Repetitive strain

I remember, years ago, when doing some work for the Tyne and Wear Museum Services that the technicians would listen to GNR and would often comment as the same song came on time after time after time, that GNR must actually stand for "Got No Records"*!

This "limited playlist" approach to brainwashing appears to have been adopted by all the radio stations here. "We play what you want" is the slogan of one of the stations. Well, if you would like to introduce me to this "you" who you are dedicating your airtime to, I might like to give them a record token for their birthday to broaden their musical spectrum a tad, in whatever direction, I don't really mind.

I seem to have ceased to battle with Austrian airwaves. No longer do I stop mid-keystroke to spit and rail at the radio and the (on the whole) dreadful pap/dad-rock/power-ballads/novelty-songs it subjects me to. I calmly rise from my seat and turn it off, and make another cup of chamomile tea.

It has been pointed out to me that my "songs that saved your life" and "tune too far" posts have reflected a particularly narrow musical time frame. While I accept that this is partly true, the tunes that have initiated this new (and some may think harsh) response to personal entertainment have almost exclusively been "new songs".

So far songs that have made me turn off the radio have included:

• James Blunt - Same Mistake
• Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
• Joan Osborne - What if God was one of us
  

Sometimes the noise of the roadworks is preferable to such bland yelping.

*GNR stands for Great North Radio