The R3-30
| Genre | Indie record chart |
|---|---|
| Running time | 3 hours |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | CBC Radio 3 |
| Starring | Craig Norris |
| Produced by | Pedro Mendes |
| Original release | August 26, 2006 – present |
The R3-30 is a weekly record chart show on CBC Radio 3, which counts down the week's top indie rock singles as determined by airplay (top 30), listener feedback (Chartbreaker segment), and other criteria (Tastemaker segment). The show, hosted by Craig Norris and produced by Pedro Mendes, airs at noon Eastern time (9 a.m. Pacific time) Saturdays on CBC Radio 3, and is repeated at various times through the following week. The program also aired on Sunday mornings from midnight to 3 a.m. on CBC Radio Two until March 17, 2007. The program airs on web radio on the CBC Radio 3 website Fridays at 9 a.m. Pacific time, Saturdays at 6 a.m. Pacific time, Sundays at noon Pacific time and the downloadable R3-30 podcast debuts on Mondays. The final episode that aired on CBC Radio Two was the first and only live episode where listeners could call the show in real time.
The program was launched on August 26, 2006.
On the week of April 26, 2007, The R3-30 had its first episode without Craig Norris hosting. The episode featured former Brave New Waves host Brent Bambury as the special guest host while Norris was away. In August 2007, Amanda Putz guest hosted two episodes of the program while Norris was on vacation; the following August, Vish Khanna filled in similarly. Khanna has also filled in for Mendes, while he was on a five-week sabbatical which included adopting a son from Korea.
Format
In addition to playing the charting and chartbreaking songs, one of the show's signatures is the comedic banter between Norris and Mendes, as well as the extensive use of audio clips and sound effects.
Each week, the show marks the week's fastest-rising song on the charts with a clip of a choir singing "Alleluia", and the week's fastest-dropping song with a descending slide whistle tone. In early 2007, the show's use of the slide whistle resulted in a comedic on-air feud between Norris and the band Henri Fabergé and the Adorables.
A small choir of CBC Radio 3 employees sings each number, as well as occasional side comments, such as "songs are nice!" or "yet another collective!", which Norris and Mendes might play at random moments during the show. The network has also aired a comedic commercial promoting a (fictional) compilation album of these R3-30 choral comment jingles — including some, such as "does this look infected?", "you're dead to me!" and "are those new slacks?", which have never actually been used on the show.
Several major Canadian cities also have their own "town jingles", which are played whenever the city gets mentioned in a song intro or one of the feature segments. Town jingles consist of a voice reciting a nickname for the city, such as "Toontown" for Saskatoon, "Cowtown" for Calgary, "The Royal City" for Guelph, "The Hammer" for Hamilton or "The Suds" for Sudbury, accompanied by a related sound effect.
Features
In addition to the show's weekly Top 30 charts, the show airs three "Chartbreakers" each week, songs not currently on the chart which are proposed by listeners. During the show's run on CBC Radio Two, the prize for pitching a song selected for the Chartbreaker segment was a satellite radio. Since March 17, 2007, the show is now heard primarily by listeners who already have a satellite radio, and accordingly the prize is a surprise pack (which may sometimes still be a satellite radio) determined by spinning the "Wheel of Freedom".
The show also occasionally includes a "Tastemaker" segment, in which a song not currently on the chart is proposed by a music blogger, a concert promoter or somebody else in the Canadian music industry. Unlike Chartbreakers, however, the Tastemaker segment does not air every week.
Podcast and web radio
The show is also now available as an hour long podcast[1]. While the radio show plays all charting songs, the podcast names the whole list, but in order to keep the podcast to one hour in length only certain songs are actually played (usually most debuts, the Wheel of Freedom segment, and the top 3 at minimum).
In September 2007, a web radio version of the R3-30 was introduced, which allowed listeners who do not own Sirius satellite radios to listen to the show on the internet. The show features the same format as the Sirius version of the R3-30, however the web radio version does not feature any non-Canadian artists in the programme, while the Sirius version does. With the introduction of the web radio R3-30 is a feature called "The R3-30 Fan Club Favourite". The Fan Club Favourite is a segment where an R3-30 fan can submit requests for songs they would want to hear on the R3-30 through an R3-30 centred Facebook group. Each week one song is chosen and played on the program.[2][3]
#1 songs
Because the radio and podcast versions of each week's chart are released on different dates, the chart uses the end date of the week to which it pertains, rather than the beginning date.
The first #1 song on the chart was "Anything" by Kinnie Starr, on August 31, 2006. Two songs, "Black Mirror" by Arcade Fire and "Civil Twilight" by The Weakerthans, are currently tied for the status of the chart's longest-running #1, with five weeks each atop the chart.
The Weakerthans were also the first band ever to reach #1 on the chart with two different songs — their cover of Rheostatics' "Bad Time to Be Poor" reached #1 the week of June 21, 2007, and "Civil Twilight" hit the top spot the week of November 15, 2007. "Civil Twilight" was also #1 in the R3-30's end of year chart for 2007.
Other artists to have reached #1 with more than one song include Stars, Tokyo Police Club, Handsome Furs, Great Lake Swimmers, Julie Doiron, Joel Plaskett and Chad VanGaalen.
References
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2007) |