Behe overwhelmed by indifference

Tribune-Review pop music critic Rege Behe is spending less time listening to the radio these days, he says.

“For a kid who grew up with a transistor glued to his ear, it’s heartbreaking to realize that radio is no longer a haven of imagination, but a province of boorishness and outrageous behavior,” he says. “Do you hear what I hear? The same old song, over and over again …

“For a person who grew up listening to the free-form format of WYDD-FM in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a spin around the dial today is like hearing a stylus scraped across a scratched record,” Behe says.

Non-comm triple-A outlet WYEP-FM (91.3) offers an occasional respite, he says, but he can even hear “a perceptible repetition” on its playlists.

“Other than that, there’s nothing that catches my ear,” Behe writes. “Nothing that compels me to turn on the radio and listen for hours at a time. It’s sad, but radio no longer provides a constant soundtrack for my life.”