OT: whither, 89X?
My earliest memories of 89x are Our Lady Peace - Naveed and Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know. I was from a very small town in Northern Michigan where there were no good radio stations, so I would beg my parents to turn on 89x whenever we were in the area. Surprising and shitty news overall.
not sure if they're under new management or just bleeding money but this does suck. I don't live in the area any more, but the first thing I did whenever back in town was change the car radio preset. 89X and St. Andrew's Hall defined my formative years.
Just losing the morning show. Hopefully, they'll start playing more Canadian alt-rock like they used to back in the day.
Yes, back in the early 2000s they were very heavy in Canadian music, and it was a treat to get that music across the border. Others have mentioned Our Lady Peace, but the Gandharvas and Chantal Kreviazuk also come to mind.
They used to play First Day of Spring by the Gandharvas all the time. Not to mention The Tragically Hip...
March 31st, 2017 at 12:46 PM ^
. . . and Moev, a really good and largely unknown electronic outfit. "No Flash in the Sky" was a regular back in the olden days.
They are requiered to play at least 30% Canadian music - with or without the changes.
March 31st, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^
It is not just the morning show. They closed the entire American office, and let go of the whole staff that worked there. I know a couple of the dj's that worked there and they are now out of work.
That was a solid album that did not get the same play on stations in the US.
Cagno seems like a good guy but his morning show was pretty rough. Pretty hard act to follow in Dave and Chuck if you're into their weenie and the butt style humor. I'm more of a 93.9 guy anyway.
Cutting Dave and Chuck was arguably the dumbest decision in the history of American media.
The WRIF dropped Drew and Mike to get Dave and Chuck. Sounds like there were other issues at 89X with management, money, etc that caused them to leave...
March 30th, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^
An offer that 89X couldn't match. It was a significant bump in salary to the whole team.
I listen to them occassionally, but how do people listen to that show everyday when Dave laughs like that? And what does Lisa actually do?
I did not know that. I assumed that they had been let go because it felt like they were off the air for a few months before starting up on 101.
They were...non-compete clause....Same went down with Drew Lane and 105.1 after he was let go by the WRIF
March 31st, 2017 at 10:21 AM ^
That seems like an unusually brief non compete, but maybe things are different in the media industry? I'm used to them begin at least two years.
is pretty standard in radio if you're staying in-market
I remember that because 89X wasn't subject to FCC regulations (and because Canadian regulators are apparently more permissive), they would often play the explicit versions of certain songs instead of the edited versions that American radio stations would play.
But weren't they required to play heavily-Canadian content? How much Anne Murray, and Gordon Lightfoot can you listen to? Although Harbaugh did like The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald.
Weenie and the butt...that is outstanding...Gotta bring the hotdog cannon out if you want to make it in that genre!
All kidding aside, I used to love that station, but the music is night and day different than when the station was rocking in the early 2000s. Now, the best you get is classic Nirvanna...
It also has to be hard to be a radio station now a days...podcasts must be eating into some of that audience.
Podcasts and streaming hurt, but plenty of people still listen to the radio. It's about advertisers pulling out, or getting spots at much lower prices historically. Most stations will require a slim down soon.
If I'm in marketing, I can spend my ad dollars on internet ads where it reaches a much larger audience. I also have solid data about how many eyes saw my ad through page views. If someone clicks on my ad, I can tell what site they were on to better know my audience.
There's no way to measure ROI in radio ads. Nielsen ratings are bullshit, and there's no way to know how many people heard my ad, or if they just changed the station.
Am I the only one who ever noticed how bluntly racist this station was? I mean obviously alt rock is going to be primarily white bands but 89x for the past 15 years consistently plays hip hop 5-10 times a day. Except they only play Eminem, Cyprus Hill, Beasty Boys ect. One day they started playing McLemore and I just threw up my hands like I can't be the only person whose picked up on this?
That makes them racist? I guess everything is racist nowadays tho so that makes sense.
because:
A.) yes everything is racist, tbh.
B.) No, that's not really that racist.
In answer to your question: Yes. I'm pretty sure you are the only one.
Cypress Hill is like 33% black tho
My uncle was an on air DJ with their sister station about a decade ago. He was similarly let go as part of downsizing. The FM radio business model is in a bad way, which is a shame because it was a great tool for random discovery. That said, the less whacky morning shock jocks on air the better. This is a trend that’s run out of track
Four of which I was away, studying (term used loosely) in Ann Arbor. Three years after I came home they dropped the alternative format and went to hip hop R&B. I basically quit listening to the radio at that point.
March 30th, 2017 at 10:37 PM ^
I just liked that you spelled "whither" correctly (unlike certain people that run this blog)
#michigandifference
March 30th, 2017 at 10:45 PM ^
Except he didn't. 'Wither' would be the correct spelling in this instance. 'Whither' means something completely different.
the adverbial interrogative as spelled here is the correct form.
You might want to check that, unless there is traveling involved.
it's more commonly (and deliberately) used without a corresponding predicate, hence the ironical archaism.
March 31st, 2017 at 12:02 AM ^
Played a ton of Canadian alt-rock you may not hear elsewhere like early Billy Talent and Arcade Fire. Also played a ton of Eminem despite being a rock station. To be quite honest though once Dave and Chuck left, I left 89x too.
March 31st, 2017 at 12:24 AM ^
Never listened to 89x. I always thought it was for hipsters and emos.
But after moving back to the area and tuning into 89x again, it feels like they are stuck in their glory days. I listen primarily to Sirius XM (Alt Nation... which I realize isn't exactly what 89x is trying to be) and there are so many newer, good bands that 89x should be focusing on. Instead, they seem to play just as much "classic" alt rock. They are missing a huge opportunity.
I also travel a lot and am shocked at how much better other regions radio stations are for this genre.
I saw that CKWW, AM 580, is owned by the same company and is also downsizing with 89x. If you haven't heard that station, it is by far the best rock station in the area, playing a good selection of popular and deep tracks from rock's golden age. 89x is kind of a shell of its former self outside of the Time Warp, but 580 does a really good job. Hopefully this scaling back in operations doesn't affect them as much as 89x's downsizing.
not recently, but I think it used to play golden oldies back in the day. it was either 580 or CKLW 800, or quite possibly both. my dad would play that stuff all the time, as he's a Depression baby.
Was great from its inception til about the turn of the century when all radio went to shit.
Some cool Canadian artists that they have exposed:
24 Gone
Tragically Hip
Sarah McLachlan
Blue Rodeo
Sloan
Art Bergmann
Grapes Of Wrath
Mystery Machine
City & Color
Neverending White Lights
Our Lady Peace
The Tea Party
Gandharvas
The Waltons
I remember when 89X first went on the air, they were not a 24 hours station. And then they would play Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies randomly. It was great.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Thousand foot krutch and social code were a couple of my favorite Canadian bands about 10 years ago.
March 31st, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^
Their morning show was god awful. After Dave and Chuck left it was amazing how they replaced them with that garbage.
I remember a some what rique show late night called love-line or something like that (before the adam corolla TV show). The call-ins were hilarious at times. I still remembered the kid who called in really concerned if he could get his girlfriend pregnant through her and his pants when they were..um..causing friction with each other.
I haven't lived in Michigan for years, but whenever I visit I'd flip to 89x and a few other stations. 89x was definitely part of my rotation when I lived in metro Detroit.