popular thinking

Steven Van Zandt is a lot of things. Guitarist. Sopranos actor. Guy with the bandanna (or bandana for you alternate spellers) who always lurks near Bruce Springsteen in concerts. What is Van Zandt hiding? But Little Steven's biggest contribution to the arts, perhaps, is his alternative rock crusade to bring garage rock back onto the radio. Little Steven's Big Crusade culminates this weekend in New York with a music festival featuring Iggy and the Stooges, the Strokes, New York Dolls, Bo Diddley, Big Star, the Raveonettes, the Mooney Suzuki and others.
While refreshing to see that one man can have an impact on radio for garage rock (which has been in style about once every decade since WWII), who will do the same for power pop and indie rock?
Why do The Shins, New Pornographers and longstanding greats like Matthew Sweet get critical acclaim -- the Shins and New Pornographers finished 6th and 7th in the Village Voice's 2003 Pazz & Jop nationwide critics poll -- but still get little radio or MTV airplay, which helps prompt most people into stores and online sites to buy the discs?
Why does it take years of consistently great music from Modest Mouse before MTV decides to get behind a video and catapult the band into the mainstream?
Argh!
KEXP in Seattle and KCRW in Santa Monica both do a good job on the West Coast in promoting good pop and rock tunes, but we need a lot more where that came from.
Who will lead this revolution? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller....