sharing a passion for this station, although we hadn' t met yet: "The station of your wildest dreams--WABX-FM/Detroit." And "WABX-FM/Detroit. Not responsible."
ABX Air Ace Mark Parenteau took that "not responsible" stuff seriously--he was
incarcerated until a few years ago (look it up). But from late 1970/early 1971 to 1974, he was my favorite DJ. Although every Air Ace was all over the musical map, Parenteau didn't get into that lazy hippie vibe, for the most part. His sets were often teeming with energy, moving from Little Richard to Roxy Music to Sparks ("Whippings and Apologies"). And there would be one song he was stuck on and played day after day, like Jack Kittel's macabre country cover of Leon Payne's "Psycho" or Billy Paul's uptempo, live version of "Thanks For Saving My Life." Much of what aired on Parenteau's program was music best described by its host: a "good, old fashioned Rock'n'Roll ass-shaker." He was from Boston and joined that city's legendary WBCN after his Detroit run.
Dennis Frawley was doing the "Kokaine Karma" show with Bob Rudnick on East Orange/NJ's WFMU, which is free form to this day and still one of the most exciting stations in the nation (not to mention well-supported financially). When he came to WABX, I remember Frawley hipping me to the L.A. band Love (although I knew "Little Red Book" from AM in Detroit), and he blended all sorts of great stuff from the Byrds to Motown to John Lee Hooker to Motor City hard rockin' havoc. Sometime in 1974, excited by current R&B, Frawley did several months of shows of nothing but.
Paul Greiner had a really easy-going air presence and I liked his work a lot. If anyone played more Roy Wood & Wizzard or the Move on ABX than Greiner, I'd like to know about it. If he got in an early to mid-period Beatles mode, look out! You'd be hearing it awhile.
I suppose WABX had a hippie vibe if you were experienced (not neccessarily stoned but beautiful, indeed), but since I wasn't looking for one, that's not what I took from them.
Their music choices were largely unconventional but hardly laid back to the point of being dull. There were no jingles with someone singing the station call letters. If they had any national sponsors, WABX would do the ads themselves--no stupid, national announcers who couldn't pronounce "Hamtramck." When they did a spot for the then red-hot Alice Cooper's Detroit gig, Dave Dixon interjected, "Don't forget the snake, Alice."
Parenteau (and maybe everyone) had the nine minute jam version of Buffalo Springfield's "Bluebird"--it was a rare and scintillating treat when that hit the airwaves. It could've been ABX bootleg play that forced Atlantic Records to finally release the whole version on an 1973 anthology for the first and only time. Vinyl, of course. WABX played the rough mixes of (Iggy &) the Stooges' Raw Power long before it was issued.
I must have been nuts to not have a tape rolling for that storied radio discussion I mentioned in Pt. 2 of this post. Same for when Bob Seger was a guest DJ. I expected some classic blues and R&B from Bob, and maybe a few of his own songs, when he hosted. What I recall is tons of Phil Spector classics and Seger's insightful chat on record production.
Of course, live broadcasts also brought WABX its renown, and in late 1971, there was the live benefit to help spring John Sinclair from his "Ten for two" (as in joints) imprisonment. John & Yoko were kind of anticlimactic, appearing live at that Crisler Arena gig in Ann Arbor at 3am, but it was a noteworthy radio event. Seger and Stevie Wonder were also on the bill.
You might have an idea that I'm big on free form radio and don't want it to vanish.
My last pledge pitch for now: Please contribute to radio still doing free form--it's up to you what station. I'm on from 10am to noon this Saturday (Pacific Time/U.S) with the KAOS pledge drive. Or contribute anytime online: www.kaosradio.org.
And now, the full WABX/Detroit motto/disclaimer, which they must have adopted from the Firesign Theatre: "The opinions expressed on the following are those of
no one in particular, and this station refuses to accept responsibility for anything.
Not responsible."