For the first time ever...

kingchuck69

Joker! Joker! Joker!
Oct 11, 2008
6,117
4,051
168
Grand Rapids, MI
chuck69.com
I just got back from visiting family from Detroit for Thanksgiving.

While there, I ate plenty of turkey, saw my first non-documentary PG film since I was a kid (The Fantastic Mr. Fox), chilled out at my cousin's house, watching several movies on his Blu-Ray and drinking beer after beer after beer.

However, while I was there, I didn't do something that I've been doing for years. It's proof that things have changed BIG TIME over the past decade.

I did NOT listen to one second of Detroit radio.

That's right! I listened to nothing but Sirius and my cousin's MP3 players throughout the whole trip. Hell, my cousin has long dumped Sirius since he can download the Stern show free over the web.

When I was a kid, Detroit was a kick-ass radio market. Planet 96.3, WLLZ, The Edge @105dot1, 102.7 Z-Rock, 97.1 K-Rock/Extreme Radio... All gone. Hell, as a kid growing up in super-boring northern Michigan, I'd go to Detroit just to listen to the radio.

And what is there for rock fans in Detroit? Hmmmm... Whiny emo crap on Canada's 89X, geezer rock on WRIF, and, well, that's it.

It's official: Detroit radio has lost me.

WHOOPS! I just realized that I *did* listen to maybe 10 seconds of 97.1 The Ticket where my uncle got the word that the Lions had lost the Thanksgiving Day game. But, that was it.
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
51,703
18,514
168
Toledo, Ohio
Pretty much.

I do still listen to 89X though. They are all over the place. Unfortunately, they do play too much Paramour and that over processed new fluff, but they still play Tool and NIN and some other good stuff mixed in. Sunday morning they have a good flashback show.

In proper serving sizes, it's about as ok as FM can be any more.
Still. Sooooo glad I have my SL2!
 

jef

Power Pig, Hello!
Oct 12, 2008
3,849
185
63
I miss the 89x of the mid-eighties, I think before it was ever even called 89x. Lots of things have changed here, and mostly for the worse.

I miss Mike Halloran, J.P. McCarthy, Greg St. James, Mark Scott, and a whole slew of other radio personalities that have either moved on or left us. Detroit used to be a really vibrant radio town, I think in large part thanks to some great stations across the border. Too bad, though, that pretty much all of them ended up sounding the same, and doing nothing interesting.
 

kingchuck69

Joker! Joker! Joker!
Oct 11, 2008
6,117
4,051
168
Grand Rapids, MI
chuck69.com
Detroit Rock City.

Yeah, right!

(bold=rock)

88.7 - CIMX "89X" - Alternative
92.3 - WMXD "Mix 92.3" - Adult R&B
93.1 - WDRQ "Doug FM" - Variety Hits (can be considered rock mixed in with disco, pop, etc.)
93.9 - CIDR "The River" - AAA
94.7 - WCSX - Classic Rock
95.5 - WKQI "Channel 95-5" - CHR
96.3 - WDVD - Hot AC (the former Planet 96.3)
97.1 - WXYT "The Ticket" - Sports (the former K-Rock/Extreme Radio)
97.9 - WJLB - Urban
98.7 - WVMV "Amp Radio" - CHR (the former WLLZ)
99.5 - WYCD - Country
100.3 - WNIC - AC
101.1 - WRIF - Rock
101.9 - WDET - Talk/NPR
102.7 - WHTD "Hot 102.7" - Urban (the former Z-Rock)
103.5 - WMUZ - Religious
104.3 - WOMC - Oldies/Classic Hits
105.1 - WMGC "Magic 105.1" - AC (the former The Edge @ 105dot1)
105.9 - WDMK "Kiss FM" - Adult R&B
106.7 - WDTW "The Beat of Detroit" - Rhythmic AC (the former W4)
107.5 - WGPR - Adult R&B/Smooth Jazz

Four-and-a-half stations in bold. The rest are, well, something else. Sad.
 

memebag

Top Brass, ADVP
Oct 11, 2008
17,404
5,807
168
Lake Huntzing
Rock and roll died when video destroyed its purpose: getting ugly guys laid. Once you had to be pretty to succeed, the talent pool dried up. Sure, there have been a few ugly rockers since 1980 who kept it going as a novelty genre, but the world has moved on. Now ugly guys get laid by writing iPhone apps.
 

Casual Fan

Surprisingly nice
Oct 14, 2008
19,024
3,053
163
Roanoke, VA
Rock and roll died when video destroyed its purpose: getting ugly guys laid. Once you had to be pretty to succeed, the talent pool dried up. Sure, there have been a few ugly rockers since 1980 who kept it going as a novelty genre, but the world has moved on. Now ugly guys get laid by writing iPhone apps.

What's your secret?
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
51,703
18,514
168
Toledo, Ohio
Girth. Never underestimate girth.

He was great in Waynes World.
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