Slicing Up Eyeballsis a website dedicated to 80s Alt.Rock music. Lots of coverage/nostalgia for MTV 120 Minutes. Great graphics of cassette cover spines. I got into this genre (these genres?) late, but I still had, saw, skipped over in the bins, or browsed through friends’ copies of all the tapes in the header photo. Excellent choices. Taking Kevin Seal seriously is a little weird.
I watched the Lonely Is an Eyesore clip and was interested in the quotations from the 4AD founder. Also found a link to a weird encounter between Dave Kindle (Kendall? Ken Doll? huh?) and Matt Pinfield. Bored by all the Morrissey hype, but that’s just my taste. Music blogging since 2009, online radio weekly for the last 2 years. In what I hope is just a bit of silliness, they cite the Pixies’ “Debaser” as the source for the title of their blog, but fail to mention that “Debaser” uses the phrase to refer to The Andalusian Dog/Un Chien Andalou, a film by Dali and Bunuel. Cool feature: monthly (?) mixtape downloads. I dig that they’re broken into 45 minute “sides.” This month’s features Depeche Mode, BAD, Oingo Boingo, the Femmes, R.E.M., The Mighty Lemon Drops, and Midge Ure (of Ultravox, etc.) doing a live version of “Dear God.” Awesome.
So, once again the realities of radio broadcasting in the 21st century are catching up with WOXY, 97X. If they can’t find new investment/management (?) by March 23, they’re gonna shut down.
This means a lot to me because WOXY was THE college radio station in southwestern Ohio when I was a teenager. I could rarely get it on the stereo at my house, but my friends with cars usually had it tuned in when they weren’t listening to tapes, and every time we went to Cincinnati we tuned in.
But why should YOU care? Well… maybe you’ve seen a film called Rain Man. There’s a great scene in which Dustin Hoffman’s character repeats the slogan above “97X – BANG!- The Future of Rock n’ Roll” over and over and over… it was awesome to see that in a movie when I was a teenager. The film’s set in the Cincinnati area (at least part of it is) so it’s appropriate, and it sparks nostalgia.
When I was a kid, the first time I ever heard Dream Warriors (“Wash Your Face in My Sink” and “My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style”) was on 97X. When I was in grad school, the first time I ever heard Smoosh or Vendetta Red was on 97X online. This station matters. To me, and to lots of other freaks and dorks from SW Ohio.
Back in 2002, 97X went offline for a bit, but it made it back. 9 years later, and reality may finally catch up with the station. I hope not… I hope someone out there helps them out. And if you’re in the Cinci area or know someone with a truckload of money just waiting to be spent – buy in and keep the music alive.
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