The good old days of "alternative" radio, back again

posted by Jeff | Saturday, February 18, 2012, 10:37 PM | comments: 4

When I was in college, and for many years after, we had a radio station in Cleveland called "The End" (it was at 107.9), and it was what the industry described as modern rock or alternative. That station was the tits. I was still working in radio at the time, at the big top 40 station across town, and I wanted nothing more than to jump ship and go play Nine Inch Nails, Garbage, Depeche Mode and Luscious Jackson.

There was another station in town that was playing stuff called modern rock, the Cleveland rock radio legend WMMS, but what they did was too well packaged, and it lacked the integrity and diversity that The End had. They sounded like the rock version of the awful station I was working at. To give you some perspective on how awful that might be, that was when "Macarena" was popular.

What I loved about The End was that they seemed to take chances and not get too wrapped up in genres and labeling. It was fantastic that you could hear Nirvana and Pearl Jam one moment, and the next you were hearing Fiona Apple or Morcheeba. For someone like me who soundtracks his life with music, it was really a dream come true. That station introduced me to so many favorites I cling to today... James, Material Issue, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Garbage, Alanis, Radiohead, Matthew Sweet, Weezer, Tracy Bonham and countless one-hit wonders.

I didn't stay in that business for very long, but that radio station took everything I loved about radio in the 80's, in terms of personalities and production, and applied it to a sweeping range of music. Sadly, the format was ditched, and as the post-deregulation consolidation continued, the format started to disappear all over the place.

About two years ago I bought a new car with an XM radio in it. At the time, my commute along a beautiful road along Lake Sammamish outside of Seattle was barely 20 minutes, but I got so hooked on their AltNation channel that I immediately signed up after the trial subscription ended. It is The End, only with the music of the day. It has jocks that are genuinely into the music. Their morning guy in particular (well, technically he was mid-day when I lived out there) has a lot of depth and knowledge about the stuff they play. And there are zero commercials!

That's the interesting thing about satellite radio that trumps terrestrial radio. You can be pretty broad, or focused, in every format, because the audience is still yours regardless. I mean, they have four or five variations on country stations. Some have jocks, some don't. When I listen to their Lithium channel, it's like hearing The End, circa 1998.

The thing that's really helping out the channel now is that there is a lot of diverse music being published that doesn't neatly fit into a specific genre. It feels like radio from 15 years ago, even if it sounds different. I've noticed on Facebook that several friends share the enthusiasm for it, too.

Music listening habits have changed so dramatically since then, thanks to the iPod and the MP3 format, but the thing that I still value is people choosing music for me. This works both in the historic sense, for channels like Lithium, as well as the discovery sense, like AltNation. Every once in awhile, something like Pandora finds a nut, playing something I didn't know about, but you know, so did a random preview kiosk at a Borders back in the day (that's how I discovered Supreme Beings of Leisure, and I'm more sexy for it). I don't have the time or energy to be a hipster listening through mountains of shit to discover something I'm really into.

I do have one problem now... I work from home. I don't commute anywhere, so I don't listen to XM very often. We'll see if I'm too cheap to spend the extra few bucks to use their streaming service.


Comments

Joel

February 19, 2012, 11:37 PM #

Wow. I remember The End. I loved that station. I remember trying to tune it in on the way to Geauga Lake. 107.9 is a country station in Pittsburgh, so I had to wait until the WENZ signal drowned that out.

Pittsburgh had the amazing WXXP until 1988, a real groundbreaker for the new wave genre, but then was without an FM alternative station until the Revolution came around in '94, so it was great hearing that stuff on the radio in the "dark days" when all was rock and top 40 here.

One year about 10 friends and I went to EndFest at the Geauga County Fairgrounds. Violent Femmes, Material Issue, L7... Just a ton of great bands. Got rained on and the place turned in to a mudbath. Good times.

Thanks for the flashback.

Vic Gideon

February 20, 2012, 10:40 AM #

I introduced many bands at that "mudbath" or, as it was known, EndFest (1994), including Material Issue (who I loved at the time -- poor Jim Ellison) and the Violent Femmes. Had a great time with PD photographer Scott Shaw, who documented some of the event. And like Spanky from the "Little Rascals," I dodged mud balls on the stage during my introductions. Remember, "Friends, Romans, and countrymen," with Spanky having to hold up his shield after every line to block the incoming spitballs?

Jason

October 8, 2015, 1:58 PM #

I miss The End, and went to EndFest, I was 17 at the time. I often find myself trying to remember all the bands that played, and with the rain, I'm not sure if all 17 got to play anyway. I really remember being bummed out because Machines of Loving Grace were one of my favorites and they only got two songs in before the major storm hit, there was a couple hours delay, and they never returned to stage. I'm not sure if you will even see this, but you think you could fill in some of the missing bands from my list?

Candlebox
L7
Violent Vemmes
Material Issue
Sons of Elvis
Gigolo Aunts
Machines of Loving Grace

good times...

Justin

October 8, 2019, 3:48 PM #

I remember seeing the Judybats. I have their Pain is Beautiful CD, and I think i bought it there, but I could be wrong.
I also remember The Clarks from Pittsburgh and the torrential rain and mud!


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