This radio station is playing 1 song on repeat and won't say why

Katie Eubanks
Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Editor's note: A previous version of this story misidentified the station as WYOY 101.7.

A fellow editor noticed it first. Folks were posting about it on Facebook, as they do. 

A local radio station, 107.1, has been playing one song and one song only, on repeat, with no commercials or anything. 

Sure enough, when I turned my car radio to the station, there it was: "Cherry, Cherry" by Neil Diamond. Apparently it was his first big hit, way back in 1966. But why play it on repeat? 

Neil Diamond greets the crowd in February 1992 at the Palace on the first night of his sold-out concert series.

I called the station, and ... 

According to General Sales Manager Bill Rakestraw, there's a reason. But not one they're revealing to the public right now.

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"It's not ready to be announced yet. But we know it's happening. It's not stuck," Rakestraw said. 

Another station rep said the song has been playing on loop for about three weeks, probably. 

That's a lot of Neil Diamond. Especially with no explanation. 

Here are my theories about 107.1's coming "announcement":

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It's about cherries

Maybe folks at 107.1 really, really like cherries. National Cherry Turnover Day is Aug. 28, but that doesn't matter. Any time is the right time to celebrate the fruit that tastes like Robitussin. (OK so I'm not a fan.)

It's about diamonds

Diamonds are a girl's best friend, right? Maybe this is all a subliminal plug for a big-time jewelry advertiser. Neil Diamond = diamonds = listeners thinking about buying jewelry. Brilliant! 

It's about burning calories

"Can't stand still while the music is playin'," Diamond sings in "Cherry, Cherry," and maybe this is the station's way of getting us all up and moving. Michelle Obama is no longer serving as our country's First Lady and most beloved amateur exercise guru. So perhaps this radio station in one of America's most obese states is filling the gap.

If we do some burpees, will they play a different song?

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It's about moonshine

Stay with me here. I'm not saying the song itself is about moonshine, but Diamond does sing about making "our own lightning." Maybe 107.1 is helping the Alcoholic Beverage Control in their crackdown on bootleggers, and the song is a secret coded message that will play until every still in Mississippi is destroyed. 

Oh man. I might have to switch stations. 

It's a hostile takeover

My final theory is that 107.1 has been seized by hostile forces intent on brainwashing us into loving singers named Neil. The Neil Before Us group (working title) will next force Atlanta residents to listen to Neil Sedaka before moving on to edgier fare like Vince Neil in the Pacific Northwest. 

Facts about Neil Diamond and 'Cherry, Cherry'

  • In 2009, Diamond referenced "Cherry, Cherry" in an album called "Cherry Cherry Christmas" (with a song of the same name). The cover photo features him in front of a wreath decked out in pairs of cherries. I'm not joking.
  • If you've never heard "Cherry, Cherry" (I hadn't until this afternoon), FYI, The Romantics had to have been influenced by it when they recorded their 1980 hit "What I Like About You." 
  • Neil Diamond hasn't performed in Mississippi since 1970, when he did a show at Mississippi State University.

If Diamond returns to the Magnolia State anytime soon, we should be good and ready.