L.A. and
O.C.'s Only....KROQ
(and 91X)I have to say, for current U.S. rock and roll, KROQ
in Los Angeles still holds a special place in the deviant part of my
soul. It still hits a nerve that is young, vibrant, pulsatile, urgent,
passionate, and home. The songs have changed, but the sense is the same,
even nearly 20 years on.
This was the radio station that captured the deviant part of my soul
when I was growing up as an independent human being in southern
California. They played U2, the Cure, Oingo Boingo, the Psych Furs, the
Smiths, De' Mode - all the grey, hyperbolic groups that were lost in the
economic boom of the late 1980s.
They screamed hope.
They demanded irreverence.
The plead and they bled the emotions that sustained me.
They pleaded for goodwill, but they were cool about it. (It was like,
you can come see a great show, with these two stellar bands, and 50% of
their proceeds will go to feed the hungry.) No brain required.
And I soaked them up like a sponge in an an oasis.
KROQ and 91X were my two favorite radio stations while growing up.
KROQ was based in Los Angeles, and 91X was based in Tijuana, Mexico.
These stations struck the balance of the social influences on my
20-something upbringing.
KROQ had the sex appeal. It was the polished-yet-streetwise, popular
alternative sound of my college days.
91X was more home. It was the beach sounds, the reggae, the harmony
that one can only understand by feeling a connection with nature. If you
could stand at the surf before dawn or after dusk with little more than a towel around
you, the cold wet soaking through, the completeness of being one-with-the-ocean overcoming the cold, then you can understand.
91X captured that. 91X was the beach. 91X is the cool. 91X captures
Mexico within the California cool.
"Equis, Teh Reheh Eh, Tijuana, Mejico. Ninety-one Ecks..."
XTRA 91X
KROQ is the polished sound. KROQ is the U2 after they were
discovered. KROQ is perfect, calculated, and despite the marketing, you
love it. It's like the Irish toast.
A good Irsihman can tell you to go straight to
Hell and make you look forward to the trip. KROQ can seduce you with
excellent progressive sounds, but the fact is that they pick 'em so well
that they are, in fact the best up-and-coming bands out there, and they
do predict the trends; they pre-sage the sounds that will be coming for the
next few years.
KROQ, through impeccable marketing research, this cynic says, makes
and markets the bands of the future.
The thing is, they are so good at it that they are just about 99%
right. When they pick a band (AKA My Chemical Romance) that will hit,
they are usually right, and they are usually right before anyone else.
So here is to you, my formative radio stations. Cheers to KROQ and
XTRA. KROQ out of Los Angeles and 91X out of Tijuana are the stations
that rule!!!
