[access-uk] 5 new stations, the "4U" family, now placed on Sonata database

From: "Paul Benson" <paul.benson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2011 07:51:53 +0100
Hello all, 

Warning: This email may be of no interest to many, and might be deemed as 
rather lengthy, please feel free to delete when your ears start waxing over. 

I do not wish to set a trend here, but there are now 5 radio stations now 
placed on the Sonata database I thought might be worthy of reporting. They are, 
the "4U" family, as follows: 

A: 4U Classic Rock. 
B: 4U Rock n Metal. 
C: 4U 80s. 
D: 4U Funky. 
E: 4U Smooth Jazz. 

They all have the following features in common, which may be for the better or 
worse, depending on your tastes: 

A: No disc-jockeys. 
B: No advertisements. 
C: No news bulletins. 
D: No time-checks. 
E: No jingles. 
F: No competitions. 
G: no phone-ins. 

So what is left? The occasional station-identification, and they fill the 
massive, yawning silence with, uninterrupted track after track of music, 24 
hours a day. 

This regime could produce some minor annoyances. What if the track being played 
is not known to you, and you feel like purchasing, or at least further 
exploring the work of the unknown artist? 

In the case of 2 of the stations, there is no problem. The home page of the 
station, gives details of the track on air, and a history of the previous 5 
tracks. These 2 site also offers links to purchase the album from which the 
track is taken. Ah, so that is the catch, is it? Wow, they put pressure on you 
to buy the album right there and then. Well, no, but here is a quite efficient 
service, which you can of course, decline. I have never purchased, but I 
believe most, if not all, purchasing links send you to Amazon. 

The 2 home pages are: 

www.4urock.com
 
www.4urocknmetal.com
. 
Either of these pages offer links to listen to the other 3 stations in the 
family. I have not managed to find the recent track listings for the 3 other 
stations. 

I have listened considerably to, 4urocknmetal, and it seems rather specialist. 
See the end of this email for an example of the artists appearing there. This 
is my favourite, not all tracks work of course, but I just enjoy the total 
over-blown pomposity, of the evolution from the 70s progressive rock-scene. 

The 80s, Funky, and Smooth Jazz, are of course, re-producing what is available 
elsewhere in terms of musical content. I am not really experienced enough in 
Funky or Smooth Jazz to criticise the content, though my limited knowledge of 
Funky, was pleasantly surprised to hear, those world-reknowned 
Swedish-funksters, ABBA with Knowing me, knowing you, followed not to long 
after by, Olivia Newton-john with, Devoted to you. Did I feel that need to 
switch off either, Funky or Smooth Jazz? No, as wallpaper goes, it was quite 
acceptable, but the 80s, well, I like to listen to musical instruments being 
played by experts. Sadly, the 80s has been poisoned by record producers, who 
think the percussion section, or should that have been, drum-machine, is the 
whole point of the music, and the lyrics, vocals, guitars, and anything else 
requiring skill, should be drowned by the all-important bass sound. 

End of rant, soapbox confined to the hall cupboard. 

The station which is most difficult to define, is the, 4u rock. 
This is definitely the mellow end of the rock-spectrum. Western Coast American 
bands feature regularly, perhaps this is really what may be termed, 
Adult-oriented rock, nothing offensive or challenging in the lyrics. I have 
saved a number of the home pages, throughout the day in order to offer a range 
of what is played. I can not be certain, but perhaps there is re-cycling of 
"sessions", that is, say a 4-hour or so list of tracks, may appear again, 
perhaps some 48 hours later. Still, if that is so, it is still relaxing 
background music, if there is a need for something to listen to, but you do not 
wish to continually have your attention grabbed by the radio. 

So, here is a sample of what 4U rock plays: 

     *      * 

4U Classic Rock - Best classic rock on the internet - www.4urock.com. 

Huey Lewis & The News. 
Hip To Be Square. 
Charlie Dore. 
Pilot Of The Airwaves. 
Billy Joel. 
It's Still Rock And Roll To Me. 
Genesis. 
Turn It On Again. 
The Mamas & The Papas. 
California Dreamin'. 
The Alan Parsons Project. 
Eye in the Sky. 
Carole King. 
It's Too Late. 
Bruce Hornsby. 
That's The Way It Is. 
The Beach Boys. 
I Get Around. 
Thin Lizzy. 
The Boys Are Back In Town. 
Stevie Nicks. 
Edge Of Seventeen. 
Billy Idol. 
Rebel Yell . 
Huey Lewis & The News. 
Do You Believe In Love. 
Genesis. 
Abacab. 
Foreigner. 
That Was Yesterday. 
Buffalo Springfield. 
For What It's Worth. 
Boz Scaggs. 
Lowdown. 
Eric Clapton. 
Layla . 
Lou Reed. 
Walk On The Wild Side. 
Guns N' Roses. 
Welcome To The Jungle. 
Golden Earring. 
Twilight Zone. 
Glenn Frey. 
The Heat Is On. 
Bruce Springsteen. 
My Hometown. 
Steely Dan. 
FM. 
Chris Rea. 
On The Beach. 
David Bowie. 
Modern Love. 
Whitesnake. 
Is This Love. 
Don Henley. 
The Boys Of Summer. 
Van Halen. 
Jump. 
Huey Lewis & The News. 
The Heart Of Rock & Roll. 
Marianne Faithfull. 
The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan. 
Led Zeppelin. 
Stairway To Heaven. 
Eric Clapton. 
Promises. 
America. 
Lonely People. 
Journey. 
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart). 
Pink Floyd. 
On the Run. 
James Taylor. 
Country Road. 
Toto. 
I'll Be Over You.. 
Christopher Cross. 
Sailing. 
Chris Isaak. 
San Francisco Days. 
Donald Fagen. 
The Nightfly. 

     *     * 

4U Classic Rock is like : 
Hard Rock, Classic Rock 
AC/DC, Aerosmith, America, Asia, Beach Boys, Beatles, Billy Idol, Billy Joel, 
Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Bon Jovi, Boston, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, Cat 
Stevens, Chicago, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Dire Straits, Doors, Eagles, Eric 
Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner, Genesis, Jimi Hendrix, Journey, Kansas, Led 
Zeppelin, Neil young, Pat Benatar, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Queen, Rod 
Stewart, Rolling Stones, Santana, Sting, Supertramp, Toto, U2, Yes, ZZ Top... 

4U Rock N Metal is like : 
Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal and all guitar heroes 
Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, AC/DC, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, 
Dream Theater, Epica, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Ozzy Osbourne, Linkin Park, 
Ayreeon, Stream of Passion ... 

I hope this was of interest.

Paul Benson.
[access-uk] 5 new stations, the "4U" family, now placed on Sonata database

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