Pick 3: Not Just for Lotteries Anymore
Back in the mid '80s, when Seattlest was experiencing the mysteries of adolescence firsthand in the suburbs of Milwaukee, one of the local radio stations offered its listeners a chance to pick the programming. Submit your favorite songs and you could play them on the air! Very exciting.
Of course, Seattlest's lists were never chosen -- we hadn't yet figured out that there was no way the Velvet Underground or the Pogues were going to be played on commercial radio in the Milwaukee area. Because even then, when commercial radio said "favorite song," they meant "favorite song that happens to be on our playlist."
Imagine our flashback when, the other morning, we heard John in the Morning announcing KEXP's new Pick 3 promotion. Per their website:
We want you to pick three songs that have meaning to you and tell us why you picked them. If we like your picks, you will have a chance to play them on the air and talk about them with John!John will showcase one listener's Pick 3 picks every Monday morning at 8:00. You can submit your picks online, or email them to pick3@kexp.org.
This was being spun as an innovative new idea, but Seattlest knew better. (See also: the Mountain's "Desert Island Discs.") It's an old idea, hopefully done right.
We're at least willing to believe that including Broken Social Scene's "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" won't disqualify our ballot from the get-go.
We're currently thinking of submitting "Anthems," "Fresh Feeling" by the Eels, and Sondre Lerche's cover of "The More I See You." But we don't really know if we want to discuss our motivations on the air. What 3 are you picking, Seattle?
