This Sunday, my favorite radio station got the axe thanks to Citadel Broadcasting. I shouldn’t be surprised, because it seems as soon as I get attached to a station, it will be cut soon in favor of something more corporate. This time, the rumor is that WAPI, a local AM talk station, will move to FM. This mirrors the similar fate of 105.5 the Vulcan last year. I liked the Vulcan, too, and had just about decided to give up on Birmingham radio all together. I was going to just go to the internet. And then Live 100.5 won my heart.
To the best of my understanding (and faulty memory — correct me if I’m wrong on any of this, I’d appreciate it) Live 100.5 was built around a show, Reg’s Coffeehouse, that has survived a few incarnations in the Birmingham market. I’ve listened to some version of Reg’s Coffehouse for ages, probably all the way back since 1997. Then his show was just a Sunday a.m. special DJ on WRAX. WRAX bounced around a lot, and even in 2006 became WJOX for a little while, a Citadel sportstalk station but it didn’t work out, and the Birmingham public clamored for something better to replace the old WRAX. That something became WWMM Helena, Live 100.5.
Reg (Scott Register) and I don’t always see eye to eye on music. He loves John Mayer, for example, and considers himself at least partly responsible for that tool’s success. But Reg always is about expanding your music collection, trying new things, and not closing your mind. He even played country music (*gasp*) on an alternative station! Old stuff, new stuff, Reg was an honest DJ and all about the music. And the station was built on that concept, too. You could tell it, because it wasn’t a conventional lineup by any means. Tuesday nights were one of my favorites, because the DJs would get together and play new stuff and ask the listeners to voice their opinions. If we liked it, we heard more of it, and things like it. If the listeners generally hated it, we weren’t subjected to it. Even if I hated something they were playing, it was so cool because they actually cared about the music and the listeners. They weren’t out there just shilling the same old corporate music.
Right now the station hasn’t made the transistion to WAPI. Instead, they’re just playing “automated” music and stock commercials, no DJ personalities involved. And it’s already pretty bad. Yesterday’s Fleetfoxes, Neko Case, Flaming Lips and Johnny Cash have already disappeared, as far as my observation goes. There is hope, though, in the form of a humble Facebook page. My fingers are crossed that a public outcry will be heeded.
I’m not promising anything though.