PLANET ZEB! Internet Radio

wow! it's been a while!

2008-10-12T11:47:00.002-04:00

Howdy y'all-- been a while (about 10 months, I see!) since the last blog post, and there are a couple of reasons for that. Chief among them are a few entries I posted over the last few months and then deleted because at the end of the day, I didn't like what I had just written. So I TRIED to post updates... I just did a better job of destroying them after they had been posted, that's all (grin).

MANY THANKS to a few friends and relatives who have dropped notes about the blog recently, including Diane, Charles, Karen and Frank! I also recently got a note from Rob, who said about my exposition re: Stanton Dynaphase Sixty headphones the following:

"They are not like todays ultra bright and exaggerated bass headphones. I forever will love there milky sweet sound with unlimited sound pressure capability."

The gist of Rob's larger comments was that, like me, he's a big fan of the Dynaphase Sixties... and together, we apparently just don't give two whits about some reviews of them out there that have been more critical. I pointed out in my reply that you MIGHT be able to find an engineering geek out there that's desperate to hook 'phones up to an oscilliscope and demonstrate that other cans have a slightly better high-end curve or something-- but I don't listen to music through an oscillioscope... I listen to them through my EARS, which are still convinced that "Big Blue" is all I'll ever need for a perfect headphone experience (chuckle). My favorite use for them these days, by the way, is through my Behringer practice amp for bass-playing, when I want the sound of thunder in my head-- but don't want to wake up half the neighborhood getting there. :)

Speaking of bass-playing, and again, no thanks to large numbers of mega-famous rock artists who spurned my pleas for assistance (laugh), this year was indeed a good one for strategic bass acquisitions in the ole Zebby family. I think I reported last December that my Christmas present to myself was an '07 Midnight Blue Rickenbacker 4003; since then, I kinda went nuts and added two other highly-prized Rics to the collection (a '76 Mapleglo 4001 with skunk-striped body and an '05 rare TURQUOISE 4003, which is truly one of the most gorgeous basses on the planet!); I also fell in love with the Gibson Explorer basses and thought it'd be fun to simulate the "Rick Savage of Def Leppard" experience at home long, long before I realized that Rick actually played a Hamer Blitz-- Hamer's knockoff version of the Explorer body style-- and therefore I was buying the wrong basses! I subsequently played a Hamer and a couple of other Explorer-style instruments (Including the Gibson family's Epiphone Explorer bass), but immediately fell in love with the heavy, thunderous sound of a black '84 Gibson Explorer bass I purchased early in '08, followed by a couple of Craig's List acquisitions of an '85 red one and an '87 (last year of production) ivory one. The GOOD news is that the Explorer basses are incredibly tough to find and their collectability value looks like it's rising with impressive regularity as these instruments enter the 25-plus year "vintage" category. I also like the fact that, in addition to being the best-sounding of the Explorer genre of bass, these are the REAL McCoys-- the sister instrument to the REAL Gibson Explorer guitar, itself a rock 'n' roll classic. But as one friend-aficianado said on a message board once, "don't expect me to play this thing on Sundays in the church band." :)

Otherwise, things have, as noted above, been busy for the ole Zebmeister around here, and I'm having no major regrets about scaling back PLANET ZEB! into the realm of "small hobbyist stream" from its former glory days at or near the top of the Live365 directory ratings. Sure, I'd still like John Stimson's head on a platter and I think it's funny that SoundExchange continues to screw artists out of due royalties and get in trouble (occasionally) for it-- reenforces my opinion that the American music and broadcast communications industries, once the paradigm and pinnacle of excitement, innovation and entertainment value around the world, have made some horrible decisions, walked the path of some horrible political decisions made in Washington for them by the legislators they bought and paid for in the 1980s and 90s, and still don't have MUCH of a clue about how to face the new millennium in a way that protects their once sterling reputation. I'm glad I got out of "the biz" in the early 90s, just as the hyper-corporatized boredom was setting in.

But all other things considered, that's why I still enjoy running PLANET ZEB! as a smaller-scale operation, and I hope you enjoy listening to it. Today, I have been able to get it back to where I needed it to be on the date of its founding in April, 2000-- something that was run to share with friends and like-minded music fans around the world, without the worry of adhering to some "magical formula" that would appeal to a lowest common denominator of musical tastes in the heavily RIAA-and-major-label-influenced crack market of modern music.

Please... continue to enjoy the show, and continue to touch base! Always a pleasure to hear from you.

And I promise-- I'll try to be a little more frequent with the mindless blog ramblings in '09. :)

Zeb

Happy Holidays!... and other news. :)

2007-12-25T08:12:00.001-05:00

First things first, team... MERRY CHRISTMAS and all that neat stuff! Whatever you celebrate at this time of year, I hope it's a good one for you with lots of love, health and happiness.

Next thing... WOW! I finally got my midnight blue Rickenbacker 4003 bass!!!! No thanks to the guys from KISS, however, who had every opportunity (see earlier rambling blog posts) to do the honorable thing and give me one (grin). Let's just say that a local dealer here in the RDU Triangle area happened to have one in stock, and I happened to call him at just the right time to inquire about inventory. So congratulations, ME! It sounds glorious. I'm pretty sure I'm now a devoted Ric guy, although I still occasionally like the thump of the Fender as I historically have.

Next thing-- saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra on 12/20 here in Raleigh at the RBC Center. Quick review: good as always and worth the ticket price, though Alex and Chris were the highlights of the show. After seeing more or less the same show (with different opticals, to be sure) three years running, it's getting a little stale. Their new bassist is OK, but I really preferred Dave Zablowski ("Dave Z") from the last couple of years. Otherwise, not a particularly remarkable show, though Jennifer Cella touched my hand as she ran back up the aisle from her "back-of-house solo" which was a special treat since I always melt at the sight of her in a tight black dress. :)

Last but not least-- if you haven't read the website completely yet, please be advised that PLANET ZEB! is changing its "free listener" capacity on 1/1/08, substantially curtailing it from pre-08 levels. An explanation is on the website itself which I won't repeat here, but suffice to say that too little financial support over the years and too much personal spending toting the note for all those free listeners, combined with some life changes that have me busier these days, have finally gotten us to the point where I think it's wise to bring PZ back to what it started life as-- a li'l ole hobbyist station that I can mess with to my heart's content, and with a few extra "free listener" slots open for anyone anywhere in the world who may want to tune in just for the fun of it. If you really, really LOVE the station and just can't live without it, please be advised of a few things:

* it will probably be de-listed from iTunes directories soon, which is Live365's way of punishing successful stations that don't toe their line year after year;

* it will probably fill up quickly (free listener slots) in the morning, so the earlier you log in, the better... then, just leave it streaming to save your spot;

* if you have a Live365 VIP listener account (see "listen AD-FREE" button on the planetzeb.net website), you will STILL have 'round-the-clock UNLIMITED ACCESS to PLANET ZEB!... completely ad-free, as always! Sign up today if you'd like this service-- it's cheap, good and I've loved my own VIP listener account for the last couple of years. :)

If you're one of the many who believes that PLANET ZEB! is just another station and you can easily tune to another station playing sort of the same music in sort of the same mix, and you'd rather do that FREE than pay a minimal amount for a VIP account... well, I understand. Free is an awfully good price most of the time. I would just add that you usually get what you pay for, as my gran'pappy used to say, and that's the reason I think we're better off, looking forward, back as a little, innocuous 80s rock station lurking in the corners of the Live365 community.

Thanks for the ride, though-- it's been a GREAT eight years, and thanks to YOU, PLANET ZEB! became one of the earliest and biggest "station phenoms" in the early history of internet radio!!!

Cheers, and again, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Zeb

Success!

2007-11-05T14:32:00.000-05:00

Haaaaaa! Guess who went to a certain online auction/shopping site and got his own bad se'f a (sort of) brand new pair of Stanton Dynaphase Sixty headphones recently?!! (see earlier post re: the Stanton Dynaphase Sixties and why they are God's own Almighty Headphone)

Well, i say "brand new" because you won't actually GET a pair that're BRAND new given that Stanton stopped making them some time ago. But this pair was in an at-home-audio-engineer's personal collection and had very light use for some time, and then I won an auction for them. Oh my GAWWWWWWD, I had forgotten how beautifully powerful these things were. Receiving them and plugging them in have made all of life's little (and not-so-little) miseries seem survivable of late. So Happy Birthday to Me (yeah, had one of those recently, as well...chuckle), and thank goodness I'm back in the "Stanton Pro User" category again with my favorite set of cans in the whole world.

Relating to another blog post from earlier, I still haven't heard from ANY member of KISS about whether and/or when ANY of them were going to get my new blue or turquoise Rickenbacker 4003 bass to me, and... well... I'm just a little disappointed in that. If the Clerk of the Fourth Circuit will hurry up and get my admission certificate to me instead, I suppose I can forgo worrying about the bass for now. But I'm growing impatient, boys. Bass or admission to practice. I want ONE of 'em here soon, or I'll sue. :)

As you can probably tell, life is a little slow around these parts for now. I suspect come the end of this year, PLANET ZEB! will be undergoing some rather dramatic changes, too.... but stay tuned... film at 11... for more details. Hope you're well out there in Planet Zeb-land in the meantime!

Peace.

Zebby

So Many Questions, So Little Time....

2007-07-23T16:50:00.000-04:00

Wow, the ole email box has been BURNING with questions and comments lately about PLANET ZEB!, etc., and it's gratifying to hear even after all this time that a fair number of you out there in internet-radio-land are NEW listeners, joining our family of rock-and-pop aficianados from around the world. So I decided to turn the latest blog entry into Q 'n' A time to try to provide answers to questions that have been coming in... that I also thought would be of general interest. So here ya go!

Zebby: Paula Abdul followed by The Clash followed by Genesis... and five minutes later an 8-minute-long Zep track backed with a country-ish crossover from Kentucky Headhunters? I liked it... but isn't that insane?!

Answer: probably, yes, but I prefer to characterize it as "somewhat eclectic within the parameters of enjoying good music from our 80s-ish target time frame," which is what PZ has always been about. And besides, you DID use the words "I liked it," did you not? Your honor, the defense rests and demands a bench verdict. Or at least we pray for jury nullification. :)

Lots of cool old KISS on your station- where'd you get it?!

Answer: pretty much the same place everyone should get it-- I bought the CDs. It's not like KISS is some bizarre goat-herding music band from back Madagascar (laugh); their whole catalog is pretty much available. And I've been CD collecting for a loooong, loooong time (my very first ones were bought back when they were still something stupid like 25 bucks each and only found in the back corner of most music stores, past the LPs!). And I like cool old KISS. And pretty much the rest of KISS, for that matter (Gene, Ace... Paul.... Peter.... if you stumbled across this blog, how about a liner for the station?!). Funny (and quick) thing about discovering them-- they were pretty much all the rage at Southeast Jr. High School in Baton Rouge back in the late 70s when I was there (I think either Destroyer or Love Gun was the "new" album I remember most from 8th-grade homeroom). At that time, I didn't much see the point and didn't really listen to a lot of their stuff. Then, I had an orchestra teacher the next year at Baton Rouge High School who was also part of a fundamentalist "Born Again" denomination. That's fine... that's cool... everyone does what finds them the most inner peace. MY problem with her, though, was that I remember distinctly one class period she didn't have us playing and practicing, but rather assembled us all around and handed out a flyer that said "KISS- Kings In Satan's Service" at the top of it. It was followed by some very inflammatory (no pun intended) anti-KISS propaganda in the weeks before they were scheduled to play the Baton Rouge Centroplex (now the "River Center") on the 1979 Dynasty tour. Well, even at that tender age, I was aware of the significance of the church-state separation thing, PLUS I was kinda pissed that we weren't practicing as a student orchestra SHOULD be. So just to piss HER off, I went out and bought my first KISS album (Alive II) and a t-shirt later that week. My friend Tommy and I bought tickets to the Dynasty show and enjoyed the daylights out of it-- what a gig. I was forevermore thereafter hooked on KISS, and did a lot of "catching up" on their earlier catalogs in the wake of the concert. And I used to play the hell out of them on my personal cassette decks as well as program their better stuff in every rock/pop radio gig I ever had. Many thanks to my fundamentalist orchestra teacher for turning me on to KISS.... I will go to my grave thankful for the opportunity to groove on them. And for a reason to watch "Gene Simmons' Family Jewels," which is endlessly more entertaining than "The Osbournes" was after its first season. Well, except for the bits of GSFJ that I'm pretty sure are shamelessly staged, that is. :)

That love of KISS also turned into an appreciation for the Ibanez Iceman guitar, by the way, since they were giving Paul those mirrored jobbies to use in concert. I loved the sound of 'em. Went on to play a beautiful purple Ibanez bass m'self in a couple of bands before I kinda sobered up and realized that the thunder of the Fender P-bass and the gorgeous trebly rumble of the Rickenbacker 4003 were more my speed after all. But my Iby was sweet, I gotta admit-- strong bass for the price. I still have her, and long ago named her for a radio salesperson I stupidly had a crush on in my last Baton Rouge radio gig. :)

Gene, Paul, Ace, Peter... if you ARE reading this, I'd also love a turquoise or midnight blue Ric 4003 bass. No harm in asking. And I love you guys. :)

Do you have employment applications on your website?

Answer: ohhhh, amigo. If it would do any good, I'd have 'em for places like Trader Joe's or something, but in all honesty, we're definitely a one-man-and-multiple-cat operation around here. PLANET ZEB! is a limited partnership with no employees, so to speak. I do all of the manual work with the playlist changeouts and stuff, and my cats program, find new music, sit on the keyboard while I'm scheduling the rotations, etc. And since the cats are rescues from local animal shelters, that's pretty much the only place I look for new partners or "employees." Until the day Clear Channel wants to buy me out for a gazillion dollars. Or Gene, Paul, Ace and/or Peter, for that matter. You could throw in the Ric as lagniappe.

Where are you from originally?

Answer: proudly, he says, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And he may return there one day once the statute of limitations on ALL of the warrants has expired. :)

PLANET ZEB! started in Charleston, SC in April, 2000. Charleston's very cool, and it reminded me a lot of Baton Rouge during my youth when I was there in the late 90s. You have no idea how heartbroken I was to have to leave Charleston. Or Baton Rouge, for that matter! But according to "The Secret," that nouveau-faux-pop-new age Oprah-show-fodder thing, all I apparently have to do is stand on my front lawn in my underwear at midnight on a full moon and WISH to be back in Baton Rouge or Charleston. Dunno if I have to click red slippers together or something to make it work, since I didn't waste my money on the book OR the movie.

Hey, all you starving kids in Appalachia and Darfur and such-- don't you know all you have to do is DREAM you're Donald Trump? Then you become him. And hopefully soon thereafter, you and Rosie O'Donnell kill each other in a massively bloody knife fight and leave society the hell alone.

Does PLANET ZEB! make a lot of money?

Answer: ha. ha ha. hahaha. hahaha. HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, wait, let me put it this way:

yes, PLANET ZEB! makes a lot of money. For somebody, probably Live365 and, via royalties, the record labels. Sure as hell not for me; that nice sliver of expendable income that COULD go to a new car or fixing the heat exchanger on my HVAC unit or something is thrown into station ops month after month. And while occasionally, really cool and nice people leave small donations via the PayPal links on the PZ homepage, I still cough up the personal dough in droves. This is a labor of love. And I hope you continue to love it as much as I do. :)

The alternative, of course, is that independent internet radio shuts down, and the public is left with the same thing they have on contemporary broadcast radio-- corporate-owned "drone drivel" from market to market that can only play what the RIAA's member-major-labels WANT them to play in order to sell music and push yet another hip-hop-boy-band on an unsuspecting and fearful populace.

'Til next time!

Z

Well OK, now that I'm here....

2007-07-20T17:28:00.000-04:00

A quick comment after being asked my opinion in a recent music forum, since I logged in to check messages, there were none, and I didn't want to waste the login without at least posting something (chuckle)....

Single most influential and/or important album in all of recorded rock and roll history:

Never Mind the Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols (October, 1977: US release on Warner Brothers Records)

Discuss. :)

reminiscences....

2007-07-16T19:12:00.000-04:00

Well, this is the danger of occasionally lapsing into one of those periods when I think about all the great people I knew and all the fun I had in commercial broadcast radio back in the eighties... I start to miss it all. Strangely enough, at the moment, what I seem to miss the most (although they're actually still around these parts packed in a box in the attic or something) is... well... don't laugh... my HEADPHONES.

They weren't just ANY headphones... from the time I found them at WLCS in Baton Rouge in the Summer of 1984 right up through MOST of my work at KAJUN 103 FM in the early 1990s, I faithfully and lovingly used the same bloody set of cans.... a big, beautiful blue pair of Stanton Dynaphase Sixty headphones... that were TRULY to die for.

Largely, the "dying for" part consisted of the fact that they felt like they weighed a few metric tons on your head (laugh again). But the Dynaphase Sixties were beautiful-- basically, small home speakers with separate high/low frequency cones that were strapped together over the top of your head with a reenforced metal strap that felt like it could hold a strafed battleship afloat. Now those were the days when someone knew how to make headphones for the professional radio market. Often, I discovered at WLCS (where the jock had his/her back to the entry door to the studio) that people were afraid to try to sneak in behind me when I wore them because if I was startled and flung my head too quickly around, the Stantons-- always my friends and protectors, as they drove thousands of decibels of beautiful, pristine, crystal-clear sound into my music-addled brain-- would FLY off my ears and attack them with the ferocity and damage that only a good 20-pound-or-so pair of headphones or a pit bull could accomplish.

I just finished visiting the Stanton website for old times' sake, and they, like every other headphone company in the world, have decided that lighter is better. And I suppose these days, you really can get a better speaker in a lighter 'phone that most really wimpy-weenie girlie man DJs appreciate. But as for me... well... I am decidedly old-school on this point, friend. Put me in front of a board that has round pots as opposed to sliders and analog vU meters instead of the digital kind. Give me carts... or at the most, CDs... so that I can HOLD the music and the spots I'm playing instead of telling a very impersonal computer what digital file I wish to play next.

Then, watch as I put the Dynaphase Sixties on my head, feeling as if I have just been crowned King of England and Defender of the Faith because of the friggin' weight of the damned things. And it doesn't matter HOW loudly I turn them up to make my ears bleed, because their ear insulation WILL NOT feed back over the mic. Guaranteed. And then give me a few tracks from Billy Idol, Dio, Scorpions or one of the other staples of my foolish and decadent DJ days... and stand back. I'll take it from there. :)

"Give me a wheel of oaken wood... a rein of polished leather.... a heavy horse and a tumbling sky.... brewing heavy weather."

(bonus points if you can identify the lyric) :)

'Til next time!

Zeb

OK, quick check-in time....

2007-07-09T18:35:00.000-04:00

Just a quick message, as July 15th looms ever-closer and with it the potential drastic alteration and/or death of internet radio propogated by SoundExtortio...er, SoundExchange and its poodles on the Copyright Royalty Board, long since bought and paid for. We're just kind of sitting by, watching the clouds, waiting to see what happens now... and for those of you who got active and contacted your elected member(s) of Congress about the Internet Radio Equality Act, THANK YOU! I'm going to be voting a very, very interesting split-party ticket THIS election season, using candidate support (or lack thereof) of IREA as my primary voting cue. :)

OK, so here's the NON-IREA message I have for you today: OHMIGOD! Like, if you DON'T have good multimedia speakers and/or a dedicated sound card in your computer to listen to PLANET ZEB!... .you have no friggin' idea what you're missing! After my old set of Sonigistix 2.1 speakers bought the proverbial farm some few months ago, I went without a particularly neat set of speakers for that period of time, gradually getting used to the different sound coming out of my computer and thinking, "ah, well at least it's listenable."

So LAST week, Zeb treated himself.... a new set of Logitech Z-2300 2.1 multimedia speakers (read the online reviews of them-- they're everything every review glows about and MORE!) and a SoundBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty Xtreme Gamer Sound Card, set to "Entertainment Mode" (since I don't really play computer games... it maximizes the processor for music audio sources). WOW! No, no, no one paid me for this announcement... and I'm not even saying you have to get the same products *I* did. But if you're looking for really super-wonderful sound quality in your internet radio experience (for the few days that it may be left on the internet!), GET A DEDICATED SOUND CARD and for pity's sake, DON'T CHINTZ YOURSELF on a cheap pair of computer speakers (or overpay for the "fancy brand label" of certain to-remain-unnamed "snob factor" systems). You'll love the difference in sound quality, and perhaps, as did I, fall in love with your favorite 'netradio outlet all over again. :)

Peace.

Z

GASP! Planet Zeb!.... OFF THE AIR????

2007-06-21T15:50:00.000-04:00

Well, yeah, in fact we WILL be (sort of) "off the air" on Tuesday, June 26th as part of a united internet radio broadcaster's community's DAY OF SILENCE (for details, go to http://www.savenetradio.org)-- and while we think it kinda sucks to have to go a day without PLANET ZEB!-- doubtless you do too (grin)-- we still think it's an important show of solidarity to indicate to fans and listeners of ALL internet radio exactly what the 'net would be like if SoundExchange got their way and managed to run small independent stations like ours out of business with royalties that are LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF TIMES the percentage that satellite radio and other "new media" pay-- conglomerate-owned terrestrial radio that blathers the junk you've been trying to get away from with internet radio doesn't pay ANYTHING, in fact.

Of course, the other point about the DAY OF SILENCE is that PZ didn't have much of a choice in the matter.... our network, Live365.com, is basically telling broadcasters it's going to happen to ALL streams, so there (laugh). But again, PLANET ZEB! supports the event and I think maybe... with one workday of reminder of how vapid a media landscape there was before 'netradio made its mark... more people will take the royalty issue much more seriously and GET ACTIVE in helping support the Internet Radio Equality Act (IREA). Time IS running out before, in the absence of congressional legislation, internet radio is gone for good.

But speaking of which, take a look at some of the comments that members of Congress have been sending Live365 and its broadcasters, as well as other front-lines entities in the IREA war:

Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA), original sponsor of H.R. 2060

"The good news is that momentum is growing in Washington, D.C. Since its introduction in April, well over 100 members of Congress have recognized the important service webcasters provide by cosponsoring the Internet Radio Equality Act. With your continued help, that number and congressional support will keep growing as we approach July 15."

Congressman Donald Manzullo (R-IL), original sponsor of H.R. 2060

"We have had an amazing response to the Internet Radio Equality Act here in Washington, DC. Please urge your listeners to contact their Members of Congress so we can continue to build support and keep the music playing."

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), original sponsor of S. 1353

"Webcasters are valued members of the Internet community, and I will do all that I can to ensure that these royalty hikes don't go into effect. This effort is part of a broader issue that I am fighting for and that is the importance of protecting e-commerce from unfair discrimination. In order for this effort to succeed, we must all continue to work together to preserve Internet radio."

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), original sponsor of S. 1353

"The Internet Radio Equality Act (S. 1353), which I recently introduced with my colleague Senator Ron Wyden, is fundamental to the survival of the new and innovative technology of webcasting. The recent decision of the Copyright Royalty Board, which goes into effect on July 15th, will decimate an entire industry. Millions of Americans listen to Internet radio regularly, and artists whose music would not receive airplay on commercial terrestrial radio are beginning to receive royalty checks for the first time. Despite what the critics would have you believe, Internet radio benefits artists and I applaud the innovators who have made this technology possible. Senator Wyden and I recently sent a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy requesting that the Committee quickly move to consider our bill and correct the section of the Copyright Act that allowed for this disastrous decision."

If you didn't realize how serious this was BEFORE now, maybe you do now! At least I hope you do. And don't think that "lots of other people will make the phone calls and write the letters" to Congress insisting on passage of IREA. Or at least if you do, then please ask yourself, "wow... what if everyone else thinks the exact same thought and mistakenly assumes that I'm gonna get off of my sweet butt to do something about it?!" :)

Oh GAWWWWD I long for the days of future when I can do something with this blog but post updates to the IREA story. But for now, troopers, we gotta keep rallying the legions!

Hope you're continuing to enjoy PLANET ZEB!, and here's to seeing you a little scathed but still alive on JULY 16TH!!!

Z

More Nice Email From Happy Listeners!

2007-06-07T08:02:00.000-04:00

Just had to share the latest emails to PLANET ZEB! Central from happy folks around the world. This is what it's all about to me, and BOY have I been fortunate to make friends with some neat folks in the global village who have similar musical tastes. Many, many thanks for your kind words like these:

I writing to you from the little Island of Malta in Europe. And would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the great music you are playing. We are enjoying it. Thanks and keep the good music going. (Jean, Malta)

Way to go, Planet Zeb! You make getting through work SO easy. And I think it's funny (and maybe a little sneaky) how local radio stations everywhere I've gone on business in the last few years have all seemingly adopted the "open" rock format that you used to be the only place to come for it. Maybe they've been listening to you too?! (Randall, Seattle WA)

Cheers and greetings from Newcastle (UK)- fantastic station. Many thanks for your hard work on bringing your audience such wonderful memories. (John, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK)

... All I can say in return, team, is thank YOU for helping make PLANET ZEB! such a special place in the history of 'netradio. Cheers back to ya. :)

Z

ACTION ALERT- 10 MAY 2007!!!!

2007-05-10T17:32:00.000-04:00

The INTERNET RADIO EQUALITY ACT has not only received OVERWHELMING initial support in the US House of Representatives.... now, thanks to Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sam Brownback (R-KS), its companion legislation by the same name has been introduced in the U.S. Senate! But let me harp on this point immediately, because it is absolutely true and in need of YOUR instant attention.....

Without your phone calls to both of your state's Senators in Washington, independent internet radio like Planet Zeb! will die. I have already developed a shut-down plan in case something like the Internet Radio Equality Act hadn't come along. Now that it has, though, here's your chance to make a little effort and help PZ continue to entertain the daylights out of you! I don't want your cash contributions right now (well OK, I DO... but I'm not going to scream about it! chuckle), I can't use excuses like "ah, I support you, but I just can't be bothered to do anything, y'know? It's such a hassle."

You HAVE TO PICK UP YOUR PHONE and MAKE 2-3 QUICK AND SIMPLE PHONE CALLS.... that's all. Visit http://www.savenetradio.org right now and follow the easy instructions there on how to get your Representative and US Senators' phone numbers. Then, just MAKE THOSE CALLS-- tell whomever answers the phone what internet radio means to you, and you're mad that a growing economic force in American society (at a time when we need growing economic forces) is directly threatened by the Copyright Royalty Board's recent royalty decision. Then, tell them you strongly support the Internet Radio Equality Act, and ask them to tell your member of Congress that you would appreciate his/her support of the bill.

Again, go to www.savenetradio.org for more information. And tell everyone you know to MAKE THE CALLS... and SAVE INTERNET RADIO through SUPPORT for the INTERNET RADIO EQUALITY ACT!!!

It's a good thing for good people to save a great entertainment and information medium. Act TODAY, because time is running out.... quickly!

Save Internet Radio!!!

2007-04-28T07:28:00.000-04:00

Hi y'all! Well, the Google-Blogger crossover is STILL giving me problems, but I wanted to pop in this morning, at least, to let you know that I'm NOT a phantom. :)

In fact, GOOD NEWS regarding the Copyright Royalty Board's recent decision that completely defied legislative intent and showed how representing deep-pocketed corporate interests as a lawyer can bias your decisionmaking as an Administrative Law Judge.... with the CRB judges hell-bent on destroying internet radio, the only entity that could stop them was, as of late April, the Congress itself. AND CONGRESS HAS STARTED TO ACT!!!

But YOU MUST GET INVOLVED RIGHT THIS SECOND-- and this is NOT hyperbole, puffing or anything else... I'm DEAD SERIOUS... RIGHT NOW-- if you want to help save internet radio and keep stations like PLANET ZEB! on the air. The bill that has just been introduced in the House is HR 2060, the Internet Radio Equality Act, sponsored in a bipartisan manner by Reps. Inslee (D-WA), Nethercutt (R-WA) and Rick Boucher (D-VA).

YA GOTTA CALL-- don't email, don't write (there's no time for that now)-- CALL-- CALL your US House member's local or Washington office TOOOO-DAY.... NOW... NOW!!!!... and DEMAND that they support HR 2060. Get all of your internet-radio-loving friends, family and co-workers to do it too. This is one of those rare chances for the American public to take back its government from deep-pocketed corporations who have been buying the laws that favor them-- but ya have to call NOW! And then get ready for the fight in the Senate, where millions of radio-loving Americans are ready to gather together to fight this fight AGAIN!

We don't want or need to broadcast FREE.... responsible internet radio broadcasters are willing to pay reasonable royalties to keep entertaining you (I've been paying out of my own pocket all of these years with no complaints whatsoever, as long as those occasional "thank you, love your station" emails kept coming!).... but the CRB's latest decision would ABSOLUTELY KILL this fledgling business and turn it back over to the RIAA (you know, the organization that sues dead people, 3-year-olds and people's cats).... to dole out to the oligopoly of their rich and powerful friends, as they saw fit.

More later-- keep the faith.... and again, CALL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON NOW and DEMAND that they support HR 2060, the INTERNET RADIO EQUALITY ACT!!!!!

Wow! Two nice comments in one day!

2007-03-02T16:07:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all! I hope 2007 has gotten off to a wonderful start for you. Well hell, I suppose we're about a quarter through with it by now (laugh), but Zeb has been a busy boy the last month or so and has admittedly neglected the task of getting a new blog post up. 'Til now that is. :)

And the subject of today's post is the two nice comments that recently came in via email... on the same day! The first was from Feda, in Canada, who said:

Your station is just the greatest. I've been listening since
November of 2005 and recently took time off to sail in the Caribbean
where I continued to listen to your music. In fact I even got more
people on board listening. Keep up the excellent quality.

And the second came from Israel, in the Canary Islands (that's name, in the location, lest you be confused!), who remarked:

I listen your music every day from the Canary Islands - Spain

[I very much like] your music

Congratulations

Many thanks, you two! As I've said before, PLANET ZEB! is here for pure enjoyment... and to share some great musical memories with like-minded friends all over the world. But still, while I usually just assume that the show is appreciated by virtue of having listeners, it means a lot to me personally when nice folks like you take a moment out of your day to tell me as much via email.

... and here's hoping you keep enjoying the show for a long time to come!!!

Cheers 'til the next post....

Zeb

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-14T13:42:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, as I prepare for what has become a kinda cool "tradition" around these parts-- catching Trans-Siberian Orchestra on their annual sojourn back to Raleigh's RBC Center. This'll be the third straight Raleigh show for which the ole Zebbo-butt will be firmly entrenched in a seat.... and many thanks to the folks at TSO for becoming such a wonderful family holiday tradition here in the Research Triangle! I try to repay their kindness in scheduling the shows with both my concert patronage and my playing of their Christmas tracks on PLANET ZEB!, for which they derive performance royalties (laugh). :)

I'll post some thoughts about the show after all is said and done... but in the meantime, thank YOU too this holiday season for continuing to support PLANET ZEB! with your ears!!! 2006 was a pretty good year for the station, all things considered, and we wound up making new friends from all over the globe. Not bad for what started out as a little ole hobbyist station in what now seems like the dim and distant past. :)

Cheers!

Zeb

Got a blog? Listen to PLANET ZEB? Let me know! :)

2006-10-29T08:11:00.000-05:00

Just a quick thought to help send waves of appreciation to everyone whose blogs I've recently come across that mention Planet Zeb! in them. Wowsa... I was doing a blog meta-search to make sure an old list I created had indeed been deleted, and before I knew it, I discovered that blog entries about the station-- fortunately, mostly good (laugh)-- were ALL OVER the place, including among a few friends here at blogger.com! :)

As such, and because my gratitude for your tuning in and enjoying the station is so great, I thought it'd be nice to cross-post links to your blog here on the official PLANET ZEB! Internet Radio blog and/or on my webpage at planetzeb.net / planetzeb.com. I'd also love to hear how you found the station and what you like (or don't like) about it the most!!! Since April, 2000 when the station was founded, I've been relying on my "old school radio programming" skills to make it an entertaining 80s/90s internet station-- and part of going "old school" means eschewing all of the stupid-assed "consultant statistical printout" crap (by the way: iron-clad rule of radio-- most consultants throw stats at you, particularly Arb quarter-hours, yet have no idea how to analyze them or do their own market research. Ask 'em what an adjusted R-square is next time they hand them to you, oh program directors of Earth!) in favor of simply LISTENING TO LISTENERS about how to make the station better.

Lo and behold, I think this strategy has worked in the last 6-plus years. Not only has the station become a perennial top-5 station at Live365.com and iTunes, but it's also fostered "spinoff" formats like "Jack FM" that were waaaay too afraid to revert to the "loose radio" format that made FM great in the 70s and early 80s before stations like PLANET ZEB! came along and showed 'em how to do it. :)

So drop me an email today at zeb@planetzeb.net and tell me about your blog and your (hopefully) kind comments about the station! Or reply to this message, if you'd like. It did my li'l heart good lately to see that so many of you out there in blog-land apparently think we've got a pretty nifty station going here. With your help and input and continued support, I hope we'll keep it that way for some time to come. :)

Cheers!

Zebby

back to normal!

2006-10-07T13:29:00.000-04:00

All is well (well, not really, but you know what I mean proverbially...chuckle) in Apex once again... and therefore the "special reports" I've been posting from time to time will now come to an end! Fire suppression crews managed to get three remaining small fires at the EQ Plant under control as of this morning, and the US Environmental Protection Agency apparently agreed with them that it was OK to let people back into about 90 percent of the evacuation zone as of 9 am this morning. Actually, the lifting of evac zone restrictions was phased in starting at 8 am (some started coming back into the peripheral areas last night when police just lifted roadblocks and left) this morning, followed by another wave let in at 9 am. The "ground zero" area is still blocked, however, and is likely to be for at least a couple more days according to the latest reports. I got out for the first time since the explosion onto US 64 and drove past the command center for the crisis, which is actually at Laura Village Shopping Center at the corner of Hwy 64 and Laura Duncan Rd. Still lots of fire/police and other agency activity there-- which affords lots of space because the "anchor" store of the shopping center is a Winn-Dixie that's been closed since the company pulled out of North Carolina about 8 months ago.

But no WONDER city officials thought it was a good command center for the distance it is from the actual plant site-- the remaining active businesses, which are mysteriously on the "unclosed/unevacuated" side of Hwy 64, include a BBQ restaurant of some local renown, a Bojangles Chicken, a Taco Bell and a Mobil station that sells lottery tickets! Damn-- all they needed now was a Krispy Kreme shop and they would have been COMPLETELY set. :)

Still a gentle afternoon in some of the residential areas-- I suspect many folks just decided to make a long weekend of it over on the coast or something-- but the major surface streets leading into Cary (and particularly around the shopping areas of Cary) are VERY busy today. Life gets back to normal in Western Wake County as the people return and do the only thing that highly educated upper middle class predominantly white suburban populations know how to do for entertainment or culture in an otherwise inspiration-and-indigenous-cultureless neo-exurb these days.... they go SHOPPING amidst their restrictive-covenent-laden Hardiplank-covered homogenized overdeveloped neighborhoods that-- for the better part of 48 hours at least-- had a little risk, excitement and danger to them! OK, OK, so admittedly it would have been nicer if the excitement had come in the form of something quite substantially less ominous than chlorine, benzine, mercury and lead-laden clouds of death. Such is modern life in Mayberry, North Carolina, USA, and it's funny that it took something of this horrific magnitude to put us, albeit briefly, on the national and international newsmap. Better, I think, if we could kick the developers out of town for good and save a few trees so that children here could grow up understanding what "nature" actually is (it's far too late for our neighboring community of Cary, but I'd hoped-- in vain, apparently-- Apex would avoid Cary's strip-mall-on-every-corner fate). No CNN cameras to track the excitement in a place like that, but at least you don't have industrial sites blowing up and sending people fleeing for the hills and/or the Holiday Inns. And besides, sometimes the best excitement occurs every night when Otis simply stumbles into the jail and incarcerates himself for a nice sleep-off of his nightly libations. :)

Enough of my community musings until and unless I become mayor (chuckle). PLANET ZEB is back to normal operations, so listen on and enjoy. And thanks again to those who emailed with words of support during our little event here. :)

Cheers!

Zeb

update from the "red zone" :)

2006-10-06T16:37:00.000-04:00

Awright, y'all, here's a (hopefully) brief update and timeline of how we're doing here in the evac zone of the Apex Hazmat situation.... as of 4:30 EST Friday:

It's still kinda eerily quiet outside, as you might expect. Little traffic on the roads, maybe a couple of cars per hour. Most of THOSE, it appears, are individuals going somewhere on their own-- like this morning, for example, it looked like a few stalwarts were actually heading to WORK! Problem: police are letting people out, obviously, but not as of this hour necessarily back IN. Many folks here as a result appear to be camping out at home, windows shut and A/C off (like here at PLANET ZEB!). Around 11 this morning, I took a pic out of the window leading back toward the plant that had exploded; it showed the distinct combination of dark rainclouds and the odd bit of smoke from the general direction of the plant, since the official Hazmat responder type people didn't try going in 'til dawn's early light this morning. The air right now clearly has "something funny" about it, though it mostly just feels damp. Last night you could tell distinctly from the "burning plasticene" smell all around that the fumes were much more noxious. Thank goodness for a little rain and a decent light wind blowing smoke AWAY from us.

Last night was something, let me tell you. We were celebrating NC State's amazing comeback win over Florida State here at the ranch when we heard what (at the time) sounded like some very funky thunder-- but thunder doesn't usually sound quite that close or shake the house quite like these things did. Shortly thereafter, we got the word from local news that an "event" had happened in Apex... and the first bits of information started trickling in. The occasional pop and bang occurred even well after that, and although they'd started TALKING about evacuations around 11:00-11:30 pm, we figured it would only be the residences adjacent to-- or maybe no more than a mile or so out-- from the plant. We went to bed, though not before I made sure all of the windows were tightly closed on an otherwise pleasant evening.

This morning, up around 4:30-5 am, and local news (which has done a great job, by the way, right along with the amazingly dedicated Apex Police and Fire Departments) was reporting wider scale evacuations and talk of "mandatory" evacs to Red Cross shelters in the declared evacuation zone started surfacing. I got in the ole Zebmobile and drove the quarter-mile it took me to get to the outer edge of the zone; sure enough, police were there letting people OUT, but keeping outsiders away and not letting anyone IN. Just my luck, maybe, that after such a big win for NC State, I wind up being about three miles from a major explosion... and only several hundred yards straight-line distance from a non-house-arrest line in which I could come and go as I pleased (laugh). Anyway, it was very clearly a worse situation at dawn this morning, where I could still see junk in the air and it was VERY hazy outside-- much moreso than the usual morning dew/fog at this time of year.

About 9ish, the situation improved-- winds seemed to kill off some of the smell in the air, and the rain may have brought up issues of ground contamination at the fire site, but i was sure as hell happy that it was washing away "floaters" in the air (or seeming to, in any case). Still virtually NO traffic on the roads except for the odd single-person car (probably trying to get to work) and one or two vans that appeared to have multiple folks in them (I suspect finally going to shelters). In our area, I'd estimate that about 30 percent have bugged out for shelters, though most folks appear to have simply boarded up and locked their kids in with them.

I turned the A/C on for a little while earlier to keep the radio station computer room cool, though admittedly after about an hour it seemed to feel funny inside, so i cut it off again. Actually found an open grocery store inside the "zone" that I could get to without having to pass through a police roadblock, however, so around 11 I went to get milk and bread! Outside at that time, I gotta admit, it seemed more or less OK.

So now here we are, closing in on 5 pm, and all's more or less well for the moment. Can't say that I feel 100 percent normal, mind you, but I suspect the very minor headache is the remnant of a cold and staying up late last night rather than from some bizarre form of poisoning. PLANET ZEB!'s airstaff (all cats) and I have been doing well, and are very appreciative of all the folks who knew we were in Apex and emailed their concerns. Many thanks to family and friends who've called to check on us too. Amazing how world news travels these days-- relatives and station fans from OVERSEAS were among the first to call or email!

Biggest problems now are (1) hoping the cops'll let residents of the area back into it this evening after a hard day at the office but keep gawkers OUT and (2) for those of us here who have pets, we're running afoul of the Red Cross prohibition of companion animals at shelters. Personally, having run the odd Red Cross shelter in the past, I'd rather choke a little along with my cats than have to live on pretzels with no privacy at a shelter that's only about a mile and a half up the bloody road ANYWAY. Station operations are rolling along as per normal, with a new playlist just posted and entertainment value high. As with Hurricane Floyd when we were back in Charleston a few years ago, it'll take more than a disaster to knock PZ off the air (chuckle).

If anyone wants my views on living in a suburban nouveau-riche hellhole where politicians let business, industry and land developers run rampant and rape the landscape and allow junk like this to happen in the FIRST place, I'll be happy to give you more than a few reasons NOT to live in Apex at some time in the future. For now, I suppose, emergent situations call for us to be unified as one big glob of patriotic, neighborly and public assistance-oriented communitarians.

Assuming, that is, that we don't have billowing clouds of benzene and burning biowaste permeate the brick superstructure of our refuge later tonight (laugh). :)

More later-- cheers for now!

Zeb

Yes, things are a little crazy right now... :)

2006-10-06T15:50:00.000-04:00

Hi y'all.... I'll make this first post (in quite a while) brief but as informative as I can; as many of you know, Apex NC is the home of PLANET ZEB! Internet Radio. It's also the home, unfortunately, of a large Hazmat evacuation zone at the moment! The station is physically located within that zone, about 2.5 to 3 miles from the plant that exploded around 10 pm last night. We're all OK at the moment, though, and despite the fact that we received our own automated "get the hell out now or face possible death" scare message from the State of North Carolina this morning, we're staying put for a number of reasons (not the least of which is that, as some of you ALSO know, our airstaff at the station is comprised largely of very greedy felines who wouldn't understand why I wasn't around to feed them upon demand). Mobility right now is literally a one-way street-- they'll let you out, but NOT (as of yet) back IN. Fortunately, we're stocked up on supplies and still have power and cable and all that good junk, so it's just a matter of keeping the windows closed and locked and the air conditioning MOSTLY off. As of about 11 this morning, though, it got stuffy in here and I had to turn the damned thing on, chlorine or not, to cool the main broadcast computers down!!!

A lot of folks have been sending me their concerns, condolences and just general "hang in there" messages, and I appreciate it more than I can adequately express with mere words. The power of radio as a global community-builder has been driven home to me more during this last 12 hour period, with all of the kind emails I've received, than at any time over a 20-year broadcast radio career. So thanks, hang tight with me, and I promise I'll post additional news and information this afternoon, evening and for however long this thing lasts from "inside the red zone." As noted above, I have nothing better to do since the entire PLANET ZEB! crew is under a figurative form of house arrest at the moment (chuckle).

Come back often for the latest news and photos... and, knowing as you do that I have to end on a promotional note, keep rockin' along with me by listening to PLANET ZEB! to make a bad situation seem better (Van Halen and Robert Palmer at earsplitting levels is a wonderful cure to drown out the sound of sirens and lethal chemical explosions in our little overgrown, developer-driven suburban hell-hole enclave, you know!!!) :)

Cheers,

Zebby

New Listeners from TiVO and iTunes!

2006-04-30T09:29:00.000-04:00

A quick note of thanks to the folks who've emailed me lately and noted that they found PLANET ZEB! on TiVO and iTunes and have started listening.... it's great to have you join the worldwide "family" around here, and I hope you'll continue to email your requests, comments, thoughts, etc. as you enjoy the music! Mentions of PZ are on the upswing in personal blogs and chat boards around the 'net, too, which is wonderful... because now, as has always been the case, this is YOUR independent internet radio station and the BEST way of getting the word out about it is by satisfied friends telling other friends to give PLANET ZEB! a try. I can't tell ya how many emails I've gotten in the past that begin something like "hey, a pal at work told me to listen, and I did, and now I'm a regular."

That's a great feeling because ALSO now, as has always been the case, PLANET ZEB! is a cooperative venture between YOU, the station's other fans around the globe and li'l ole me. None of us are here for the money, because there isn't any. Some of us contribute to the costs of keeping the station rockin', most notably me out of my personal bank account and a handful of much-appreciated listeners who contribute semi-regularly with the PayPal links on our website. ALL of us are here because we love a good mix of rock, popular hits and a few "guilty pleasures" from the deep, dark recesses of our lives and think that eclecticism and creativity still have a place on the air. We also believe that music and radio are too important-- too critical in the modern day-- to leave in the hands of multi-mega-billionaire corporate conglomerates to which they're mere commodities!!!

Music LIVES on PLANET ZEB!... it breathes.... occasionally it even buys a lottery ticket and a pack of Camels (laugh). The point is that every time a new listener emails to say hello and/or "good job," well.... that's EXACTLY why the station is still kickin'. You make it what it is. For which I have to say in return, "thank you." :)

Z

It's getting WARMERRRR.... :)

2006-04-14T18:18:00.000-04:00

Hiya, team! Well, dunno about where you are, but here in the Raleigh/Durham metro-nstrosity (fly into RDU airport someday and look at all the middle-class "McHouses" that have popped up all over the place. Some very bad and unimaginative land developers have almost every single local politician here in their back pocket, and they hate trees and want to strip the region of them. But alas, I digress.), things have been warming up dramatically weather-wise lately. Admittedly, summers here are marginally better than my hometown of Baton Rouge, LA because of the lack of humidity-- but just MARGINALLY! I also miss Charleston, SC, where PLANET ZEB! was actually born six li'l ole years ago.

Speaking of which... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO... er... me.. er... rad...er, PLANET ZEB!!! It was back in Chuck-town on April 1, 2000 that we officially went on the air for the very first time, after spending most of March, 2000 (and a few weeks of February, too) learning the ropes of this internet broadcasting bitrate-upload-FTP-download-etc. stuff. I self-taught m'self a crash-course in it, and managed to get an early four-to-five hour stream going back in the early days of Live365. The station started largely as a self-indulgent attempt to hear a lot of my favorite rock and chart-hitting classics from the 1980s back on something that sounded "radioish" again, my having left the full-time announcing business circa 1993. Just me and a couple of old radio buddies who'd think it was kinda cool, I initially thought. ;)

Well, here we are SIX YEARS later-- and wow, it seems like 10 or more. There've been so many changes.... the business has been so fundamentally altered by so many different things, I won't even try to mention a FEW of them here. And PLANET ZEB! survives and thrives, thanks to a completely unexpected-- but always appreciated-- loyal core of listeners like YOU who come along and seem to groove on the same mix of music I and those ole radio buddies do. It's actually something of a "specialty" hybrid AOR/CHR format you hear that a pal and I hammered out at WLCS in Baton Rouge waaay back when... but it worked then, and I had great hopes it'd work again in an era of over-corporatized, over-commercialized, over-cult-of-celebritized and grossly under-imaginative period of modern music that we're smack dab in the middle of now. And it did!!!

THANK YOU for your continued support of PLANET ZEB, as well as for sitting through as brief a "quick rumination" as I could muster for a blog update what with the station birthday having just passed and all. And please-- don't be a stranger! Drop me an email with anything on your mind whenever you want to write, and I'll respond just as soon as I can. Alternatively, you can leave your comments here on the blog by writing a response... that all our other bloggers can check in on and comment on as well!

And even after six long years with every deep-pocketed music interest in the world seemingly wanting to destroy independent internet radio... thanks again for helping PLANET ZEB! remain completely independent, home-grown-and-owned and on the air PURELY for the love of the music. I know it's why you listen, as well, and I'll never forget it. :)

Cheers!

Zeb

oh mmmmyyyy.... (sigh)

2006-03-03T15:07:00.000-05:00

Yep, Live365.com is down again. AGAIN. After assuring everyone who was stupid enough to buy their earlier "hey, everything's swell and we won't have these problems in the future!" line late in 2005. I can't do anything about their technical issues, of course, but I *CAN* apologize on behalf of PLANET ZEB! for the lack of great music to those of you who can't access the station at the moment. Which is virtually everyone, judging from the emails I've been getting.

Things are in the works to make sure we minimize or eliminate these issues in the future. Trust me on that one (wink, nudge). In the meantime, thanks for your patience and understanding and please PLEASE remember to pop on back by and fire up that stream again when Live manages to get its act together and get us back on the air!

Zeb

A quick late-February check-in....!

2006-02-25T09:03:00.000-05:00

Howdy! Just a quick note to see how the PLANET ZEB! community is doing.... how you're enjoying the station... the platform (or directory) through which you're listening... and so forth. I had reply messages turned off to the blog for so long because of SPAM problems, but now they're back up and running again with message verification.

Not much to report here, 'cept the station continues to do well on many platforms on which it's featured. iTunes is clearly in the lead, but we're also getting good responses from Live365.com's own directories as well as Windows Media. TiVO numbers should be available soon!!

Been listening to an eclectic balance of music lately to try to mine a few new nuggest for the PZ music library-- which is now over 4,000 songs! The more I listen, the more I think about what a renaissance period for popular music (of all sorts) the mid 80s were. What a hoot. I'm pleased that PLANET ZEB! specializes in rock and pop from this period, because it means so much in the way of "life markers" to me... and apparently to more than a few of YOU as well!

Keep in touch, and enjoy the warming of the weather this Spring... whenever it gets around to getting here. :)

Z

Greetings for February!

2006-02-11T10:42:00.000-05:00

Weeeelll, I figured it was about time to MAKE the time to come back and post a station update in the blog; there've been a lot of changes, upgrades, improvements, etc. to make to the station itself lately, and I've been very busy focusing on those technicalities as time permits to keep PLANET ZEB! sounding as good as it can sound. Those of you who've been with the station for a while know that I'm an audio guy/radio veteran FIRST, and "webmaster-type-guy" SECOND (or third or fourth or... grin). But by the same token, the Geo Statistics and Top 10 Tracks needed updating-- and I've got a free moment to check in and say hello, so here ya go. :)

Please remember to keep those emails coming; the only meaningful way I have of communicating with YOU and other listeners for whom the station really exists is through that medium! And I love getting every bit of feedback I get about requests, music, song selection, playlists... heck, I even like just hearing who you are and where you're from and how you found the station and on what platform/directory you listen. PLANET ZEB! is still serving its mission to be the internet's best COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT 80s/90s-based rock and popular music station.... fulfilling the promise of radio in its pre-corporate conglomerate life (when I was in it) of giving a damn about listeners and trying to entertain them rather than trying to trim "home office"-mandated narrow playlists to maximize profits.

And on THAT note, please let me remind you that I foot the bill for the entire operation-- music, bandwidth, advertising, promotions, royalty payments-- the whole proverbial ten and a half yards. It's a lot easier to do when kind folks like you contribute what you can to help shave a little off of my monthly personal expenses. Anything from a dollar to a gazillion dollars helps MEANINGFULLY-- so would you please check out the secure PayPal donation links on the planetzeb.net or planetzeb.com home pages RIGHT NOW, and donate whatever you can afford? I'm seriously not into high-pressure sales or donation-getting tactics; never have been. Just not my style, and as you know, I"m here to run a radio station and enjoy and share licensed, legal music with you-- not to turn a profit on PLANET ZEB! (if THAT were the case, it would have gone away back in.... ooohhhh... early 2003 or so!).

But even your modest contributions help. TOGETHER, they can make a REAL difference. So many listen from around the world, and so few donate. My very deep thanks to those of you who've helped in the past, and thanks for your support, friendship and patronage! PLANET ZEB! is here to rock on for YOU.... around the clock and around the world!

Zeb

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2006-01-01T09:33:00.000-05:00

Not much to say this morning except HAPPY NEW YEAR 2006, and thanks for making 2005 such an amazing year for PLANET ZEB! The station is dedicated to continuing to be the best non-profit, more-music, better-variety, everything-good-about-precorporate conglomerate-radio internet radio station it can be for you in the coming year... and your continued patronage, support, word-of-mouth advertising, etc. is very much appreciated. :)

Oh yeah-- new Geo Statistics and Top Ten Tracks lists, the last of 2005 in fact, have also been posted. Enjoy the holiday, and let me know what's on your mind via return email!

Zeb

Happy Holidays!!!

2005-12-11T08:03:00.000-05:00

OK, so Merry Christmas.... Chanukah.... Ramadan... Kwanzaa.... or whatever you and your family celebrate in this special time of the year. As we reflect on what PLANET ZEB! did in 2005, the list is pretty considerable and exciting (I won't bore you with details here and now)-- but suffice to say that it was a good year here, and in no small part that was due to a continuing loyal listenership of friends from around the world, plus regular pickups of new listeners who've joined the family, mostly from iTunes (but some from Live365's directories and elsewhere). THANK YOU for your patronage of PLANET ZEB!... without you, he says as he reminds himself that this is one of those times when a cliche actually has serious significance behind it, it all couldn't be possible-- if for no other reason than that I wouldn't see the point of spending the money month after month just to entertain MYSELF! So listen... email occasionally to say hi... and most of all ENJOY. :)

The Christmas music onslaught has begun! For the next two weeks, you'll hear some Xmas tracks peppered into the rotation just for the holidays' sake. Dunno about you, but I've always been of the opinion that too much of a good thing is annoying... so PZ will continue to play MOSTLY its good ole playlists that you've come to know and love over this holiday season, but now just as a tickler, you'll hear the odd cool Christmas tune every so often as well. Also just done-- updated Geo Statistics and Top 10 Tracks lists on the website! Check 'em out soon.

And most of all this season... peace. :)

Cheers!

Zeb

New data for late October/early November!

2005-11-06T09:51:00.000-05:00

Latest news: the Top Ten Tracks and Geo Statistics for late October/early November 2005 have been updated! Interesting changes on both charts-- click the link from the main PLANET ZEB! menu to see the latest information. And if you're in one of our new "top 10 medium/small market" cities, which saw a LOT of change from the last update, keep ROCKIN' it with PLANET ZEB! and stay in your newfound place in the rankings!

Thanks to all who've shared the music this past month... and here's to a wonderful Fall 2005/Winter 2006 with you. I appreciate your continued support. :)

Zeb

Random Thoughts for October 20, 2005

2005-10-19T22:50:00.000-04:00

Y'know, I was just sitting here listening to the station.... and for those who've wondered if it's possible for someone who-- over the course of a two-decade radio career plus five additional years in internet radio-- has listened to every single track in a given music library umpteen times to be amazed at something he hears and/or have an epiphany of sorts while listening, the answer is a definitive "yes."

Tonight's observations-- (1) some of the killer artists I loved from the 80s, I loved for very good reason... because they hold up over time so much better than most of the gunk that's polluted radio airwaves in the last decade. (2) sometimes you get overshadowed by your own creations. (3) the internet's great danger is that it's a place where some very narrow-minded opinions can be tossed about and passed off as some sort of gospel.

Case in point-- a person I consider one of the greatest rock singers of our generation, Graham Bonnet. I thought about this as "Island In The Sun" (Alcatrazz, 1983, "No Parole From Rock and Roll" album) was playing on PZ. The album was one of my favorites virtually from the day it was released, and I was thankful as all getout that a small independent label bought rights to it from Rocshire Records and re-released it as a CD in 1989. That's where the statutorily licensed copy of Alcatrazz's music you hear on PLANET ZEB! comes from-- a joyously accidental find in a mall record store somewhere in Athens, Georgia circa 1990! Anyway, so once again as so many times before, I was amazed at how good the track still sounded. Decided to do a little digging and find out what Graham was doing these days. Found his "official" website, which I think is quite nicely done, and relived a little glory from some of my favorite rock albums of the period, which included this one and Rainbow's "Down to Earth" LP-- another classic featuring vocals by Graham (I've also always been a Blackmore and Glover fan, and had the pleasure of meeting Don Airey and Bob Daisley before, other Rainbow alumni-- Don was a particularly cool guy, and as a bassist myself, meeting Bob was really a trip!).

So anyway, I read with interest an interview with Graham in which he noted that Yngwie Malmsteen, heavy metal Swedish guitar god, came in and "took over" Alcatrazz, despite the fact that it was Graham's creation. Graciously, Graham notes that Yngwie is just that sort of talented personality, and deserved all of the success he found in and post-Alcatrazz. But "wow," I thought... imagine putting together that kind of musical lineup and cutting some magnificent rock tracks (and attracting the likes of Steve Vai after Yngwie's departure... or as the beloved Georgine, a dear friend from Georgia would have said, YNNNNGGG-veeeyyyyyy..... I adored Georgine (chuckle)), and you get so little credit for the creation because you got overshadowed by one of the people you found and brought into the fold." Then I realized that it happens to a lot of people on a daily basis, and there's not much, usually, they can do about it. So this one's for you, oh poor unlucky bastards who come up with something great only to have it co-opted or taken out from under you!!! I sympathize and proudly hold up multiple cases of my own with which to join your ranks. :)

And finally, there's the comment I saw on a newsgroup that said "without Yngwie," (or YYNNNNGGG-veeeyyyy, my dear Georgine!) "Alcatrazz would have been nothing." POOH. PAH. HARUMPH (give the governor a "harumph." And watch your ass). Nothing... NOTHING? Oh, dear.... all I could imagine was this comment was left by some poor SOB that used to be first in line to pay for overpriced concert tickets just so he could hold up his lighter and shout "Freebird!" at rock concerts. Even after people told him it wasn't a Skynyrd show. :)

Truth is, admittedly in my opinion (but that's my referent for "Truth," which would have blown Plato out of the water, admittedly), Alcatrazz was SO much more than Malmsteen. That's not to take away from the talented lead guitarist or his talents-- I like Yngwie, too. But Alcatrazz was one of those bands that had solid musicians all the way around. And while Yngwie surpassed "solid" and went into "truly great," I think Graham Bonnet qualifies for that adjective too with his own instrument-- a ripper rock-and-roll voice that can go from hammering lows to tuned, sustained highs in less than a heartbeat, a voice that is perfect for "melodic screaming" in rock music.... you know.... better than just having a singer yell at the top of his lungs, but definitely more intense than just a loud note held by the human voice. Graham SINGS his screams... and does so better than almost anyone else out there (clearly in the company of Dio in that regard. No wonder Graham was offered the post-Ozzy Black Sabbath vocal slot and turned it down before Ronnie James... who is probably by a hair my FAVORITE metal vocalist of all time... took it).

So here I am, scouring a bunch of old albums looking for more great Graham Bonnet tracks to get onto the air on a limited basis. Alcatrazz's stuff is a starting point, and my favortite tracks from Rainbow's "Down to Earth" are already playing. Time to pull out MSG's "Assault Attack" again... but then again, you're also hearing tracks from IT, too, on PLANET ZEB! I love that disc. Reminds me to scout out what's going on with Michael (Scorpions, UFO, MSG) and Rudolf (Scorps) Schenker too. Now if you're truly rock 'n' roll "old school," you'll trade two or three Yngwies for one Michael Schenker and a Rudolf guitar pick. Crap. Now I'm thinking Scorpions, which means after I consider how great Graham, Ronnie James, Michael, Rudolf and yes, even Yngwie are and how they've held up over time, I gotta get back to the drawing board about those plans to get Klaus Meine to Raleigh/Durham for a live interview. :)

Sequel idea to "Tommy Lee Goes to College"-- I call it "Udo Dirkschneider (Accept) Goes To College And Leaves Every Building On Campus A Smoldering Wreck Through Random Acts of Violence." Watch the Damned... God Bless Ya!

And yes, this is how free-form thinking turns dangerous and results in no sleep (laugh). Graham, this one's for you. Thanks for being such an important part of rock 'n' roll and my life. And PLANET ZEB! :)

'Til the November 1st update... cheers, y'all!

Zeb

October 1st's news and notes...

2005-10-01T20:45:00.000-04:00

After some more great feedback in the PZ home page's Listener Poll, I've gone ahead and reworked the home page a little bit... seems that the Top 10 Tracks and Geo Statistics features continue to be far and away the most popular resources on the site, with Listener Comments bringing up the rear in the top 3! So, since all of these things already had their own buttons in the menu bar at the top of the page, I left 'em there for all to see (and reworked the Top 10 Tracks screen a little bit, too... you can now see the Top 30 Audience Exposure tracks with the link at the top of that page, compliments of our new affiliation with RadioWave Monitor). Station News is now... well... here, in the blog! This will doubtless make it easier for the folks who like to mouse-scroll up and down pages, since the old "news" window did indeed take up a lot of the middle part of the screen.

Updated feature pages are being posted this weekend; in fact, the newest Top 10 Tracks page is now available! Geo Statistics for 2nd-half September are coming soon behind it. I hope, if you're a regular visitor to the home page, that you find these changes useful and that they enhance your enjoyment of the PZ station website. As always, if you have any additional feedback that our poll doesn't, somehow, give you the chance to leave, all you have to do is email me and tell me what's on your mind-- love something, hate something, good idea to improve something... doesn't matter to me... I just want to hear how PLANET ZEB! is doing its job: making your life a little nicer through some great hits and rock classics. :)

If you'd like to leave a comment that you want posted to the blog, by the way, please say so in the email. I've turned off responses in the blog so as to foil the scummy SPAMming brigade whose lives really are so devoid of any actual meaning, significance or accomplishment that they have to go around trying to annoy others to prove to their mommies that they aren't as insignificant as their parents, schoolmates and co-workers have known they are for ages. ;)

Cheers!

Z

September Updates Are Here!

2005-09-14T08:38:00.000-04:00

Hi y'all....

After a small delay in late August caused by the end-of-summer and beginning-of-Fall rush, the home page's Geo Statistics and Top 10 Tracks have been updated for first-half September 2005!!! Check 'em out while you're on the home page. These two features will very definitely be sticking around on the redesigned PLANET ZEB! home page based on their popularity in the current Listener Poll... which reminds me to note that if you haven't yet voted in that survey, please do so now! And keep an eye out for the new site later this Fall!!!

PLANET ZEB! continues to draw new listeners from a myriad of countries, US states and US cities with every passing month, as well as retain its faithful friends who've been listening for some time. I'm humbled and honored by the support, and THANK YOU for your continued interest in the station! As internet radio begins to mature, it's simply amazing how routine and bland it can seem to get at times-- just like broadcast radio-- with everyone and his or her brother slapping a few tracks on a streaming service and giving it a go. Broadcast radio is now copying formats like PLANET ZEB!'s (e.g. the "JACK FM" phenom, which I suspect won't be a phenom for long) and doing what they do so well.... prostituting it with a ton of ill-advised formatting artifacts to make it seem soulless and profitable (particularly the latter). Even over in the Live365 Community message boards, from which I recently joyously escaped duties as a moderator (its longest-serving, in fact... I was one of the service's original message area mods beginning in early 2001), I'm amazed at how petty, backbiting and hair-trigger-nasty a lot of broadcasters are getting with each other because they DON'T have one useful thing that (ironically) commercial radio stations generally DO have.... the business-minded objectivity of neutral detachment toward other broadcast entities. As such, EVERYTHING becomes "personal".... EVERYTHING has to be a struggle... and ALMOST everything has to be self-promotional in some way except for the posts of a handful of longer-term stalwarts who remember the good ole days when we could celebrate personal achievements together without constantly trying to sell our streams to other broadcasters (who, it's probably safe to say, have a vested interest in remaining a primary listener of their OWN station!).

Through all of this, many PLANET ZEB! listeners have continued to bombard the station's email box with some very heartfelt, personal, friendly and supportive emails regarding their enjoyment of the music and the station's presence. And it's every single one of those kinds of great communiques that keep me safe in the knowledge that PZ is still doing what it was intended to do.

Which is, in turn, nothing more than to strip all unnecessary artifact from some great music from the Golden Age of contemporary rock 'n' roll... and arrange it and play it to make people happy and keep them excited. And maybe bring back a nice memory or three along the way. :)

Thanks again for the feedback! Keep it coming, and I'll write again soon. To my friends, family and co-citizens of South Louisiana (I was raised in Baton Rouge).... courage. When you can't seem to shake thoughts of the few powerful who have deserted you, please remember the multitude of less powerful who refuse to do so now and into the future. Strength in numbers, cher!

Zebby

2005-08-20T09:50:00.000-04:00

Well, now that I realize the ole station blog is actually attracting folks and is getting some good feedback in listener polls, I also realized I hadn't provided a new entry for it in a long, long time (laugh). It's been a really busy summer, and most of what's been keeping me busy is good... so I won't complain about it for now. It also hasn't gotten in the way of regular playlist updates and additions to the PLANET ZEB! library, so that's good too. All of a sudden, however, I realized that it'd been a month-and-some-odd since the last blog entry-- so I needed to come back and write a quick update! So here're the station-related things most highly ranked as important to talk about in my mind at this juncture:

1. As a result of useful listener feedback, I think the planetzeb.net website will be undergoing some more changes soon; the "News" feature will be cut back, and two-way discussion will be emphasized via this blog. If you'd like to join the chat, please get a blogger username and post away! I recently got a nice comment on the last post about PZ's playing Slade, for example, and it was nice to receive the compliment.

2. The costs of running the station are going up and contributions are DOWN... so for as much as I'd rather just be a music-playing kinda guy, I'm going to have to concentrate on emphasizing contributions and monthly goals soon; seriously, I have three options at this point: (1) sell PZ to an interested corporate entity, which'll probably dramatically alter the format, (2) get more in the way of contributions to help me pay the atrocious monthly bills around this place, or (3) shut down completely and walk away happy, at least, at the time I had on the air. I dunno which one will wind up happening just quite YET... but for those who find $$$ contribution campaigns distasteful, I would point out that the alternative is simply to have NO STATION! Apologies in advance.

3. More English stuff in the library! I added some Jamilia, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, and a few other British chart tidbits to the playlist the other day. Just another way I try to keep the station diverse and entertaining; the emphasis, of course, will remain on US hits and classic rock from global rock acts... but every so often it's fun to add a few foreign charters that didn't do anything in the States, just to expose the act to a new audience. Besides, I might as well exploit the family connections in the UK as much as I can with respect to picking brains for "great, fun song" ideas for the PZ library!!!

4. Email or leave a blog comment soon! I still love getting any and all feedback from listeners... and that's a result of how much fun it quickly became, back in PZ's "megagrowth period" in 2001-02, to hear from folks all over the world and get their thoughts, opinions, questions, etc. What a great way to make friends and have a nice chat! So don't be shy about telling me what's on your mind, and I hope it's a compliment! That's all for now; gotta run and try to get all of the website features updated, since it's mid-August and they're still on July (laugh). I TOLD you it was a busy summer. :)

Thanks for the support, y'all!!!!

A Brief But Heartfelt Note of Thanks and Credit

2005-07-07T10:04:00.000-04:00

As I continue remastering all of the audio content for the station to take advantage of its new 64 K MP3Pro bitrate, which is now thankfully showing signs of being almost completely done, I am reminded of the many different personalities, friends, supporters and colleagues who've contributed in material ways over the years to what PLANET ZEB! has become... and what I think it stands for, in a sense.... a cooperative venture among some very talented radio professionals and some very classy, enjoyable listeners to make a magnificent period in American rock/pop music live again in full glory!

I've said, and continue to say, my thanks to loyal listeners on the station website at www.planetzeb.net, because they're a daily reminder of why I always found radio so much fun; it's an opportunity to surround one's self with great music, and simultaneously to share that music with like-minded friends and build a sense of community around shared experiences and emotions. But here's what I was reminded to note while remastering some of my on-air liners the other day: I'm a very lucky guy, because I have some fantastic friends who've contributed their vocal talents and other professional skills to build upon PLANET ZEB!'s on-air presence! I don't mention them often because I figure they have a right to privacy and peace of mind after cutting liners and/or other production for the station. But here's my brief tribute to them all the same, because THEY are as much the voice and spirit of PLANET ZEB! as me or any listener:

Don-- a friend from WIBR and KAJUN 103 FM in Baton Rouge, and a truly, magnificently brilliant production talent and "power radio" production voice. In fact, you'll probably also hear Don's voice on some regional and/or national radio and TV campaigns at some point in your life; he now runs his own successful production studio in Baton Rouge. We used to come up with some of the funniest damned dialogues and/or jokes at WIBR when we were on the air together, and it was all spontaneous; were I the kind of announcer who worked my best in a team (I'm not), I would have easily picked Don as a sidekick and partner among the names at the top of my list. Well, except for one thing. I sense that he much prefers production to on-air announcing. :)

Kevin-- before WIBR, there was KAJUN 103 FM (the first time I worked there). And Kevin, now a broadcast engineer who still does ripper production in KY, was my first-- and probably, in the end, my only reliable-- friend there. I am naturally attracted to people with very bizarre senses of humor and open-minded approaches to thinking through problems or on-air campaigns. I have yet to find someone who combines these qualities any more naturally than he does. He's the "newest voice" to PLANET ZEB!, and I'm thrilled to have his vocal talents on the air!!

Frank-- I could spend six pages of this blog telling you all the funny radio stories I've collected (or lived) over the years that have involved Frank, beginning back when I met him at WQXY-FM in 1980-81. In fact, technically he HIRED me for my VERY FIRST EVER "professional" radio gig at "the Q." I'll spare you those stories for now, except to note that no one got arrested, and they were almost ALL better than some of the funniest WKRP in Cincinnati episodes that ever aired. Frank is now a TV engineer-- like Kevin, I think he very much enjoys the wires and diodes of radio moreso than the announcing, presenting and production-- but Frank was actually the FIRST non-Zebby voice ever to grace the airwaves at PLANET ZEB! He kindly provided his talents to a "liner reel" I asked him to do waaay back in late 2000 and early '01.... and they've been on the air ever since.

Jennifer-- I adore this woman, if not for the fact that she has one of the strangest senses of humor I've ever come across, then for the fact that she is the best "professional radio" non-professional I've ever known. She has been a dear friend for many years, and while at WIBR, I got her to create a "Fawn" character voice that quickly became a popular favorite in some of my drop-ins. After that, I started bringing her into the studio on a few occasions to do live shows with me.... and dammit if she didn't make those shows more entertaining than I could. She never worked professionally in radio, since her interests when I first knew her were in drama and theatre (and makeup, right, Jen?!). The little black cockles of my heart are warmed by having re-established contact with her a year or so ago, and finding out that she was healthy, happy and enjoying her new life with husband, dog and new baby in the United Kingdom! She was very kind to embrace my request enthusiastically to "reincarnate" Fawn in the way of liners for PLANET ZEB! So when you hear that irresistably ditzy giggle and sing-songy Valley voice on any of the liners, you know that Fawn strikes again... compliments of Jen. :)

Alan-- speaking of England, the male English voice you hear on PLANET ZEB! is, in fact, actually English. It's also, along with Frank's, one of the earliest non-Zebby voices to have appeared on the station. Alan is a part-time radio and full-time bingo announcer/entertainer in the north of England; he has also been the UK's Bingo Caller of the Year, and has risen to national prominence with a national parlor/club chain and in certain advertising and promotional materials (including computer software!) there because of his fantastic voice, outstanding diction and (yet again) bizarre sense of humor (pardon me-- humour)!! Long story about how I met him, but I will always relish his friendship and colleagueship. And the liners he cut and emailed to me which still today grace the airwaves at PLANET ZEB!

From time to time, I also find other material to put on-air... the invitation has been standing for some time now for listeners to record their own announcements, testimonials, etc. and email them to me! Variety is the spice of life, after all! But in the meantime, here are five talented and wonderful people who've become, collectively, the voice of PLANET ZEB! And while remastering those liners the other day, I realized that the chance to thank them yet again for their generosity and support was long, long overdue. :)

Live365 Green Room Visitors, Beware....

2005-06-19T15:55:00.000-04:00

I just hadda drop a quick message in the blog regarding one of my recent (and fortunately brief and sparse... see last entry) visits into the Live365.com Community's Green Room (forums.live365.com-- obviously, the IT people there, like most of the community's usership, have no appreciation for Latin). This has been the 2nd visit in the last, oh, two weeks, and it's also the second time in as many visits I've seen some really crappy pseudo-legal advice being passed off by one or more of the pseud0-know-it-alls who occupy the Green Room and try to convince people they know what the hell they're talking about.

WARNING: if you are a Live365 broadcaster and are in need of legal advice regarding your station, you should not be asking it in the Green Room, where you're likely to get five people respond who will ALL give you very, very dangerous opinions and pass them off as authoritative information. You should instead do one of two things very, very quickly:

(A) email Live365.com's legal department and make an official inquiry of them. Not only is it their service and therefore their rules which govern, but if they give you wrong advice, at least you can plead "substantial reliance" and implead them as a responsible third party when someone sues your pants off because you did something in violation of the DMCA, patently stupid, or both. Or...

(B) contact your own legal counsel, licensed to practice law in your own state or other jurisdiction, and preferably it'll be someone with some Intellectual Property, internet or new media or other similar practice experience. Ask them if you can do what you want to do. Better to get an answer out of someone who's actually gone to law school and knows how to read both statute and case law than it is to place the well-being of your station (and potentially every penny you have as a private individual) in the hands of respondents in a chat room who tell you patently wrong things. And worse still, who leave a printed record of their advice regarding how to try to "skirt the law" for anyone-- including RIAA or SoundExchange counsel-- to come along and print any time they darned well please. :)

OK, so WHY didn't I put this information in the Live365 Green Room itself? I contemplated it.... but if you read my earlier message, you know that I've been a much, much happier puppy of late not having to deal with the waves of uncontrollable grief that place perpetually produces (I was beginning to feel like Marvin the Robot from Hitchhiker's Guide, in fact!). If I posted what I would have intended as a helpful bit of advice in there, there'd be 12 responses the very next day-- mostly from the pseudo-know-it-alls who have to try to legitimize themselves as the "big, experienced long-timers" in the forum so as to impress the newer broadcasters-- telling me that I was trying to scare people, or that "law X" was clearly unconstitutional, or that it's clear according to THEM that intentional skirting of relevant federal copyright law is perfectly OK as long as it "seems" random (and, as noted supra, this argument would be in writing...chuckle).

So better to put it here for anyone who actually WANTS to stay safe and legal-- or who at the least prefers more reliable, realistic "it's a toss-up" advice to the certainty of a quick, clear, simple and probably WRONG two-word answer-- and in addition, I don't have to let any of the folks who really get on my nerves with their two-word answers argue the toss over here and confuse those in search of information any more than they already have. :)

Happy rest-of-the-weekend!

Zeb

Wow... it's been a while....

2005-06-04T13:35:00.000-04:00

Well, so I don't get to update the blog as much as I thought I originally might. Here's an update! Actually, not much to say this go-'round; I've been horribly busy re-ripping what'll wind up being a total of about 4000 songs in the station's NEW MP3Pro format. But the new library continues to grow by the week! Hang in there, and for the latest station news, please remember to drop by www.planetzeb.net -- that's where the details are posted regularly.

Next submission: it'll probably be something about how life is more bearable concentrating on the music, the station and the loyal listeners of the station than when I used to spend inordinate amounts of time in the Live365 message boards dealing with a host of sociopathic numbskulls (among a few reasonable, intelligent and truly likeable folks). I think I finally got this whole "e-message computer groups chat board" stuff figured out. It works best when.... you use it sparingly or not at all. :)

'Til next time... cheers!

Z

Hey... you... yeah, you... news networks across America....

2005-05-02T22:35:00.000-04:00

Dear NBC News, ABC News, CBS News and ESPECIALLY CNN and FOX:

Guys, look-- people are dying in Afghanistan... Iraq... elsewhere.... North Korea and Iran appear to have the bomb, suggesting that they were the ones we should have worried a little more about all along.... we have a Secretary of State who's perpetually had her head up her ass, even when she was an alleged academic at Stanford.... there's starvation, disease, flooding, illiteracy, religious strife, breakthroughs in medicine to report, etc., etc.... so PLEASE....

NO MORE FUCKIN' STORIES ON THE LAME-ASSED "RUNAWAY BRIDE" CRAP!! NO ONE CARES, DESPITE YOUR BEST ATTEMPTS TO KEEP RAMMING IT DOWN OUR THROATS BECAUSE YOU NO LONGER PAY REASONABLE MONEY FOR ANYTHING RESEMBLING JOURNALISTS!

(ahem)... thank you for your attention to my request. The medication has kicked in now, and life seems better somehow. I am the new Number Two. You are Number Six. :)

Z

May First- it's HERE!

2005-05-01T07:26:00.000-04:00

Weeeelll there ya go, Zebbites... at 6:01 am EDT this morning, I did something I've only had to do a couple of times in the past five years... I purposefully took PLANET ZEB! *off* the air. But the outage only lasted approximately four minutes, until at 6:05 am it went back ON THE AIR... in its new 64K, 44 kHz MP3Pro streaming bitrate, up from its old one of 56K, 22 kHz!!!! :)

The verdict so far? I've listened with both MP3Pro Encoder-enabled players and non-MP3Pro-capable players. The stream sounds better to both sets of listeners, which is the reason I'm glad I did my homework before I decided to make this switch. NO ONE suffers... EVERYONE benefits... and if you're a Live365 VIP subscriber (see "ad-free!" link on the planetzeb.net home page), you get a FREE Radio365 player (which is now the way I listen here) AND the stream is ad-free.... AND you get the crisper, nicer high-ranges of the new MP3Pro encoding in their full stereo glory!!!

By the way, if you prefer Winamp, search the web for "Thomson MP3Pro decoder for Winamp." It'll allow you to go from 64K 22kHz listening to full 64K 44 kHz listening, which makes quite a difference!

I hope you enjoy the NEW Planet Zeb!... hopefully, every single one of the much-appreciated family of listeners around the world will benefit from the change and enjoy it! But let me know if you run into problems, issues, etc. by using the "feedback" link at the station website. I'll get back to you ASAP if you need help enjoying this brand-spankin'-new benefit of Zebbism. :)

Cheers! And happy May Day! And all that rot!

Z

It's coming... Sunday, May 1, 2005.....

2005-04-25T15:15:00.000-04:00

Well I can't tell you exactly WHAT'S coming... that'd ruin the surprise, wouldn't it? :)

Exciting things are happening at PLANET ZEB! though.... a few will soon be known, and a few will still require some thinking, planning, behind-the-scenes negotiation and probably outright bribery and/or washing a few cars somewhere (laugh).

Stay tuned to www.planetzeb.net for all the details, and/or check in on the latest blog entries for all the gory details! And if you've discovered this blog and want to join in on the chat, feel free!!!

Z

Yeah, WE know "Jack" (FM)...

2005-04-18T10:49:00.000-04:00

Here's a re-post of a news item from the planetzeb.net news for April, 2005. I was getting so many questions about the whole thing that I figured it was time to break the silence and go on record with a single, simple statement that sums up the alleged "new craze" in rock/pop broadcast radio formatting. My apologies if you've seen this before. :)

Popular-question-to-PLANET ZEB!-time, team! And here it is.... "hey! Love your station, but did you know there's an FM music station in my area that calls itself "Jack" that's trying to sound like you?" Answer: yeah, we know about the "Jack FM" format.... and we're not particularly impressed for a number of reasons:

(1) we've been doing that type of format for ages-- in fact, what you hear on PLANET ZEB! is actually a carefully-thought-out rock/pop "hybrid" format, reminiscent of "loose FM radio" of the late 1970s, that a friend of mine and I created and implemented back at WLCS AM 910, Baton Rouge LA, in 1984-- and while both broadcast and early internet radio stations wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole (or an 8-foot norwegian... rimshot), around here we were convinced early on that it offered exactly the type of variety and excitement that radio aficianados desperately wanted back in their listening experience... and we've been doing it day in and day out for YOU since early 2000!!!

(2) The "Jack" concept has only been around for about a year-and-some-odd, interestingly after a flurry of planetzeb.net / planetzeb.com website hits from various radio stations, corporate radio group HQs and a few well-known radio consultancies which began back in the Summer of '02 and continued for about a year thereafter! We're not saying anyone "stole" our format-- that's a tough legal nut to crack. But we thought the circumstantial evidence was curious... particularly as the site hits began to climb from the aforementioned sources during our massive upswing in listening hours a year and a half ago! But let's just say that if PLANET ZEB!'s great success, thanks to you, WAS ripped off by anyone, we're proud of the fact that collectively, the station and its much-appreciated-listeners around the world fired a successful warning shot across commercial radio's bow by teaching them a new set of formatting rules to replace that "over-specialization, niche genre" BS which has been the paradigm in broadcast radio consulting for the past two decades. I've never subscribed to it, and never will.

(3) Leave it to corporate radio to take a good thing and screw it up: "Jack FM" has been so initially popular in the markets in which it's been tried in Canada and the U.S., the consultant who now owns the rights to the "name/concept/franchise" is helping them pop up all over North America. So now.... completely blinded to what makes stations of PLANET ZEB!'s ilk unique (namely, a personally-owned-and-groomed sui generis kind of station that actually cares enough about its listeners to maintain its uniqueness)... these guys are cloning "Jacks" at an unprecedent rate. In so doing, they're helping destroy their own alleged creation by watering it down into some kind of identity-less blob that you can hear any time, anywhere, same level of predictability. Blah.

(4) Now here's the kicker (man, if only Infinity had listened to ME instead of the "Jack consultants" before they bought into the crappy positioning)-- if you're familiar with the "Jack clone" format in your own market, you've also doubtless heard their wonderful slogan-- "playing what we want." HAAAAHHH! I suppose someone thought it was a great "up yours" kind of positioning statement, and it does sound quite a great deal like a few of the "joke" liners we've been playing for the last three years (from my nutty friend Frank) which say "it's EVERYTHING Zebby wants...." (hmm! Maybe I DO have an intellectual property infringement case after all!). Here's the difference-- with us, it's a joke which has been well-received by the folks who've emailed in to share a laugh with us over it (our tag line: "... except for various pills, booze, a winning lottery ticket and a hooker"). With "Jack," it's allegedly an attitude, which raises this question in my mind... do you guys really expect to ATTRACT and KEEP the "target demographic" that likes this kind of variety in their radio station by insinuating to them that your station is "private," and that you don't give a rat's ass about giving them any input whatsoever? PLANET ZEB! has always prided itself on making sure listeners knew that they had as much of a stake-- and as much control-- over what got on the air as I did. "Playing what we want".... well... go right ahead with the testosterone overdose, guys. Hey-- why don't you smack a couple of puppies or hamsters across the head while you're at it if you're feeling so macho?!!!

So in the end, we're happy to let the multi-market-corporate-controlled "Jacks" of the world do as they please; they basically piggybacked onto what PLANET ZEB! has been doing for years and are now trying to sell it in a store-brand kind of label that's the same from chain to chain. And that, in the end, is why I'm convinced they'll belly-flop after perhaps the "novelty" of the format has worn off (we figure they have one thing right: listeners are so tired of the "narrow genre" approach to radio that they can't take it any more). In the meantime, YOU'RE in the right place to hear where the whole ball of wax started, right here on your computer. My programming and consulting philosophy has always been emphasis on "down home" radio, where people know they can come... listen... enjoy... and not be bothered by spam, overhyped but poor "jock personalities" or any of the other mess that multi-market-concept-format flavors of the day seem to create. And by the way, it's the same story now as it was when PLANET ZEB! started back in 2000.... we're playing what YOU want.... the music YOU remember, on the station that NEVER forgot!!!

This page cannot be displayed....

2005-03-28T10:47:00.000-05:00

AAARRGGGHHH! Well, I had a nice, long, rambling set of thoughts about the current Live365 "Best of" Awards all ready to go... but guess who didn't "copy" all text before hitting the "publish" button, only to find that his browser displayed one of those annoying "this page cannot be displayed" pages and the blogger lost EVERY friggin' word of what I wasted an hour writing? :(

I'll have more to say at some point in the near future. For now, I just wanted to note that I really DID have something to add to my log entries today-- but technology once again intervened to ruin it.

Z

The valence-oriented pap that is US news reporting...

2005-03-24T08:28:00.000-05:00

Just a quick entry to note that it struck me again last night, while trying to get the day's news from a reliable source, how truly BAD American network and major cable outlet news reporting has become. Edward R. Murrow is turning over in his grave. What used to be a magnificent public service which created some of the finest news organizations in the world has given way to entertainment-oriented news directors (or pressure on NDs from entertainment-oriented executives) who believe that everyone in the country just wants to "feel good" when they hear news reports-- which admittedly with limited exception-- even at the height of US news networks' glory-- has always been somewhat ethnocentric in its coverage. So what do we get today? Human interest "features"-- and lots of them-- which tell a wonderfully weepy story of tragedy and triumph, or feature yet another dumb 3-year-old who fell down a well because his white trash parents didn't keep an eye on him when they should have, or some allegedly "deep philosophical debate" over the Schiavo case in which the "philosophers" are partisan political hacks who come into the discussion with a specific agenda (my brother has a great resolution to the Schiavo case, by the way, given that she's in Florida, though Texas works just as well-- put a gun in her hand, fire it at one of the nurses, and Terri would be picked up by state authorities, tried and sentenced to lethal injection before the jury even got their seats warm).

The biggest disappointment in all of this "anti-news" or "entertainment news" garbage (lots of stories lately on the launch of Britney Spears' new perfume, even while thousands continue to die elsewhere around the world of starvation or civil war, and new dramas unfold every day in the U.S. of the sick "working poor" who have to choose between being non-compliant with needed medications or quitting their job to get on welfare to get the drugs) is Cable News Network and its bastard stepchild, Headline News. The latter, unconvinced that the word "News" in their name requires them to provide any of it whatsoever, has recently gone to this "PrimeSomething" format which basically means that after 6 pm in the evening, you can forget any hopes of getting serious information. You can, however, hear an increasingly whiny Nancy Grace spout her latest day's rubbish grumpily toward whatever guests are stupid enough to accept the invitation to appear on her show. I don't know where Nancy got her law degree offhand, but wherever it is, they owe her a refund.

This was part of the danger of Turner Networks selling the CNN franchise to Time-Warner, and we should have seen it coming. Entertainment.... sports.... all valence fluff that keeps the public from learning what governments are up to, and/or information designed to make us think about the situation ANYWHERE else in the world. And it marks a very sad turning point in the once-proud history of U.S. journalism.

Fortunately, there's an alternative option-- and I wish more cable systems across the country (and PBS) would take their "serious news" obligations more seriously and provide it to more subscribers or viewers with all deliberate speed. The BBC... yep, the British Broadcasting Corporation... continues fulfilling its weighty reputation as the finest broadcast news operation in the world. Some PBS stations run BBC World News once or twice a day, and BBC America (a cable network now available on many systems) also features it regularly throughout the day. I only wish that BBC had a "Headline News" service-- repeating major stories every hour, for example, 24 hours a day-- that more cable systems could take advantage of showing in the States. Sure, you won't find the same gussied-up pretty faces or laughing, joking, hyper-conversational anchor teams as on American news broadcasts-- but that, to me, is one of the Beeb's great strengths. They treat news AS NEWS... and realize that someone simply has to be semi-intelligent and articulate to provide it; it doesn't matter if they aren't particularly pretty or have a forty-syllable name from their family's days as part of the British Raj.

More considerably, one always gets a FULL smorgasbord of news which is truly from all over the world-- and it is information which is always timely, relevant and policy-oriented. Ironically, I've come to believe that BBC News even offers better coverage of major US news better than the US networks (including that sad excuse for an E!-wannabe, CNN/Headline News). We are truly the world's leader in out-sourcing stuff that we used to be the best in the world at providing.... and now, we've even out-sourced our traditional strength in giving a shit that our citizens are well-informed about the nation and the world around them.

So thank you, BBC, for coming through and filling the large and growing void of news needs for an increasing number of Americans (including this one) who really don't care which Hollywood couple has decided to separate this week. Now if only the American networks would take a page out of your book and rededicate themselves to the notion that broadcasting has a certain civic responsibility to educating and informing the public that goes beyond the trendy-hip-idea-of-the-day that seeing people engage in vacuous and vapid argument (I dare not call it "debate") somehow qualifies as something that will do them any good whatsoever.

What does this have to do with radio, or even internet radio for that matter? Well, not much of anything directly, I suppose, since PLANET ZEB! is admittedly an entertainment-and-not-news-oriented resource. I think this entry just comes from a very personal place in my historical soul that thinks broadcasting as a medium (both radio AND TV) once was so special... so remarkable... so brilliant.... and these feelings weren't solely a result of the technological breakthroughs we witnessed in the 60s, 70s and 80s. They were also engendered by a true appreciation for the communicative power of the medium. We have somehow lost that appreciation, and with it the quality news gathering and reporting which was its hallmark.

I hope to hell we rediscover it soon. For ALL our sakes. In the meantime, you'll find me watching BBC World News religiously, even when it means sitting through 120 seconds' worth of cricket scores to get to a recap of the day's major stories.

Z

Neat stuff I remembered this afternoon....

2005-03-21T18:04:00.000-05:00

Hey! I just realized that PLANET ZEB!'s fifth birthday is coming up April 1, 2005! Quick update of home page with new information, as well as some cool-looking new buttons (including a new link to this blog). Also, my good friend Kit from California emailed to compliment this afternoon's music selection.... particularly the Supertramp and the cut "That's the Way That It Is" from Uriah Heep's early 1980s album Abominog. Yeah, I know it wasn't the original 60s/70s Heep lineup, but I've always liked Peter Goalsby's vocals, and that album was solid allll the way through-- used to drop what I was doing and watch the song's video when it came on MTV (you know, the OLD MTV that actually used to play music videos and everything).

Beginning with this message, by the way, all new posts will include an "allow comments" option-- so if you have anything to say in response, you can now do so. Otherwise, I shall continue to ramble to an infinite and empty cyberspace dominion as time permits. This "blogging" stuff, despite the stupid name, is kinda fun. :)

Z

Welcome to the...errr... station "blog".....

2005-03-21T07:45:00.000-05:00

Howdy peeps! Well, this is something of an experiment, and only time will tell if it's feasible to continue over time... but it seems like fun for now, and who knows? It may wind up facilitating communication between audience and station (in particular, me, because I'm a busybody who likes to ramble incessantly about various things and then hear directly from listeners about both my programming and my rambling...grin), and that's a good thing. :)

I should note the following for the record: (1) My name is Zebby. (2) I operate an internet radio station, PLANET ZEB!, at Live365, the world's largest network of independent internet radio stations and a pretty cool place to be. (3) PLANET ZEB! started as a little "private" stream back in April, 2000, to entertain myself and a few of my wayward ole radio pals from our days as announcers and programming staff in U.S. broadcast radio throughout the 80s and 90s, but quickly grew in popularity with an 80s-based AOR/CHR (album oriented rock/contemporary hit radio) hybrid format that a friend of mine and I developed for the old WLCS-AM of Baton Rouge Louisiana (where I grew up). I was truly amazed at how quickly the station grew an audience.... it underscored, to me, how pathetic contemporary commercial radio had become with its ever-tighter genre restrictions, playlists and record company big-money marketing! (4) The station (which I refer to as PZ for short) is now #2 overall at Live365, and regularly gets about a quarter of a million listening hours per month from well over 150 countries.

Among other things I should note is that I'm much more of a radio person than a computer guy; for example, I've never believed I was The Artist Formerly Known As Prince and spelled the word "you" as "U." It also took me a hell of a long time to figure out what a "blog" was until I read it in a computer magazine somewhere; it strikes me as a particularly stupid word for a particularly neat and innovative concept-- the online diary! But alas, when in Rome.... so OK, "blog" it is, with apologies to the Queen's English (and to the Queen herself, for that matter, who, I am reasonably sure, will never have a "blog." Or at least she won't call it that. But I'd love to hear what she has to say about Camilla on a raging drunk one night if she ever created one).

Another thing you should know is that I wound up here at blogger.com as the result of having called to my attention a very nice comment from a fellow blogger, who said great things about PZ-- you can find "Scotland" here. He's the reason this blog is here! I had to create an account to post a reply, thanking him, and mom always raised me to let people know when I appreciated their efforts on my behalf. So suddenly, I was a member of the "blog" community. :)

So here we go-- I'll try to post updates, entries, replies to comments, etc. on a regular basis... and with the exception of this introductory message, all entries will allow new comments from any comers who wish to grace the forum with their thoughts, good, bad, indifferent, etc. Thanks for bearing with my learning curve as I become a "blogger." Hmmm... I wonder if I qualify for the t-shirt now..... :)

Cheers!!!

Z