97X

Episode 48: Dan McCabe, Cincinnati’s Premier Promoter

97X, Music, podcast

From 1991-1999, Dan McCabe booked local and national bands (and tended bar, and cleaned the washing machines) at the late, great Sudsy Malone’s on Short Vine, fronting his own money to book the national acts. Decades later, he’s still promoting great live music, as co-owner of MOTR Pub and the Woodward Theater in Over-the-Rhine. Dan shares some amazing memories from his Sudsy’s days (Morphine, Jesus Lizard, Mercury Rev… and Reverend blood on the sidewalk), and talks about why indie venues are crucial to up-and-coming bands. (Oh, this live episode also features special guest appearances from Rictile and Howard Cohen of The Cereal Killers.)

MOTR and The Woodward, like many indie venues across the country, have been shuttered by COVID-19 and need our help. All of us can #SaveOurStages by taking action (writing congresspeople, donating to an indie venue emergency relief fund, etc.) at NIVAssoc.org. 

MOTR Pub’s credo sounds a lot like the way 97X operated back in the day.

The building that housed Sudsy Malone’s (daytime laundromat/bar and nighttime rock club) was recently knocked down. Dan McCabe shared some Sudsy’s memories in this interview with Chris Varias (also a partner in MOTR and the Woodward Theater) on Cincinnati.com.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity I was given there to work with local music and music fans. It was fantastic. The ‘90s were pretty crazy. The ‘90s were when music became accessible. There was no longer this magical laboratory on a hill. Live music and clubs like that were where the bands would bubble up from. You would see them at Sudsy’s one day and MTV the next. It was pretty fun that way.”

Dan McCabe in the Cincinnati Enquirer article linked above

Dan also has played in several Cincinnati-based bands, most notably Roundhead. Here’s a Roundhead reunion panel from earlier this year:

Another partner in MOTR and the Woodward is Chris Schadler, who booked bands at Southgate House starting in the late 90s.

We all miss live music… and we need these great venues to still be in operation when the pandemic has passed. Please visit NIVAssoc.org and do what you can to help #SaveOurStages.

Episode 47: Tina Christina – a Radio lifer

97X, podcast

Tina Christina was on the air at 97X for more than a decade (1991-2003) doing weekend shifts, then overnights, and eventually middays with her distinctive New York accent. She’s still in the radio biz… although she goes by a different name these days. We talk to Tina about her 97X memories, which include barking dogs, sleeping on the air, Bogart’s stage fright, and a decoration from Cake. 

Tina Christina in college at SUNY-Plattsburgh – she’s in the 2nd row, second from the right.
Tina Christina with her kids. She still enjoys birthday cake and drawings from the band Cake.
Having co-hosted morning shows on country stations in both Cincinnati and Albany, NY, Tina Christina (a.k.a. “Dana Race”) has tons of photos of herself with guys with big hats.

Here’s a 2018 slideshow in the Albany Times-Union with “20 Things You Don’t Know about Dana Race. (The fact that she worked at 97X as “Tina Christina” didn’t make the top 20…)

Episode 46: More Phun with Phil Manning

97X, Music, podcast

In this podcast episode, we continue our chat with Phil Manning, who joined 97X in the summer of 1988 and was with the station until December of 1994, spending most of those years in the program director role. This episode features stories about Bob Mould, Richard Thompson, comedian Chip Chinery, angry Goo Goo Dolls, Folgers coffee, fax machines, Hawaiian honeymoons and a great promo featuring Phil doing his Morrissey impersonation. And somehow we manage to squeeze in some serious thoughts from Phil about the things that made 97X so special. 

Phil’s in the front row, 2nd from left, at the infamous Day in Eden outdoor concert at Eden Park.

Episode 45: Phil Manning – Manning the Airwaves

97X, podcast

Phil Manning started at the very bottom of the totem pole at 97X shortly after he graduated from college in 1988. He began with a single weekend overnight shift but gradually worked his way up to program director, and had that role at 97X for nearly five years during the halcyon days of the early to mid 90s. Phil talks about how he got the gig, his interesting side jobs, his roommates, his “whopping” salary and how he became a “radio vagabond” in several major markets after departing 97X in 1994, including spending 10+ years at The End in Seattle and a stint at 91X in San Diego.

Phil at the mic at Bogart’s during the 10th Anniversary Concert (Barenaked Ladies, Royal Crescent Mob, Too Much Joy and Sleep Theater)
We’re pretty sure that’s Dave’s hand…
Phil and Dave with the B-52s “Cosmic Thing” disc… this must’ve been taken before Channel Z went on the air in Cincinnati.

Episode 44: The Fun Stuff between the Songs

97X, podcast, woxy.com

There’s no denying that the music is what attracted a small-but-mighty tribe of forward-thinking listeners to 97X. But the commercials, promos, contests, station ID liners and DJ breaks helped contribute to the freewheeling, fun-loving, anti-corporate nature of the station. In this episode, Dave and Damian play several bits and breaks from back in the day. We also have a listener who needs your well-trained ears to help him figure out a mystery song from 97X.

The 97X gang at Lollapalooza 1992, Riverbend. Kneeling: Damian and Rictile. Standing L to R: Steve Baker, Linda Balogh, Jae Forman, Julie Maxwell, Doug Balogh, Phil Manning, Joe Throckmorton, Brian Ewing, Dave Tellmann and Chris Adryan. Sitting atop the 97X Blazer: Laura Kim.

Station owners Doug and Linda Balogh were very hands-off when it came to station programming. They didn’t meddle with the music, and they encouraged the on-air staff to be creative. Sure, there were a few swings-and-misses, but the supportive atmosphere they fostered allowed us to screw up and learn from it. Having a audio playground like that was very rare back then. It’s damn near non-existent among commercial radio stations now.

Shout-out to longtime advertisers like Everybody’s Records, too. They supported the station for decades.

Most of the recorded material (commercials, promos, liners) and live on-air DJ talk from the 97X era has been lost to the ether forever. The stuff you hear in this episode is culled from crappy old cassettes that we were able to digitize. If you have any recordings of 97X, drop us a line at 97Xwoxy@gmail.com. We’d love to add to our archive.

Episode 43: Luann Gibbs – Miss Kitty Forever!

97X, Music, podcast, woxy.com

Luann Gibbs started listening to 97.7 FM in Oxford in the pre-97X/Dr. Demento days of the late 70s. When 97X debuted in 1983, she became an avid listener. When the 97X message boards started, she was quite active on them (as “Miss Kitty”). Eventually, her college friend Mike Taylor recruited her to do on-air shifts at 97X/woxy.com. Luann’s been with the Cincinnati Enquirer for 15 years (she’s the queen of “Things to Do”), and also does weekend shifts at Inhailer Radio. We chat with her about college radio, internet radio, her message board “family” and her ongoing promotion of new music.

As we mention on the the podcast, Luann is our #1 hype person – her March 18th Cincinnati Enquirer article entitled “Top 10 ways to practice social distancing” featured a shout-out for Rumblings from the Big Bush:

You can peruse Luann’s most recent articles and lists for the Cincinnati Enquirer here.

Luann also does weekend DJ shifts for Inhailer Radio, which is carrying the 97X/woxy.com/WNKU (R.I.P. X 3) torch by promoting local and national indie music. Not only can you tune in online or on your smartphone, but Inhailer was recently added as WGUC’s HD3 channel.

“Miss Kitty” also posts a monthly collaborative playlist of cool new music (curated by 97X/WOXY fans) on Spotify. Here’s a link for the August edition.

Luann stays connected with her old 97X/woxy message board friends on the WOXY Forever! Facebook group. (You’ll also find links to the monthly playlists here.)

Episode 42: Matt Soden, Your Little Green Amigo

97X, podcast

Matt Soden moved to Oxford on Memorial Day weekend in 1990 and immediately got hooked by 97X’s annual Modern Rock 500. He parlayed his college radio experience into a DJ gig at the station for a year and a half, first doing weekend shifts, then overnights, and eventually evenings. We chat with Matt about crazy callers, drunken door knockers, Kermit the Frog inpersonations, and his massive salary… but can’t figure out how he snuck past Department of Defense screeners.

Before he worked at 97X, Matt had a gig at a Chess King clothing store. He probably can still get you a deal on parachute pants.

Matt has enjoyed reconnecting with his 97X past via the Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast, as well as the WOXY Forever Facebook group.

5K is OK by us

97X, podcast, Uncategorized

The 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast recently hit the 5,000 downloads mark on Podbean, our podcasting host site.

That’s not too shabby for a ragtag duo that started out a year and a half ago with ZERO expectations.

97X era… and now

We’re flying by the seat of our pants (provided Dave remembers to wear them), and working on a shoestring budget, with gear that would make a Mr. Microphone seem high-tech.

Since November of 2018, Dave and I have posted more than 40 episodes, and have interviewed dozens of station staffers and quite a few listeners from back in the day. It’s been a blast reconnecting with all the cool kids.

We’re not setting the podcasting world on fire, but we’re bringing back fond memories for a small squad of dedicated 97X fans (and having a blast in the process).

Hmm, we probably should read that someday…

97X station co-owner Doug Balogh had a list of “Balogh-ages” – simple suggestions for business success. #23 was “Remember to say THANK YOU.”

“The Falcon”

So THANK YOU for listening!

And if you have a friend or three that might enjoy some “Rumblings from the Big Bush,” tell ’em to click the 5K button below to get to our Podbean page. They can also catch episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Episode 41: David Groff, a 97X Lifer

97X, Music, podcast

Geography, fate — and a cool dad — turned David on to 97X in his preteen years. He never stopped listening, through high school (he and his dad went to a PiL show at Bogart’s together!), his college years at Miami University and afterward when he moved back to Cincinnati. We chat with David about how he got hooked, and his 97X memories of college concerts, Oxford bars, local bands and dorm room hijinks.

David in his home office with the old school 97X logo

On our podcast, we’ve talked to a lot of college professors who have Masters and PhDs, but David might have them beat in the “letters after your name” category:

What, no REM, KMFDM or UB40?

After he graduated from Miami U., David got a job at a local insurance company as an actuary… and he’s never left. Actuary is consistently ranked as one of the best jobs in the U.S. (David blogs about it here.) We’d like to think that listening to 97X for all those years made David a lot cooler than Ben Stiller’s character in Along Came Polly:

Episode 40: Michael Winstead, Modern Rock Stead(y)

97X, podcast

Mike “Stead” Winstead grew up in Oxford, Ohio and dreamed of working at 97X. When he got out of the Army in 1994, he “bugged” (his word) the station until he finally landed a job as Director of First Impressions (“Mike the Modern Rock Receptionist”). He also did weekend and fill-in shifts, and helped out at nearly every on-location promotional event that 97X did during his time there. We chat with Stead about singing the Miami U. alma mater (without knowing the words), pizza payola, his first time on the air, and the sweaty mass of humanity at Lollapalooza.

Stead with Bob Pollard (in the time it took you to read this caption, Bob wrote 3 songs)
With Gwen Stefani, back when a relatively unknown No Doubt opened for 311.
Stead’s favorite band
Mike (standing) “doin’ the claw” in tribute to the King at a Rock & Bowl
Stead or Giovanni Ribisi? You decide.