Al songs on Dr. Demento

[Big Spoon]

So then I'm guessing there's not much of a chance that we'll get a 40th Anniversary CD from him?

I really haven't been expecting one, but I haven't told myself no completely.

[weirdojace]

I wouldn't count on it...

[minnick27]

I dont understand people saying Dr D. has alienated his fans. Yes he stopped streaming. But he makes no money for that. Stations pay him a fee to broadcast his show over the air, not the internet. Can you blame him for wanting to earn a living?

As far as a 40th anniversary CD, we didnt even get a 35th.

[Alucard]

[weird_el]

Everyone listening to Dr. Demento's show nowadays is very likely someone who has been listening for a long time. Saying something like, "he alienated his audience" or "his show is dead" are simply not true.

You make good points overall, but regarding the above quote: people who have been listening for a long time have done so because the show was available for free on radio. Where would our Al be if not for Dr D on free radio?

The pay-to-listen once on Dr Demento.com is not likely to win him any new listeners. New listeners are what keeps the syndicated shows going.

[CatraDhtem]

The reason for blocking the streams is very practical; he doesn't make anything from stations that offer that.

No syndicated show makes money off streaming, yet I've never heard of, say, Little Steven or Art Bell going after stations so aggressively.

Saying something like, "he alienated his audience" or "his show is dead" are simply not true.

Well, I agree that the show is alive as long as DrD can find a way to make money off it, but you're wrong on the other point. His fans have felt very much alienated.

Go to places like TheMadMusicArchive.com forum or rec.music.dementia and look back to around the time that stations were being forced to drop streams in favor of the charge-per-listen plan. Posts were downright hostile toward Barry, and even his business manager got into arguments with people. And these aren't just random radio-related forums that just happened to mention Dr. Demento every once in a while; these were boards and newsgroups devoted entirely to the show frequented almost exclusively by fans, and they cried foul.

Keep in mind that the $2-per-show concept was lifted from TheMadMusicArchive.com, which started life as a digital archive of the show where one could download (and save, key point) any episode available. Now, they did things of highly questionable legality that I couldn't defend, and they were setting themselves up for a legal mess that I don't think anyone would want to be a part of, but it did increase interest in the show and seemingly reinvigorated the online fan base (all without charging a thin dime, mind you). Well, DrD saw this, stopped this (which was certainly his right), and then turned around and offered the same thing on his own site, but with a charge. Now, if you were a regular on that site and saw all this happen, how would you feel?

You really can't blame him for wanting to make a living.

Nobody is blaming him for making a living, and really, what kind of poor excuse is that? We all need to make a living, and some of us aren't lucky enough to have had a successful career in broadcasting for four decades. To use a ridiculous example, can you imagine if someone working as a cashier somewhere started charging people $2 to be rung up, and then tried to prevent other cashiers from ringing up people without the extra charge? Their butt would be out in the parking lot in minutes.

If Barry's show is his main source of income, and I have no doubt that it is, then why does it seem as if he's not trying to get more affiliates?

Are you honestly going to tell me that only seven stations in this country are willing to air a known national radio show, and that's the best they can do? Clear Channel is quickly selling its conglomerated stations left and right, local deejays are slowly becoming a thing of the past in smaller towns, "HD" radio has created all new frequencies for stations everywhere to add more content (including all-comedy channels), and there are entire stations out there that are completely automated. There is no reason a pre-recorded, two-hour show couldn't find a home in ten times as many stations.

The problem seems to be that Barry operates the show himself, with one additional person handling business affairs, and they're not adjusting to radio's evolution all that well. I really don't know what their strategy is, but clearly something needs to change in how they sell the show to stations. Even if you go to his web site, he takes a very passive "If you want to broadcast our show, let us know" stance. Whether or not that's done just for the sake of a public web site, I don't know, but something's not working. They need to turn that around and actively pursue new stations.

But the one way to not get more stations is to automatically put up roadblocks that seemingly no other syndicated show has. "You're not allowed to stream our show," "Pay us $10,000 a year to stream our show," etc...sorry, but a show struggling for affiliates is in no position to throw its weight around. Since the show's crackdown at least two station managers have said that they won't let an outsider dictate how they run their stations. A lot of stations no longer want to deal with Barry.

It's all a sort of catch-22. To get more stations, Barry's going to have to stop insisting on things that are turning stations away. And at the same time Barry's going to have to decide what he wants to do with his show, make it online only or concentrate on getting more broadcast stations, because the way things are run, he can't have it both ways, which he seems to be trying to do. I hope you're right that there is enough online revenue to keep the show in production, because unless he seriously changes his business model, it's all he's going to have.

If a station is streaming the show without permission, then they're breaking the law and violating contracts with Dr.  Demento.

Well, I don't think they're breaking any known law, since the whole issue of radio-streaming in general rose from concerns music publishers had with advertising being included in streams.

As for contracts, some of these stations had been running DrD for well over a decade (such as this last example, where they said they aired it for fifteen years). It's possible, and actually pretty likely, that they're still going under the terms of the contracts when they first signed the show, which in most cases didn't cover streaming.

That's the thing: in usual cases, the station doesn't need additional permission to stream its programming, it's not even a question. It's costly for a station to create an alternate stream for the sake of a two-hour show that has no legal justification to demand such a restriction and is doing it just to exploit an untapped source of income. I'm not trying to pick on the guy, but that's the truth.

We're all grateful for Dr. Demento and what he has done, what he has exposed us to, and whose career he has launched, and I would hope we would all want his show to continue. But his terms are becoming increasingly unreasonable, both to stations and to listeners. I mean, I wish I had over a hundred bucks a year just to listen to a show that I would otherwise be able to hear for free if his business manager was doing his job well, but I don't. I don't know how many people do, but if it is in fact enough to keep the show alive, then more power to him.

[Quab]

Is demented radio the same thing?
If so, the other day they played Bohemien Polka.

You can stream it on itunes.

[flusher5]

Is demented radio the same thing?
If so, the other day they played Bohemien Polka.

You can stream it on itunes.

no, its a completely different thing, I just checked and right this second they are playing Trapped in the drive thru

[Elvis]

FWIW, two Al songs made the Funny 25.

Dave

playlist courtesy of The Dr. Demento Show
available on the web at http://dmdb.org/cgi-bin/plinfo.pl?drd08.1228.html

The Dr. Demento Show #08-52 - December 28, 2008
Special Topic: the funny 25

#25 When J. Edgar Hoover Wore A Dress - Bob Pyle
#24 Living On A Roll And A Prayer - Hot Waffles
#23 I Peed In The Pool - Robert Lund
#22 I'm Thinkin' 'Bout Nailin' Sarah Palin - Steve Goodie
#21 They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! - Napoleon XIV
#20 Dear Santa - Sean Morey

#19 Jack Bauer - the great Luke Ski
#18 BAN ME I'M A BOT In The Waters - Camille West
#17 Ti Kwan Leep/Boot to the Head - The Frantics
#16 Re: Your Brains - Jonathan Coulton

#15 The Smoke-Off - Shel Silverstein
#14 Battlestar Rhapsody - the great Luke Ski

#13 Hey Indy! - Whimsical Will
#12 Wet Dream - Kip Addotta
#11 Guitar Hero - Insane Ian

#10 Dead Puppies - Ogden Edsl Wahalia Blues Ensemble Mondo Bizzario Band
#9 It's Business Time - Flight Of The Conchords
#8 The Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny - Lemon Demon
#7 Dungeons And Dragons - The Dead Alewives
#6 Whatever You Like - "Weird Al" Yankovic
#5 White & Nerdy - "Weird Al" Yankovic

#4 Fish Heads - Barnes & Barnes
#3 99 Words For Boobs - Robert Lund
#2 Robots - Flight Of The Conchords

#1 Hold On, I've Got To Take This - Power Salad

[Al's Homeboy]

I noticed Barnes and Barnes made the list, has that song come out yet where Al was suppose to play the accordion part?!