Olga D'Alessandro
94 Angola Estates
Prince George Drive
Lewes, Delaware
19958
Mr. William Kinnard, and Commissioners
FCC
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Kinnard and Commissioners,
I am writing this letter in response to RM 9242 that is being considered
now at the FCC.
I have wanting to own my own radio station for as long as I can
remember.
My husband and I have been collecting records since the early 60's, long
before we ever got married. We have over 17,500 songs in our collection,
and we have tried to get onto various stations for the past 10 years.
I don't know what the reason for our deniel is, whether it is racist,
or whether radio stations consider our music to threatening to their own
radio format programs. By this I mean, we have a collection of the best
R&B recordings from the artists of the 50's, 60's and early 70's. We
mainly have collected Doo-Wop or R & B Group Harmony songs of the 50's
and early 60's. Perhaps these various stations consider us a threat, j
because if our show becomes to popular, people may demand to hear this
music during the other hours of the radio programs and the radio
stations
can not provide them with this music. Why? Because some of the songs
that we have cannot be bought today. I should really say the majority
of the songs we have cannot be bought today. This puts radio stations
into a predicament that they are not willing to place themselves into.
I have had some experience with the listening audience, because I have
Djed some dances with my music. Our dances were a raving success. People
love the music that I played. They ask me to do a show on the radio so
that they can tune in. I'm not talking about one or two people. I am
talking about hundreds of different people. I know that my music would
be a huge success. I also play beach music and classic Motown. The beach
music is starting a real resurgence again. All along the eastern sea=
coast from New York all the way down to Florida people are learning how
to do the dance known as the shag, which is the dance of the beach
music.
Mr. Kinnard, you and the other commissioners need to pass RM9242, and
you need to pass it soon. I need your help. I am not rich and I cannot
compete with the big comglomerates in the broadcasting industry. I am
just a poor working person with a husband that is disabled. Do you see
my dilemma. I need to be able to purchase or own a radio station that
will by within my financial situation. I know that if you pass the LPFM,
I will be able to fullfill my dream and at least cater to the listening
audience within my community. No station plays our music, and yet this
is the music that most baby boomers want to hear. Everyone that I have
talked to is tired of hearing the british invasion groups. They want to
hear the R & B sounds that they heard when they were teenagers.
The R&B songs of the 50's and early 60's are the true oldies. This is
the music that started the rock and roll phenomenen that is played on
radio stations across the United States today. Yet the true oldies,
the R & B songs of the 50's, are almost totally forgotten. The R & B
songs of the 50's and 60's is the only true American art form in music.
They are a part of the American Culture and Heritage. It needs to bej
heard and it needs to be taught. Back in the 50's, this music was
ignored
and there were Dj's that tried to play it, but because of the racial
situation that existed back in that decade, this music was railroaded.
But the mere fact that today, people want to hear this music, should
let everyone that even back in the 50's, this music was being bought and
listened to by the young teenagers.
Mr. Kinnard, and Commissioners, we don't want to make alot of money.
All we want to do is play this music for the listening audience.
A small LPFM station would allow us to do this. Please consider my
letter when making your decision. This letter was written from the
heart in all sincerity. Let the other station keep playing the british
sounds, but let me, at least, play the sounds that the baby boomers
really want to hear. I won't interfere with the other stations. Let
the people that want to hear the british sound tune into their stations,
but give the people that want to hear the true American sound, the R&B
sounds of the 50's and 60's a chance to hear their music too.
Please pass RM9242. Give us a chance to make a difference. Let us play
for our community. Let the community have the chance to say that they
have their own radio station. We will help the communtiy in any way
that they needs. We will provide them with what they need. But we need
your help to do so.
These big broadcast corporations don't care what is going on in a
particular
community. Their headquarters are located hundreds or even thousand
miles away. They don't know what their community needs or really wants.
They just keep ppumping out the music that they think will pacify the
community. How many times have you heard of a survey being sent out into
a specific community to see what they want to hear. Never. I am not
talking about Arbitron. Only a handful of people recieve those surveys.
And of course they will put down something, even if none of the stations
are really playing what they want to hear. In other words, they will
listen to something on the radio, especially if they are driving theirj
car. That is just par for the course. How many people do you know, drive
their car without their radio on. Listening to something is better then
listening to nothing. I bet, if there were a survey sent out to everyone
in a designated area, the majority of the baby boomers would say that
they want to hear R&B music, whether it is D00-Wop or the early classicj
Motown sound. This was the music that they heard and loved when theyj
were teenagers, and who doesn't want to relive their glory years. I know
that I love to go back in time, and I bet that you would love to do the
same.
So again, Mr. Kinnard, and Commissioners, Please, give me and other
small people the chance to make a real difference in the broadcast
industry. We can make a real difference, and we can cater to our
community in a way that these big corporations can't. But we need your
help. Please, and I reinerate, Please, Pass RM9242. You can make the
greatest improvement in the broadcast industry. If you will do this,
you and all the commissioners will be remembered as an organization
that truly wanted to make America that greatest land of opportunity
that this world has ever seen. Only you and you alone can accomplish
this.
Thank you,
Respectfully yours,
Mrs. Olga D'Alessandro