OK New Wavers there is a terrific documentary playing on Showtime this month about a tiny radio station on Long Island who introduced the world to some great acts. They were the first to break U2 and Bono acknowledges them. Pick a band from the early 80's and they played them first.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 21 | May 20, 2018 4:51 PM |
I LOVED WLIR and Malibu Sue... I won a Frank Zappa album thru WLIR... it was so cool when Joan Jett would stop by the studios and just hand out on-air.
Wish I had Showtime, but will wait to see the documentary.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | April 1, 2018 11:35 AM |
Early to mid 80s music was such fun!
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | April 1, 2018 12:05 PM |
This little Long Island FM radio station was famous in England.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | April 1, 2018 12:30 PM |
What was the name of the new wave station in DC? It was actually in MD, I think.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | April 1, 2018 12:47 PM |
They mention it in the film, after a while other "new wave" stations popped up.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | April 1, 2018 12:48 PM |
My goodness!!!! So many great memories of this radio station. I lived in Brooklyn and this radio station changed my life. A friend in freshman year of high school introduced me to WLIR/WDRE. I never heard alternative music before and I just loved it!
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | April 1, 2018 1:23 PM |
I made the switch from WPLJ (with Jim Kerr and many other great DJs) to WLIR when PLJ went Top 40. I' tune in to WNEW-FM at times, but it really was WLIR for music.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | April 1, 2018 4:07 PM |
WLIR was the go-to radio station for new wave and progressive rock music. The screamers of the week were typically the best new song or album, which they played regularly. WLIR, and music magazines like NME and Trouser Press kept me exposed to most of the best new music during the 1980s.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | April 1, 2018 4:38 PM |
And in those days people had to get off their fat asses and go to places called records stores or department stores with a record department and actually pick up an album and purchase it. So a hit album was earned. Today a click or two and you have the album means nothing.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | April 2, 2018 12:27 AM |
[quote]it was so cool when Joan Jett would stop by the studios and just hand out on-air.
r1- What do you mean "hand out on air"? Not trying to be funny, just really wondering. Do you mean "hang out"? Or was she actually handing out stuff on air- like Mrs. Santa Clause or something?
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | May 18, 2018 2:17 PM |
I listed to WXXP in Pittsburgh which was only on the air for two or three years.
I think they were somehow related to WLIR - same owners, management or something because they used the same tagline "dare to be different" and I think at some point shared an onair personality.
I miss the days where radio people were a bit freer and conversational and you could tell they were fans. The only thing I hear anywhere that even remotely comes close to it is BBC 6 Music (available streaming). It can be a bit of a boys' club but nevertheless, they've introduced me to lots of 21st century music that is good, and you can tell people like Marc Riley, Gideon Coe, Tom Ravenscroft and even giant nerd Steve Lamacq are fans.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | May 18, 2018 2:28 PM |
In Manhattan, it was hit or miss whether I could pick up WLIR. Wish they had had a more powerful signal.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | May 18, 2018 2:44 PM |
The DC station was the legendary WHFS which started on 102.3 in Bethesda and moved to 99.1 in Annapolis so it could cover Baltimore and DC. I spent time in Pittsburgh during summers and remember WXXP well - that was a great station. I saw a few concerts they brought to town including The Cure and Suzanne Vega. I went to college outside Philly and was always pissed that the market didn't have an alternative station but surrounding markets like LI, Baltimore/DC, and Pittsburgh all did. I even wrote letters to a couple of lower-rated stations asking them to consider the format.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | May 18, 2018 2:51 PM |
Thank you, R14. Must remember that. WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS WHFS.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | May 18, 2018 3:02 PM |
I loved Double X ssooooooo much.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | May 20, 2018 3:07 PM |
This station was the best. Was heart broken when it went off the air and went to Spanish music.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | May 20, 2018 3:21 PM |
97X - the Future of Rock and Roll. Made famous in Rain Man.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 20, 2018 3:31 PM |
Thanks so much, OP! I love new wave, and I remember the influences this radio station had on me, as well as KROQ, being that I lived on the West and East Coast, while growing up.
I grew up with a cousin who at the time, was a hardcore punk. I’m really grateful that he also influenced me so much during that time, and would sneak me into gigs. Had it not been for him, I might have grown up to have really shitty taste in music. I kinda do doubt that, however, because I loved The Beatles from the time I was a kid, on.
I do have my “secret pleasure “ music, where I do enjoy listening to shitty pop stuff here and there, but for the most part, I like good stuff.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 20, 2018 3:50 PM |
In LA, there was a station in Long Beach that played the first Patti Smith and such in 75.
We used to climb into the hills to pick it up in Northeast LA.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | May 20, 2018 4:51 PM |
