Let's face it, most of the music you hear on the radio these days is not very good.  It is kind of sad that you have kids growing up today who know every word to every Justin Bieber song, but have never heard of Frank Sinatra or even John Denver.   It is sad that kids grow up today without ever hearing "Moon River" or "Que Sera, Sera", even once.

I recently met somebody who is doing something about it.  His name is Bob Bittner and he runs WJIB 740 AM Boston, "The Memories Station".  He also owns WJTO, a similar station in Bath Maine, where I caught up with him.

WJIB is a small station with a loyal following.  The station transmits 250 watts during the day, and only 5 watts at night.  By comparison, mega-station WBZ 1030 AM boasts a 50,000 watt signal.

But WJIB's 280-foot transmitter tower is remarkably efficient, and the station can he heard loud and clear throughout most of the Route 128 loop, on parts of the Cape, and even as far away as Nova Scotia.

WJIB is an "Adult Standards" station that plays more vocals than instrumentals.  Most of the music is from yesteryear, ranging from the 1930s - 1980.  Bittner personally selects the music that gets played and gets many of the songs from old records that listeners send him.  Bittner spent decades in the radio industry and doesn't need to consult Arbitron ratings to decide what to play.  He knows good music.  He looks for "nice, bright happy songs" like "Take Me Home, Country Roads".

Bittner is a good-natured man, but when I asked about the music being played on radio today by singers getting a little - or a lot of - help from Auto-Tune, he pulled no punches: "It's techno crap."

But my parents hated my music, and I hate my kids' music.  Isn't that just the natural order to life?  Is there really a fundamental difference between the Lil Wayne and Eminem songs on my son's iPod playlist and the older music played on WJIB?  "Yes," says Bittner.  "The music wasn't hostile then.  It had words you could understand.  There is hardly any melody in music today".

He is right.  The music played on WJIB is simply better.  Listen to WJIB for an hour and your disposition gets more cheerful and positive.  You find yourself singing in the shower.  Listening to the Wu Tang Clan doesn't have that same effect.

While WJIB does have a considerable number of older listeners, there are also a growing number of people in their 30s, 40s and 50s listening.  WJIB's style of music is also gaining popularity with young Europeans looking for an alternative to the sea of mediocrity that is pop radio in 2011.

To hear Bittner talk, you get the sense that he really cares about the listener.  It would be easy for him to make a pile of money by running commercials for miracle weight loss pills or selling infomercial time on WJIB, but "that would ruin the station."  Instead, WJIB plays no commercials and uses a listener-supported model.  He showed me three boxes of donations that listeners sent in to keep the station running.

WJIB has touched a lot of lives and Bittner gets a lot of positive feedback from listeners.  He has heard from mothers and grandmothers who put WJIB on in the background so their children will get accustomed to good music in their lives.  He heard from a woman who said that WJIB's music helped to take her mind off of her chronic pain and helped her to sleep.

Bob Bittner has built something beautiful in WJIB, and Boston is lucky to have it on the dial.