Friday, July 20, 2012

Let's Go to Bed

Even though the sale of WFNX-FM was announced two months ago, the station didn't actually cease operations until about 17 minutes ago. It's not totally going away; the station is already streaming online at WFNX.com but it's no longer a broadcast station. And it has also spawned another streaming station featuring some of the FNX crew that will be launching soon. But the broadcast frequency itself, 101.7, has been sold to Clear Channel and rumor is it could turn into a conservative talk station.

I'm not going to go in depth about the death of WFNX and rock radio in general here because I've already done that at length on the podcast with Mike Piantigini and Nick Lorenzen (listen to parts 1 and 2). But suffice it to say WFNX was a big part of my music education in the late '80s and early '90s. In the station's heyday, it played tons of so-called alternative rock that changed my perceptions about music. Sadly, radio is going the way of the dinosaur, but it was fun today to listen to the last few hours of WFNX on the broadcast dial.

Fittingly, FNX ended the way it began in 1983, by playing The Cure's "Let's Go to Bed." R.I.P.


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