Ron Poore, a.k.a. “Jetson” was only at 97X for a year back in the late 80s, but he moved on to record labels, where he has continued to work tirelessly to get great music into people’s ears. Currently Senior VP of Alternative & Rock Promotion for the legendary Atlantic Records, Ron chats with Dave and Damian about how promoting a band called the Red Belly Boys actually got him his first gig at 97X, how a trip to New York City with Rock & Roll Grocer Frank Eavey changed his career trajectory… and how his son saved his life.
As a special holiday gift to you, check out the 97X in-studio performance from the Dave Matthews Band back in 1995, a session that happened thanks to Jetson’s ties to 97X.
Jetson, front row far right, alongside Steve Baker and Julie Maxwell. Jetson (center) and Mr. K (3rd from left) with Mike Peters of The Alarm when they opened for Bob Dylan at Riverbend in Cincinnati.97Xers Tim Hiatt, Ken “Mr. K” Glidewell and Jetson (2nd from right) with Kurt Neumann and Sammy Llanas of The BoDeans during their visit to the 97X studioThe music of the Jetson era.
I’m thankful for tasty tunes and good friends like you! Before we get to this week’s gigs, I must say Elvis Costello & The Imposters were stellar at the Taft last week. Lots of TWILM list members in attendance too…. on a school night! (7:30 show time, no opener… it’s a dream come true for folks of my vintage.)
OK, here’s the Turkey Week lineup:
On Tuesday, Cloud Nothings are at Woodward, with Leggy as the opener. That’s a nice double bill. Jackyl is at Bogart’s, in what feels like a standing monthly gig since 1991.
Wednesday, Dawg Yawp is at Woodward, with Ruby Vileos and Bendigo Fletcher. (Nice to see back-to-back concerts at Woodward… must be a slow week for wedding receptions.) Memorial Hall hosts “Abbey Road: a 50th Anniversary Beatles Celebration.” The complete Abbey Road album will be performed live by The Newbees with the Bee Strings and the Horn-Its.
The Tillers have a cool gig at Arnold’s on hump day too. Here’s the blurb from Arnold’s Facebook page:
We partnered up with Neltner Small Batch, Otto Printing and Mus-i-col Records to give offer a handmade, one-off, limited edition 7” vinyl record. The album is two live versions of the Tiller’s songs The Boatman’s Dance, Hickory Jack and Down at the Bottom. The records will also be pressed on transparent green vinyl to look just like a Jameson bottle. The awesome part? It’s free! That’s right, we are giving them all away. We have 250 total pressed on transparent hunter green vinyl to hand out and they will be first come first serve. . Drink and Menu Specials run all day, The Tillers take the stage at 9. The Records will be available at 8pm.
Also on Wednesday, Ben Levin plays the lobby bar at the Phelps/downtown Marriott from 5:30-8:30.
Thursday is a day to take a break from the live music and spend time with family… even if they drive you nuts.
On Friday, Pomegranates play… holy crap, the Woodward. Three shows in one week! Sylmar and Grand Ace are also on the bill.
That same evening:
Frontier Folk Nebraska have a record release party in Southgate’s Revival Room
Joslyn & The Sweet Compression play Ludlow Garage
Jordan Smart plays Camp Springs Tavern
Static-X is at Riverfront Live (formerly Annie’s)
the Trans-Siberian Orchestra has two shows at the Coliseum (presently Some-Bank Arena)
Ben Levin performs at BrewRiver
Freekbass plays FUNKsgiving in Southgate’s Sanctuary. That’ll shake you out of your tryptophan coma.
Saturday:
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band plays Southgate’s Sanctuary. Amen to that! Col. JD Wilkes (of Legendary Shack Shakers fame) opens up.
Sierra Hull is at Memorial Hall
Anna Stine plays Ludlow Garage
Stolen Faces noodle a Grateful Dead tribute at Stanley’s
Fretboard Brewing hosts an “Americana Gives Back” show starting at 5, with RootCellarXtract, Hickory Robot, Jeremy Francis and John Ford. Please bring a gift to donate to Toys for Tots.
Also on Saturday, Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant are at the Coliseum, which I mention merely because it gives me a convenient excuse to play this fantastic tune by the Young Fresh Fellows:
I saw the Young Fresh Fellows opening up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Bogart’s eons ago. Which gives me a handy excuse to do a callback to the Abbey Road mention earlier in this post:
Where was I? Oh, live gigs, right…
Sunday, the Ludlow Garage features Poco. The current lineup is sans Richie Furay, Jim Messina, Timothy B. Schmidt and Randy Meisner… but Rusty Young is playing.
The Aronoff Center features “It Was 50 Years Ago Today”… which is billed as “an All Star Tribute to the Beatles White Album – featuring Christopher Cross, Todd Rundgren, Micky Dolenz, Jason Scheff (Chicago) Joey Molland (Badfinger) – performing their greatest hits along with songs from the White Album.” Wow, Christopher Cross, Todd Rundgren and a Monkee together, whodathunkit? Of course, mentioning the White Album merits a shout-out to this:
And now you know how my brain works (or rather, doesn’t work).
Hot Ticket Alert
The lineup has been announced for The National’s Homecoming festival at Smale Park on May 8-9, 2020 and it’s very strong. I got tix for both days.
Video of the Week
The Drive-by Truckers’ new song mentions Cincinnati.
Kids these days (Part II)…
List member Lisa Collins, who works at Great American Insurance, mentioned to her 20-something niece Morgan that Jon Bon Jovi was playing Great American’s annual holiday party, and Morgan asked “What’s the difference between Bon Jovi and Jon Bon Jovi?”
(The one and only time I attended a Great American holiday party was eons ago when Carl Lindner Jr. was still around and apparently picking the entertainment, because the musical guest was… drumroll please… Wayne Newton!)
Mark Griffin tuned in to 97X as a teenager, and “the future of rock and roll” shaped his future. Listen to the podcast to learn how Mark ruled his high school art room with an iron fist… and why that iron fist never had a digital watch on its wrist. And learn why (and how) Mark painstakingly assembled 14 hours worth of song mixes from 97X circa 1985.
We reached out to Mark because he wrote a great post on his website about 97X and the profound impact it had on his life:
In his post, Mark reprints an article that Steven Rosen wrote about WOXY for the June 2, 1985 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer. You can read that feature in Mark’s blog post linked above, but you should also check out the PDF version for the article as it originally appeared — right alongside ads for cigarettes and bras!
Kudos to Mark for creating such fabulous playlists culled from his 97X memories. All those mixes — 14 hours worth! — are also on his website:
In our podcast interview, Mark mentions mining the annual “97 Best of…” lists to create his mixes. Craig Froehle has compiled those lists for 1984-2009, as well as the Modern Rock 500 lists from 1989-2009, a 97X “A to X” list, and a 97X2K list from 2000. All those links are here: https://www.craigfroehle.com/p/97x.html
Monday, Incubus plays Taft with Le Butcherettes as the opening act. Jay Madera is at MOTR with Kaitlyn Peace & the Electric Generals.
On Tuesday, Ludlow Garage hosts Rising Appalachia, The Neighbourhood plays the Short Vine neighborhood at Bogart’s, and Ben Levin tickles the ivories at Arnold’s.
Wednesday marks the return of the band whose name sounds like an dark web site that sells cut-rate ED remedies: Bonerama!
They’re playing Riverfront Live, which used to be Annie’s. (If you’re keeping score at home, yes, that means Bonerama will be performing on Hump Day.)
That same evening, Chris Thile plays Memorial Hall, Marcia Griffiths plays Ludlow Garage, the Dallas Moore Band plays Southgate’s main room and Michael Nau is upstairs in the Revival Room.
On Thursday, The Marcus King Band is at Bogart’s, and Dylan LeBlanc and Night Moves play Southgate.
Friday, the Commonheart plays Taft’s Ballroom, The Rippingtons play Ludlow Garage, and Ambrosia is at Memorial Hall. Jesse Malin will NOT be playing Southgate, much to my dismay.
Saturday is quite busy:
Daniel Martin Moore plays the final Parlor & Patio house concert of 2019 at the home of list members Dave and Jacqui.
Gregory Alan Isakov is at Madison Theater
Jake Book plays Camp Springs Tavern
The David Bromberg Quintet is at Miami U-Hamilton
Melody Guy and Steff Mahan play the Downtowne Listening Room
Last but not least, the old Annie’s will still have a Bone… Thugs-N-Harmony
On Sunday, you can catch Hobo Johnson & the Lovemakers at Bogart’s, or see some NWF Wrestling at Bircus Brewing in Ludlow, KY.
Hot ticket alert
Shovels & Rope is playing Ludlow Garage on 4/8/20. Get tickets here.
Clarification Department
List member Rob Ervin, formerly of the Chris & Rob Late Night Talk Show on WAIF-FM, let us know that when Ben Folds stopped by their show lo those many years ago, he was playing a melodica (not a recorder as originally reported here), and it was Ben’s first interview west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Lipstick on a Pig Department
The Riverfront Coliseum has yet another corporate name. Doesn’t matter, it’s still a dump.
Heritage Bank better order 20 cases of this:
Video of the week
This clip was brought to my attention by list member Dave Tellmann… it’s smokin’ hot.
Shameless self-promotion
Speaking of Dave Tellmann, the latest episode of the 97X Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast that I co-host with Dave is live now, right here. It’s a two-parter with Kevin “Couche” Couch, who worked at 97X in the mid-90s and went on to host the National Lampoon Comedy Radio show on Sirius XM and produce the top rated morning radio show in L.A. He also had a neighbor in the apartment upstairs from his who was dead for two months before being discovered, but that’s a story for another day.
Live shot
I snagged the extra Wilco ticket from Dan “Reds above .500 in 2020!” Lewis. Birthday Boy Danny (his wife calls him a sexagenarian now… and he’s never been to see Bonerama!) had great seats about 8 rows from the stage, and it was an excellent show.
Kevin Couch, a.k.a. Kevin Couche, was an Indiana kid who tuned in to 97X early and never looked back. He wound up working at the station, and later headed to Hollywood to work for the top ranked morning show, do interviews for other radio stations, host a comedy show on Sirius XM, do publicity for Death Row Records and a comedy club… the list is endless.
We had so much fun chatting with Kevin that we made it a two-parter. Check out both episodes as we talk to Couche about his 97X payroll windfall, the Dayton band Brainiac, his many gigs, plus-sized lingerie, Steve Baker, Robyn Hitchcock, Nerf Herder, the Rugburns, Hollywood Hamilton, Sirius XM Comedy, and his current gig in PR.
Couche with Bob Pollard of Guided by VoicesKevin (right) with John Schmersal of Brainiac
Former 97X DJ Brett Heartz needs our help. About a year ago, he was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), which is incurable. He’s currently on “the list” of folks who need kidney donors, and it could be years before a suitable donor is found.
In the interim, his wife Wendy has given up her management role for an hourly, overnight position so she can help with home dialysis, doctor appointments, treatments, etc. And the medical bills are mounting.
Aaron Borns started at 97X as a student intern (a.k.a. “co-producer”) for the Breakfast Club in 1993, then worked part-time shifts, answered the phones and worked with Julie Maxwell doing promotions. He wasn’t at the station long, but the lessons he learned there served him well during a 20-plus year career doing promotions and marketing at RCA Records. Dave and Damian talk to Aaron about his 97X days, his record label roles… and how he got a free car while he was at 97X.
Aaron is in the top row, far right, in this photo from the 1993 (or 94) Day in Eden concert featuring The Judybats and the Goo Goo Dolls. Promo t-shirt from the 1993 Modern Rock 500
Howdy kids, I’m back from the City of the Big Shoulders, the Windy City. I’d like to propose a toast to my wife, who ran the Chicago Marathon yesterday.
And I’d also like to propose a toast to my Chicago-dwelling friend Jessica, who hooked me up with an extra ticket to the Luna concert at Lincoln Hall last night, where they played their album Penthouse in its entirety.
OK, short week, short post.
Tuesday, Macy Gray plays Ludlow Garage. All That Remains and Lacuna Coil are at Riverfront Live. Capstan plays Top Cats and local musician Zapruder Point is at the Brew House.
On Wednesday, Just Friends, Save Face, the Sonder Bombs and Pool Kids play the Southgate House; Andy Frasco and the UN are at Madison Live; The New Mastersounds are at Ludlow; Sarah Asher plays MOTR with Mavis Guitar, Billy Alletzhauser and Beth Harris; and list member John Sandman’s Tye Dye Band plays Tina’s downtown from 4:30-8 p.m.
Della Mae is at Memorial Hall on Thursday, Charlie Parr has a CD release show in Southgate’s Revival Room, and Brit blues artist Joanne Shaw Taylor is in Southgate’s main room. Brand X is at Ludlow Garage that evening… not to be confused with Kroger’s old generic brand.
Mmm, tasty!
Friday, you can enjoy Cigarettes After Sex… at the Madison Theater. Or you can go to the zombie party hosted by 500 Miles to Memphis at Southgate, in the Sanctuary. The Minks and the Nailers are in Southgate’s Sanctuary, and Arlo McKinley & the Lonesome Sound play Madison Live.
Murphy’s Pub is celebrating 30th years with Dirty Thirty gigs on Friday and Saturday. You can read more in CityBeat.
Taking Back Sunday kicks off a two-night stand at Bogart’s on Friday. Apparently they are trying to corner the market on weekends.
Mmm, tasty!
On Saturday:
Warrick & Lowell play Neltner’s Farm Fall Fest
Rickie Lee Jones is at Ludlow Garage
the father-son duo of Ritt & Wilder Dietz plays the Parlor & Patio house concert in Ft. Thomas
Maurice Mattei is in Southgate’s Lounge
Rob Harris & Marcia Ramirez play a special Downtowne Listening Room show at Covenant First Presbyterian Church
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage are at Miami U – Hamilton
The Cliftones play MOTR
Comedian John Mulaney is at Miami’s main campus
Sunday, John Morgen plays Neltner’s Farm, the Aquadolls are at Top Cats, and the Q102 Bosom Ball is at Madison Theater, with Ingrid Michaelson as the headliner and Maddie Poppe, the Season 16 winner of American karaoke Idol, also on the bill.
My Favorite Record Label
Merge Records was founded by Mac & Laura from Superchunk, so naturally I’m biased, but they have a stellar stable of artists. This year, they were celebrating their 30th anniversary and I subscribed to their “Born Under A Good Sign” promo, which got me a quarterly shipment of surprise/limited edition tunes and some other swag. This quarter, it was a Polvo reissue on green vinyl and a Holiday Sampler on peppermint vinyl.
Mmm, tasty!
Dude to follow on the socials
Speaking of Superchunk, if you’re not following Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster (also drummer for Bob Mould and The Mountain Goats and co-star of The Best Show), you’re missing out. On Insta, he does a “new worst friend” thing when someone sends him a weird photo:
The latest episode of the 97X “Rumblings from the Big Bush” podcast features our chat with Rik Helton, the former owner of CD World, who used to promote his record store by attending indie rock concerts dressed in superhero tights. We also play some other throwback commercials from the 97X airwaves.
97X had dozens if not hundreds of part-time DJs over the lifetime of the station, but no one else can top the tenure of “Gentleman” Jim Mercer, who worked weekend and vacation fill-in shifts for a whopping 14 years, from 1990 through 2004. His dedication and professionalism made him the ultimate weekend warrior. Dave and Damian talk to Jim about his day job, how he got the DJ gig, and how he made his shifts sound so smooth.
Jim nearing the end of a Saturday shift in 2004. This photo was taken by Luann Gibbs.
Like most radio stations, 97X typically had five full-time shifts: mornings, midday, afternoons, evenings and overnight. Having Jim as a part-timer for more than a decade was a luxury. He could — and did — handle any weekend shift, and was always willing to fill in on the evening and overnight shifts to cover vacations.
The NBA gives out a Sixth Man of the Year Award for someone who is the best performer coming off the bench. Gentleman Jim was the 97X equivalent of the Sixth Man of the Year for 14 years running.
Left to right: Jim Mercer, Julie Maxwell, Bakerman, Sledge and Kathy Lucas, at a 97X reunion in 2009.
When Bakerman did the final break on 97X, he gave a special shout-out to Jim.
Jim and Steve Baker in the press box for the Miami-UC game in 2016.
Craig later worked at EMI (shh, don’t tell Johnny Rotten) and is now Director of Music Partnerships at ReverbNation. Please read the entire piece. I love Craig’s passion for the music, and how he’s encouraging all of us to rage against the machine(s):
Amen to that, Brother Craig! Taking his cue, I’ll mention yet again that the new album from Jesse Malin is fantastic, and I’m offering my Double D Money Back Guarantee™ for his show at Southgate House on Friday, November 15th. If you go to the show and aren’t completely satisfied by Mr. Malin’s music and stage presence, I’ll refund your ticket price out of my own pocket.
