Why did Lips 106 and Head Radio both play pop?

[Naroon]

How did they lack it? The entire games themselves count as satire/parody of American society (as did the London expansions for GTA in regards to London.) It's so blatant it doesn't even deserve mention, really.

[Lock n' Stock]

I know the DJ on Head Radio in III says Head Radio is "the rock of liberty city for 60 years" or something like that in some banter.

That's one statement that had me scratching my head. 60 years before 2001 (III's release date and time setting) would make Head Radio at least formed in 1940, though so called "rock" music didn't seem to originate until the late 40s or early 50s. Was commercial music radio even around back then as well? Maybe I'm looking into this too deep, it is GTA after all.

[universetwisters]

 

I know the DJ on Head Radio in III says Head Radio is "the rock of liberty city for 60 years" or something like that in some banter.

That's one statement that had me scratching my head. 60 years before 2001 (III's release date and time setting) would make Head Radio at least formed in 1940, though so called "rock" music didn't seem to originate until the late 40s or early 50s. Was commercial music radio even around back then as well? Maybe I'm looking into this too deep, it is GTA after all.

 

 

IIRC the first radio station started broadcasting sometime in the 1920s. I think Rockstar new what they were doing by saying that, either that or they caught onto it by the time Vice City came around and said that VRock was broadcasting rock music for 70 something years, so that would've been in the 1910s.

 

@naroon - Look at what little social commentary there was in GTA 3 compared to GTA 5 and get back to me.

[Lock n' Stock]

 

 

I know the DJ on Head Radio in III says Head Radio is "the rock of liberty city for 60 years" or something like that in some banter.

That's one statement that had me scratching my head. 60 years before 2001 (III's release date and time setting) would make Head Radio at least formed in 1940, though so called "rock" music didn't seem to originate until the late 40s or early 50s. Was commercial music radio even around back then as well? Maybe I'm looking into this too deep, it is GTA after all.

 

 

IIRC the first radio station started broadcasting sometime in the 1920s. I think Rockstar new what they were doing by saying that, either that or they caught onto it by the time Vice City came around and said that VRock was broadcasting rock music for 70 something years, so that would've been in the 1910s.

 

@naroon - Look at what little social commentary there was in GTA 3 compared to GTA 5 and get back to me.

 

Yeah I forgot, the statement by Lazlow on V-Rock was even more confusing. Probably an oversight on Rockstar's part.

[Naroon]

 

@naroon - Look at what little social commentary there was in GTA 3 compared to GTA 5 and get back to me.

You mistake social commentary for lengthy diatribes by actual characters in cutscenes and radio adverts, apparently. Oh wait, GTA III had *tons* of that! But GTA V had even more because it's a much bigger game in general, so that invalidates my point, right?

 

 

Point being that the entire games were social commentary, a satire of stereotypes about American lifestyle and culture (and at times, other cultures as well.) It's been that way since the first game. Just because you weren't constantly being dick-slapped in the face with that fact all the time like you are in GTA V doesn't mean it wasn't there.

[Pavle]

Pop is love, pop is life.

Maybe they didn't want to put all the music on one station.

[universetwisters]

@naroon - and what social commentary was there? Only ones I could think of were Maibatsu ad (bigass SUVs coming around), the House of Tomorrow ad (electronic age), and the Liberty City Survivor (reality show). You're right, I wasn't dick slapped with it like I was in V, but social commentary didn't dictate the plot. It was just there in the commercials. If you have any more examples of what you think could be counted as it, let me know.

 

 

As far as your original point goes, I remember there were rock stations back around the time III took place in from what I remember of the time. Granted it was classic rock and I didn't know much about modern rock or even if they had entire stations dedicated to metal or grunge, whatever, but there were still rock stations back then I can imagine. And if the fact that the radio was being "dominated by pop", then why have all the other stations? Why have a Drum N Bass, Reggae, etc. stations if you very seldom, if ever, find commercial radio stations that play that stuff on a regular basis. GTA radio's always had some form of creative freedom in that sense, which seems odd that you can have a whole rainbow of stations, but two similar pop stations.

[universetwisters]

I think I finally figured out why the two of them play pop: (apologies for the bump)

I put all of III's Lips 106 on my ipod and I listen to it during work, and the more I listen to it, the more I realize that it sounds like all the songs could've gone on Head Radio, where all other pop is. Sure, I addressed that before, but then I thought, what if they couldn't put all the pop they made on head radio? They threw their hands in the air and said "f*ck it, let's make a new station to put these four extra songs we made that couldn't fit on head radio". Then to fill time, they added in

and

. Lips 106 was created because of too much of a surplus in pop music.


That's my theory at least.

[DragonpokeZ]

Why so much pop though? Such a gritty and dark city should've had either more classic music or more music that would play in a Mafia bar where 2+ people die every week

[Neon-Noir 198X]

Rock didn't really hit the mainstream again until the mid early - mid 2000s with emo / pop punk, etc. Prior to that, there were a lot of pop stations around.

[BlackSnow176]

You know, I always wondered about that. I always considered Head Radio pop music rather than rock. I guess it's supposed to be pop-rock, as that was really popular in the late 90's and early 2000's. Well, thankfully there isn't any nü-metal, that would've ruined the entire game

[Naroon]

@naroon - and what social commentary was there? Only ones I could think of were Maibatsu ad (bigass SUVs coming around), the House of Tomorrow ad (electronic age), and the Liberty City Survivor (reality show). You're right, I wasn't dick slapped with it like I was in V, but social commentary didn't dictate the plot. It was just there in the commercials. If you have any more examples of what you think could be counted as it, let me know.

 

 

As far as your original point goes, I remember there were rock stations back around the time III took place in from what I remember of the time. Granted it was classic rock and I didn't know much about modern rock or even if they had entire stations dedicated to metal or grunge, whatever, but there were still rock stations back then I can imagine. And if the fact that the radio was being "dominated by pop", then why have all the other stations? Why have a Drum N Bass, Reggae, etc. stations if you very seldom, if ever, find commercial radio stations that play that stuff on a regular basis. GTA radio's always had some form of creative freedom in that sense, which seems odd that you can have a whole rainbow of stations, but two similar pop stations.

This is a super-late reply, but my point wasn't that the social commentary dictated the actual plot (of which there was barely one to begin with, pretty much just a barebones revenge story), just that it was a very present undertone of the game that was there in the series since the get-go. Most of the social commentary was in the ads like you mentioned, whereas they were found on the in-game textures like billboards and stuff, or on the radio stations. The actual mission dialogue didn't dickslap us like in GTA V, but some characters were direct references to various pop-culture figures and stereotypes, or digs at other games.

 

As for the Head Radio/Lips 106 thing, I maintain my original thoughts on that:

Head Radio seemed to play more adult contemporary-oriented pop and Lips 106 focused more on bubblegum pop and even a few dreampop tracks. The in-universe station for Head Radio claimed they were playing "non-stop rock" (GTA V makes a reference to this somewhere) because "rock" was very ill-defined IRL back then, lol.

 

 

LCS takes that same theme and runs with it. Yes there were radio stations IRL back then that played various forms of rock, including many subgenres of rock like alt. rock, indie rock, psyche rock, shoegaze, etc. though most of them weren't "mainstream". Even by the time GTA III released I don't think radio stations in America were playing much house or breakbeat/drum & bass music, not mainstream anyway. GTA III combines satirical social commentary with artistic license when it comes to its radio stations. I don't think they had one master station and then split them off in two due to too many tracks.

 

That being said, there ARE distinctions between both stations. Lips 106 plays more Top 40-style pop songs, whilst Head Radio was centered around more adult-contemporary rock/pop songs. Even then, the lines are often blurred between both stations even in LCS. But overall, the general message R* was sending with these stations was "lol so much pop music" which is basically what was dominating the airwaves and MTV/VH1 around the time this game came out.

[zkroll]

Pop was big at the time, and probably required 2 stations.

 

I still listen to lips 106, on youtube.

[Adrian J.]

Why so much pop though? Such a gritty and dark city should've had either more classic music or more music that would play in a Mafia bar where 2+ people die every week

Yeah, bands such as Queens of The Stone Age, Slipknot, or System Of A Down were very popular at that time.

Don't tell me you wouldn't wanna be Rollin' down the streets in your Stallion.

Still, it's a shame 3D era LC didn't get any rock/metal stations.

At least LCS got a proper Hip Hop station, Shock Ones Pt II now that is gritty.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Adrian J.

[Jeansowaty]

Actually GTA London had A LOT of Rock, while both GTA1 and GTA2 had a bit of it. Head Radio was playing mostly electronic rock in GTA1 while in GTA2 it was a mix of various styles, mostly dance music and hard rock. Now GTA3... it ruined it all, that garbage is unlistenable, imo.

[Adrian J.]

Actually GTA London had A LOT of Rock, while both GTA1 and GTA2 had a bit of it. Head Radio was playing mostly electronic rock in GTA1 while in GTA2 it was a mix of various styles, mostly dance music and hard rock. Now GTA3... it ruined it all, that garbage is unlistenable, imo.

I don't know much about 2D era gta music because my GTA journey started with III, back in 2001.

I'm with you on that, for me III's radio stations were also pretty bad. Mmm... apart from RISE FM, even thought I'm not a big enthusiast of Trance music.

[DragonpokeZ]

 

Actually GTA London had A LOT of Rock, while both GTA1 and GTA2 had a bit of it. Head Radio was playing mostly electronic rock in GTA1 while in GTA2 it was a mix of various styles, mostly dance music and hard rock. Now GTA3... it ruined it all, that garbage is unlistenable, imo.

I don't know much about 2D era gta music because my GTA journey started with III, back in 2001.

I'm with you on that, for me III's radio stations were also pretty bad. Mmm... apart from RISE FM, even thought I'm not a big enthusiast of Trance music.

 

Don't be dissing MSX FM fool! Seriously, it's the only thing I listen to while in my GTA III car

[Jeansowaty]

Exactly. MSX FM was the best banger in III, imo. Game Radio was nice too, but Rise FM was a total disappintment in the Trance genre. Totally the poorest stuff that genre can offer.

[Idreece]

April's in Paris, just can't get enough shouldve been on head radio as that was alternative rock

[JRC99]

The lack of rock has always irritated me, especially because it was still very much popular in 2001. Nu metal and Post-Grunge were at their peak with bands like Staind, 3 Doors Down, Linkin Park, and Limp Bizkit (who, while I'm not a fan of, has to be mentioned because of how big they were), on the pop punk side Blink-182 and Sum 41 were huge as well.

 

My MP3 playlist is purely rock from about 1997-2001 for this game. It's 20+ long. Now, licensing costs means they'd have likely done it in house, but almost every one of these 20+ were hit songs, so the idea of 'rock is dead' is pretty much BS.

 

I'd also like to say that, while the commentary is satire, shouldn't the music be exempt from it and focus more on being enjoyable to players rather than an extension of the satire? 

Edited September 12, 2019 by JRC99

[Idreece]

On 9/12/2019 at 3:45 AM, JRC99 said:

The lack of rock has always irritated me, especially because it was still very much popular in 2001. Nu metal and Post-Grunge were at their peak with bands like Staind, 3 Doors Down, Linkin Park, and Limp Bizkit (who, while I'm not a fan of, has to be mentioned because of how big they were), on the pop punk side Blink-182 and Sum 41 were huge as well.

 

My MP3 playlist is purely rock from about 1997-2001 for this game. It's 20+ long. Now, licensing costs means they'd have likely done it in house, but almost every one of these 20+ were hit songs, so the idea of 'rock is dead' is pretty much BS.

 

I'd also like to say that, while the commentary is satire, shouldn't the music be exempt from it and focus more on being enjoyable to players rather than an extension of the satire? 

f*cking amen,  it just seems weird when you think such a big genre isn't even available to listen to with all this drum n bass and reggae nonsense. I hated that they scrapped the rock station they were going to put on gta 3

[abkfan1000]

On 7/7/2015 at 5:42 PM, BlackSnow176 said:

You know, I always wondered about that. I always considered Head Radio pop music rather than rock. I guess it's supposed to be pop-rock, as that was really popular in the late 90's and early 2000's. Well, thankfully there isn't any nü-metal, that would've ruined the entire game

If nu metal had a station that won't ruined the game.it will boost the sales up alot more.  

On 7/8/2015 at 7:31 PM, zkroll said:

Pop was big at the time, and probably required 2 stations.

 

I still listen to lips 106, on youtube.

You know you can go and download mp3 versions of head and 106

On 7/11/2015 at 12:03 PM, Adrian J. said:

Yeah, bands such as Queens of The Stone Age, Slipknot, or System Of A Down were very popular at that time.

Don't tell me you wouldn't wanna be Rollin' down the streets in your Stallion.

Still, it's a shame 3D era LC didn't get any rock/metal stations.

At least LCS got a proper Hip Hop station, Shock Ones Pt II now that is gritty.

Shook 

[Evil empire]

Lips 106 and Head radio both play pop because rock & roll is dead and pop is in, since at least 1986 like you can hear in a Vice City radio whose name I don't remember.

[Idreece]

At least to me they made of making head radio seem more rock to some degree in lcs 

[RespectIsEverything]

Pop music was everywhere in the early 2000s and you could not escape it, same in GTA 3 

[Guest]

On 7/11/2015 at 5:03 PM, Adrian J. said:

Yeah, bands such as Queens of The Stone Age, Slipknot, or System Of A Down were very popular at that time.

Don't tell me you wouldn't wanna be Rollin' down the streets in your Stallion.

Still, it's a shame 3D era LC didn't get any rock/metal stations.

At least LCS got a proper Hip Hop station, Shock Ones Pt II now that is gritty.

I know this is a late response but from your finishing sentence are you inferring GTA3's radio didn't have proper hip hop? Yeah, LCS radio was good but implying III's wasn't "proper hip hop" is dumb as f*ck, unless you consider a station comprised of Royce Da 5'9, Black Rob and Sean Price, hosted by Stretch Armstrong who ran literally one of the most influential hip hop radio shows to ever exist to not be "proper hip hop".

[Idreece]

Dayum bump here, Head Radio retained its 'pop and rock' format (even tho it only plays like soft rock) from GTA 2 with the exploration through classic electronic means though 'Scatwerk' who are an parody of Kraftwerk.

 

However, I feel like as if GTA III rendition of lips 106, was merely an afterthought, because it was a top 40 station instead of its dance pop format in LCS, which other genres like Alternative Rock, Jazz-Funk, R&B and Hip-Hop were added to the rotation. Obviously if you look at the IIIs beta radio stations, you will see there was a metal and rock station that was cut, alongside other genres like techno and country due to stated in old beta build articles of the game, so to me lips gives me the impression of a station that was produced later on in development, as @universetwisters stated in a similar way.

 

In regards to the status of Rock and Metal in the late 90s and early 2000s, as @JRC99 stated; a pleothara of sub genres were booming in the late 90s/Early 2000s (which he was debunking the sentinment of 'rock is dead) such as Nu-Metal, Pop Punk and Post Grunge, so they could've made parody bands of the said sub genres, but rock star may wanted to focus on other genres of music this time around.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Donnie IKID

[DerpyDust999]

On 8/9/2020 at 10:15 PM, Donnie IKID said:

However, I feel like as if GTA III rendition of lips 106, was merely an afterthought, because it was a top 40 station instead of its dance pop format in LCS, which other genres like Alternative Rock, Jazz-Funk, R&B and Hip-Hop were added to the rotation.

Legit! When you listen to Lips 106 it doesn't really sound like "a pop station", and while it may present itself as such, it just sounds like a top hits station. Actually, when you really look at the Lips 106 audio file, it looks and sounds like the station was originally meant to end right before the Grand Theft Auto song. Looking into it more, it seems like multiple things are reused from then on.

• The outro bumper after "Rubber Tip" is reused from the intro bumper "Feels Like I Just Can't Take No More".
• The outro bumper after "Grand Theft Auto" is reused from the intro bumper to "Bump To The Music".

Edited August 17, 2020 by DerpyDust999
left out a fact

[Idreece]

36 minutes ago, DerpyDust999 said:

Legit! When you listen to Lips 106 it doesn't really sound like "a pop station", and while it may present itself as such, it just sounds like a top hits station. Actually, when you really look at the Lips 106 audio file, it looks and sounds like the station was originally meant to end right before the Grand Theft Auto song. Looking into it more, it seems like multiple things are reused from then on.

• The outro bumper after "Rubber Tip" is reused from the intro bumper "Feels Like I Just Can't Take No More".
• The outro bumper after "Grand Theft Auto" is reused from the intro bumper to "Bump To The Music".

Haha yes, I realized that too when before unknowingly searching though the DJ quotes integrated into the songs where the outros where reused with "feels like it just can't take no more" and "rubber tip". Its also intriguing to note that "god bless the universe " was used as an intro for lips 106 and the remanants of GTA 1 songs were trimmed into muffled loops in the game files. 

[DerpyDust999]

4 minutes ago, Donnie IKID said:

Haha yes, I realized that too when before unknowingly searching though the DJ quotes integrated into the songs where the outros where reused with "feels like it just can't take no more" and "rubber tip". Its also intriguing to note that "god bless the universe " was used as an intro for lips 106 and the remanants of GTA 1 songs were trimmed into muffled loops in the game files. 

Yep, I feel like those muffled loops and reused songs were to give some world building, ya know, like telling us, "Hey! This is a GTA game with GTA music!". I really like how some of the GTA2 and 3 radio stations reuse songs from the previous games like the whole thing with "God Bless All The Universe" appearing as a background song on Lips. 

On 6/17/2019 at 8:13 AM, Donnie IKID said:

April's in Paris, just can't get enough shouldve been on head radio as that was alternative rock

Also this ^

I find it weird that the only rock-oriented song went to the "pop" station rather than going to the station that claims to play "rock n' roll" and rock. I guess the theme and pace of the song fit more with Lips 106 but it's still quite ironic.