I started in music radio but swerved into talk radio to be like Joe Franklin, God rest his soul.

A new book by a man ironically named Weisbard chronicles the creation of Top 40 radio and how it has pulled the world along its enchantingly rhythmic path.

^^^ Booker T & The MGs “Green Onions” (1962) brought a Memphis groove to the world in the years prior to the civil rights marches later that decade.

FROM THE ROOTS TO THE RAUNCH

Today, a significant portion of music is not safe for radio airplay without masking N-words, F-words, GD references, and brutally misogynistic lyrics that diminish women to little more than objects of male sexual gratification. Much of today’s hit music also swirls around self-promotion and bragging about personal wealth, an achievement meant to mock rival pop culture figures and their fans.

To wit, here’s Jay-Z’s 2014 hit (featuring Justin Timberlake). WARNING: graphic language