Alice @ 97.3

Sarah and Vinnie are my favorite aspect of ALICE listening! Unfortunately, the music this station plays is, ya know… what everyone else plays, so I don’t listen to them other than this show in the morning! They’re hilarious and keep me entertained during my communte. They replaced the,“T-man in the Morning show” for me, that used to be on KUBE 93 but they retired. (That was in Seattle, I don’t remember the equivalent station here in the Bay Area) but when I moved back to the bay I had to find a new show. Sarah and Vinnie are my fav! I have also run into the Alice booth here and there (specifically, the pumpkin festival Half Moon Bay) they were really friendly and gave us free stuff! I DO wish they would wait to talk about the crude stuff until after kids morning school hour because my kid enjoys the show too and we listen on the way to school. But sometimes I have to change it when they start talking about weird stuff. «Hey, guys keep it family friendly until like 9am! Thanks!

I don’t listen to radio except on my morning commute, and therefore, this review is about Sarah and Vinnie show, which I listened to for quite a while now. I must say, it’s getting worse, less classy and intelligent every week. What’s going on? I used to think Vinnie was annoying with his juvenile knob-​headed commentary, but lately it is Sarah who’s been really irritating with going on and on about mundane, often disgusting subjects, making completely illiterate comments about anything international, and just being completely careless and I would even say, bitchy on the show. I realize she must be in charge, but could she be less obvious about it?
The worst moments are when she leads the whole staff into an awfully-​sounding singing or humming bits, then laughing herself silly afterwards. It’s relentless; I just have to change channels at that point. She’s either tired from her job or is just plain stupid — I can’t figure it out. Hooman is the best guy there, but he hardly ever talks, unfortunately.
Seriouslty, Bay Area, we need some alternatives to this low-​brow BS.

Alice has your typical soft rock/​pop music selection for a Bay Area radio station, but this review is specifically for Sarah and Vinnie’s morning radio show.
Dudes.
What’s going on?
I’ve listened to you for 4 years, and the past year you guys have let your nasty side out more and more. Specifically you, Sarah. It’s really sad… do you really need to be so nasty to people calling or texting in or need to pick a ‘cute’ fight with Vinnie almost every day? Maybe I’m just noticing it more, but for crying out loud enough’s enough!
Saying one of your listeners was ‘acting like a bitch’ is a little unnecessary to boot. You guys have thousands of people listening to you, of course you’re going to come across nasty people, but you don’t need to be nasty back. If they text in something ridiculous you have the ability to not bring it up on air.
The morning time is not the time for negativity, people are driving into work… they don’t need that. Take a chill pill guys, it’s going to be okay.
Maybe you’re just getting stale? Who knows. All I know is listening to someone be cranky in the morning is not what on my to do list.

What is that cool Jazz music they play in the background in the beginning of the Morning show while Sarah and Vinnie are talking? I’m really interested in who that artist and/​or track is.

Regarding the morning show: Let’s get something straight. People have different tastes in music, in the content that radio show hosts cover, in types of humor, etc. If you want something informative and educational, then listen to KQED. This morning show is just about having fun and hanging out listening to your radio family. :)
And for the record, the majority of the mainstream morning radio shows are all just as silly as this one. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just a matter of finding your cup of tea. If you like it then listen, if not, then don’t.
But the bottom line is this:
This morning show is the only one I’ve come across in the area that has genuine chemistry and it really comes across. Other morning show’s DJ’s interactions are so stale. These guys sound like they are happy to be here and happy to be working together. And they’ve been working together a LONG TIME and smokin’ everybody else in the area in the ratings. This great group of friends keeps it light and silly in the morning and I like that.
So check them out from 5:45a to 10a and then check out the Secret Show podcast which is recorded immediately after the show (most days of the week, but not Fridays). All recordings for this show are typically available by 11:30a. Enjoy!

Definitely one of the more solid morning shows out there. Around here the only competition is the toilet humor of 107.7 with L & T or the utterly intolerable 94.9 with JV and Rico. At 97.3, Sarah and Vinnie keep it lively for the most part and the members of the morning show certainly have a chemistry that keeps the show flowing so smoothly.
The downsides are that all they do is read random facts and celebrity news. Plus, not a day goes by that Vinnie doesn’t mention surfing somehow. The show could also use an energy boost from the main morning cast as sometimes the listener is left with absolute silence or the sound of them ruffling through their papers to find their next story. Otherwise, they are entertaining and keep my commute enjoyable.

I have listened to Sarah and Vinnie for years. The show was perfect when Icky was on it. Since Icky left the show and Bryn took his place, the show is absolutely horrible. Bryn has taken over the show with all of his sound effects and interruptions. Recently Sarah has actually had to tell Bryn to turn it down.
Basically the show sucks now. It should be called the Bryn show, costarring Sarah and Vinnie.
Uzette, please listen to your loyal listeners and do WHATEVER you need to do to bring Icky back.

I tried to listen to the morning show when I moved here in 2004 but couldn’t stomach No-​name and the bits that they did and rarely tuned back in in the afternoon.
But when Vinnie came back, I became a regular listener to the morning show and the station. Yes they repeat the music, but what stations don’t??? The morning show crew is great. I do miss Icky, but Bryn was a good choice to replace him. They do need to brush up on their pop-​culture so listeners don’t text them with angry corrections. They are funny and love that they share their personal lives on the regular and secret show. The only thing I don’t like is Hooman… he is a name dropper and a bit of a woman hater. He really shouldn’t comment on things he knows little about like: relationships, marriage, education and a bunch of other topics…
I will continue to listen and talk about them as my radio «friends»… Keep up the funny and entertaining work Alice crew!
For all of those with bad reviews… turn the station or plug in your iPod…

I first came across the Alice radio station about 14 years ago when I was a middle schooler. I’ve been a daily listener, although the station has made many changes since 2000, and not all have been for the better.
As far as the music selection goes, Alice plays it pretty safe and I’m fine with that. They seem to be popular with their demographic (35 year-​old soccer moms in Marin, I guess?) and if I hear a song that I don’t like, I just switch over to something else. My main beef has been (and continues to be) with the morning show, which has taken a steep decline in quality since the golden age of Sarah and No-​Name from about 8 years ago.
Before I start on the morning show, let me preface by saying that despite any flaws, Sarah and Vinnie is still better than any other morning show I’ve been able to find here in the Bay Area peninsula. The majority of morning shows tend to be very bland and mindlessly upbeat, without any real discussion or meaningful conversation. Sarah and Vinnie are compelling in that they touch on tough subjects and engage with their listeners on a lot of issues, which is something I’ve always liked. They also don’t put on fake «radio voices,» which I very much appreciate. Unfortunately, the show has many aspects that I would change. Namely, the show’s new/​old co-​host, Vinnie.
I have never understood why Vinnie was allowed to return to the morning show after No-Name’s departure. He comes off as standoffish, spoiled, and doesn’t seem very sharp in the comedy department. Honestly, half the time I feel sorry for Sarah, because Vinnie seems to misunderstand her jokes or turns them around into an insult, which I do not find entertaining at all. The rest of the current lineup (Uzette, Jaime, Hooman, Bryn and Marcus) are charming and entertaining enough to partially make up for Vinnie’s gross and immature comments, but my patience wears thinner and thinner every time I tune in, hoping that Vinnie is out sick. I don’t have a very clear memory of Vinnie as a co-​host before he left back in the 2000s, but I think that No-​Name was an entertaining host and had awesome chemistry with Sarah. It’s a shame that he left, but maybe Live 105.3 pays better.
In closing, I hope that Vinnie realizes that nobody wants to hear about his bizarre nitpicks or complaints, which make him sound like a petulant 8-​year-​old, and puts a real drag on my morning drive. Sarah is a much more capable speaker, and I look forward to the day that she’s free to choose a better co-​host.

I find that my morning drive is much better when I listen to Sarah And Vinnie. My girl and I love them. Keep up the good work.

I give this station three stars.
Positive:
During the daytime peak listening periods they tend to play a lot of mainstreams songs over and over, not saying their bad as the other stations, but it’s just way too repetitive. However, during the night hours and the weekends, the set they play include more songs from the 90s as well as contemporary alternative artists, which is really nice. I do wish their music set was like this all day though. And for that I thank them.
Negative:
Sarah and Vinnie Show. I find them to be very irritating and why I will not turn on my radio to 97.3 during the morning hours. They have resorted to cheesy toilet humor, seeking whatever funny video or event they find, or really just pull stuff out of their respective a**es to keep whatever moronic audience they still have,

Add me to the list of people disappointed with Alice 97.3 FM. «Be caller #9 and win passes to the pre-​screening of Breaking Dawn Part 2.» What the DJ should have said was «Caller #9 qualifies you to a pre-​screening of …» After driving to SF from the south bay, picking up the passes, driving to the theatre, finding parking and showing up an hour and a half before showtime, I was told there were no more tickets. «But, I have passes.» No, no, no. Those aren’t passes. You should have read the fine print and arrived at least 3 hours earlier. Nice way to deceive your used-​to-​be loyal listener. After contacting the promotions department, I was informed that the DJ should have explained the details instead of lying to me. Alice has gone to the dogs.

I’m very bummed Icky is gone, especially because that goober Hooman is still lurking around. Fire that creeper already! The show seems much more stale now.
And no more Scott Capurro! Even brilliant comics get old when you hear them every few weeks.
Will somebody message me and tell me what happened to my boy Icky?

The morning show is a waste of a radio frequency broadband. Now normally, I am too lazy to review these programs but this particular program infuriates me. It’s mind numbing and sleep-​inducing. The sleep-​inducing bit is a hazard for all morning drivers.
If you flip to any other program and compare and contrast, you’ll notice some form of chemistry and witty repartee. On this show, you get dry-​sounding (voices are dull and listless), shallow comments by people attempting at the weakest forms of humor. From what I can make of it, there are two women and two (or three) men on the show… and A LOT of silence. Half of the show involves silence. Whatever chemistry there was (if it even existed) has been brutally beat into an agonizing death.
I cannot believe how many positive reviews there are of this show. Perhaps you all accidentally flipped to the channel during the morning commute, died from a boredom-​induced car crash, and have come back to haunt us as malicious zombies that post rave Unilocal reviews to keep the show on the air, ensuring the rest of us suffer.

This review is only for the «Sarah and Vinnie» morning show, which I’ve been listening to since 1997-​ish.
Technically, the show «starts» with lots of commercials from 5:30AM to 5:45AM. And then the show starts. What I miss out on is easily on iTunes or downloadable as an .mp3 file via an RSS feed.
Sarah is the main star of the show. She usually dictates what is interesting (to her) and therefore to the demographics of the listeners (women around her age). That means the show is dominated by celebrity news, the love lives of her male co-​host, producer, and her baffling love for the phone screener who thinks he’s the shit, and general light news. She is relentless in getting her male staff to reveal things they are reluctant to reveal. But get her to talk about her family’s weird ways (her sons’ nudity-​as-​normal behavior in her house, her husband’s forays into cross-​dressing, her mother’s insistence on certain bathroom contraptions to satisfy herself, etc.), and she clams up or deflects the grilling back to everyone else.
Vinnie is back on air after a 5 – 6 year absence. While I liked No Name when he was on during Vinnie’s time away, Vinnie has always been her true «on-​air husband». He is open about how he left the show because of his alcoholism. He’s been 7 years sober and is back making the show great again. He and producer «Icky» provide the male half of the show. Because the show is female-​dominated, they have a «sports show» which they record only for iTunes/​download after the main show is over.
Icky is the young one of the group, in his late 20s. Seems like Sarah and Vinnie like to live vicariously through him, especially when he is single and hooking up with a lot of chicks. And Uzette is the backbone, the «power behind the throne». Both Icky and Uzette make sure the show runs smoothly and cleanly (it is a CBS affiliate, so they are heavily bound by the FCC rules after the Jason Timberlake/​Janet Jackson debacle).
The four of them have great chemistry.
Once the show is off the air at 10am, they record an additional hour-​ish «Secret Show», in which they discuss items that they cannot air during regular hours. Very NSFW. Sadly, when they go into very CBS-​censorable territory, Icky might cover up the good stuff with random music.
Comedian Scott Capurro is a regular call-​in guest, who is on air every few weeks, usually to advertise his comedy show (which I’ve been to). And I look forward to Marcus Osborne every week because he has really good movie reviews.
There is one other person who is technically a part of the show and does the movie reviews. But I refuse to name him, because I am one of his legions of haters. He always acts like his name is part of the marquee of «Sarah and Name». He always has to name drop. And unless you are a celebrity, a venture capitalist, or a newsmaker of some kind, you are beneath his attention. For a guy who does NOT brush his teeth on a daily basis and showers only a few times a week, I can never understand how he can ever get any woman to go out with him. And knowing he uses a coffee enema daily grosses me out. And I don’t gross out easily. For a so-​called vegan, he looks as if he subsists on a double down burger every day.
He’s the reason I give the show 4 stars instead of 5.
For a taste of their show (unless you want it on iTunes):
Secret Show:

I now can’t get enough of the morning show. I still hate the format of talk + buttload of commercials + too many minutes of sucky music, but have grown to love Sarah and Vinnie together, and Icky. Hooman adds some laughter to the show with his crazy stories, but I’m still eternally annoyed by Uzette. I can’t reconcile that chick on there to save my life.
The content that they now include in their show, including industry dirt, funny lists of nothing important like «5 things your boyfriend never tells you but are true» and general conversation, is incredibly funny most of the time and much better than when it was Sarah, NoName and Matty. And the Secret Show is just awesome.
I have total overwhelming feelings of concern for them and am glad that it looks like everyone’s signing their next 2 years worth of contract to keep the love alive.

Hello full hour of uninterrupted music. You and you alone get me through my commute sometimes when no other radio station cares. Oh how I love thee!
But seriously, great music, great selection, and even though they repeat a lot of songs they play much more variety than 106.5 and has a broader range of musical interests which does not involve Little Jon every night at some point. I like the variety and I enjoy the hour-​long music sessions. Thumbsup

Dear Director of Programming,
I am offering my services as a disc jockey for your radio station. Even though I have no prior DJ experience, I feel that I have a lot to bring to the table — namely the fact that my music library contains more than just the various «Grey’s Anatomy» soundtracks, which is all that it seems you own.
On that note, the next time you play the Fray, or that song by Maroon 5 about shooting that guy dead again, I’m going Uncle Frank* on your arses.
(*
— 2:30 in.)

frankly I’ve listened to ALICE for many years, I loved when it was Vinnie and Sarah way back when. But I got used to NoName, kinda miss him. I mean I’m happy for Vinnie and I only listen on the mornings I commute (and that’s for 20 minutes) so its not that big of a deal to me. I guess since the bay area «SUCKS» when it comes to radio choices ALICE is the best there is. Years ago I was a LIVE105 listener. but I hated Howard Sterns schtick it got so old I moved away from LIVE105 in the AM and found ALICE. but now I can’t even get in the friggin station (LIVE105) out in the east bay??? So during the day when I feel like plugging into whats going on with traffic or whats new in the song world, I turn to ALICE… yeah I’m a fan.
Side note: many years ago on April fools day when Vinnie was originally on the show they did this prank and yeah I got conned when I first turned on the radio. They had hired all spanish radio host so it sounded like the station had become a spanish station over night. I mean everything music, weather, traffic, etc all spanish… people were calling in pissed! What happened? Haha all a prank for April fools… good one guys… you got me!

Sorry Alice, I tried to make it work. My ex-​girlfriend liked you, my daughter likes you and every so often leaves it on in my car.
But I have lost all respect for you.
Maybe it was the lame ass humor of No-​name, Sarah, and the other morning snores that started the decline.
Or it began with the continual commercials.
But when I heard you play Britney Spears’ cover of «I Love Rock N Roll», that was the final straw.
Never again. You have been deleted from my presets.
And it never really helped that my ex-​girlfriend liked you.