Rock and Roll is dead. D-E-D dead.

by Evan Z

On May 16th, the final nail was driven into the rock music scene here in Boston. It was announced that Clear Channel, who owns the popular Top 40 station, as well as the top and only hip-hop station in town, acquired the last true bastion for new rock and alternative music in the city, 101.7 WFNX. Having grown up listening to 'FNX, it was a crushing blow not only to myself, but to many others in the area, including those who have roots in Boston. Facebook groups have sprung up in support of the station, and Twitter has exploded with outrage and frustration (to wit: #OccupyWFNX). 

While the outpouring of support for the station is wonderful to see, I’m a realist. I understand that this is business, and that the radio audience size isn’t what it once was. So I want to take a few lines to express my gratitude and love for the station and personalities that became such a large part of my daily life.

Since the demise of 104.1 WBCN in 2009, WFNX became my home for all things rock in Boston. The radio personalities became friends. A little over a year ago, I was lucky enough to take part in “My Song is Better than Your Song”, a contest held on Thursday mornings where two people would choose a song, and have the listeners vote on a winner for the day. Getting to sit in the ‘FNX studios in Lynn was a dream come true. Being able to joke and hang out with former morning show host Fletcher and legendary newsman Henry “Fresh” Santoro was quite the experience. Meeting the beautiful Ms. Julie Kramer, after years and years of listening to her through my speakers, was an equally wonderful moment. These people who I’d been listening to…who had kept me entertained for hours on end, playing songs that would mark moments of my life, both good and bad…were just as incredible in person as I they were through my speakers. There were no gimmicks, just regular people who loved music, and loved sharing that with listeners - amazing people who now find themselves out of jobs due to a buyout.

When WBCN went off the air, I was heartbroken. But the loss of 'FNX cuts like a knife.   The Rock is dying in this town. We gave the world Aerosmith, The Dropkick Murphys, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Lemonheads, Letters to Cleo, Guster. The lifeblood of new music to permeate the skin, to sink into the blood of countless people and make them FEEL something…is gone. Tenacious D said that you cannot kill the Metal. Unfortunately in this instance big business has killed it dead in Boston. 

In the last few years WFNX turned me onto Passion Pit, Florence and the Machine, Mayer Hawthorne, Neon Trees, The Naked and Famous, The Temper Trap, Silversun Pickups, and countless more to mention. You know that Gotye song “Somebody that I used to know” everyone quotes on Facebook and Twitter?  Well I heard it on FNX months before everyone heard it on pop stations. Foster The Peoples “Pumped Up Kicks”?  Same story. Thanks to FNX I heard that song hundreds of times before it hit Top 40. And how about Adele?  She was being played on 'FNX before all the awards. Now new music has zero outlet in this town.  There are three rock stations left: one has no DJ’s and is automated,  one still plays Nu-Metal, and the other plays enough Pink Floyd and Zeppelin that you’d think you were an extra in “Dazed and Confused”.  Welcome to the machine indeed.

I eagerly await the final concert that will be played under WFNX’s banner, the Seaport 6, in a month or so. After the past two summers and their epic Clambakes on Lansdowne Street, it’s nice to see a change of venue for our last party. I hope to see some of my favorite FNXers there to enjoy one last collective rock out as a group. In the words of Julie Kramer, it’s going to be filled with nothing but happiness and good karma. 

I want to thank Julie, Henry, Fletcher, Adam XII, Jim Ryan, D-Tension, Paul Driscoll…all the DJ’s that made my life better, that made me feel like apart of a family.  My days aren’t the same without Henry’s news in the morning, Julies Leftover Lunch in the afternoon, XII’s Undercover at 5pm, and Jim Ryan calling his mom for no reason at night.  You will all be missed my friends. 

Finally, I leave you with these words from “I Still Believe” by Frank Turner, being played now on WFNX (soon to be picked up by a Top 40 station near you!). Thanks for reading, and long live the rock.

And I still believe in all the Saints, in Jerry Lee and Johnny and all the greats.   

And I still believe in the sound, that has the power to raise a temple and tear it down. 

And I still believe in the need, for guitars and drums and desperate poetry.

And I still believe that everyone, can find a song for every time they’ve lost and every time they’ve won.

So remember folks, we’re not just saving lives, we’re saving souls, and we’re having fun.

Now who’d have thought, that something simple as rock and roll would save us all.

Now who’d have thought that after all, something so simple, something so small, who’d have thought, that after all, it was rock n’ roll?