Joe Sampson

Episode 92: Day in Eden or Day from Hell?

97X, Music, podcast

“Day in Eden 1993” was the first concert that 97X produced. Things did not go as planned. Goo Goo Doll meltdowns, tainted food trays, wrestling moves, copious amounts of cheap beer and cheaper smokes, folk music slam-dancing…

Former staffers Steve Baker, Phil Manning, Jae Forman, Rob Ervin, Steve Roemer, Joe Sampson and Aaron Borns share their memories of that ill-fated afternoon – and reveal a couple of secrets along the way.

97X staffers and volunteers… in the calm before the storm

“Day in Eden” was an event created by the Cincinnati Park Board, and held in late-Spring/early-Summer at Eden Park in Cincinnati. In an effort to broaden the appeal of the event, they ask 97X to book bands for 1993. The lineup was:

  • Wailing Souls (a Grammy-nominated reggae band)
  • Goo Goo Dolls (pre-meteoric “adult alternative” fame)
  • The Judybats (folk-inflected alt rock band from Knoxville, TN)

The temporary stage for that year’s show was set up near Mirror Lake in Eden Park.

Note the bare feet on Johny and Robbie
A slam-dancing favorite
Sharks don’t care if the meat and cheese are touching.

Episode 32: Mighty Joe Sampson – the student has become the teacher

97X, podcast

Joe Sampson joined 97X as a Miami University student intern (a.k.a. “Breakfast Club co-producer”) in 1993 and stuck around as a weekender after he graduated before moving on to short stint as a writer for CityBeat, and a 12-year career as a news producer at Channel 19 and later Channel 9 in Cincinnati. He now has come full circle as a Miami U. professor. We chat with “Mighty Joe” about his late nights with “Mama Jazz,” 97X softball teams, and his undying love for both Steve Baker and another 97X student intern.

Day in Eden: Joe is in the 3rd row, in the red hat… next to Dave, who is doing his best “Schneider from One Day at at Time” impersonation.
Joe in his MU dorm room, circa 1992. He wanted us to note the presence of both Foghat and firehose posters…

Joe is now a Senior Clinical Professor of Journalism (sounds fancy!) at Miami University. His students have won several regional and national journalism awards over the years.

“It’s a major award!!!”
Joe is back row center… back row right is Ringo Jones, lead singer of the band Mad Anthony.

As far as we can tell, Joe and his wife Alison are the only former 97X Breakfast Club co-producers who are now married to each other. Alison was a co-producer for Dave and Rictile in the mid-90s as “Connie Consuelo.”

Rumblings from the Big Bush was NOT Joe’s podcast debut. He and another MU prof created a podcast about “being Muslim in the Midwest” as part of a cultural exchange program with the Goethe Institut in Germany.

Lest you think Joe is all work and no play, here’s a photo of him posing with a bunny.