Matt Sledge

97X Rumblings from the Big Bush: The Future of Rock and Roll is now history. And historical!

97X, Music, podcast

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 Dalton, co-host of Good Morning Cincinnati on Channel 12 (she got her media start as a student intern at 97X), Matt Sledge (who worked at 97X, WNKU and Inhailer radio) and your ol’ 97X pals Dave and Damian. We talked to Bake, Jen and Sledge about the upcoming trip down memory lane. 

The event is a fundraiser for the Butler County Historical Society. And it should be a lot of fun. You can get tickets here.

Bake’s a stone cold double legend. The voice of 97X (that’s his voice in the movie Rainman), longtime co-host of The Breakfast Club, and also THE voice of Miami University football and basketball. (He’s quite fittingly a member of Miami U.’s Hall of Fame.

Jen Dalton has been gracing the Cincinnati TV airwaves since 2006.

Jen landed her first television job as co-host of Cinema 64 with Bob Herzog. She was then reunited with Bob when she made the switch to Local 12 in October of 2006. They now work together on Good Morning Cincinnati and co-anchor the ARC Cincinnati program at 8am on STAR-64. Jen also co-anchors the 9am news on Local 12 and anchors the breaking news/traffic desk.

Matt Waller (better known simply as “Sledge”) not only spent a decade at 97X, he later worked weekends for WNKU-FM, another Cincinnati area radio station that played similar artists and was near and dear to its listeners’ hearts. And he spent a few years doing a weekly airshift at Inhailer Radio, the current bastion of “modern rock” in Cincinnati (and streaming worldwide!). Inhailer also hosted the 40th anniversary Modern Rock 500 in 2023, and every year since has presented their own spin on that cherished countdown with their “Indie 500” over Memorial Day weekend.

And your friendly neighborhood 97X Rumblings podcast co-hosts (and 97X alums) Dave and Damian will be there. Mostly because we thought we could dress in period clothing and do a reenactment of the infamous Goo Goo Dolls/sound man fight at “Day in Eden” back in 1993.

Episode 93: Memories of the 97X station signoff in 2004

97X, Music, podcast, woxy.com

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 share their memories of that time.

But we’re not just here to rue the day and mourn once again. There’s actually a future for “the future of rock and roll.” We’re getting the gang back together for one last heist Modern Rock 500 this May.

Read more here.

It’ll be just like old times. Maybe even better. It’s like getting a present from your old friends, in the present day. We can’t wait to share the music and the love with you!

Speaking of love, you gotta love the Bakerman’s “now and then” coda for the episode:

Episode 9: Matt Sledge

97X, podcast

Slege. Slegendary.

Matt Sledge not only spent a decade at 97X, the Future of Rock and Roll, he also later worked weekends for WNKU-FM, another Cincinnati area radio station that played similar artists and was near and dear to its listeners’ hearts. Dave and Damian talk to Sledge (we’re on a last name basis with him) about local bands, living through the shutdown of both stations, f-bombs on late-night CDs, and “butt coolers.” (And listen until the very end for some fun outtakes.)