The Infinite Dial

I'm listening to WBTT (the Beat) Ft. Myers, Fla., right now., and night jock "The Big O" just set up a new song something like this:

"Remember the first time we played 'Low' by Flo Rida before anybody else, and it blew up. Well, this song reminds me of hearing 'Low' for the first time."

The song in question was "She Freaky" by Unk. And while comparing anything to "Low" is setting the bar pretty high, Unk is sounding pretty good to me on this first listen -- helped considerably by the recommendation.

"This reminds me of the first time I heard ..." is hardly a new bit. And it's not one you can use very often. But it's surprising how long it's been since I've heard it. Or how rare it is to hear this sort of new music advocacy as opposed to "here's the latest from." Or how rare it is to hear it coming from a jock instead of a new music stager. Or how rare it is in the industry to have anything other than a new superstar release introduced to you on the radio -- as opposed to a sampler or a Website.

It's proof that recommendation still works. And still sets radio apart.