MOViN on Up

I'll admit it: I'm a complete geek, and I like a lot of really stupid music. And no, I'm not saying this in that "ironic" hipster way like "oh my god, 'Come on Eileen' is SUCH a guilty pleasure!" Saying something like that is easy because a lot of the music that people reference when they talk about guilty pleasures is actually nothing to feel guilty about, and they know it. What I'm talking about is REALLY bad music, the kind that shows up on my radar because I'm a wimp with bad taste. I'm talking about songs and artists that I won't even list on here because I'm afraid I'd lose half my audience if I did.

Put simply, I like a lot of 70's, 80's and early 90's teenage girl music, and most of it is completely indefensible. Of course, I listen to as much Cash, Coltrane and Dylan as the next guy, but sometimes I just want to hear some Sheila E or a choice cut off of Rhythm Nation, and theres nothing I can do about it. Its this side of me that is happy about the birth of MOViN 107.5.

I first heard about MOViN 107.5 through a post by our friend Eric over at Theme Park Experience. His focus was on the loss of Oasis, the smooth jazz format that the MOViN format has replaced, and the loss of jobs that came as a result of the switch. I then read a post about MOViN by Sam M. over on his new blog, where he likened the format to "a new take on 106.1 for white teenagers trapped in the year 1993." I knew right away that I'd have to check it out.

Of course, I don't want to celebrate the fact that a bunch of people lost their jobs this week. I also don't want to sit here and tell you how "bad" smooth jazz is, because knowing that is like knowing that the Earth is round. What I do want to say is that I've spent a total of about two hours listening to MOViN, and for better or worse, I kinda like it. For the record, I'll admit that about 50% of the music I've heard on the station so far has been complete crap. Destiny's Child, UB40, that annoying Gnarls Barkley song that I've heard 8 million times (sorry yupsters), Will Smith, and on and on. Pretty frustrating. But I've also heard Warren G, Outkast, Pet Shop Boys, Janet Jackson, Chic, Cameo, Donna Summer, Prince, Of Montreal (Ok ok, it was that Outback commercial) "Lucky Star," and the aforementioned Sheila E. Almost all of it is music that you'd never defend in public, but its also stuff that you might play at a stupid dance party at your place, which would provide you with a really convenient excuse to blast the kind of disco that has nothing to do with the words "Mutant" or "Italo." The format certainly isn't hip, but for Christ's sake, this is DFW radio people! Sometimes I don't have a CD or ipod in my car, and when a commercial break starts on The Ticket or NPR discusses a great recipe for Pumpkin Pie, I need somewhere to turn for a few minutes of even slightly entertaining music. The pickins in the metroplex are slim, as all of you know, and MOViN might just be your best bet if you can't stomach another Edge Cock Fight or the phrase "Ridin' Dirty."

Maybe these songs aren't as bad as I'm making them out to be, and part of me knows that I can get away with mentioning them because even the coolest dude on the block likes some of this stuff. But I figure something has to be said for a radio station that makes you laugh, or as MOViN itself puts it, "Makes you feel good." And besides, this post could have been a lot worse. It could have been about that Toad the Wet Sprocket song I really like.

A couple of MP3s, for sampling purposes only of course (sorry, the file hosting site that I normally use is down right now. You have to scroll down and click a couple of times to download from these links, but they work):

Janet Jackson, "What Have you Done for Me Lately" Link
Warren G, "Smokin' Me Out" Link
Sheila E, "The Glamorous Life" Link