Thank YOU

[The Sheck]

97X Staff,

for exposing us to GREAT music for all this time. Speaking from personal experience, over the two plus years I've been tuning in from the 'net, I've probably bought over 100 CDs from bands I would never have heard otherwise that I heard here. I'm sure others feel the same too.

I was in MN when REV 105 went off the air and was devastated when it happened. This isn't quite the same situation I realize, but it still hurts nonetheless.

So best of luck and thank you for making my work days a bit less stressful.

-Nate

[Smoker29]

I posted this on the other thread but...

Man, this brings a tear to this loyal listener's eye.

I remember a little 13-year-old Bob Burns being tired of all the bullshit music he was being fed in 1983. So, he took an adventure and started adjusting his dial to find new sounds. The sounds of 97X captivated me and influenced me to no end. Half of my CD collection was introduced to me through WOXY.

It's been a long strange trip indeed. I realize it's not totally over, but to not have you guys on my dial is going to fucking blow! Thanks for not only providing me with great music, but for supporting my music and me over the years as well.

Sniff....

Bob Burns

[monkey neck]

Yes, thank you. You've been a pivotal influence in my musical life. Best of luck to you.

[eyeball]

I will thank you lot for all the years of great music. I do appreciate it.


and then I will thank you for not shooting my directly in the head...ugh.

[RedWoods]

y'all are awesome. Thanks so much.

[Rellah]

xxx

[Duemellon]

:(

mostly b/c i'm worried about what the future will bring. I'm hopeful but currently distraught.

The amount of different music I've heard and even sparked me into my current carreer, means a lot to me. I hope you'll only be laying low in the 'net for a bit until the CC megamonster finally falls over and the brighter day finally comes.

[trixi]

I'll add my thanks for all the great years that 97X has provided me. From the days of Weds night dances on the boats and Thanksgiving Bogart dances to all the special programming that's gone on and opened up a whole world of music you wouldn't normally hear. I appreciate all the people I've had the honor to meet and spend time with and all the prizes I've collected over the years! :-)

Thanks again!

[asoundhound]

Damn..
I remember when you guys opened up a whole world to a nerdy kid living on the Oklahoma plains..I know it's not the end, but not being on the dial anymore is just..stunning. You guys are the reason I got into this crazy biz, and "the music" is why i'm staying in it..it's got to live on.

Thanks, all of you.
Dan.

[doctort13]

97x has been a part of my daily life for the past 10+ years.
This was the radio station that I always wanted to work for, but never did (then I started to lose my hearing).

A few personal thanks to:

Doug & Linda - for making it all happen, for your kind note about my little music zine SCREED, for talking to me about promotional ideas when I worked for CD World.

Matt - for sharing the same birthday, for playing my requests so quickly, for almost hiring me -until I had to pass due to my poor hearing, for being a kick-ass DJ.

Bryan - for the wonderful "Weekend Report" last April. I am convinced that your announcing Puppet Slam Cincinnati helped us sell every seat in the theatre.

Susan - for your chatting with me at my various jobs about music, films, and sugar-free chocolate for your father.

Steve - for playing XTC on the radio so much, for playing my requests, and for being such a great morning drive DJ.

Mike - for being so friendly on the air, you make the ride home
from work something I looked forward to, thanks for playing The
Jam & The Clash on the air!

Gone but not forgotten:
The Breakfast Club (Ric, Dave, Damian, Kevin), Julie Maxwell, Dan, Dorsey, Phil, Tina &everyone else who has made 97x the best radio station that I have ever heard!

I am going to miss pushing button 6 on my car radio every morning.

[P.O.D. Warrior]

Hey all, long time listner, first time poster. With the big changes going on I thought I had to say some stuff. It brought a small tear to my eye when I saw WOXY was going to be internet only. Sure I hardly ever listened to it in my car because I could hardly ever get a good signal for a long period of time, but I listen online whenever I can. It still does bother me that another independent radio station was taken down by corporate radio.

I'm not your typical WOXY listner I don't think. First off I am a devout Catholic. I study my religion seriously. I am not what a lot of people seem to think all west-side Catholics are. i am not racist, ignorant, or any of that stuff. I hate corporate radio as much as a lot of you. the only one I can handle is 97.3.

I also am not typical for other reasons. I am not angry Boondocks was eliminated from the enquirer. I don't think this city sucks as much as some. P.O.D. is my favorite band and they would never be played on WOXY.

Don't know what the whole point to this post was. I guess I just want to say good luck, and I'll still be listening online as long as your music stays the same.

God Bless,
P.O.D. Warrior

[damnitkage]

I've been a loyal WOXY listener for a few years now. I forget just how I found the station, but it's made living in Kansas City much more tolerable. We listen constantly and have turned several friends on to it. I guess that there are radio stations still playing here in town. Not really sure though!

Everyone in the local broadcasting area has my heartfelt and deep sympathy.

Please don't change WOXY. Christ, I'll have to listen to the lilting melodies of rednecks and whatever country/soft rock combo is jammed down our throats. No I won't.

[David D Day]

Thanks Doug,

I will keep my eyes open for your book.:cool:

And thank you 97x for 20 years of great music, you will be missed!

David

[peedub]

dang, this is more upsetting than i ever thought it would be...

i don't know any of you staffers personally, but for fifteen years you have all (past and present), provided me more pleasure than i ever realized....

thank you for continually playing my requests for "my city was gone" when i was feeling homesick...(you have no idea how good it feels to hear the words "cuyahoga falls" on my radio here in cincinnati)...

thank you for tolerating my repeated, drunken requests for meat beat manifesto songs during extra beats (and my drunken complaints if you didn't)....

thanks barb (i think it was you) for your matt johnson interview a couple of years ago....

thanks for turning me on to soooo much good music, stuff that i KNOW i would never have heard (of) if it hadn't been for 97x or these message boards....

damn, you truly don't know what you've got till it's gone....so much more than just a radio station....

[brainiac]

I'm stunned. Just stunned.

I'm not sure what to say other than thanks for being true for so long. I just didn't think I would live to see the day it would come to an end.

I know what these monsters can potentially to do stations they purchase. Oh well.

I guess I have to buy a cd player for the car now.

[peedub]

wow, i keep remembering more 97x influence...

thanks for extra beats all those years ago at bogart's and on the boat. god, those were some of the best times of my young adulthood...

thanks for all the shows, too many to mention....

thanks for the radiohead cd (that i never bothered to pick up...sorry)....

[coreyhemp]

And thanks to Jennifer for being the pleasant voice when I'd call in.

[phairfreak]

I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me something that I can relate to with all the awesome music you played. All this just makes me wanna put on another bumper sticker. 97x baby! You will always ROCK!:cool:

[MarkO]

I’m a long time daily 97X online listener from the UK, and I salute the Baloghs and the WOXY crew for 21 years of modern rock excellence. I expect that the Net-only venture will succeed due to WOXY’s expanding profile both nationally and internationally. Let’s face it, though, there are few, if any, Internet-only stations that offer live jocks and hand-programmed music around the clock. We are talking about a domain where cost-saving measures such as recorded voice-tracking of DJs and automated music programming are the general rule of thumb. I suspect that the new WOXY.com, if it gets off the ground, is going to be a significantly different product than the 97X that we have all come to know and love.

[asoundhound]

Thank you all. For all the good times.

[julie]

wow. a huge change - i wish you all the best of luck in this new endeavor.

thanks for giving me my "cool factor". you're undoubtedly the source of 90% of it!

i'm so thankful for having worked there when i did - it was most definitely the experience of a lifetime! i miss all of you and send nothing but positive energy your way.

[Urge26]

hmmm lets see here:

Thank You:

- for all the years of turning me on to real artists, great music and local events

- for you dj's actually playing our requests

- for letting me meet the flaming lips and dance like an ass on stage with them @ Bogarts

- for my first listen to Zero 7, Failure, Modest Mouse, Ladytron, and on and on

[eels]

I'd just like to say thanks for all of the amazing music you play! I listen in on the net from PA a lot and I can't tell you how grateful I am that you focus on music that is for no doubt a more intelligent crowd. I was shocked the first time I saw your playlist and every time I see the latest version I am so glad that I found WOXY.

I'm sorry to hear that you will no longer be on FM. Such a unique station deserves a better fate but I vow to keep on listening online.

DON'T STOP A ROCKIN'!

[brainiac]

Well, the initial shock has worn down a little. Doesn't make this any less painful.

The fact that it actually hurts so much that the station is dropping off the airwaves should make a strong statement to the impact it's had in my life. I've always had one or two 'anchors' to the Dayton/Cinci area and 97x was one of them.

There's too much to say about it, a lot has already been said in the other thread(s), but it still has yet to convey how much we love you guys, what you mean to us and how much you will be missed in our cars and radios.

Thanks for all the good times, the top 500, the battle of the bands, the local licks, new tunes tuesday, the people's choice countdown and for making radio fun and interesting.

It's not everday you get to hear a morning DJ slip and say the word 'cock' and keep going without missing a beat. That's right, I heard it. You aren't fooling anyone. ;)

Thanks for playing Belly - SuperConnected, all the GBV you could, loving your job and your listeners, the free cds and just about everything else i can think of. Thanks for the long drives out to see the elvis and the DJ that slams people that live in dayton. Like he knows what he's talking about anyway.

Thanks for playing punk, the cure and a bunch of accoustic stuff i couldn't stand but listened to anyway all in the same hour.

I'm not even close to finished, but i'll close with a thanks for 18 years of allowing me to be a loyal listener.

[justa bill]

i mostly listen online now anyway... but. i was floored when i read the news today. my god.

i grew up in Lebanon. i grew up listening to 97X. i heard Camper Van for the first time on 97X. the Butthole Surfers. Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees. Mojo Nixon and that Elvis song...

I remember a report on NIN when it was just 'some guy from cleveland hiding behind tape machines'. i heard Teen Spirit the first time a block from my high school. i stayed up till midnight to tape Cake's first album when it played at midnight--still have it. i woke up one morning to hear that Mark Sandman had died on stage in Rome.

I had seen Morphine at Bogarts--won the tickets from 97X... I'd won so many tickets from 97X. shit bands at Top Cats; Rent at the Arnoff--fifth row; some many bands.

Pulp is playing right now... "like a friend". I saw/heard Pulp for the first time on a hotel t.v. in Helsinki. it was '95. we'd just run into Morphine going into the Copenhagen airport... no shit. The only reason I knew who they were: 97X...

The funny thing is coming back from "the world" and realizing on a different level how great WOXY is... lived in NYC. lived in Chicago. been all over the world. 97X is one of the best.

This station's been such a huge part of my life. I live in Over-The-Rhine now... can't pick it up on anything but my Mac... I really hope You stay online... I really hope you stay in the area... You make such a huge contribution to life here.


Please stay around. Go online. But don't go away.

[justa bill]

p.s. THANK YOU! :]

[joaRkim]

I am sad to hear that 97X is going off the air. I am actually physically saddened by the news. I grew up with 97X and remember it so fondle. I used to listen to MU football games with my dad and wonder why there was a church service on the radio on sunday mornings. I woke up to the Morning Guys (thanks riktile;) for so many years from 4th grade to senior year of college. I met bands, cracker, L7, someband at loonies ATR. I stayed up late countless night with shiv and thank him for some of the coolest things I have heard on 97X. I was very sad when I left oxford for new york knowing that I would have to leave 97X. I was equally happy when i found out I could tune in on the web. Thanks to Bard for playing my request since I have left oxford. Thanks to Sledge (we were in boyscouts together for a while back then) for playing my request from germany, that was so great, so far away and yet so close.
THANKS ALSO TO LINDA AND DOUG.
You guys stuck with it and believed and for that we all were so lucky. Good luck in the future (my folks are also looking at New Mexico, taos) Thanks so much.

love you guys madly
Joachim

[joaRkim]

REM "its the end of the world as we know it" song was playing as i posted that. that is wierd if not to much to deal with
thanks

[Trevour]

While I haven't been quite the lifelong listener like so many others, 97x has still left such a huge impact on me in such a short period of time.

I got introduced to WOXY after learning of a live online chat with JJ72 about two years ago (January 2002). Then I hung around a while for the chat, soon finding out it was cancelled due to Mark having the flu or whatnot.

Coincidentally I was to be moving from Minnesota to Dayton not even a month later (to live near my long-distance girlfriend; we're now engaged!)! I was now guaranteed the best station in the world for my radio.

I only lived in Ohio for a year, and moved back to Minnesota last February. I still listen to WOXY on a regular basis thanks to the newfangled Internet. And I know I still live in MN, and switching over to full-time Internet won't really affect me anyway, but I definitely still have a few things to say.

97x will always hold a place in my heart as the ultimate soundtrack to my short life as an Ohioan. Like when I heard "Seven Nation Army" for the first time whilst leaving Meijer, or the hundredth time I heard Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By," but it was OK because I was test-driving a Mini Cooper. These were just a few moments I will always vividly remember.

So thank you, WOXY, for making my daily life in a whole lot brighter. Thank you for keeping me entertained, and actually excited to listen to music every day on the radio, even if the reception in Englewood wasn't always that clear!

Thank you Bryan for giving me the full-blown WOXY tour on my day in Oxford last year... I will always remember the promo Stereophonics cookie. Thank you Phil for throwing in all the extra goodies with the new Pete Yorn CD I won. Thank you Mike for the short conversation we had once about Radio K. Thanks to whoever was in the booth, whenever I requested a Pulp song. And of course thank you to the rest of the staff for being part of the greatest radio station of all time!!!

BEST! STATION! EVER!!!

[MarkO]

Linda, your update at the home page (29-30 Jan) puts everything in the right context, and provides more reassurances about the plans for WOXY.com.

To succeed with this ambitious undertaking, WOXY.com will require the concerted support of all parties (staff, listeners, investors, existing and new advertisers, record labels, artists, etc).

Folks, spread the word and stay tuned to your computers!

[Content Chick]

I'm turning 40 this week and have been dealing with the lost of my youth and now I found out my favorite station since I was a college student is going away. I'm trying not to cry.

[hlfzephyr]

Thank you 97X for giving me great music and exposing me to great new bands and great old bands that I never would've given a 2nd thought to. I know you'll still be around on the internet, but it won't be the same as riding in S. Dayton running errands and jamming to the tunes. Goodbye - you'll be missed...

P.S. Thanks for playing bands I never, ever thought I'd hear on the radio: Radiohead, Guided By Voices, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Afghan Whigs, Ass Ponys, Twilight Singers, Chemical Brothers, Enon, Over The Rhine, Pizzicato Five, Cibo Matto, Brainiac, Twilight Singers, & many, many others.

[tvguy1975]

Wow-- it's tough not to be sad about this. Being from Minneapolis/St. Paul-- it feels like the day my beloved REV 105 went off the air in March 1997 when Disney bought it out. As many of you know REV 105 and 97X had a very similar sound and mission. At least you guys got some notice-- the REV flipped to butt rock the day the sale was announced.

I got turned on to 97X when the REV went off the air-- and have been listening online ever since. The station, the jocks, the music-- and the owners have all impressed me. I remember e-mailing the station about something (can't recall what)-- and Doug replied. We actually wound up chatting up about radio and TV (I work in Television, as my handle indicates, but have dabbled in radio as well). Out of the blue-- Doug even asked me if I would be interested in applying for a job at 97X. I was so flattered-- but declined as I had just taken another TV job.

While it does feel like another unique outlet for music and information is getting swallowed up by a faceless corporation-- I've gotta believe Doug and Linda will make this succeed on the Net. This could be a pure genius move. They already have a huge base of listeners, like myself, who tune in online at home and work. Plus-- the day is coming very soon where you will be able to tune in internet radio on your car stereo. "Bam, The Future of Rock and Roll".

While I've never listened over the air-- thank you for keeping up the good fight on the airwaves for 20+ years. I will be there as you embark on your new endeavor.

Matt Kummer

[alliecat55]

Thank you. this station is the reason i love 3/4 of the bands i could not live without. it has also been the soundtrack to many unforgetable times in my life.
oh yeah, and thanks for the "corporate radio sucks matchbooks"!!! i had to fight my brother off from stealing them.

[truant]

I want to thank Doug and Linda Balogh for their vision and guidance/nurturing of 97-X across the last three decades. I wish them all God's blessings as they move onto the next chapter of their lives.

Thank you is not enough. You did not "sell-out". Evidence of this is that you're planning and actively assisting in the transition to an all-internet incarnation of 97-X. This proves you truly believe in the format/lifestyle that means alot to so many people. You took the risk with your own money back in the early 80s, and as you so well put it, it's time to enjoy the "fruit of your labor". This is where you are rewarded for taking a risk and doing something you love.

It will go on.

You two rule. You're an example to us adults everywhere to "keep it real". You two directly and positively affected several generations of people like me, who desire to find something more. Enjoy yourselves and Santa Fe. I may bump into you out there someday myself.

:D

To the current and past 97-X staff. Thank you too! I sincerely wish those current staff who will choose to pursue other things a soft landing and great success in the next chapter of their lives!
To those who stay, you'll keep 97-X the way it is... and I know you will.

To the future 97-X staff. If you start playing Nu-Butt-Rokk, I'll come up to Oxford and stick my size 11 steel-toed boot in yer a$$ (repeatedly).

I see that 97-X is not going away. Terrestrial radio has been fundamentally and hopelessly changed and homogenized. It's time to move on to the next medium. Admittedly, websites will be more difficult to consolidate and to borg-assimilate. You don't really need an FCC license and its reach is worldwide. This is not good news for CC and crew, who are funneling millions into old-skool FM sticks with a 50 mile reach. I have faith in our ability to adapt and make use of technology and I look forward to blasting 97-X via my Krebstar Broadband PDA in my nursing home suite in 2050.

Just think, without all of the electronic/administrative overhead (tower, associated equipment, FCC filings, etc.) 97-X-online will have more financial resources to focus more on the music and the streaming-server farms. It will rock!

Remeber folks, when everyone out there are eating apples we're the ones eating squid. Music, technology, etc.

All the best, and I can not wait for the future... it's 1983 all over again. Who will be the next Doug & Linda who'll blaze a trail in this internet thingy?

Paul Kinder

[Chacotaco]

I know this sounds dramatic, but life as I have known it since I moved to Cincy several years ago is not going to be the same. As a mechanic, I spend most of my days in your cars, listining to 97.7
and it truly makes my day a better one. (if you ever get in your Volkswagen and find your station has changed to 97x, it was my doing, sorry.) Anyhow, both my wife and I will miss the station so very much and hope that the new medium from which we will be tuning in daily will provide us with the same pleasure. We have been truly blessed to have had such a station as 97x and I thank them for providing the soundtrack to my family's life for the past 10 years.....

[postfeminist]

i think it was 1990 when i first tuned in, and without you, i may have never found my favorite artists... since i don't live in cinci anymore, my only way to listen is online, and i'm grateful you'll still be here, wherever i may end up. :)

thank you!

[im_schizoid_man]

Thank you woxy, without you i might have never discoverd the true side of music clear channel decides not to show us. Without you i might think that Mandy Moores cover of "senses working overtime" was real music. <shudder>

[SDuds]

I want to join in the chorus of thank you's. So many have said it so well.

Thank you all for your vision and dedication to modern music. I get so much pleasure from music and most of that is due to 97X, though I live far from the broadcast tower.

I remember clearly the epiphany I had in 1984 ... switching from "Hooray, I can hear Owner of a Lonely Heart 6 times a day!" to "Oh No! I hear Owner of a Lonely Heart 6 times a day!" When a great friend changed my dial off of those top 40 stations to a little local station, 97X that we could barely get on the far side of campus. I still hear songs that put me back in my dorm room, listening to the X. I became a crusader for modern music and brought my brothers into the fold as well.

(As posted on other threads) I remember pre-internet, filling cassette tapes full of 97X whenever I was in Oxford and listening to them over and over until I got back to town to make new ones. I remember being able to tune in on my 14.4 modem after the football broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday and the link would still be up and pointed to 97X. Drove my roommate crazy 'cuz the sound was so terrible, but I had a grin on my face and simply said "but I'm listening to the X from Chicago!" And the day in 1998 my brother called to tell me to check out woxy.com! A small victory, but the idea of living in Chicago and listening to 97X ... awesome! With our IMs up, we still message each other with lyrics and how cool is that with him in Cleveland and me here listening to our beloved 97X.

I know it's painful for those of you that will loose access from your car, but we must persevere and wish the Balogh's luck and send them off to Santa Fe with our thanks and blessings for the past 21 years.

Thank you and God bless you for touching so many of our lives in an unforgettable way.

[g_licious]

97X has been playing nearly continuously on a small kitchen radio in my parents house as far back as my memory allows (I'm 30 now). I was delighted when the webcast went online so that I could listen at work in Chicago. I would like to thank everyone at 97X for introducing me to so much new music - it really has brought me a lot of happiness.

The change to a streamed-only format will undoubtedly lead to a change in the flavor of the station, but I truly hope that its character lives on in its . I think that the 97X community should focus on (besides the best way to party, of course) a constructive way to preserve this character. The landscape of streamed radio is not currently as barren as broadcast radio in the US, but a change in the royalty structure of streamed content could quickly salt the earth so that only MegaCorps's behemoth aluminum towers are left. I plan to continue to support 97X the best way I can: tell my friends to tune in so as to grow the listening audience, reward the advertisers with positive feedback and business, and raise hell if MegaCorp convinces the FTC to change the rules. I think that it is a sign of flattery that so many people are upset - the station means a lot to many people. I was saddened by the news, since it likely means that the station will lose its local flavor. But, it is childish to point fingers, call names and go home sulking. The important discussion (again, besides the party) is how to preserve the institution.

-aaron

[debbiemust]

OK, so I found this thread pretty late, but I had to comment. I truly LOVE this station. Even though I can't pick you up via the airwaves where I live, I am still very sad that I can't go to that part of Ohio and be able to hear 97X in my car. This station has shaped my entire vinyl and CD library. I will especially miss you all this Summer when I'll be in Oxford for my 15 year reunion.... I've been with you a long time, and I will continue to be with you as long as you are out here on the internet! But I will miss that special treat of hearing you on my radio while travelling through southwest Ohio.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

[classicgrrl]

bump

Thank you to all the DJ's at 97X over the years and to the Balough's for their courage in going their own way.

And most important, thank you for providing a community where those of us in the trenches fighting the war on authenticity can come to remind ourselves that we are not alone.

Long live The Future Of Rock-n-Roll!
Long live 97X!

[joebimbo2000]

When I read about this announcement over at http://www.gearbits.com, I had to close my office door lest someone see me...um...get emotional.

This is like hearing a close friend has died.

I can't imagine the music scene ever being as good again here in Cincinnati as it is today. WOXY has enabled so much for us music fans.

If the netcast can be sustained, then there's hope for us...otherwise...no, I can't even begin to think about that possibility.

Thanks for the best of times, Linda and Doug and all of 97X...I'm sorry the party couldn't last longer.
- Sad in Cincinnati

[Sarah Beth]

Thanks 97x, for helping me survive junior high & high school, & exposing me to music I never, ever would have heard elsewhere. I will be sure to support the new net-only format in any way I can.

[mdewees]

woxy got me laid at least 20 times in the past 5 years...and made me smile at least 10 times during that time. ;)

Sledge, Shiv, Taylor, Bake, Barb, Zippy...they'll always be part of an era of my life. I really don't think any of us will get it until it hits.

I'm not going to be sad until reality punches me in the eye.

[traecliff]

Since a lad of 17 (34now) you have been there! The bowling on Rt. 4, the Prime Time thursdays (still have V.I.P card), Danciing on the Ohio river, and best of all just kickin' around or chillin'. A tune away i tell em' , knowind I have hipped over at least 7 to 8 thousand people to the X . Many Mahalos to all the fun and great music . Peace.:( :D

[Old but new]

As the shutdown of WOXY-FM nears, I wanted to stop in to say goodbye...and thanks. I've listened to the on-air station since a time prior to the Baloughs' purchase, dating to my time as a Miami student in the mid-70s. I have many great memories from the entire period...kind of a soundtrack to my life.

While it is good that the station and the spirit will continue in the web format, I will miss it on the radio. I don't get large amounts of time to listen online, but I do spend many hours driving in the "listening area" and I am at a loss to figure what I will listen to as I drive*. Those of you who, like me, live and drive in "Clear Channel Hell" that is Cincinnati radio will agree that there is nothing that can measure up to the only viable alternative to the remaining shit that is out there.

While I am angry at this situation, I understand why Gary and Linda have done this, and I don't have any animosity towards them. Good luck in the future to you.

It's been fun...

(* - and before you suggest it, I don't have the option of getting satellite radio or other similar solutions...I'm often stuck with AM and FM only...in vehicles not owned by me...)

[LadyJo]

Its better to have loved and lost ....

Thanks for the music. Its been two years since I discovered 97x on the net, and I'm thankful. I won't forget!

[tschlidt]

I just found you guys a couple months ago ... you cannot leave now!

You brought back a love for music over the last couple months that I have not had for a long time. Not sure where I will go for music any more. Sad day.

Thanks for all your hard work and safe journeys.

Tom

[Mizzness]

As much as we all don't want the inevitable to happen, let's not give up just yet.
Has anyone thought of a benefit concert to save WOXY?
Having the station on the internet is better than nothing. Personally, I don't know anyone in the music business but this is a challenge to all of us to contact any family, friend, or enemy in the business to try to put somthing together for our beloved station.

It's always the darkest before dawn.

[Hockeyscribe]

I echo everyone's sentiments here when I say I'm going to miss 97X. I'm fortunate that I've been able to enjoy it since learning about it in the late 80's from a college roommate from Cincinnati.

Although I never lived in Oxford, I made sure I listened whenever I was in Dayton or Cincinnati. When I moved to Dayton in 1992 for a job I really didn't like, 97X made it tolerable. When I moved to Cincinnati to go to graduate school, I was fortunate to live in a place where I could pick up the signal clearly.

The amazing thing I've found about WOXY is that there is very little music that I've heard on the station that I didn't like. Hundreds of different bands, different styles, and very few unlistenable songs.

Thanks for the New Year's Eve Royal Crescent Mob shows at Bogart's, the 10th Anniversary Show at Bogart's (I still have the ticket stub-RC Mob, Too Much Joy, Barenaked Ladies (!?) & Others), playing local music (like the Ass Ponys, Messerly & Ewing, etc.), Earth Days at Sawyer Point (like last year, with Guided By Voices), all the various station personalities since Ric Tile, and most of all, exposing me to new, wonderful music that I otherwise would never know about (like Hot Hot Heat, who I went to see at Top Cat's last year). My life, musical tastes, and CD collection are much richer for the experience.

I could drone on longer, and I hope that some way could be found to at least keep the signal in cyberspace, but I'll just say goodbye and Godspeed.

[KAL]

Way back, when I moved to Washington DC, I discovered a lovely independently owned station that played a great mix of alt-rock music. I fell in love with their alternative play list. Then all of a sudden, the station was sold and, under new ownership, our relationship grew stale, routine. The station no longer cared about my and my musical needs. Saddened by the knowledge that our relationship couldn't grow and flourish, I left the station, feeling empty and bitter towards broadcast radio and the music industry.

Longingly, I trolled through various other radio stations who claimed to be special and to care about me, coaxing me to listen to them. Quick affections that left me feeling hollow, empty. Eventually I settled for listening to our local NPR who, though older and refined, fed my intellect and comforted me with it's soothing classical play list. But still, I ached for adventure.

Then one day, while hanging out in a music board, I was introduced to WOXY. Suddenly my heart raced as I hungrily devoured tunes from the likes of the Vines, the Black Keys, and Mars Volta. I titter with joy upon hearing a new tune and look it up on the play list. I peruse the boards (though not confident enough to post until now), bought "Fuck Corporate Radio" t-shirts for Christmas presents, and covet my "WOXY" bumper sticker.

:( Now I learn you will be leaving me. It is breaking my heart. I mourn the loss of the station for those who live in the broadcast area, I mourn the loss of my little musical friend who accompanied me during my work hours.

Thank you for giving me back the joy of alt-rock music. Thank you, WOXY owners, for loving the music enough to commit your resources to keeping it alive. Thank you, WOXY DJs and staff for making me squeal upon hearing the Pixies and the Police in one broadcast breath.

Thank you so very much.

[LOakley]

Just want to thank all of you - past and current staff & owners - while I still have the opportunity. I feel very lucky to have been able to listen to you for many, many years.

Good Luck!

[PabloH]

I first began listening to 97X in 1987 when I moved to Oxford to teach at Miami. Over the next 15 years, I rarely listened to anything else. Breakfast Table Trivia with Julie and the Bake, Paulie B (the steaming hunk of burning funk), Ric Tile, the names and songs go on and on. It's a terrible tragedy that the station was sold just to be closed down by someone with no clue or business sense. I thought that the days of people figuring that they could give away shit for free over the Internet and somehow make money were over.

Unfortunately not.

PabloH

[ms. chevious]

ok, so, i'm a big *nerd*, but thanks 97x for introducing me to material i'd eventually (well, now) write my dissertation on. while essential logic and the slits weren't ever on the playlist, i would never have found them had i not gotten into artists related to them...and as a kid growing up in the w.c. (west chester) pre internet, the only way to find out about noisy post-punk was through 97x. so, thanks for introducing me to modern rock. i'm writing my dissertation on it. you set me on the road to my calling.

[RealNeal]

I'll add my voice to the chorus of thanks. Anyone reading this knows that's it's not silly to care so much about a little radio station that could, and all the great memories of the music, the DJs, the bands, and the weird slice of the Cincy/Dayton community they served. (I had forgotten the boat rides! Those were the days)

I found 97X in high school, and this was a big part of realizing that there are a whole lot of interesting things in this world that you have to a look a little harder to find.

I've been away from Cincinnati for years now, but I've never found a station I like better. In a way I fear this is sort of a canary-in-a-coalmine... if I ever do have kids, I think that a 'local radio station' may be as foreign to them as a slide rule is to me. On the other hand, technology giveth too, as I've been able to listen online in my travels across the country (and now in Okinawa Japan)

Cheers to all of you who have been a small part of making me who I am, and who introduced me to so much of the music I care about.

-Neal Smyth

[justa bill]

Mizzness mentioned a benefit concert a few posts back... what a great idea! think of all the bands that are pretty greatful to 97X. Local, national and international... WOXY has helped a lot of people. Maybe, just maybe, a lot of people would like give a little back.

i sure don't have the contacts to arrange such a thing, but here's hoping!!!

[HeyNorton]

One more voice to the chorus ...

I discovered 97X in high school in Dayton, and once i did, the dial on my old analog car stereo never moved from it - partly because i wasn't sure i'd be able to pick it up again, but mostly because it was everything the weak radio landscape in the area wasn't.

Cool, for one thing. And different - to this day I doubt i'd know who the Nails or the Psychodots were without it. Even 2,500 miles away in the supposedly hip land of L.A., i've never found any better radio.

It saddens me to hear that 97X as we know it is going the way of too much of the little guy. Best of luck to all of you, and here's hoping you find a way to keep the future of rock n roll alive somehow.

[ianalex10]

Thank You 97X!!!

[juanak]

Thank you to the Baloughs, and to each and every one of the staff members who for all these years have fought tooth-and-nail to bring an unusual product to the marketplace, and to sustain that product in the face of overwhelming competition.

May the retirement gods smile down upon the Baloughs, and the new-job gods smile down upon the staff members.

I will miss this station fiercely -- 97X and I arrived in Cincinnati around the same time. Without you guys, I'd probably be listening to ... *ribbet*? No, never that!! Ack!

[Mizzness]

Thank you all at 97X WOXY.

To all who have ever worked for this great station in any capacity, on behalf of NYC I just want to exprees my gratitude for playing the most amazing playlist you could ever hear. You have turned me on to so many bands that came this way that I probably wouldn't even listen or see them if it weren't for your playlist.
Yeah, this may sound a little sappy but with just over 24hrs. till the bell tolls, I just wanted to express my thanks and gratitude to Linda, Doug & every DJ who spun a record.

A piece of radio history is passing on.

Good luck to all of you in your futures.

[Shrike]

Thanks for nothing! Thanks for selling out!

[joebimbo2000]

'tis better to have listened and lost than never to have listened at all.

[justa bill]

in just over 24 hours of this post, 97X will be no more. I'm glad it's because you went away as opposed to never existed at all.

i'll miss ya. life goes on. but there'll be a big empty hole in the middle of my dial.

thanks for all the years of enjoyment.

this is too wierd....

[ghostface]

Thank You 97x for 21+ years (or 8 too short years in my case) of musical integrity. Im not quite sure what Im going to do on Friday, but whatever, it will involve a little more banality and tedium.
Youve made 6 years of college and 3 wishing I was back in college more enjoyable than you know.

And thanks for the inablity to ask for any sort of music for birthday or christmas gifts, chances are I already owned it, and if not-I had looked for it and couldnt find it:(

[Cobalt]

From someone who had to tape college radio broadcasts to get this music in the 80's.....I am truly sorry to see you go. I have thoroughly enjoyed tuning in via the web. May the best of fortunes find all of you.

[TinyC]

I always assumed I was the only car in the washington dc area with a WOXY sticker on my car. As I was stuck in traffic, I looked at the car parked on the street next to me. For the first time since I moved here two years ago, I saw another WOXY sticker. I smiled then just about cried as I thought that this would be my last night listen online.
So everyone there at WOXY, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the great music. I will be listening tonight trying my hardest not to cry. I think I'll go find someone to hug.

[gwar469]

I grew up about 10 miles from the station (Brookville, IN -- yeehaw!) and was fortunate enough to listen to my heart's content growing up. I always took 97X for granted -- even when I went away to college, I just assumed 97X would be there when I got back. I could always tell when I was getting close to home because 97X would slowly get clearer and clearer on my radio. 97X would never be changed from my radio as long as I was in listening range.
When I moved out here to Arlington, VA (you're not alone TinyC), I thought I had left my beloved station behind. But, glorious day, there was an online broadcast that I never realized existed. Every day, the first thing I do at work is turn on the internet broadcast. Sadly, I will have to rework my routine tomorrow.
97X has brought me some great and humorous memories -- I will always chuckle when I think of Billibuff and the Bull Vikings, CD World guy, the prize pig. I've spent the past few days wallowing in sorrow about losing this great childhood friend, but today I shifted thoughts. I started thinking about all the great things this station has provided me. They've all been mentioned by other board members across various threads -- so no point in repeating them here.
So, thank you 97X for being there for me the past 10+ years. Thanks, Linda and Doug, for having the courage to become only the 6th modern rock station in 1983. Thanks for helping me create an independent thought on music and not take what was being force-fed me by corporate rock. But mostly, just thanks for being.
It's been a wonderful ride, and all the DJ's and the music will live on in my heart forever. Have a wonderful retirement, Doug and Linda. No matter where you all end up -- keep on rocking!! BAM!!

[flametop]

Another heartfelt thanks from a devoted listener. I discovered 97X about 15 years ago at a time when I thought I'd have to spend the rest of my life listening to dinosaur rock...made by people my age! But you guys opened up a whole new world of music for me and later for my daughter. Now she's headed off to college and you are leaving as well. It will be lonely indeed. Good luck to all of the the 97Xer's in your next lives. :(

[Lurker]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. 97X has truly made living in Ohio much more bearable after coming home from college. I never listened much in high school, and I'm not really sure why, But at some point during college, I started tuning in the car whenever I was visiting home or going back. And then when I couldn't find a job after graudation and had to move home, and then later ended up getting a job in Dayton, which was and still is not my first choice for a place to live, 97X became one of the few things that I genuinley liked about Ohio. Once I started listening regularly, I never ever felt the need to change the station (expect for when the interference from some damn religious station was too much to bear as I got near work). The station is easily responsible for 90% of the music I listen to today. I seriously don't think I'd be listening to much music today if it weren't for 97X.

Thank you for showing me that there IS good music out there, and thank you for also for proving that there are people out there who aren't all about the money, and care about the people. And thank you for playing such good, diverse music, and playing what you all like and what you think we all would like, not what will sell. I don't know what I would have done without 97X and everyone involved.

[Ratmonster]

I love you guys. Hearing you all together tonight is great! I wish you all much luck in the future.

Cheers

[idiot-king]

I was lucky enough to find this truly unique station during my college years. I didn't take advantage of it when I was at Miami but since graduating, the 97X web broadcast has gotten me through many-a-workday.

At first I was really mad. I was pissed. It was too soon. I wasn't done with it yet! But now I'm just thankful. I think that my life has been enriched because of the sounds that came out of my computer/stereo. Music has become a huge part of my life, thanks greatly to 97X.

20+ years was a good run. I know you had at least another 20 in ya.

97X is dead. Long Live 97X.

[petek]

I found 97x when I arrived in Oxford, fall of 1996. 8 years later this is still the only radio station I respect, and is hands down the best I have ever encountered. I've become "that guy" who always has the new music - always burning CDs for friends, always the one that has to bring tunes to the party, the guy that knows all the great concerts to go to - even though no one else recognizes the bands. 97X has molded me into who I am today, whatever I am.. besides a new music addict.

Living out in the Boston area, I don't get the pleasure of listening in the car, but my computer has turned on the 48/56k broadcast every morning for the past several years, to wake me up properly. Its the first thing I do on my computer when I get home from work - "tune" in and then hit my email.

I listen all day at work... and crank it when I'm working late nights. It made me feel home, even though I was working miserable hours in the office. I'll miss the familiar voices of all the DJs, especially Barb for putting up with my countless requests through these years. I really feel like I'm losing my friends, and a huge piece of my life. Ahh.. there goes the first tear I have shed in 10 years, since my dog died. I haven't cried for anything in a decade.. but here I am. God dammit. I love you guys, thanks for everything. Nothing ever lasts.



http://www.inforezo.org/~pinon/last.gif

[The Schnoo]

I can't believe it's all over. I don't feel like going into what the station has meant to me, it's meant a lot... I never thought a radio station could make me hurt like this, but it did, what a sad sad day. There has never and will never again be a radio station like 97x.. These DJ's, the people who worked in various capacities there, you people on this board, i don't just feel like i know you all, i feel like you're my family... Thank you for being there for all these years... thank you for everything.

-The Schnoo

[97x_is_over_NO!]

I hate this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dry-gulcher]

DOUG AND LINDA : I urge you to use some of the loot from the sale of the station to restart the audio-steam on the WOXY WEBSITE asap . Hurry before the BARK BEETLES consume all of your funds, aslo consider that FIRE SEASON has not yet even begun here (officially) .Please think about all the lives ruined !We cannot fight this infestation with nothing but silence and/or this ringing in our ears !!! Please help Ron and Glorieta Girl (SANTA FE COUNTY N.M. )

[Vilinx]

Thank you. There's no other way I can put it. I went to McGuffey right across the street. Started listening around 6th grade... I remember one of the years a student came running in yelling "Barenaked ladies across the street!" that got the whole crowd going. This is what I listen to at Talawanda, and at college now. There is nothing like it. I remember all my THS days, trying to force my friends to listen, changing the station, finally bringing them around based on some random song.

It seems like yesterday.

[LadyJo]

http://www.inforezo.org/~pinon/last.gif

My favorite comic strip and my favorite radio station. Both no longer exist, but I've got my Calvin and Hobbes books plus CD's and downloads of artists I discovered on 97X. *SIGH*

Once again, thanks a million to all who made 97x possible.

[fwtctmh]

This is my first post to the message boards, and I don't know why I waited this long to start.
I started loving independant music five years ago, but didn't really hook into 97X until a couple of years ago. It was awesome when I started listening and found this station that was playing the music I loved and couldn't find on the radio. In many ways 97X restored my faith in radio. Here is a place where music isn't a job or something people shove down your throat. It is a place where we all appreciate the music, and we appreciate it together.
This station is something that I will always keep with me. People who say this was just a radio station don't understand what it is to love the music, to be excited about it. I understand it though, thanks to this station I'll be able to tell other people about it.
Thanks you 97X and all of you who made it thrive, you lived up to your word; you didn't make the music, you made the music matter. You showed us how to make the music matter, and you made the music matter to us.

[rhe]

I've been listening for about 15 years. I've learned so much and love bands I've never heard anywhere else. I think that I took for granted the fact that you would always be there. Even when I was out of town, I knew that I could still listen when I came home. But you, you guys are certainly a dying (or now dead) breed of vigilantes who play what you like. It wasn't just a job for you, and it was obvious to those of us who listened so intently everyday.

Thank you for playing our music and allowing us opportunities no one else would give us because we aren't on a label. You all rock! Please keep us informed about where you are all headed should the internet thing not happen (please, God, you've gotta step in here).

I will miss you even more in the coming days than I do right now. Please know that our hearts are with you wherever you go.

Shiv, Sledge, Bake, Barb, Phil, Mike, Brian Jay, Brandon and Balogh's--Thanks. (tears, sniff, sniff)

xoxoxo,
Rhonda/A Pretty War (formerly rhe)
www.rhesound.com

The future is now officially dead.

[Bakerman]

Hi folks.....

Now that the dust has settled just a bit, I wanted to thank you all for the amazing love, dedication and support you've offered up for the staff and owners of 97X.

The past 3 months have been a whirlwind of emotion for everyone involved. I thank God that I was able to be a small part of such an amazing thing. The opportunities afforded me at 97X have allowed me to go from one dream job to another as the Director of Broadcasting for Miami University Athletics. The rest of the staff are amazinly talented people and I wish them every success.

Thanks again for making 97X what it had become and for continuing to be a huge part of what woxy.com will become!

The Bakerman

[bukeye95]

Bakerman! i will miss you the most brotha. 97x and your morning show kept me happy on many-a-morning traffic jams on I-75. I actually loved being stuck in my car for the hour drive.

When I heard 97x was sold I decided to finally sell my house in West Chester and move back closer to the city. Of course, that's not the only reason - but it was absolutely the straw that broke the camels back.

Take care bake -woody

btw- i'm still pissed you made me take a quiz for BNL tickets. I still feel like a moron for not knowing teri hatcher got naked in a movie.

[schmoop]

I'm in the process of re-habbing our house, and I have spent many hours tearing out, re-building, re-wiring, painting, tiling, etc. etc. etc. Of course, my constant companion through this (as has been for the last two decades) was 97x. Nothing earth-shattering here.

What I wanted to relate is the following: every so often my 10-year old daughter would come sit with me as I was working, listen to the music, and ask questions. As she is constantly bombarded by the Avril LaWhatever scene, the music of 97X was her chance to hear something real. This was truly special to me as I was able to share with her a sound and a vibe that has been a big part of my life for lo these many years. So we would listen, and we would talk, and she would always leave me with "that's pretty cool, daddy."

She is probably one of the few 10-year olds who can relate to you that the Ramones and the Clash were the most important things to happen to music since the Beatles.

For this and many, many other things -- thanks Doug, Linda and everyone.

[ajax]

Bumping.... cause it good not to just remember the good times, but the bad ones as well. Here is you're effing timewarp. :D

[Zane]

Bumping.... cause it good not to just remember the good times, but the bad ones as well. Here is you're effing timewarp. :D

Great bump.
Great post.
XOXO