Joe Long grew up a 97X fan and started his “Each Note Secure” music blog in 2004… right about the time the terrestrial station signed off. But when woxy.com got its second wind in 2006 (the Lala era), he joined as an on-air personality. He revived Local Lixx, started The Futurist blog, and uprooted his family to stay with the station as it moved to to Austin in the summer 2009. He was still on board when woxy.com ceased streaming in March of 2010. We caught up with Joe to talk about the dot-com era, his Frank Black shuttle service, and his current gig as “Vices Editor” for Uncrate.com.
woxy.com videos galore!
Joe shot a lot of quick videos during his tenure at woxy.com — an in-studio appearance from The Breeders, Lounge Act clips from bands such as Portugal the Man and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, backstage interviews with These United States and Antlers, and more. You can find all of them on this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/woxyvideo/videos
Here are a couple of clips documenting the station’s move from Cincinnati to Austin.
Joe’s current gig involves curating content about “vices” such as beer, bourbon, coffee and cigars. Good work if you can get it… and get free samples.
Memorial Day Weekend was a big deal back in the 97X days… it was Modern Rock 500 time!
I can still hear Bakerman’s great liners in my head… and of course the Indy 500 race car sounds… It was a big deal for listeners too – here’s Howard Cohen talking about the MR500 in his college days:
The Modern Rock 500 was an evolving canon defined not by critics, but by listeners and fans. As longtime employee and former Music Director Matt Shiv explains, every year, staff “looked at how long songs were on the People’s Choice Countdown (weekly request Top 10) and the year-end Best Of countdowns” to determine which new tracks should be added to the MR 500. According to Shiv, “it was never trying to be anything other than representing the songs that built WOXY and were favorites of our listeners.” Listener demand, not expert taste, was in the driver’s seat.
My dad didn’t like music, and I didn’t have older siblings, so the Modern Rock 500 was the curriculum I used to educate myself about cool music and its history.
Robin James, in the Belt Magazine article
If you’ve got some time to kill this weekend (hello lockdown), perhaps you’d like to “return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear” as the announcer used to say on the old The Lone Ranger TV show.
Sorry to start on a few sad notes, but John Erhardt of Wussy/Ass Ponys passed away last Monday. His longtime friend and bandmate Chuck Cleaver wrote a very loving tribute to him on Wussy’s Facebook page.
John gave us a beauty that we’ll never see again. A combination of love, friendship, stability and that amazing swirling sound. Truly a wonder. A backdrop to everything that we are, in the band and in life.
Chuck Cleaver
You can read more in this blog post. I did want to share a couple of comments from friends of mine who knew him personally:
A very lovely man. Present, mindful, caring. A supportive person to be around. Hearts will ache.
Phil Roberto
John Erhardt was a fabulous DP (Director of Photography) and cinematographer, as well as a phenomenal musician. He shot film and video, and has been a fixture in Cincinnati’s film community for decades. A joyful, humble, talent, with a wonderful personality. Losing him has been a shock to our community.
Beth Fowler
Friends of John have organized a memorial fund:
The untimely and sudden passing of our friend John Erhardt has us all asking, “What can we do to honor his memory? How can we continue John’s legacy to have a positive and lasting impact on others?”
As John’s wife, Denise, and his daughter, Elizabeth, experience their grief, they are determined to channel what they are feeling into a way to help those who struggle with mental health, as John did.
To support the cause, a fund is being established to assist organizations whose focus is advocating for and helping individuals and their families who contend with the disease of mental illness.
Below is a link to the GoFundMe – please donate if you can. Thanks.
Speaking of untimely deaths and mental health struggles, Sunday marked the 2nd anniversary of the passing of Frightened Rabbit lead singer Scott Hutchison. We still miss him dearly.
Scott’s family established the Tiny Changes charity focused on mental health among young people in his native Scotland. Please donate if you can. And if you’re not familiar with Frightened Rabbit, you need to listen to their magnum opus album The Midnight Organ Fight right now!
The hope that is left after all your hopes are gone — that is pure hope, rooted in the heart.
Brother David Steindl-Rast
On a brighter note…
Per Rolling Stone, Jason Isbell is doing an acoustic live stream of his new album Reunions on Friday at 8 p.m. EDT via fans.com. It’s a freebie but donations for Jason’s crew and MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund are encouraged.
Jesse Malin mentioned this clip on his most recent home gig… he was a kid in the audience for this SNL appearance by Fear.
Shameless self-promotion
Via Google Meet, Dave and I chatted with Howard Cohen (lead singer of Cereal Killers) about college parties, wrecked cars, Sudsy Malone’s, 97Xposure, his side hustle as a jingle/voiceover artist (you’ve heard his voice, guaranteed). You can check out the episode on this website for some bonus content including Howard’s book recommendations, or on Podbean, Spotify or Apple podcasts.
Howard
Socially-distant Dave (NOT the lead singer of Foghat)
Damian’s ultra high-tech setup
Weekly warriors
The past two weeks, Jesse Malin had his old buddy Rob Clores on keyboards. So good.
In Episode 7, Jesse opened up his set with a Flaming Lips cover…
Rob gives a nice shout-out to Jacqui and Dave’s Parlor & Patio series toward the end!
And check out Bill Janovitz doing a couple of New Order covers (“Age of Consent” and “Leave Me Alone”) with his daughter Lucy… at about the 1:13:00 mark of his 2-hour-plus show on Facebook!
A self-described “97X listener/scenester/scruffy little punky New Wave dude,” Howard started playing in bands as a teenager and has never stopped rocking. His current band, Cereal Killers, played their first gig at Sudsy Malone’s on Short Vine in 1989, and their current set list consists predominantly of songs that graced the 97X airwaves back in the day: punk, New Wave, garage rock… We chat with Howard about dropping The Village People for Generation X, college parties and car wrecks (they go together), what 97Xposure meant to his bands, the Modern Rock 500, and his side hustle as a jingle singer/voiceover artist.
Cereal Killers at their first gig, December 15th, 1989 at Sudsy Malone’s.
If this jingle has ever gotten stuck in your head, blame Howard (and Rob Fetters)
Howard’s day job is Field Sales Rep for Great Lakes Brewing Company, Ohio’s oldest and largest craft brewery. (He’s on furlough at present.) In 2018, Great Lakes announced an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), making every employee a shareholder.
Howard is an avid, voracious reader and has volunteered for several Books by the Banks events. (Read more in this Soapbox Cincinnati feature from 2011). In this short bonus clip, he suggests a couple of recent books that may be of interest to 97X fans.
For this episode of the podcast, as well as all recordings done since March, Dave and Damian have been practicing safe social distancing. Here’s Dave at his home set-up:
And here’s Damian’s janky set-up in the Party Dungeon.
Note the books (and cat litter bucket) used for the mic stand.
News broke today that John Erhardt of Wussy (and formerly Ass Ponys) passed away Monday. His longtime friend and bandmate Chuck Cleaver wrote a very loving tribute to him on Wussy’s Facebook page.
John gave us a beauty that we’ll never see again. A combination of love, friendship, stability and that amazing swirling sound. Truly a wonder. A backdrop to everything that we are, in the band and in life.
“Amazing swirling sound” is a great description of what John brought to Ass Ponys and Wussy.
To say we’ll miss him is an understatement. It’s not gonna be the same from here on out nor should it. Death’s like that. We’ll continue to keep making up stuff, play it to the best of our abilities and make more records. There will be a hole and we’ll likely leave it that way. You can’t replace some things.
Well put, Chuck. R.I.P. John.
John Erhardt at far right, with Randy Cheek, Chuck Cleaver and Dave Morrison in the Ass Ponys
If the world weren’t upside down, I would’ve been at the Robyn Hitchcock show at Southgate this past Sunday, and Greg Dulli’s gig at the Woodward on Wednesday. Instead I was stuck in my basement, staring at the same four walls. #FML.
Oh well, let’s make the best of it. Here’s another grab bag o’ recorded tunes and musical ephemera.
I love Chuck Cleaver, and I’m not afraid to admit it. I’ve loved him for decades, since his Ass Ponys days. So shame on me for taking so long to let you know that Wussy band members have been doing a weekly stream on Fridays at 7. Hat tip to list member Dr. David Reid for the tipoff. Last week’s show with Chuck and Lisa was exactly what you’d expect from them: weird, wacky… and absolutely beautiful. Lisa’s questions for Chuck were especially enjoyable… and they do a few Ass Ponys songs too!
The Broken Record podcast is consistently great. I absolutely loved this episode, which features an interview with Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers and stripped down versions of a few songs from their new album:
Curt Smith from Tears for Fears did a version of “Mad World” with his daughter Diva. Check it out on the Facebooks.
Bert Averre, the guitarist for The Knack, posted a fun video for “Bye Corona” (3 guesses as to the tune…) Bassist Prescott Niles joins him at the end.
I’m going to keep touting Waxahatchee until you admit that her album Saint Cloud is one of the best of 2020. Here’s her Tiny Desk (at home) concert with her boyfriend Kevin Morby, which features two songs from Saint Cloud, a Morby tune and a Songs:Ohia cover.
Billie Joe Armstrong has been doing a cover song every week and posting it on Green Day’s YouTube Channel. He calls it “No Fun Mondays”… and his cover of “Manic Monday” features Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles. He also riffs on Tommy James & The Shondells, Johnny Thunders, The Avengers and Adam Schlesinger.
Shameless self-promotion
Rob Fetters is never boring. I caught up with him to chat about his free house concert live streams (latest edition is below), get some Zen advice on coping with COVID fears, and hear his story about Ted Nugent… you can check out the episode on this website (which features bonus content) or on Podbean, Spotify or Apple podcasts.
“Paul is dead.” But John Curley is alive and well.
True story: a few days ago, the Afghan Whigs promoted our podcast interview with John Curley on their official Facebook page… but the way the photo and podcast description appeared, a few fans feared that it was some sort of obituary:
Sorry to scare you, Prissy! But the inadvertent “clickbait” resulted in a record-setting number of downloads for our podcast. Thanks social media!
Worth another listen
Heard this song on Sirius XMU Wednesday, and it brought back some fond memories of my 97X days:
That song is the title track from Bettie Serveert’s 1993 album Palomine. It holds up quite well. Check it out:
Worth another look
Swedish sisters with angelic voices? Yes please!
You’ve probably seen this video before, of an all-star crew doing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, but watching Prince’s absolutely ungodly guitar work and seeing him play with Tom Petty always makes me smile.
In this coronavirus “Local Lockdown Lixx” bonus episode of the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast, singer/songwriter/guitarist Rob Fetters (The Raisins, The Bears, psychodots and solo releases) talks about the free house concert live streams he’s been doing every weekend, provides some Zen guidance on how to cope during COVID craziness… and tells the tale of a time long ago when Ted Nugent brought him from darkness to light. [Back then Ted called himself “The Motor City Madman” but was semi-sane. Now he’s a batsh*t crazy, gun-totin’, Trump-votin’ nutjob. – Ed.]
You’ll find links to Rob’s upcoming house concerts via his website, RobFetters.net. (His next show is Saturday, May 2 at 9 p.m. EDT.) You’ll also find links to the YouTube recordings of previous shows, and a great video for his song “Not the End” — also posted below.
(Due to scheduling conflicts, Dave couldn’t participate in this interview. You’re stuck with the schmuck, Damian.)
Bonus content for the bonus episode: Here’s Rob talking about how the “Not the End” video came together rather quickly a few weeks ago.
Rob’s been writing songs, playing guitar and singing for a looooong time. Adrian Belew produced The Raisins self-titled debut back in 1983. That platter featured the song “Fear is Never Boring” – a perennial 97X favorite. Here’s the original video:
Here’s the same tune, performed at the psychodots farewell show (with Bam Powell sitting in) back in November of 2018. (Shot/edited by Robert Mills, the same guy who did the “Not the End” video.)
But Rob was even in bands before the Raisins. In his teens, he was in a band called the Red Hot Tots… which would also be a great name for a side dish at Applebee’s.
Legendary Mad magazine illustrator Mort Drucker, who died on April 9th, did the album cover art for The Bears self-titled debut album. Here’s a CityBeat article about how that happened.
Rob’s house concerts are most assuredly NOT hippie-strumming-acoustic-guitar affairs…
Rob is plugged in and amped up (in more ways than one… the energy of that guy!) and can add backing tracks via his studio-like wizardry. Check out his most recent show below and you’ll see what we mean.
Let’s focus on the positives of the music world. Our favorite artists now have more time than ever to create new music. (Unless they lost their day job… or they need to get a day job to make up for lost touring income… welp, that positivity didn’t last long, did it?)
But hey, Lucinda Williams has a new album out today called Good Souls Better Angels, and new Lu is always good news. This record is gritty, greasy, gutsy and guitar-driven. Check it out on Spotify. Read the profile in the NYT. Here’s a track from it called “Man Without a Soul”:
It isn’t difficult to figure out who Lu has in mind with lyrics like this:
You bring nothing good to this world Beyond a web of cheating and stealing You hide behind your wall of lies But it’s coming down, yeah, it’s coming down
Want more new album good news? X has a new album! It’s their first disc in 27 years, and it features the original lineup of John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom and D.J. Bonebrake (best drummer name ever). Read more about it and stream the entire disc on Slicing Up Eyeballs, a great website for middle aged modern rockers.
The Pretenders also have a cool new song out. Here’s the video:
Liz Longley put on a great show last Friday. It was in Liz’s living room in Pennsylvania, when it was supposed to be in list members Dave & Jacqui’s home in Ft. Thomas, but Dave & Jacqui made the best of it:
The new releases from Laura Marling, Half Waif, Watkins Family Hour, Peel Dream Machine, The Chats, The Strokes, Lilly Hiatt, Catholic Action, and Why Bonnie are also worth a spin.
Coming up: the usual suspects
I’ll let you fish for yourself on the virtual gigs. NPR, Billboard and several other outlets have a running list of all the shows on the interwebs – YouGram, InstaFace, BookTube, etc. And if you’ve read this blog, you know about most of the standing gigs:
Radiohead streams a concert Thursdays at 5 on YouTube.
Amanda Shires (with Jason Isbell) does “Iso-Lounging” pretty much every day at 6 on YouTube.
Rob Fetters plays every weekend on YouTube (link via his website)
Speaking of Mr. Fetters, when he cancelled his gig at Roebling Point Books, they refunded the money that same day. Classy move! We’ve already discussed TicketBastard’s B.S. “refund” policy. Other promoters seem to be following their lead. The National’s Homecoming announced that refunds would be coming “in the next few days” on 4/3, and then on 4/20 there was another email saying we’d get a refund “within 30 days”. C’mon, man, millions of folks are out of work, and you’re going to sit on their hard-earned cash (Homecoming tix were about $120 for the weekend) for months?
Wait, I was supposed to stay positive, wasn’t I? Better fire up The Hold Steady batsignal:
Instagram is the worst of the virtual venues… the viewing area is tiny already, and then all the comments cover up half of that area. But this Waxahatchee set is stellar:
Robin James is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at UNC Charlotte and the author of three books… with a book about 97X in the works. She grew up listening to the station from age 11 on, including her time as an oboe major (yes!) at Miami University. Robin still has a fond place in her heart for the 97X/woxy.com music community, and the DIY ethos that made it truly unique. Dave and Damian talk to Robin about her research for the 97X book, the Modern Rock 500 and intersection of philosophy and music.
As a teen, the Modern Rock 500 was the closest thing I had to a catechismic text. I grew up on the other side of Butler County from WOXY, on the outskirts of Cincinnati. Every year I recorded parts of the broadcast on cassette and listened to the top of the countdown late into Memorial Day night. Radio led me to music I would otherwise never be allowed to buy or hear live (if I could even get a ride to Looney T-Birds, Everybody’s Records, Bogart’s, or Sudsy Malone’s).
My dad didn’t like music, and I didn’t have older siblings, so the Modern Rock 500 was the curriculum I used to educate myself about cool music and its history.
In May of 2021, Robin is scheduled to give a talk on the Modern Rock 500 at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland – a draft of that presentation is here.
You can also visit Robin’s Soundcloud to listen to a few of her lectures and some original compositions.
In our podcast, Dave and Robin mentioned the 97X Mission Statement. Here it is, direct from Dave’s basement:
To paraphrase Bill Medley: Now I’ve had… the quaran-time of my life… and I never want to feel this way again!
Music is about the only thing keeping me from going completely bonkers. I hope you are holding up well. Here’s the rundown on tunes for lockdown.
Liz Longley “at” Parlor & Patio tonight at 7:30!
List members Dave and Jacqui are turning their Parlor & Patio house concert featuring Liz Longley into a virtual event tonight at 7:30. Here’s the Eventbrite link. Just like usual Parlor & Patio shows, all ticket proceeds go directly to the artist.
Grateful Dead movie at 8 p.m. tonight
The Grateful Dead’s Shakedown Stream happens every Friday at 8 p.m. EDT on their YouTube channel. Tonight it’s a screening of the 1977 concert flick The Grateful Dead Movie. Future installments will include never-before-seen concerts from the band’s archive, as well as previously released shows.
Even when there are no shows, TicketBastard is still screwing us out of our money.
Excerpt from a CityBeat article: Most recently, Ticketmaster, which sells more than $30 billion in tickets per year, has made changes to its refund policy. According to The New York Times, the policy included refunds for postponed, rescheduled, and canceled events as recently as a few weeks ago. However, they’ve appeared to quietly adjust the policy, which now reads: “Refunds are available if your event is canceled.”
Weekly Warriors
Hats off to Rob Fetters, Jesse Malin and Bill Janovitz for doing an in-home set every damn week. And they’re so damn good. Fetters talked about The Bears album cover that Mort Drucker (R.I.P.) created (show is below — read more about that Mort Drucker cover art on CityBeat.) Malin covered The Hold Steady, the Replacements, the Rolling Stones and more (show is below). Janovitz covered John Prine, Tom Waits, George Jones and Big Thief… and he makes a different cocktail at the start of each show. (Link to his show is here on FB.)
Fetters is Fridays at 9 p.m. via a link from his website. Jesse Malin is Saturdays at 4 p.m. on YouTube. Bill Janovitz is Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. on his band Buffalo Tom’s Facebook page.
Celebrities, they’re just like us… or maybe just me
Bojack Horseman is one of my favorite shows, and it turns out Bojack and I are both in the non-Radiohead camp. Check out this magnified screen grab from a recent episode:
But I know list members Kevin Sullivan and Doug Hill-Harriss are still cuckoo for them. Doug also sent along a link to some Radio.com live shows. The Black Keys are on tonight at 9.
Other gigs include Sylvan Esso tonight at 8 and Brett Newski at 9. Get the links from NPR’s list.
Dan’s with the Band… and the other band
Dan Lewis is mad at me because I didn’t mention that Jesse Malin’s old band D Generation opened up for KISS at that show where he was backstage. And the guy giving the tour said “Nice guys, but they’re not very good.” Jesse has come a long way.
Tributes to Prine, part the second
Elvis Costello wrote a nice blog post about JP. And here’s Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires talking (and singing) about John.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxwJ2qQs4ZE&t=42s
Amanda Shires has a whole series of performances called Iso-Lounging on her YouTube channel.
Gigs, interviews, and clips…
https://youtu.be/uAYQUbh8HHA
Love Chvrches… here’s a nice “separate but together” song from them:
