I Heard the News Today, Oh Boy – WOXY Off the Air

Just days after SXSW ended in Austin, the radio station that aired a lot of the bands who got their start at that music festival signed off. WOXY was generally regarded as the first commercially viable alternative station, and the first “X” on the air. Its origins started, in all places, Oxford, Ohio—home of the Miami University (Ohio). “The Future of Rock N Roll” signed on 97.7 FM in September 1983, the first song being U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”.

The station would go on to great success, commercially and critically. The station got a shout out in Rain Man, and received multiple national media awards. It was one of the first commercial stations to play a Seattle based band named Nirvana.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise that WOXY woud be one of the first stations to branch out on the internet. The live stream launched in 1998. The website got hits from around the world and, and message boards quickly grew making WOXY.com the first online music community.

When the owners of the station, Doug and Linda Balogh, decided to retire and sell the station, they refused to sell the music collection and the station image to the new owners. Instead WOXY.com would continue to broadcast with the current staff running the operation.

Like most online only radio stations, WOXY.com struggled to stay on the air. It briefly signed off, only to be resurrected by Lala.com in 2006. The station was sold again last year when Future Sounds Inc. purchased it from Lala. The station moved operations later that year to Austin, TX, which has now become the capital of independent music.

At 9:13 CDT, WOXY ceased operation. It was 27. Hopefully someone will step in and revive the station, but the future doesn’t look good.

As for me, I will always remember a job interview I had at WOXY. Obviously, I didn’t get the job, but I got to meet the owners, and had the chance to snoop around the station. The studio was an awe inspiring Valhalla of music. Even in 2000 (while other radio stations were installing automated computer systems with mp3s of songs), WOXY had a turntable and a huge collection of vinyl stacked on shelves. On that day, I learned that the station had almost 10,000 songs in active rotation. WOXY was the inspiration for Erik Randal’s “The Plan” in my book Radio Radio. I continued to listen to that station. It’s where I first became acquainted with Black 47 (which “Funky Ceili” on Anthology 6 references my tour of 97X), the Decembrists, and the Fratellis.

Anthology X1 - The Demon Barber of Seville

This is the 11th edition of the “Anthology Series” (as described in the December 26th blog entry). The original series (Anthologies 1-6, “From DNA to 26”) was completed in May 2000. Since then, a new chapter has been added every two years.

“Anthology X1 – The Demon Barber of Seville” is the music that has been the backdrop and inspiration to my life from 2008-2009.

Here are some of the songs that are missing…

Canon in D – Sharp Jimmy and the Dammit Five
Matter of Time – Los Lobos and Elvis Costello
Jump Into the Fire – Harry Nilsson
The Rainbow Connection – Willie Nelson
Thanksgiving – Poi Dog Pondering
Norwegian Wood – Jeremy Messersmith & Zach Coulter

And The Nominees Are – Anthology X1: The Demon Barber of Seville

It started in early 2000. I was helping my friend Todd move when he threw down the proverbial gauntlet as he tossed me a six CD wallet filled with store sampler discs.

"I bet that you can't fill this wallet with the music of your life," he challenged.

Todd and I had recently discussed the Robert Fulgham book Words I Wish I Wrote. The passage in question revolves around Fulgham's thoughts on a soundtrack of a person's life (incidentally, Todd has written on this topic as well).

If your life were made into a movie, and that movie had an appropriate soundtrack, and I went to a record store to buy a CD of the music, what would be on it? What mood would it leave me in when I played it? The questions necessarily impose limitations. The music must fit on a single CD; choices must be made. No defense of choice is necessary. It's assumed the selections will be idiosyncratic, combining some music in the common realm with bits and pieces of melody patched together from who knows where. The music of the soundtrack of a life will not be original, but it has passed into us, left its sound in the jukebox of the mind, become part of us, and we will likely pass it on.

"Six CDs", I scoffed. "No problem."

"There are rules," Todd said.

"Sure."

"It must be chronological as an autobiographical work."

"OK. Easy enough."

"And you can't use the same artist twice in one CD, or variations of the same artist. For example, you can't have the Beatles and solo Lennon or Wings on the same disc."

"You bastard!"

To make things more difficult, the challenge was to make six CDs, not tapes. In 2000, that capability was very new to me, and I had yet to put together a successful mix CD. Keep in mind, this was in an era before iTunes for Windows, so it's not like I could rip a CD and just keep a playlist. I had to approach this as I did with a mix tape. I had to write down all of the nominated songs on a legal pad, and mark the significance (not part of the wager, however it was good for a defense, just in case Todd demanded me to show my work upon completion).

Another obstacle was that most of the songs that I wanted to include were archived on cassette or vinyl, so I would have to make more than 50 digital copies of songs…in real time.

From conception to end, the project took three months, 96 songs, and ten 74 minute CDs (I had several false starts and disc errors). This was the beginning of what I called the Anthology Project. The first six volumes were titled From DNA to 26. The first three were completed in April 2000, and the last three were finished in June 2000. Since then, I have added four new volumes (which have all been a two disc set), one every two years. I have also reissued the first nine volumes two years ago, adding a bonus track per CD to take advantage of the 80 minute CD capability.

Yes, I am a music geek.

As tradition would dictate, the list of nominations concludes the day after Christmas every odd year. I'd then spend the next week reviewing every song, and making cuts from the list. Then I would burn the CD and release the track list on the day after New Year's Day of an even year.

As this is not a mix CD, but rather a chronicle, this collection falls out of the rules of the Mix CD Axiom (rules that Todd and I came up with a long time ago, which I have modified over the years…it will be the feature of a future post in 2010).

I'm debating whether or not to post the previous 10 playlists. Until I figure that out, here are some fun facts about the project thus far.

• Each volume opens with the Fox Fanfare performed by Helm and Heik (available on iTunes), followed by Robert Fulgham reading the excerpt about the soundtrack (From the audio book of Words I Wish I Wrote). However, the line about the soundtrack fitting on one disc has been edited out (for obvious reasons).
  
• There are 243 actual songs on 14 CDs.
  
• Van Morrison and Elvis Costello are tied for the most songs (5). Tom Waits, Tori Amos, and Bruce Springsteen are second (4).
  
• William Shatner appears twice, which is once more than The Rolling Stones, ELO, The Smiths, Louis Armstrong, and John Lennon.
  
• Fittingly, more songs reference Todd (16) than anyone else, and he is referenced on the most volumes (5). D has the record for most songs per volume (8 songs on Anthology X).
  
• Only one other person has all ten volumes (besides me). I gave D a copy when we got engaged. I figured that if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me, she was entitled to the backstory.
  
• No song is repeated, or ever will be. An alternate version or a cover may appear.
  

There are 47 songs that have been nominated in the past two years. It runs at 3:04:17, and needs to be edited to 2:38:30. Some songs deal with loss and death, while others signify pure joy. Three weddings are referenced and new friends and old ones are honored in this list. And The Nominees for Anthology X1 – The Demon Barber of Seville are…

z - One Week – Barenaked Ladies
Zip Gun Bop – Royal Crown Review
z - Remember The Rain – Brad Terry & Lenny Breau
z - All The Time – Johnny Mathis
z - Fever – Buddy Guy
Falling Slowly – The Swell Season
Blitzed – The Raveonettes
z - Mother Mary – Foxboro Hot Tubs
Mercy – Duffy
z - Skinny Love – Bon Iver
z - Don't Stand So Close To Me – The Police
Where Is My Mind? – The Pixies
St. James Infirmary – Cab Calloway
z - The Way It Is – Nicole Atkins
She's My Best Friend – The Velvet Underground
My Way – Gary Oldman (From Sid and Nancy)
Janine – Soul Coughing
z - Never Going Back Again (Live) – Lindsey Buckingham
z - Ring The Bells – James
I Found a Reason – Cat Power
Trash – New York Dolls
Breath Me – Sia
You're Going To Make Me Lonesome When You Go – Madeleine Peyroux
Sad Professor – REM
z - The Great Defector – Bell X1
z - A Thousand Eyes – Crystal Antlers
z - Canon In D – Sharp Jimmy and the Damn It Five
American Wedding – Gogol Bordello
Percussion Gun – White Rabbits
Matter of Time – Los Lobos and Elvis Costello
z - Jump Into The Fire – Harry Nilsson
I Put a Spell On You – Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop – Landon Pigg
House of the Rising Sun – Nina Simone
z - Straight To The Top (Vegas) – Tom Waits
z - Happy As Can Be – Cut Off Your Hands
z - 40 Day Dream – Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros
F.N.T. – Semisonic
The Rainbow Connection – Willie Nelson
z - Never Forget – Dropkick Murphies
I'll Follow The Sun – Glen Phillips
z - I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers
Take Me Home – Holly Cole
Sloop John B. – Joseph Spence
Thanksgiving – Poi Dog Pondering
z - Grass – XTC
Norwegian Wood – Jeremy Messersmith and Zach Coulter
z – Already Guaranteed a Spot

My Latest Musical Crack - I And Love And You by the Avett Brothers

It's been a month since I first heard this song, and I can't get enough of it.

I first heard "I And Love And You" when I was driving D home from a very long day. I had a wedding to go to, D had a school dance to set up. We then met up for the "Ghost, Graves and Caves" tour of St. Paul with our friend Anna. The three of us had some Indian food, and then D and I went to close out the school dance and strike the set (for lack of a better phrase…it's my old high school drama lingo coming back).

It had been a nice day and the windows were down (rare for Minnesota in October) on the drive home. We were both exhausted, and I turned on 89.3. I heard this haunting piano melody backing a beautiful harmonized story about a guy who is leaving town and leaving his girlfriend a note. He has the hardest time telling her "I love you."

As soon as I got home, I went to the computer and bought the song on Amazon. Every time I hear it, I can't but help think about the ending of my book, and if it ever became a movie, it'd be a perfect song to close out the story (And that's all I'm going to say about the tie in. If you want to know what I'm writing about buy the book).

The song is a shoe-in nomination for Anthology X1, which should be compiled in the first week of January. I should have the track listing posted as soon as it is done.