For a few days at least, I'm going to do some reminiscing of what I heard on Detroit's free form WABX-FM--it turned out to be a glorious extended encounter with radio that I probably took for granted. I first heard them in 1968, was really into what they were doing by 1970, and was still diggin' it in 1974. But by 1974, it was starting to unravel.
In August 1974, ABX was airing the quickly-released June 1, 1974 (Island),
(from the live in London concert with John Cale, Kevin Ayers, [Brian] Eno and Nico) as I was packing my bags to return to college (my sophomore year) in Texas. That autumn, my friend Dave Grenville told me they'd gone Easy Listening! They changed back to the "Old ABX" but when I heard them again (1976), they were far less exciting. WABX became a typical station, afraid of the oncoming and much-needed Punk rebellion.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but after I first heard the Ramones in 1976 on a Texas station,
I was discovering that Detroit radio did not play much Ramones. Not even in 1977, when Punk was breaking from London to the U.S.--or the other way around. WABX should have been ready for this, as they aired proto-Punk from the MC5 and the New York Dolls quite a bit, earlier in the decade. That was when listening to radio was the biggest thing in my life. As I've said before, if you were really intrigued by something The X played, you'd better go find the vinyl, because it probably wouldn't be on again, at least during your listening time.
I believe that good radio programming means establishing a core sound and then moving away from it, coming back, moving away from it, and coming back. That's what I heard, especially from 1970-74. Later on, ABX sounded more corporate by comparison.
Because in WABX's glory days, besides Motor City Rock and Soul, they'd play anything, and it didn't have to be rock---it could be John Coltrane's blazing A Love Supreme.
Or that Sunday night when a jock put on a reissue of the ancient (we're talking January 1938) but still-thrilling Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall gig before a Faces BBC concert that WABX carried.
I bring this up because free form is fading fast. From what I can tell, satellite radio pulls listeners in, yet they eventually discover that there's a formula. So I'm asking everyone this week to consider supporting (yes, with money, if you have it) wherever you get your most adventurous radio programming. And I'm contributing to KAOS-FM/Olympia on the day of my membership drive show (Saturday, April 10).
More WABX stuff next time, with a pledge drive pitch at the very end.
In August 1974, ABX was airing the quickly-released June 1, 1974 (Island),
(from the live in London concert with John Cale, Kevin Ayers, [Brian] Eno and Nico) as I was packing my bags to return to college (my sophomore year) in Texas. That autumn, my friend Dave Grenville told me they'd gone Easy Listening! They changed back to the "Old ABX" but when I heard them again (1976), they were far less exciting. WABX became a typical station, afraid of the oncoming and much-needed Punk rebellion.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but after I first heard the Ramones in 1976 on a Texas station,
I was discovering that Detroit radio did not play much Ramones. Not even in 1977, when Punk was breaking from London to the U.S.--or the other way around. WABX should have been ready for this, as they aired proto-Punk from the MC5 and the New York Dolls quite a bit, earlier in the decade. That was when listening to radio was the biggest thing in my life. As I've said before, if you were really intrigued by something The X played, you'd better go find the vinyl, because it probably wouldn't be on again, at least during your listening time.
I believe that good radio programming means establishing a core sound and then moving away from it, coming back, moving away from it, and coming back. That's what I heard, especially from 1970-74. Later on, ABX sounded more corporate by comparison.
Because in WABX's glory days, besides Motor City Rock and Soul, they'd play anything, and it didn't have to be rock---it could be John Coltrane's blazing A Love Supreme.
Or that Sunday night when a jock put on a reissue of the ancient (we're talking January 1938) but still-thrilling Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall gig before a Faces BBC concert that WABX carried.
I bring this up because free form is fading fast. From what I can tell, satellite radio pulls listeners in, yet they eventually discover that there's a formula. So I'm asking everyone this week to consider supporting (yes, with money, if you have it) wherever you get your most adventurous radio programming. And I'm contributing to KAOS-FM/Olympia on the day of my membership drive show (Saturday, April 10).
More WABX stuff next time, with a pledge drive pitch at the very end.
RSS Feed
