As I mentioned earlier tonight, I wrote CFNY Edge 102 Program Director Alan Cross regarding this year's Edgefest line up. To the dude's credit, he's already written me back.
Below is the email I sent Alan Cross.
Hello Alan,
I've been a faithful listener of CFNY/Edge 102 for fifteen years now and I've attended several Edgefests. I was listening at 7:15 this morning to find out who would be on this year's bill and especially who would be headlining. I thought last year's lineup with The Hip, OLP, Finger Eleven and Sloan was particularly awesome. It wasn't long before my heart sunk to the ground.
Good Charlotte represents everything your station isn't. They have absolutely no edge. They wear black and make up and try to act "punk" when they're as popified as Matchbox 20. Their target audience is pre-teen girls who think they're cute and deep. I listen to a great deal of "modern rock", and I find the weak Good Charlotte sounds completely unlistenable.
Musical taste is subjective, so I'm not writing you to bitch about the weak lineup for Edgefest 2004, I'm writing to alert you to your obvious hypocrisy. I listen for several hours a day, and I'm well aware of what songs you play and don't play. I know I can expect a Nirvana song every hour and I know you've stopped playing Good Charlotte all together. I applaude this decision, as they are hardly an edgy rock that fits your format. They are as far from The White Stripes and The Strokes as you can get. I'm sure you stopped playing them because you realized your listeners don't like them and they are merely pop dressed in black. Promoting them as headliners for your Edgefest concert is just pathetic. You won't even play their music for heaven's sake.
On a more positive note, I find your "Ongoing History of New Music" to be one of the finest programs on the radio. I wish the episodes could be downloaded/streamed online. I maintain a blog and comment often on your great radio station and music in general. You'll find it here: http://torontomike.com
I'll leave you with words from the immortal Chris Rock following another horrible performance by Good Charlotte at the MTV Video Music Awards. "Good Charlotte? More like mediocre Green Day."
Mike
At 21:40 tonight, I received the following reply from Alan Cross.
Thanks for the input--and for your honesty, you deserve a reply.
Pulling together a lineup for Edgefest is getting more and more difficult due to competition from hundreds of other radio show festivals in the US and dozens of big-money European festivals. How we end up with the lineup that we do is a long, long story.
Good Charlotte was part of the playlist until sometime last year and, believe it or not, they were insanely popular with a significant portion of our audience. We stopped playing them because the album had run its course and we moved on to other things. That being said, the band can still sell a ton of tickets--something that we need to do if we were going to make the thing profitable and thus worthwhile (again, it's FAR more complicated than just booking a bunch of cool bands. Trust me.) The drawing power of Good Charlotte is enough to help us pay for Something Corporate, Jet, Jersey, Billy Talent and the rest of the lineup.
I know this probably doesn't help much, but there you have it. And if we manage to sell out the show this week (which is something we think we'll do), we'll have enough cash to maybe do something else this summer. We'll see.
Alan C
There you have it. Popularity wins again. They may not be good, but they're popular and there are bills to pay. Another triumph for The S Factor. Still, I appreciate Alan taking the time to reply with such honesty. I met Alan Cross when I was a 15 year old working at the CNE and he was cool then too.
