Years ago, I used to listen every Memorial Day weekend to KSHE's "Rock And Roll 500" countdown. I was always curious to see where the album rock tracks I liked most would fall in their rankings. It always bothered me slightly, however, that I never heard any of the DJs announce directly how the rankings were tabulated.
"Did the station poll its personnel to come up with these rankings? Did the program director determine them? Did the station's listeners fill out surveys with lists of their favorite songs? Just tell me," I thought.
The closest thing to an explanation I heard from a DJ was when he hinted on-air, "That's the key (to these rankings)--research outside the radio station."
I thought that was a cryptic yet slightly informative way of telling listeners, "Enjoy the music, and don't get too caught up in the numbers."
