Funny! Actually funny. Attitude without being snide or smug.

Good job, Ms. Williams and editors!

Thanks for a story about:

a) something new I wasn't aware of

b) a topic I would've thought I was uninterested in

c) prose that was clever at times, funny at time, both at times

d) a three minute read to help entertain and engage me during a stressful day

All in all, exactly the reason Salon exists.

At first I was happy to hear an old song on Jack that I seldom hear on other stations. Then I noticed that I'd heard it 3 times in a week! So I agree that Jack's playlist must be well shy of an ipod, because I don't even listen to the radio that much.

I would like to take this opportunity, however, to complain about the lousy radio choices in Los Angeles. We have rap on tap at 105.9 and 102.7, but where is the hit station? 98.7 plays a new song once in awhile, but where's the station that will reliably play the "new" songs?

The Clear Channel station in Denver (Alice?) plays more current songs than the stations out here. Will I ever hear Madonna's new song? Isn't this supposed to be the heart of the entertainment industry?

I don't get it.

How wonderful for you that you have the opportunity to write and publish such a shallow article about your love of just one of the stupid, crappy corporate-owned radio stations and try to make it seem so romantic and like every woman in her 30's should just fall over for this kind of stupid bullsh*t kind of station. Lady, I'm in my 40's and I love alternative rock - new, great alternative rock that is out there but not played on any single one of the commercial radio stations. I'm not stuck in the 70's, 80's or any other decade. I've hardly listened to the radio since, oh, around 1997 when all the stations were bought out by corporations who don't give a shit about music - just the bottom line. Get a life.

>>it broadcasts totally commercial free>>

How is this possible? How do they get revenue to pay the expenses of broadcast? Something not adding up.

Nonprofit stations are going ape trying to raise enough money to pay broadcasting costs.

I too loved Jack at first. I'm a runner and tend to listen to the radio when I run. In NYC, the pop radio options in the morning focus more on DJ personalities than music. So I turned to Jack, and despite his evil corporate undertones, grew to love him. And I listened almost daily.

Then, I noticed that the Jack drone-voice seemed to take up almost as much air time as other DJ's. It also never freakin changes. After listening to "We Got the Beat," I expect to a different response than when I heard "Hotel California." But not with Jack. Same too cool for school snideness.

The Jack drone-voiceover often talks about how they don't take requests (or, if they take them, they won't actually listen to them). Yeah, I've had relationships like that before. It grows tired. If a song truly sucks, it doesn't need to be on the playlist, and if many people love a song, maybe it should be added to your little iPod of a station.

Jack's faults are now omnipresent to me. But he's already a programmed station on my walkman, and when I flip through the mediocre morning options, its like the incessant boyfriend who won't accept that its over.

The station seems like Mr. Right for Now, but it sure as hell isn't right. Stay away from Jack. You'll thank me later.

I caught Jack for the first time this weekend while drinking through Illinois and was immediately taken with it. I'm long past having any interest in hearing DJ's fill airtime with pointless personal stories and purportedly hilarious things. I'm tired of hearing the same song every two hours for a year. There are a handle of strong independant stations, but most local radio in my area is full of boring garbage. Jack is flawed, but if the future is a choice between an Jack and yet another zany zoo morning show, I'll take Jack.

Since you liked Jack, where does one find it?

I am also trying to find a new radio station somewhere south of San Francisco with a format somewhat like the old KFAT out of San Jose. I heard about it sometime back (a couple, three months ago). Do you know anything about it and its call letters?

And it reeks. I really don't see a need to discuss the medicore music it plays. That's dull, but not offensive. But what I hate is the bland nothingness. I want to know a human is behind the music I hear. And I would like to know they are local and part of our community. Charlie is another example of the lowest common denominator winning out over any type of quality.

He's like the investment banker I used to date. The guy had a ponytail. He was a soulless yuppie douche bag. But he radiated horniness, and there are times in a woman's life when that's just her type.

There was this marketing director I used to date. The gal had a ponytail. She was a soulless yuppie douche bag. But she liked to fuck . . .

Anything wrong with that sentence, ladies?

The only remption Jack Radio has is the pleasing incongruity (created no doubt by a random shuffling computer program that) of song transitions. Beyond that there seems little reason to be excited about Jack Radio and certainly not enough to be writing about it. One respondent said that they found Jack's delivery more interesting than the witless DJ's that polute the airwaves with their banter. Agreed. But what was needed was (is) better DJ's, personalities that challenge listeners. Ultimately, the problem is that everything about rock that is not the music itself is dull and most of the music is dull too. Anyone listening to rock radio gets what they deserve, whether it's a robot with an attitude or a human being with no imagination.