I Think I Remember Rock and Roll Radio

When the once mighty rock station WBCN in Boston disappeared this August, the reply from many was a disappointed shrug – disappointment in how one of the most important rock stations in the country was being transformed into a sports station by CBS, the corporation that owned it, and shrugs in that nobody was really surprised. If anything, many of the comments I’ve linked to ask why it took so long to happen.

This is not a eulogy for rock and roll music. Rock and roll is doing just fine, thank you. New bands like The Mars Volta, The Gaslight Anthem, Mastodon, Death Cab for Cutie and The Foo Fighters show the now-middle aged rock genre remains vibrant. Those are my choices for good rock music these days, and your opinion may differ. But what almost all these bands have in common is that you almost never hear them on the traditional radio stations or MTV. You can find them on the Internet, satellite radio and on tour, but almost never the way you used to.

When I came to Boston in 1987, EVERYONE listened to WBCN. Sure, it was a different time with fewer choices but within a week of being here my ears were opened to all the exciting music Boston had to offer. For every Bruce Springsteen song, they also played one by a great local band called Scruffy the Cat. Much has been written about WBCN being one of the first to break through Boston bands like Aerosmith, the J. Geils Band, The Cars and Til Tuesday. It was the classic story of local stations customizing their playlist to help local bands get known in their hometowns. Since Boston was, to paraphrase Spinal Tap, such a big college town, pushing local rock bands playing at local clubs went over well. WBCN’s practice was noticed by other bands on the edge of stardom, and whenever Bono and Sting played local arenas they always thanked WBCN for being one of the first stations to push them.

Eventually WBCN became part of the CBS empire, and you can guess what happened afterward. By the early 90s the local bands had vanished and it had basically become a classic rock station, playing the same 50 songs by Led Zeppelin and The Doors every other rock station plays. Rock music and the younger generation’s tastes had changed, but WBCN refused to acknowledge it. After the second Woodstock in 1994 there was a reboot, as if the suits finally realized new music existed, and the station went “alternative” just as alternative was becoming the mainstream. Within a few years it was playing the same 50 songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana and U2 again and again until CBS pulled the plug. Many were understandably angry.

But in hindsight, I think it was not only a mercy killing, but also pretty symbolic of the whole rut traditional rock radio finds itself in. You can’t goof on classic rock stations for making you sick of “Stairway to Heaven” when so-called modern rock stations do the same things with Pearl Jam’s “Daughter.” That song is now 16 years old, and Pearl Jam hasn’t really been relevant since it came out. Even if you like classic rock, do they play any new music by Dylan, Neil Young, Bowie and Springsteen or just the same old songs again and again?

Part of the problem is that rock is still considered rebellious music for younger generations and the bands being played on the radio are anything but that. It’s also that the programming and playlist decisions are made by middle aged men who are likely old farts when it comes to new music. But what has also happened is the concept of rock music and rock stars themselves have transformed, and the suits behind the rock stations are still mired in their past glory days with their heads in the sand.

The legendary rock journalist Stephen Davis has just come out with a new book on Guns n’ Roses called Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns n’ Roses. What Davis nails is that Gn’R was actually the last prototype of the classic rock and roll band. Remember the old Guns n’ Roses? It was the classic tale of poor band gets big, egos get bigger, excess consumes the band, members can’t get along until a classic implosion. All the while, the classic clichés of sex, drugs, lead-singer-as-petulant-idol/rebel and rags to riches worked. Guns n’ Roses also had the classic rock lineup of five guys, including the two guitarists and charismatic frontman.

Of course grunge changed all that and while grunge has come and gone, its changes to the classic rock music and rock band remain. Davis actually isn’t surprised the classic hard rock movement ended with Gn’R, as he writes all musical movements come to an end. But as I said, rock itself is just fine – you only need to look harder. And don’t look for it on commercial radio. WBCN’s demise is indeed the symbolic end of what became a lost era.