Ditching Creed: Boston's WFNX Rediscovers Good Music
by David Virr | 00.00.0000

Alternative rock radio: in the 80’s and early 90’s, these stations decided what was cool, and beamed it out in typical mass-media style, complete with commercials for applicable "lifestyle" accounts (read: record stores, skate shops). They took the best of college radio, spun each song 30 times a week, and threw in smooth talking DJ’s with hip pseudonyms. It was Top 40 for cool kids - a little taste of a better world, and to anyone who was young and lived in the suburbs in the glory days of alternative radio, these stations surely deserve some credit in forming our distinctive musical tastes.

But somewhere along the way, things went wrong. Perhaps it was unavoidable, with the 90’s bringing media consolidation that put thousands of radio stations in the hands of a tiny cabal, and the commercialization of the modern rock lifestyle. The Gap sold flannel shirts, for chrissakes, and Pearl Jam became an arena rock stalwart that merely displaced the bands they rose to fame rebelling against. The same homogenization happened in radio, as labels force-fed second rate bands to unsuspecting radio stations, which in turn flooded the airwaves with bands like Creed and Matchbox 20. Instead of breaking innovative new bands, as the format had done throughout its history, alternative radio started stealing bands like Godsmack and Staind from other formats, namely hard rock or its industry term "active rock".

In the world of radio, there were a few holdouts. LA‘s "World Famous" KROQ, while always playing mainstream titles without failure, is to this day recognized as one of radio’s most influential stations. When KROQ adds a song, people in the industry notice. Blur even name-dropped the station in their 1997 song "Look Inside America". Other stations, like Boston’s WFNX, earned respect and a loyal listenership by not tinkering with their cutting-edge format. The station is credited with helping to break Nirvana and Beck, among many others. Independently owned, WFNX has held its own against deep-pocketed radio heavyweights for 20 years now.

What WFNX should be celebrating this year is not 20 years of cutting edge radio, but closer to 15. You see, from about 1998 until early 2003, WFNX essentially sold out, without ever actually selling the station to anyone. The same DJ’s who were one day introducing us to Guided By Voices and Chemical Brothers were suddenly hyping Kid Rock the next week. It was a slow process, which started with the peppering of butt-rock in with the station’s traditional innovative fare, and culminated with them actually using a cartoon devil as their logo. Like the frog in the cold water slowly heated,
many of the station’s core listeners suffered for years because, in their hearts, they believed the station would not betray them.

The station was still owned by Boston’s arts/entertainment/left-wing politics weekly The Boston Phoenix, whose writers were suddenly forced to write about Linkin Park in a positive light, all in the name of cross promotion. And all the while polluting the airwaves with forgettable bands like Default and
Taproot, the ratings went into the toilet. So when they mysteriously added Electric Six’s "Danger! High Voltage" a few months ago while it was still an import only, I had to wonder what they were going to do next.

Flash forward to March 2003, when a little ad in the Phoenix caught my eye. In place of another plug for the station’s "Boxing for Boobs" promotion, was another ad that promised the return of WFNX. Being the skeptic that I am, I just thought that they finally decided to add Coldplay and wanted to pat themselves on the back. So I turn on my radio, and it takes me a minute to register what I’m hearing, probably because I assume it was one of my own CD’s. Really, when was the last time any of us heard The Smiths on commercial radio outside one of those cheesy "flashback lunch café"-type 80’s hours? But WFNX was doing it, and after five years of taking the long, derivative, intelligence-insulting road and walking it, Boston’s heritage alternative rock station was back. Like a comatose patient suddenly opening his eyes, it just happened.

Can a radio station stay commercially viable when its core artists include Idlewild and The Streets? I certainly hope so. They did just fine in the 80’s filling the airwaves with Echo & The Bunnymen, REM, and a slew of talented but less successful bands who are all but forgotten (Eugenius, I’m looking your way). It’s possible I’ll turn on my radio someday and this little promotional stunt will be over, the station be back to laying butt-rock and spewing T&A jokes. With so much great ew music out there, who can blame WFNX for wanting to play some of it? While I wouldn’t recommend listening between 4pm and 6pm (ET) on Sundays (that‘s when British Accents is on), it seems most other times are safe.