ended up. And now I read the transcript on Grods.
Damn you, The Editor
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 7:03 pm #Ant Rogenous
Michael Tunn! Sweet Jesus, I’d forgotten all about that yappy little bastard.
The worst presenter Triple J ever had, bar none, was Mel Brown. Charlie Pickering, who is considerably less funny than polio, came a close second.
When they were paired up for the afternoon show, I knew there was no God.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 8:14 pm #cosmicjester
ha, i remember michael tunn used to do an introduction to degrassi junior high on the abc
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 8:28 pm #The Editor
Apparently Michael Tunn is currently the music director for ABC local radio in the Northern Territory after his Austero contract was terminated “without explanation”.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer fuckhead.
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 11:32 pm #Dave from Albury
Ten Ton Tunny also used to program the ‘Yoof’ channel for Qantas’ in flight radio. It was shit too.
Thursday 15 May 2008, 12:13 am #Evil Bill
The funniest thing is that Tunny frequently blogs about where he thinks JJJ is going wrong, not realising that he was the start of the massive downhill slide. Not surprisingly he begs to differ and believes things started going downhill just after he left. I wish I had the links, but alas, I am not about to start searching for Michael Tunn sites at this hour.
Thursday 15 May 2008, 1:08 am #AV
I can’t speak for JJJ pre-1993, because that’s when I started listening. For mine, the glory days were the early to mid-nineties: Breakfast with Mikey Robbins and Helen Razer (with interludes by Flacco and the Sandman), The Morning Show (that woo-woo dream analysis show aside), Creatures of the Spotlight . . . At least they haven’t turfed Dr Karl.
Here’s my take: back then JJJ was pretty much in the college radio mould. Basically, the demographic has shifted, and the content has therefore been dumbed down several orders of magnitude, as “alternative” music has garnered broader appeal.
Thursday 15 May 2008, 1:10 am #Andy B
The only thing from JJJ I listen to is Hack, and that’s via podcast. It’s a good show, but the host Kate O’Toole fucks it royally up.
Sounds like she’s in Year 10 and doing work experience. No idea how to run a radio panel (not that I do either, but I’m not trying to host a show), can’t interview people properly, sounds dumb. Fuck her.
Thursday 15 May 2008, 1:44 am #Chuck A. Spear
You love her, Andy.
Thursday 15 May 2008, 9:29 am #Damian
Now, when Grods goes all corporate, Temmeh-style, and crosses over the The Vine/Kwerky, all of these comments about cunts and fuckheads will be moderated.
Thursday 15 May 2008, 12:31 pm #Krypto
fuck national radio, community radio at the local level is the way of the future.
Who gives an arse about “Broome unearthed” or what some drunken deadshite in Freemantle wants to hear at three am?
not I!!, I don’t care how hot the female presenters are…IT’S RADIO FFS!!! YOU CAN’T SEE THEM ANYWAY.
Thursday 15 May 2008, 12:58 pm #Dave from Albury
Krypto, have you actually listened to any of the radio produced in our community? There’s a frightening future ahead of us I’m afraid.
Thursday 15 May 2008, 1:55 pm #Krypto
Dave once upon a when I did a radio announcer’s course at triple 3REM, fortunately I didn’t keep on with it, they have a fairly high mortality rate I seem to recall.
Yes local radio is shiity, NOW.
I have hopes it will improve however. Not sure what I base that on other than foolish optimism, but I think it can only get better.
Thursday 15 May 2008, 2:06 pm #Dave from Albury
I’d done community radio at 2UNE and wanted to give it a go down here but the reality was that between the horse racing and the country music, there wasn’t a lot of room for anything else. More to the point, that was the way that they liked it.
They looked at me like an alien when I suggested that having a computer to make their ads and carts would be much quicker and easier than using the 4 track.
The local ABC here has some very talented people, sadly the morning show announcer isn’t one of them. But he’s won lots of awards you know!