Programming changes at WNYC
October 5th, 2009Big shifts are happening at New York’s public radio stations, 93.9FM and AM820. Most of the music programming is being folded into the classical programming of NYC’s tepid classical station, WQXR and moving to 105.9FM. So now we have three public radio stations. Fine.
What is not fine is that Jonathan Schwartz’s two awful shows, which occupy 8 full hours of weekend programming time at 93.9FM, will not be jettisoned with the rest of the music. And so every now and then, I will still be forced to accidentally stumble upon Schwartz’s shows. Which are terrible.
Jonathan Schwartz loves the “American Songbook.” He loves Sinatra. Great. But Jonathan Schwartz loves Sinatra in a way that makes you slowly hate Sinatra.
Maybe you have a friend who really loves The Beatles. When he (it almost always is a he) was 14 years old, listening to Let it Be, he had his first profound musical experience. It shaped him. He talks endlessly about The Beatles. Every track off of every Beatles album is something to ruminate on and turn over in his mind. The history of every recording session, every tour, every alternate take, the influence of every girlfriend—all of this is worthy of endless debate. When you listen to The Beatles with this friend, he plays the same track over and over again and makes you pay attention to the way that John’s voice breaks on a certain note. And you begin to hate The Beatles. You begin to think that maybe The Beatles weren’t that good (even though they were very good.) You think, “these Beatles wrote some pretty ponderous stuff, really. And a lot of it is full-on cornball. And a lot of it involves dumb studio trickery. Maybe The Beatles aren’t so good.”
The same is true for Sinatra when Schwartz gets a hold of him. The way Jonathan Schwartz coos and rhapsodizes over Sinatra is his whispery radio voice makes you think about all the things you never really liked about Sinatra. Schwartz makes you doubt Sinatra’s genius. A lot is made of Sinatra’s “phrasing,” but his phrasing is very showy and calculated. To my ear, it never feels like Sinatra’s vocal decisions are coming out of any real lived experience or spontaneous moment. He is there only to charm you—Sinatra never makes himself vulnerable. Instead, he endlessly theatricalizes the emotional moments of song, holding them at arms length, controlling the audience—showing the audience what a sophisticated guy he really is. Compare that to a truly genius singer like Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday’s vocal stylings never seem so much a “style” as an effortless extension of herself as a human being. When she sings, you are invited into Billie Holiday’s private world. Maybe that’s why it’s so embarrassing to hear someone do their “Billie Holiday” impression—they’re making something grotesquely inauthentic out of something so authentic. Even a singer like Chet Baker (who Schwartz hates) is far more emotionally sophisticated than Sinatra, because he is willing to dispense with the theatrics. But what is Sinatra without the theatrics?
The “American Songbook” is terrific. Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, etc.—they all wrote some great songs. But without America’s great black (and some white) musicians and vocalists—if Tin Pan Alley hadn’t transformed into “Jazz Standard”—not many people would be thinking about these songs anymore. They would seem hopelessly dated. And this is what Jonathan Schwartz doesn’t seem to get. Instead of reaching for a Dinah Washington, he inevitably reaches for a Mary Martin (or even worse, Bernadette Peters). And so we have to sit through these endless, drippy renditions of classic showtunes before we arrive at one good one. Also, Schwartz seems to think that Broadway music is still a very viable art form. As good as Steven Sondheim is (not good), he will never be a Jerome Kern, so why must we listen to a single song from Company? But listen we must. And it is painful.
I know Jonathan Schwartz must have a wide legion of fans out there, but I know of only one—improviser Michael Delaney. And he is an anomaly. So if anyone from the WYNC brass is reading this, might I suggest you get rid of Schwartz now, if it’s not already too late. But please don’t replace him with “Breakfast with The Beatles.”
October 6th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I like when you hate stuff. It’s so articulate!
October 6th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Ive never heard schwartz, but I have had other knobjockeys wreck sinatra and the beatles for me, so I know just what u mean. Also, Paul Mc Cartney has been a complete tool for the past 30 years- wanting lennon mc cartney changed to mc cartney lennon and cancelling concerts that werent fully booked out. Sinatra at least seemed like someone u cld get to rough up the guy that was mean to your sister.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:49 am
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Nailed it. I found your blog because this issue has been bugging me for months now and I did a google search for anyone who felt the same way.
I liked Jonathan Schwartz when he first started his weekend shows, I really did. Sinatra, Dino, Norah Jones (?). I’m a college radio music snob, but those old solid songs were like comfort food.
But slowly, almost imperceptibly, I’ve come to absolutely HATE WNYC-FM from noon-4pm on weekends. I think part of it was that one promo that they played over, and over and over, where Schwartz says, “…how can it get any better than that? I don’t know, I just don’t know, how can it…”.
I find myself listening through the static for WHYY (an option as I”m in NJ) and getting some nice local, and then national-feed, NPR news-fo-tainment. Move him off to WQXR. Folks with Sirius can still listen and then I can let some generic news magazine follow me around as I do my errands. And don’t give me the AM option stuff…it’s all fuzz where I am.
Please save me from running errands listening to college football games and silence. Give me anonymous national news magazines instead of Jonathan Schwartz! There, I’ve said it.
October 10th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Brint, I hear you on the promo.
And Mitch, you did nail it.
October 24th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Wow, it’s like you painstakingly teased out a metastatic tumor and put it out on a stainless steel tray. That was great.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Take some Maalox for your dyspepsia and please shut-up.
….Some people are so egocentric that they set about to single-mindedly destroy what they personally don’t like. Who the hell cares whether you like Jonathan Schwarts or not–does that give you the need and right to campaign viciously to destroy him and his programs? I think you take yourself a little too seriously–way too seriously, in fact. His programs offer music one can’t find elsewhere, and it’s reliably good music. Always well-performed, and usually well Informed, as well. If you don’t like it, turn the dial–it’s that simple.
Go outside and take a walk.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I’m with Tom Bond – - Whose blog do you think this is, anyway?
November 11th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
My radio station is always tuned to the AM station on the weekend to avoid the Jonathan Schwartz show. Sometimes I forget to switch it over and I end up listening to a little bit of it. I don’t understand the musical theme of the show. The Great American Songbook to me means musical standards, Tin Pan Alley, etc. Last weekend he played Tony Bennet, followed by Neil Young then some obscure, horrible lounge singer. What really gets me is when he plays Carly Simon. It just doesn’t make any SENSE!
December 7th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I did the EXACT same thing Brint did. I simply could not take Schwartz anymore and started Googling to find out why the hell he in on this mission to kill afternoon joy in NYC weekend public radio. Everything is lively, engaging, funny, informative in the morning and then — THUD. Here comes Schwartz to play and endless stream of mismatched music and fill your speakers with long stretches of dead air, lean too close to the mic, and fill your speakers with the sound of a mouth burbling full of saliva.
Honestly, I think I could almost stand his terrible programs if he would do us the minor courtesy of swallowing once in a while.
I moved to NYC from Portland, which has one of the best public radio stations in the nation, always full of scintillating, intelligent programming on the weekends. Honestly, I found it hard to tear myself away and go outside sometimes. When I moved here, I fully expected WNYC’s programming to blow it out of the water.
Then Schwartz happened. Why??
January 9th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Glad to find someone who hates J.Schwartz as much as I do and for all the good reasons.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Why don’t you like David Sedaris’ Billie Holiday impression?
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:45 pm
David Sedaris is doing a comedic bit which gives him exemption. If David Sedaris were at a night club doing his “Billie Holiday” it would be insufferable and embarrassing.
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:40 am
Mitch raises a lot more issues here than I have time to comment on. About what defines “quality” popular music, among other things. But … I heard Schwartz for the first time on Sunday after hearing about his show for years. I liked almost everything he played, including the Sinatra selections (and I’m not that much of a Sinatra fan), although some of the contemporary cabaret/songbook singer/actors he featured are very much an acquired taste. No matter: where else would I be able to check them out?
What annoyed the hell out of me was Schwartz as a radio performer. The saliva and the long pauses are one thing: they’re part of a style of sorts that a lot of DJs have (or had – it’s a bit dated now). More important is the excruciatingly unctuous tone he takes and the self-congratulation that seems to lurk behind it. “I’m a national treasure!” he seems to be saying. “Just feel the incredible privilege of being able to listen to me and my reminiscences and sop up my impeccable musical taste!”
I was not entranced by his “child-like” enthusiasm, his moldy anecdotes, or his built-in scorn for any popular music that doesn’t fit is iron-clad definition of what’s worth while. Everyone’s entitled to their tastes, and Schwartz’ playlist is no doubt unique and valuable. But the one-person cultural mission he seems to be on comes across as patronizing and narrow-minded.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
I first heard Jonathan Schwartz in 1975 on WNEW-AM and it was a relief to listen to his ‘American standards’ music in an era of rubber-voiced rock singers and the horrendous staccato of disco (now, alas, replaced by rap).
As with Schwartz, my favorite singer was always Sinatra but I was always able to compartmentalize between Sinatra The Man and Sinatra the Singer. As a man, unfortunately, Sinatra was never completely able to shake the Hoboken hood element in his character as Andy Williams recalled in the incident in which Sinatra deliberately ordered a goon to break a patron’s nose after that patron had spilled a drink on a friend’s suit.
It was true that Schwartz had a tendency to over-analyze and exaggerate and had a penchant for squeaky-voiced, breathy girl singers but, on the whole, it was a pleasure to listen to his shows on a lazy Sunday morning and his live guests included Tony Bennett and the late Mel Torme. It is sad that criticism of Schwartz on this blog is so vitriolic but, as I haven’t heard his shows for at least 15 years, perhaps his performance has deteriorated.
March 7th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Fascinating. I actually hated Schwartz’s show to begin with (I would literally *dive* at the radio to change the station), but after a while changed my tune. Sure, there are some real duds, but my enjoyment of the program comes from the introduction I’ve been given to different interpretations of the same song. I’m sure it drives some people crazy, but I love it when he plays three different versions of the same song in a row (even if all three are by Sinatra).
Also, as someone who grew up with CDs and MP3s, learning about the difference between albums and EPs, the way songs for albums and single records are selected and placed, and all of that stuff which just isn’t a factor in the way I learned to consume music, is absolutely fascinating.
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Your negative opinion is just that, YOUR OPINION!
Why is it that the Jonathan Schwartz show has been around on am/fm radio for decades, and stills continues its success there, and now through Satellite?
Why is THIS SHOW SO SUCCESSFUL? Is it the songs? Is it the artists? Is it the history lessons? Is it the voice? Is is: Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Michael Buble, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jr. Nancy LeMott etc. IS IT SINATRA??
Obviously YOU DO NOT FIT INTO THIS CLASS, OF SHOW AND MUSIC?
Where do you fit it anyway??
Anybody can write about what they DON’T LIKE, to the detriment of others. For example, you smell and so does your breath! Remember what your parents taught you: “If you don’t have anything nice to say…” You all sound like these negative news talk tv shows that are on prime time.
March 24th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Your post makes some points but it is indeed dripping with vitriol to the point that you lose a lot of legitimacy. Let’s keep ad hominem attacks for politicians and murderers; you can criticize even while being civil. I won’t insult you the way you’ve insulted Mr. Schwartz but I will say that there must be some reason WNYC keeps him on the air, and I can’t imagine that it’s anything other than a lot of people disagree with you…and tune in.
Best wishes, sir.
May 26th, 2010 at 12:02 am
Absolutely ridiculous assessment of Sinatra’s presentation skills which, by the way, are considered peerless. The writer knows nothing of Sinatra.
Schwartz, well, good luck finding better music radio in the twenty first century. Vin Scelsa and Schwartz- last men standing.
May 26th, 2010 at 12:06 am
In reading some of the commentary, I see the author isn’t alone. Dismal listeners used to Radio Wobegon? Probably.
May 26th, 2010 at 12:08 am
I’m sorry, I just saw the ‘art’. I completely understand.
June 8th, 2010 at 9:40 am
I have just move to the new york area and discovered Jonathan schwartz. I just love him and his show, I think he is brilliant in his commentaries and love the music he plays. The songs evoke a melancholic beautiful mood.
Thank you thank you.
July 5th, 2010 at 2:44 am
How Jonathan Schwartz can continue to applaud and sycophantize Sinatra beats me. Yes the man was gifted artist and a legend but he was also a violent bully filled with hatred who would beat you up or have you fired if you criticized him. And yet we make him a hero. I think that this is just further evidence of the descent of America into fascism.
July 24th, 2010 at 3:53 am
Skate Longboards
August 25th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
the best popular music played on the radio is heard on “the jonathan scwartz show” nancy lamott, barbara cook, jackie paris,billie holiday, ella fitzgerald, sara vaughan, nina simone, jeri southern, mildred baily, peggy lee, david allen, mel torme, tony bennett, blossom dearie, louis armstrong, keely smith, joe mooney, michael feinstein,and many more. he also presents new talent, such as nellie mckay, melody gardot, jessica malarsky, and a great new female singer named cole(i apologise for forgetting her first name). his on air presentation is warm and honest. no one else does what he does and he is truly a national treasure if i had a chance to sit down and talk to anyone in the world it would be jonathan.
August 25th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
ok ok i left out the H
August 30th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Thank goodness for Jonathan Schwartz!! I tune into WNYC precisely for Jonathan Schwartz. His show is sublime…vintage Jazz, popular standards, a mix of old and new, you cannot hear this rhapsody on any other station.. And I particularly love his little vignettes about a particular artist or song after he plays it. He is indeed the ultimate music historian.
Keep it up Jonathan we love your taste in music!