Back in the mid-70’s, long before 97X came along, there was a free-form station on 97.7 FM in Oxford called WOXR.
Chuck Cowdery was part of that merry gang playing progressive rock… and whatever else they wanted to. Chuck was on the air in the early afternoons, and also served as the station’s operations manager and sold ads too. It’s clear from talking to Chuck that WOXR was on the same frequency as 97X, both literally and figuratively – and that station influenced a generation who, if they stuck around the area, were much more receptive to a modern rock format.
You can read Chuck’s post about his WOXR radio days right here on his blog. He worked alongside such luminaries as Rick Ludwin, who went on a long and storied career as an NBC programming exec (he’s the guy who fought to keep Seinfeld and Late Night with Conan O’Brien on the air) and Bob Michelson, who managed syndication for the “National Lampoon Radio Hour,” a steppingstone for most of the original cast of Saturday Night Live. (And yes, WOXR was one of the first stations to air that syndicated program.)
Chuck went from the spirit of radio to spirits – he’s been writing about whiskey and bourbon for a few decades now.
Even though I’m referring to the season, not the verb, I can’t use that headline and not pay it off… so here you go:
Speaking o’ R.E.M., local legends and TWILM favorites Cereal Killers often do an R.E.M. song or three in their stellar sets. And Cereal Killers are playing tonight around 8:30 outside Crowley’sin Mt. Adams as part of that bar’s 85th anniversary celebration. (Here’s a news clip if you want to experience some awkward happy chat from Tricia “PermaTan” Macke. Is it just me or has she become Magda in There’s Something about Mary?)
Normally, list member Dave Tellmann and I would be all over the CK gig. (That might be the first time that Dave and I have appeared in the same sentence with a variation of the word “normal.”) But in typical feast-or-famine fashion, we’re already slated to attend the Whispering Beard Festival this afternoon and evening. (Dave’s son Jack engineered the new album from The Deslondes, who hit the Beard stage at 9 p.m. tonight.)
Other gigs today include Sweet William at Neltner’s Farm this afternoon, Hyryder at Annie’s, Joan Osborne at Ludlow Garage and the Corn Stand Jam free show at RiversEDGE with Rumpke Mountain Boys headlining.
Tomorrow, the Kentucky Struts are playing Neltner’s Farm from 1:30-4:30. I’ll be pulling up a hay bale for that gig. Lead singer Todd Lipscomb’s wife Angie just took our son Andrew’s senior photos and Angie’s so good that he looks like a GQ model, despite his hereditary handicap on the paternal side.
If you need some pro photos, check out Angie’s website. Highly recommended. (Even though I’m the world’s biggest cheapskate, this is in no way an attempt to get her to cut us a deal on wallet-size prints.)
Other Sunday shows include The Paper Kites at Top Cats, Flobots at Southgate, and Live Skull with Fairmount Girls at MOTR.
On Tuesday, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott rambles into Southgate, with Mike Oberst and Sean Geil of the Tillers as the opener.
(Speaking of Ramblers, one of the roughly 138 crappy $500 used cars that my dad bought* during our time in Arkansas was an AMC Rambler with push button automatic.)
*on the installment plan, of course… man, we were poor!
Sierra Hull plays Memorial Hall on Wednesday. Taylor Rae opens that show.
On Friday, Lucinda Williams plays Madison Theater. That’s a seated show… and Lu may be seated as well. She’s had some health issues, but she’s still one of America’s finest singer/songwriters.
Also on Friday, American Aquarium is at Southgate.
Next Saturday, there’s a free concert at Seasongood Pavilion as part of a celebration and fundraiser for The Community Program for Recovery.
And it wouldn’t be “Rocktober” without a battle of the tribute bands: Thunderstruck plays Annie’s, and The Ultimate Doors play Ludlow.
Fake Angus will whip out his Gibson SG, and Fake Jim will whip out his… uh, nevermind!
Other 10/1 shows include Deadmau5 at the Marsha Brady and Sam Hibbard & Elijah Bedel at Neltner’s Farm.
Hippie Bob is listening in heaven
I’ll readily admit that my musical tastes are outside the mainstream, which means most shows I go to have a smaller crowd. You start noticing the same faces. And for a long stretch in the late 90s and early 2000s, it seemed like every show I went to — especially the Magus shows– I’d see this older dude with a ponytail. The Venn diagram of our musical tastes overlapped significantly. So I finally introduced myself to him, and every show after that, we’d compare notes on new albums we liked and upcoming shows on our radar. His name was Bob Gregory (I called him “Hippie Bob”), and he taught photography at Sycamore High School for decades before retiring to a life of going to sparsely-attended shows and being bothered by some music nerd (c’est moi!). He was a sweet dude, soft-spoken, funny, and kind. I’m now at the age where I read the obits to make sure my name isn’t in it. This past Sunday I read that Hippie Bob had passed away earlier this month at the age of 82. R.I.P. my music friend.
WTF is on a roll
Marc Maron’s been on a music tear lately… recent episodes of his WTF podcast include interviews with Sharon Van Etten, S.G. Goodman and Covington’s own Adrian Belew. All are well worth a listen.
Coming next year to a bookstore near you
Album Cover of the Week
Any dude with an umlaut in his name knows how to rock! Party on, Günter!
One of my go-to podcasts is The Memory Palace – it’s audio storytelling at its finest. But somehow this episode from 2017 had slipped through the cracks until it was reposted recently.
Host Nate DiMeo pays tribute to WBRU-FM in Providence, Rhode Island. But if you’re a 97X fan, you’ll definitely relate to the subject matter. Here’s a great snippet from the culmination of the episode:
“The one (station) that in no small part made you who you were then… maybe still are. But this one station, now gone, was mine…”
Nate DiMeo on the episode linked above
Like WBRU, 97X lives on, in our own Memory Palace.
[I highly recommend all the episodes of The Memory Palace. Check ’em out here.]
Keri Crawford was at 97X from 1998-2001, as a DJ and program director. She talks to us about her radio and record label background, the unique energy of 97X, the fun shows she got to organize and promote, the fervor of the listeners… and how her dog had free rein at the office.
Rhett Leibecke (a.k.a. “Reed LeBeak”) spent a single semester as a student co-op for Rictile and Dave on the Breakfast Club… and it’s clear that he’s been scarred for life (and not just from the lawn jarts). He got the gig based on his shady past doing a “SoundScam”… and it was all downhill from there. Rhett and special guest Rictile join up to talk about Rhett’s stellar work cleaning a “sound room,” the Aye Team, BatBoy, 97X bitcoin, Barenaked Ladies and Northern Exposure.
In a rare moment of seriousness, we also talk about Rhett’s courageous battle against a rare form of cancer, and how his positive attitude has helped lift the spirits of others in their cancer battles.
97X was really the premium outlet for a kid in the Midwest to tune in and catch fantastic new tunes… when I got to Miami and that opportunity presented itself, I was there. I was like a kid who was in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, that’s how magical and special it was.
Rhett “Reed LeBeak” Leibecke, former Breakfast Club co-producer
Garin Pirnia grew up in Centerville, Ohio and discovered 97X when she returned to the area after stints in L.A. and Chicago. She’s written about music (as well as film, food, and travel) for dozens of publications including Rolling Stone, Esquire, Vanity Fair and The Atlantic. Her book about bands from the state of Ohio, Rebels and Underdogs, came out a few years ago. We chat with Garin about the many bands who hail from the Buckeye State and explore why Ohio is such a fertile ground for musicians.
You can find out more about Garin’s writing on her website.
The concert chef has whipped up a big batch of gigs this week. Let’s dig in!
Saturday night:
Rose Music Center in Dayton has An Evening with Jackson Browne (Daryl Hannah would not recommend)
Wallows plays the Ovation
Styx, REO Speedwagon and Loverboy play the time machine that is Riverbend Music Center
The Pat Travers Band and Cactus are at Ludlow Garage
Here’s one for the Swedish chef: the Aronoff presents ABBAfab: the premier Abba experience (note, this is not to be confused with ABBA, The Concert, yet another Abba tribute, which is playing Rose Music Center later this month)
“It was the 70s” is an acceptable explanation
On Sunday, Fraze Pavilion in Kettering hosts the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band Birthday Party featuring Samantha Fish, the Ally Venable Band and Shemekia Copeland. And maybe the members of ABBA will jump out of the birthday cake!
Björn, Agnetha and Benny with the mad hops. Anni-Frid, not so much.
On Tuesday, The Wood Brothers and Guster play Rose Music Center, with special guest David Wax Museum. (Note: David Wax Museum is not to be confused with the wax figures at the ABBA Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, where adult admission is 250 kronor, and kids 6 and under are free!)
L to R: BAAB.
On Wednesday, Billy Strings plays a sold-out gig at Rose, and Whiskey Myers is at the Greg Brady.
Thursday:
Steely Dan is at Riverbend – Steve Winwood was originally going to open the show, but since it was covid-poned, the new opener is Snarky Puppy.
Air Supply plays Rose
Willy Tea Taylor performs at the Washington Park Roots Revival free show
On Friday, June 17th:
The Wood Brothers, Guster and David Wax Museum play the Marsha Brady
Fitz & the Tantrums and St. Paul & the Broken Bones double-ampersand the Fraze.
Matchbox Twenty and the Wallflowers are at Riverbend
Hiroshima is at the Ludlow Garage
Carriage House Farm in North Bend is hosting Songwriter Sweep: An Evening of Short Sets with The Hiders, Night Owl, Zapruder Point and Peace Police.
Re-running up that hill
Kate Bush is having a moment, courtesy of her 1985 song “Running up that Hill” which features prominently in the new season of Stranger Things. You can read more on Paste and in Vogue. Hat tip to list member Cullen Lewis for the Vogue article… it’s great. Here’s an excerpt:
Cullen does a great Substack newsletter every Friday, covering music, arts and fashion. (Soooo much better than this rag.) Check it out here.
Last week’s releases featured a bumper crop of tasty tunes – in addition to the aforementioned Angel Olsen, you should check out the new releases from Horsegirl, Drive-By Truckers, S.G. Goodman, Andrew Bird, and Supercrush.
Shameless self-promotion
The most recent episode of the non-award-winning “97X Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast features our interview with Taylor Fox of Inhailer Radio. Check it out here or wherever you get your pods.
More like Podcast Servant…
Song of the Year (IMHO)
Really diggin’ this new song by The Dream Syndicate… not sure why:
Taylor Fox (a.k.a. “TayFo”) is a co-founder and morning host on Inhailer, a streaming/HD radio station that plays indie rock and helps promote local bands and the music scene in Cincinnati. The impetus for the station came from losing other local stations that played cool music, first 97X and WVXU’s Nightwaves, and later WNKU. Taylor tells us about how the station started, how he discovered 97X, and how the 97X message boards helped him connect with kindred spirits.
Inhailer can be streamed from their website or mobile apps (Apple App Store and Google Play), and you can also tune in over the airwaves on 90.9 HD3.
In our podcast interview, we mentioned Taylor goes to a ton of live concerts. Here’s his list for June:
Dave Tellmann spent nearly a decade on the air at 97X (1988-1997)… and sometimes he thinks he’s still on the air there! Dave combed through his “aircheck” cassettes from 1993 and put together some snippets of audio that give you a feel for what listening to the station was like back in the day. Come for the Eavey’s commercial, stay for the Marge Schott news story.
Dave in the luxurious production studio – for much of his time at the station, he was in charge of the produced audio elements – commercials, promos, station IDs, etc.
Not surprising that Farrah loomed large in Dave’s life. After all, he was the “Bosley” of Modern Rock.
Legends of The Fall… because Dave and Bake are Legends, and they played The Fall.
Dave and Rictile present an Elvis tapestry to legendary Reds broadcasters Joe Nuxhall and Marty Brennaman.
Jae Forman (far left) and Dave (far right) with a fan on the Lollapalooza “butt cooler”
Dave also served as Music Director for quite a while – here he is with Program Director Phil Manning
Dave and Elvis and Rictile…
Rictile and Dave also started the Ken Fan Club.
Dave would often have some fun with the DJ who was on the air before or after him during the “handoff.” Here’s the time that I acted like I was Lou Reed…
And here’s the time Jae Forman helped us tee up a contest drawing…
Dave probably should read this before our next podcast… Nah, let’s keep winging it!
Jim Vinch was a Cleveland-raised classic rocker… until he moved to Oxford for college and caught the earliest years of 97X. Jim credits the station and its community of listeners with helping him be open not just to new music, but to new ideas. As he puts it, “I am now an assistant visiting professor at Miami and every time I step onto campus I can’t help think about how the university and the local radio station exploded my small little Midwestern world.” We talk to Jim about those connections, some concerts he saw back in the day, and his day job protecting America’s waterways as an environmental lawyer for the EPA.
Jim connected with us via email – here’s the wonderful note he sent to us:
Just finished listening to Episode 68 and, even though it was the shortest, it was by far the best. Doug and Linda’s thesis that 97X is still alive really resonated with me.
I graduated from Miami in 1984, and so only caught the very earliest years of WOXY. Having grown up on a fairly sheltered environment, college was an explosion of new ideas and experiences for me. Truly life changing in every way. I came to Miami as a rock fan mostly raised on the sounds of WMMS in Cleveland, Springsteen being the center of my musical universe. At Miami, I met friends from Chicago who exposed me to “new” music and I was immediately hooked. 97X, though, “set the hook.” It was about the music, but also much more.
My Miami friends tell me I should move on. “97X was 35 years ago” they say. However, 97X is a part of me. I cannot move on from it any more than I can move on from other important milestones in my life without giving up who I am.
I wish I had something as powerful to say as what as Jen L. shared with you. 97X might not have “saved me” but my life would not have have been as rich and vibrant if I didn’t have that experience—or worse— had I chosen to “move on” as my friends have suggest. In the grand scheme of things, 97X might not warrant a mention on my resume, but it’s as essential to who I am as any job held or degree earned.
I am now an assistant visiting professor at Miami this year and every time I step onto campus I can’t help think about how the university and the local radio station exploded my small little Midwestern world.
Thanks for what you do.
Jim Vinch
Please note that Jim isn’t just a run-of- the-mill visiting professor at Miami University, he’s a distinguished visiting professor:
As far as Dave and Damian are concerned, that puts him in great company:
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