"Some people don't understand it,
That's why they don't demand it,
Still others try to ruin it,
Forgive them for they know not what they're doin'"

"It Will Stand"  The Showmen

Welcome to K-FOUND...you've found the sound!

The sound, that is, of great forgotten and obscure group harmony, R&B and rock/pop from the 50's and 60's (with a few songs from other decades included).  But before the verbiage starts, you came here to listen, right?  It's easy as long as you've got a music player (RealAudio, WinAmp, MediaPlayer, etc) installed on your system.  Make your listening choice on the genuine bakelite listening panel below.  Please read the listening option descriptions below the "listen" buttons if you're the least bit confused.  Then, while you listen, delve into the philosophy behind K-FOUND discussed a little further down. Any station or web site news follows (updated 11/28/01).  An e-mail link is provided at the bottom of the page.  Thanks for listening.


Here, you pick which stream to listen to based on your bandwidth.  If you have dial-up (56kbps modem or less), pick K-FOUND  This stream broadcasts in mono with acceptable fidelity.  If you're using DSL, cable or better, you have your pick between K-FOUND and 56K-FOUND, which is in stereo with higher fidelity.  However,  K-FOUND has a much larger selection of tunes (at present) vs. it's high speed counterpart.  You decide: selection or sound. The three choices of players below should cover just about everyone.  The recommended choice is Live365, but read and pick the one best for you.


RECOMMENDED
These are the folks who stream K-FOUND and would like you to use their interface cuz it's got ads and CD purchase links.  The clutter isn't bad and it's the only place you can see the current and last 2 songs played on K-FOUND. Try it first.  They'll ask you to pick a player (RealPlayer, WinAmp, or their own).  If you're thoroughly confused or have no preference, use their player. You can also save stations as presets (you must register, no big deal).  If the setup gives you any problems, e-mail me or use one of the other two options.  If you'd like to explore Live365.com, just click the logo above the listen buttons.  I encourage it.  Better yet, start your own station (and let me know about it).  The site tells you how.  If you need to find K-FOUND while you're there, just type K FOUND (not case sensitive, but do not put in the hyphen) into the search window at the top of their site


You probably have this player already installed on your machine.  If not, click the logo above to go to the download site.  Once there, make sure to scroll down until you see "RealPlayer 8 Basic", which is free.  If you use it, don't forget to bookmark the station by clicking on "Favorites" and then "Add to Favorites..."


WinAmp is my personal choice for playing mp3's and mp3 streaming stations  (get it by clicking the logo above).  However, if you use MusicMatch,  Sonique, or another mp3 centric player, the listening buttons above should work fine.  If you're using WinAmp, remember to bookmark the station by right clicking on the WinAmp faceplate outside of the display area and function keys, and choosing "Bookmark" and then "Add current as bookmark".  Next time you listen, just right click and pick "Bookmark" again, and you'll see the station as a choice.  If your version of WinAmp doesn't have the bookmark feature, grab the latest version by clicking the logo above.

 

Now, about the music.  The quote above from the Showmen applies perfectly to almost all program/music directors at commercial oldies stations.  They're strangling the life out of the music with numbingly short playlists, know-nothing jocks, and insipid imaging and promotion ('good times and great oldies", "KOOL[fill in the frequency]", Motown Monday for the umpteenth time, etc.).  K-FOUND is here to give you back the great music the over-the-air oldies stations don't play.   

A lot has happened to K-FOUND since I first outlined the criteria for choosing songs for the playlist.  I've decided that as I add "new" music, it will be both more obscure and well known.  I don't know at what point I'll finish adding songs to K-FOUND (probably never), but I do know that there are lots of songs that should be included that would never have been hits regardless of better promotion and airplay.  That directly contradicts the third bullet point from the old web site (amended below).  However, the majority of songs will always meet the "could have been a hit" criterion.  As more obscure music is added,  I will also add more familiar music (e.g., "Teardrops" Lee Andrews and the Hearts) to give people less well versed in the music something to grab on to as they absorb the stuff they've never heard.  Rest assured though that these songs ARE NOT being played on the typical over-the-air oldies station.  One final note - 56K-FOUND will be tilted slightly toward stereo oldies.  Aside from that, the song choice criteria is the same for both stations.  And that criteria is:

  • The music is easily assimilated.  You should know after a few listens  whether or not you like the song.

  • The songs are ignored by mainstream oldies stations.  The reasons for this are varied.  Some were never hits or small regional hits that program/music directors don't know about.  Others don't test well.  "Researchers" play snippets of oldies for people over the phone or in sit-down audiences, and ask for their reaction.  Of course, less familiar songs generate less enthusiastic responses.  The resulting decent into musical oblivion is quick.  Also, programmers care far more about their job security than the music.  They will not go with a "gut" feel, and, in my opinion, usually don't have the good taste or the musical knowledge to do so anyway.  So we have hideously boring oldies radio.  Sigh.

  • Most of the songs that never charted or reached the nether regions of the charts are strongly commercial.  If they received more promotion and airplay when they came out, they could have been hits.  I don't use the station to showcase songs that only a few hardcore collectors would appreciate. 

The stations and this web site are constant works-in-progress.  I will post news here when significant changes occur to either.  Please check back occasionally.  I will also post news in each station profile at Live365.

NEWS
11/28/01 - Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated the stations or this site.  The reason is that Live365, my stream server, is performing so poorly that I can't countenance paying for crappy service.  Specifically, I, along with many others, am experiencing drop-outs in my streams after approximately 35 minutes for K-FOUND and 80 minutes for 56K-FOUND.  Discussions with the Live365 techs have yet to resolve the problem.  If you're hearing drop-outs after listening for any period of time, please e-mail me with the details.  If Live365 fixes its problems AND appears to have a sustainable business model (questionable at this time), I will purchase additional storage space to greatly expand the playlist.  If not, I will move over to Shoutcast or purchase bandwidth from the Streaming Guys or their ilk.  K-FOUND will continue.  We all need fresh oldies now more than ever.

3/10/01 - new web site. The old one at NBCi did not handle JavaScript well.  And the film noire look got me down.  This one will be spiced up with more color in the coming weeks, and I will setup a message board for discussions about anything related to the music.

Questions,
 comments,
e-mail me