Today FM Megathread Mod warning post #1 / #1401

Aahhhh, Dave!!

Some thoughts on Today FM, and I'm kinda attempting to address what I've read over the past few pages here:

1. The playlist is infuriatingly repetitive. 
   1. Certain songs come up so often that you'd swear they were the best thing since sliced bread back in their time. "Shorty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low" needs to get lost, lost, lost, etc for a while. Also (and this goes for every station that limits its playlist to the previous 20-ish years), there's absolutely nothing wrong with throwing in the occasional oldie every five or six songs. When's the last time Wuthering Heights or Vienna got played on Today FM? I don't think the Gen Zs (if they even listen; maybe Millennials instead) will suddenly turn off their radios just because one of Barry White's smooth spoken intros suddenly comes on. In fact they should make it into a feature where they play a classic from ages ago that a lot of people mightn't have heard in ages if at all.
   2. Who chooses the playlist anyway? Yes, it's safe, that much is true. Seventeen Going Under was a massive hit in the second half of 2021 before finally getting played in January 2022 (and ironically being a question several times on Fergal Darcy's Grand National). Do record companies pay the station to keep their songs on the playlist? I think DJs should have a bit of leeway into what gets played, even if it's just the last couple of songs on their show when their shift is nearly done and someone new is about to take over anyway.
2. Dempsey's show is grand. He sounds natural and he's been doing it now for decades. Waffle is a decent quiz, it's the luck of the draw what you get and it's worth a listen.
3. It's true that Dermot & Dave worked so well cos they were able to bounce off each other. It was natural I thought and they just had the craic. Dermot's now gone but I don't care that Dave overuses "legend" or "unbelievable", maybe I've unwittingly grown used to it. Also, I don't care about the guest announcer one way or another, although I probably should just to prove I'm not a psychopath. Not sure what it brings to the table however.
4. Music Master is a great quiz. I admit it goes on for ages but maybe that's a simple ploy to keep you listening. It would probably be better if they took caller 2 immediately after caller 1 finishes, although maybe for the length of time #1 is on the phone, they don't want #2 hanging on waiting, so they do #1, and then ring #2 while a song is on. And I appreciate they have to make their money, hence the ad break. But I love the quiz itself, the question are a huge range of genres and eras, and at least the bonus rounds are something different each time. I doubt though that someone like Mimi Webb deserves a place as an answer to the final round. But I love a good quiz, particularly an epic one, and I listen or listen back to this one always.
5. Nothing against Pamela Joyce. Truth be told, I don't listen to her, so I don't know if she has any good pieces in her show. Poll dance, meh, just play both songs. But she's intelligent and a Gaeilgeoir; therefore everything bad that everyone else has to say about her is wrong. The end.
6. Ed Smith's old 8-10 show (National Anthems, I believe) was musically the best show on the station. It would seem he was in charge of the playlist. There was a mix of the better of the usual playlist songs and the indie/rock bangers from all eras, plus his throwback thing where he'd pick a year and play great music from that year, and you could message in your requests. There was variety in it. Sadly after Paul McCloone left and Ed got pushed to 10-12, although the music is still great, the playlist seems less, I dunno, personally curated? Yep, there's that word again.
7. Ray Foley can be a pain. But there's good in his too. God it's late and I can't think to hell you what though and I don't care.
8. Matt Cooper's The Last Word is grand, it is what it is. It's good that it's not a painting-by-numbers copy of, say, RTE Radio 1's Drivetime and had bits like The Culture Club in it, plus the regular Marian McKeown vs Cal Thomas bit which I enjoy whenever I hear it.
9. Irish: Anyone who hates to hear a bit of their ancestors' language on the radio in the country where it's still spoken can burn their passport. Tá tír dheas gar dúinn, b'fhéidir gur cheart duit bogadh ansin agus bheith i do shaoránach. Sasana an t'ainm uirthi, agus níl ach Béarla le cloisteáil i do thír dhúchais nua.

I never hear JVMM on daytime radio.

I know, but the only station I can say I've ever heard him on during the day was TXFM (RIP)

Nooo, Pamela Joyce! I dunno anything about the other two ladies.

Would that band happen to have members from Skerries, Mayo, Monaghan and, erm, Madrid?

What band is it