97X - Rumblings from the Big Bush

Friends, we're gathered together today for a very special episode of "97X Rumblings from the Big Bush" as we pay tribute to the man who saw Jesus at McDonald's at midnight. The man who impregnated Debbie Gibson. The man whose antipathy for Don Henley knows no bounds, and whose love for Martha Quinn is eternal. The man, the myth, the Mojo-est MoFo of them all. The Bo-Day-Shus Mr. Mojo Nixon! 

Dave "The Dick Cavett of Modern Rock" interviewed Mojo in 1990, and that interview clip is part of this episode - and stick around for his live in-studio performance of "I'm in love with Oprah" from 97X back in 1986. 

After nearly 100 episodes, and a gazillion great memories, it's time for "97X Rumblings from the Big Bush" to rumble off into the sunset (or be devoured by the Big Bush in the station's old parking lot). Dave & Damian reflect on the podcast and "the voice" of 97X returns to bring it home. Thanks so much for listening! 

It sounds like the setup to a joke: "A punk rock guitarist and a preacher's daughter walk into a theater..." But when Billy Alletzhauser and Beth Harris starting singing songs together in 2004, the result was pure magic. Their band, The Hiders, is the Kevin Bacon of music, with connections to Ass Ponys, The Afghan Whigs, Throneberry, Wussy, Heartless Bastards, Band of Horses, Plow On Boy, Comet Bluegrass All-Stars, Pearlene and more. And their sound is an amazing amalgamation of folk, country, rock, psychedelia, bluegrass, and indie rock. We talked to B & B about their start, the band's evolution, Billy's Ass Ponys tenure, Beth's harmony vocal work with Erika Wennerstrom and Heartless Bastards, the Hiders most recent album (2021's Forever at the End) and their plans for the year ahead.

On May 11th, author Robin James discussed her new book The Future of Rock & Roll: 97X and the Fight for True Independence at The Mercantile Library, with your friendly neighborhood podcast hosts Dave and Damian. The event was streamed via Crowdcast, but due to the dreaded technical difficulties, the first 10 minutes of the discussion have been lost to the ether. However, we reconnected with Amy Hunter from the Mercantile Library staff so she could reprise her intro and then this episode picks up the discussion when the audio came onto the Crowdcast feed.

After 97X signed off in 2004, "the future of rock and roll" stayed alive as woxy.com - with many fits and starts (and stops) along the way. "Angel investors"... LaLa.com... Future Sounds... Oxford... Longworth Hall in Cincinnati... Austin, Texas. The dot-com version had several homes, and more lives than a cat, before finally ending quite abruptly on March 23, 2010.  

We talk to the folks who experienced all those ups and downs, and lived to tell the tale: Shiv, Mike Taylor, Joe Long, Brian Niesz, and Bryan J. Miller share their stories of the woxy.com era. 

Kerry Gray was the program director at 97X in the late 80s/early 90s, and a radio "lifer." He was a real live wire - super-energetic, enthusiastic, funny as heck... and also completely into the music. In fact, Kerry and Phil Manning teamed up to expand the back catalogue of the station, and they also launched the first ever "Modern Rock 500" in 1989. 

In this episode, Julie Maxwell, Julie Maxwell, Jeff Rohrs, Mike Taylor and Steve Baker join Dave and Damian to share their remembrances, and the episode wraps up with some archival audio of Kerry and Brett Heartz on-air at 97X back in October of 1989.

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. 

"Day in Eden 1993" was the first concert that 97X produced. Things did not go as planned. Goo Goo Doll meltdowns, tainted food trays, wrestling moves, copious amounts of cheap beer and cheaper smokes, folk music slam-dancing...  

Former staffers Steve Baker, Phil Manning, Jae Forman, Rob Ervin, Steve Roemer, Joe Sampson and Aaron Borns share their memories of that ill-fated afternoon - and reveal a couple of secrets along the way.

Colin Miller listened to 97X obsessively. As in "boxes of cassette tape recordings of 97X on-air" obsessive. He might've been a 97Xtreme listener, but that same passion for the music and the station is something most listeners can relate to. We talk to Colin about what made the station so special, some of the shows he remembers, and the 97X events like Rock & Bowl and 97Xtrabeats on the Riverboat. 

Carlton Smith and Happy Chichester formed the super-cool, super-tight rhythm section of the Royal Crescent Mob. They -- along with lead singer David Ellison and guitarist "B" -- are getting the band back together to play two fundraiser shows to benefit cancer research. They'll be rocking the house at the Athenaeum Theatre in Columbus on Friday, December 16th and the Madison Theater in Covington, KY on Saturday, December 17th.

We talked to Carlton and Happy about how they got together way back in the mid-80s, their legendary live shows at Bogart's, what 97X meant to their band, and why they're looking forward to performing as a group once again.