97X - Rumblings from the Big Bush

Aaron Yonka tuned in to 97X back in high school, then got a full-blown fever for the station and the music the summer before he started at Miami University in 1991. He became an around-the-clock listener... other than when he was co-hosting a music show on Miami's student radio station. And after he graduated, he still tuned in, especially to catch his college friend Matt Sledge, and joined the 97...

It's been 43 years since 97X first started airing "modern rock for Cincinnati and Dayton" from a nondescript building in Oxford, Ohio. And it's been 22 years since it signed off - and 16 years since woxy.com went silent. Time flies... and the Butler County Historical Society wants to celebrate the station in a fundraising event on June 27 , with THE Voice of 97X, Steve "Bakerman" Baker , Jen Dalto...

Jae Forman just couldn't quit radio - although she did take a 23-year "gap year" after her long stint at 97X back in the 90s and a few stops at other stations in Nashville and Albuquerque. Now she shares her energy, enthusiasm, and golden ear for great tunes on the air Tuesday afternoons (3-7 p.m. Eastern) on Inhailer Radio . We talk to her about Boston, Beastie Boys, boxcutters, music festivals,...

After discovering 97X as a Miami University student and interning for Barb Abney, Rob Mason channeled his love of music into founding and running a record label. Old Flame Records featured releases from a slew of bands, including Cloud Nothings, Twin Tigers, and Cincinnati artists such as Carriers, Moonbeau, Frontier Folk Nebraska, and Dawg Yawp. And he's our only guest (so far) to have released m...

Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker of the band Wussy are two of the best songwriters in the known universe. They're also an absolute blast to talk to about (in no particular order): music, their Forever Sounds radio show , bad movies, Swedish Eagle, the Eagles, TV show filling station characters, ball peen hammers, ascots, super-glued teeth, and other important matters. Oh, and fecal matter too - becau...

97X superfan (and self-professed "data nerd") David Groff crunched the numbers on all* the Modern Rock 500s from 1989-2009 and in this episode, he quizzes Dave and Damian about it. How many different songs were #1? What band had the most different songs on the MR500 through the years? How many songs made the countdown every single year? How can Damian be so dense? Find all the answers --and a list...

DJs in PJs. Wiener dogs in chariots. Bowling in a pool. A surprise birthday party. Crab crawl contests. Jart dangers. A bogus wedding. And of course, Rictile in a Speedo. The 97X Breakfast Club "Home Invasion" live broadcasts were a way to take the insanity of the 97X DJs out of the studio and onto the road. Havoc and hilarity always ensued. We talk to former 97Xer Rictile -- who originated the Ho...

Chris DeVille is the managing editor of Stereogum and the author of a new book called Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion . He joins us to talk about his book, aptly billed as "the definitive history of 21st century indie rock—from Iron & Wine and Death Cab for Cutie to Phoebe Bridgers and St. Vincent—and how the genre shifted the musical landscape and...

The Undertow Collective helps people make music and tour in a very indie way. They manage artists like David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), Will Johnson (Centro-matic), and Bad Bad Hats, and promote house concert tours for folks like Wussy, The Mynabirds, and Kevin Devine. Undertow partners Bob Andrews and Jayne Ballentyne join us to talk about how they got started (Uncle Tupelo was involved), how house...

Legendary musician Freekbass got his start in Cincinnati bands like Sleep Theater and Shag. Both got airplay on 97X, and Sleep Theater played the 97X 10th Year concert at Bogart's with Barenaked Ladies, Too Much Joy and the Royal Crescent Mob. We talked to Chris about his roots (and The Roots), his friendship with Bootsy Collins, his Times Square billboard, the freek-y way that Jimmy Fallon wound...

Howard Cohen, lead singer of the "Rumblings from the Big Bush" house band Cereal Killers, joins to talk about a fun gig the night before Thanksgiving, when he and his bandmates will be covering Elvis Costello & the Attractions songs as "The Distractions." And they'll be joined on the bill by the band Dot. Dot. Dot. covering R.E.M. tunes, and Chalk Eye. Howard also talks about 97Xposure and why...

Tim Quirk and Jay Blumenfield of Too Much Joy also perform as Wonderlick, and Wonderlick's songs as just as catchy, witty, and entertaining as TMJ songs are. And Tim and Jay clearly still enjoy engaging with fans - in fact, they see many advantages to the house concert shows they've done of late. Tim and Jay joined Dave and Damian to talk about Wonderlick's new release Wonderlick Goes to War, shar...

Dave and Damian were excited to chat with Seinfeld star Jason Alexander... but they had to settle for Jayson Alexander, a longtime 97X listener, and perhaps the only person who has listened to every single one of our podcast episodes (although he's reluctant to admit it). Find out what old-time baseball, Ozomatli, and Swedish newscasts have in common when Jayson shares tales of his 97Xplorations. 

Julie Maxwell worked at 97X from 1988 through 1999, including a long stint as the co-host of the Breakfast Club. But after she moved from on-air to promotions manager, she really elevated 97X's game with all sorts of great giveaways and fun contests and promotions... all on a shoestring budget. If you ever scored concert tickets, prizes or station swag, Julie probably had a hand in it. She also sp...

Your affable (and somewhat addled) co-hosts Dave and Damian have been trapped inside the Big Bush for many moons (and a few Moonpies) but we broke free to chat with Nils Illokken, Music Director and DJ for Inhailer Radio , about the upcoming Inhailer Indie 500 . If you remember the 97X Modern Rock 500, Inhailer's Indie 500 is an updated version of that annual Memorial Day Weekend countdown. We cha...

In 1991, Randy Malloy started as an unpaid college intern at WWCD-FM in Columbus, an independent, alternative rock radio station cut from the same cloth as 97X. He held a variety of positions at the station, including promotions director, marketing director, and operations director, before buying the station in 2011. Together with a dedicated band of staffers, they kept the independent/alternative...

Friends, we're gathered together today for a very special episode of "97X Rumblings from the Big Bush" as we pay tribute to the man who saw Jesus at McDonald's at midnight. The man who impregnated Debbie Gibson. The man whose antipathy for Don Henley knows no bounds, and whose love for Martha Quinn is eternal. The man, the myth, the Mojo-est MoFo of them all. The Bo-Day-Shus Mr. Mojo Nixon!  Dave...

After nearly 100 episodes, and a gazillion great memories, it's time for "97X Rumblings from the Big Bush" to rumble off into the sunset (or be devoured by the Big Bush in the station's old parking lot). Dave & Damian reflect on the podcast and "the voice" of 97X returns to bring it home. Thanks so much for listening! 

It sounds like the setup to a joke: "A punk rock guitarist and a preacher's daughter walk into a theater..." But when Billy Alletzhauser and Beth Harris starting singing songs together in 2004, the result was pure magic. Their band, The Hiders, is the Kevin Bacon of music, with connections to Ass Ponys, The Afghan Whigs, Throneberry, Wussy, Heartless Bastards, Band of Horses, Plow On Boy, Comet Bl...

On May 11th, author Robin James discussed her new book The Future of Rock & Roll: 97X and the Fight for True Independence at The Mercantile Library , with your friendly neighborhood podcast hosts Dave and Damian. The event was streamed via Crowdcast, but due to the dreaded technical difficulties, the first 10 minutes of the discussion have been lost to the ether. However, we reconnected with Amy H...

After 97X signed off in 2004, "the future of rock and roll" stayed alive as woxy.com - with many fits and starts (and stops) along the way. "Angel investors"... LaLa.com... Future Sounds... Oxford... Longworth Hall in Cincinnati... Austin, Texas. The dot-com version had several homes, and more lives than a cat, before finally ending quite abruptly on March 23, 2010.   We talk to the folks who expe...

Kerry Gray was the program director at 97X in the late 80s/early 90s, and a radio "lifer." He was a real live wire - super-energetic, enthusiastic, funny as heck... and also completely into the music. In fact, Kerry and Phil Manning teamed up to expand the back catalogue of the station, and they also launched the first ever "Modern Rock 500" in 1989.  In this episode, Julie Maxwell, Julie Maxwell,...

It's hard to believe it's been nearly two decades since that fateful evening when Steve Baker said "goodbye to the future of rock and roll." For current and former staffers and loyal listeners, it was like the death of a loved one. We reunited an all-star cast of folks who were at the station at the bittersweet end (Bakerman, Shiv, Barb, Mike Taylor, Sledge, Bryan J., Gentleman Jim Mercer) to shar...

"Day in Eden 1993" was the first concert that 97X produced. Things did not go as planned. Goo Goo Doll meltdowns, tainted food trays, wrestling moves, copious amounts of cheap beer and cheaper smokes, folk music slam-dancing...   Former staffers Steve Baker, Phil Manning, Jae Forman, Rob Ervin, Steve Roemer, Joe Sampson and Aaron Borns share their memories of that ill-fated afternoon - and reveal...

Colin Miller listened to 97X obsessively. As in "boxes of cassette tape recordings of 97X on-air" obsessive. He might've been a 97Xtreme listener, but that same passion for the music and the station is something most listeners can relate to. We talk to Colin about what made the station so special, some of the shows he remembers, and the 97X events like Rock & Bowl and 97Xtrabeats on the Riverboat....