Once upon a time, I used to listen to music on the radio. In junior high, I listened to top 40 music. I was a naive kid. Actually, to be completely honest, I once owned audio cassettes of MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, and C&C Music Factory. Wow... I can't believe I just bared my soul's secret shame like that. Holy crap. What was I talking about? Oh yes. When I was in the eighth grade, I actually listened to rap and hip-hop. Perhaps someday I will forgive myself for doing so. It was only a brief time in my life. But to my defense, in the late 80s, rap was only beginning in popularity, and was fun to some extent. This was before rap was taken over by misogynistic criminals with Tourette's Syndrome.
But throughout my early adolescence, I knew that there was a style of music that I liked, but I just didn't know of any category to which it belonged. I couldn't put my finger on a name. During that time I mainly listened to adult contemporary music, like Phil Collins and The Eagles. But one of the more significant musical experiences of that time was when I saw the "Once In A Lifetime" video by Talking Heads. The same goes for the movie "Pretty In Pink." I knew of bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and I liked early 80s music, but I just couldn't find any radio stations that played such things on a regular basis. Occasionally I would hear music from bands like New Order, Depeche Mode and The Fixx, but I was not able to find a station devoted to such music. I was bored with mainstream radio, but I didn't know of any other alternative.
Then in my first year of high school, when R.E.M.'s album "Out Of Time" made it big, I bought it and played that tape over and over again. It was then that I decided that I'd had enough of mainstream music. At that time, I sometimes heard people mentioning an AM radio station that was local to the Phoenix area called KUKQ, 1060AM. As I tuned in, one of the first songs I heard was "Reap the Wild Wind" by Ultravox through the muffled, monaural AM band. As I listened, I felt like this radio station was calling out to me and I knew that this was what I had been searching for all along. This was what was known as "Alternative" music, and at that time, it truly was "alternative." Otherwise known as "College Radio," it played music from non-mainstream bands. The station featured non-phony-sounding DJs and played music from bands like Psychedelic Furs, They Might Be Giants, Material Issue, Dramarama, The Church, The Call, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Smithereens, The Mighty Lemon Drops, Peter Murphy, Material Issue, and so many others that I could list. The fact that it was an AM station added to the feel of the music and appealed to the whole "Alternative" ambiance. For a high school kid with no friends listening to these songs on a radio station that sounded far away and a bit muffled, it was like I had discovered a hidden treasure with nobody to talk to about it. Like the escaped slave from Plato's Cave, I had nobody to share my discovery with; nobody to understand my revelation. But I had found music that matched my personality. It was music that shaped who I was and still am. Just as Jesus saved me from my sins, KUKQ saved me from the mainstream.
KUKQ meant something to us for different reasons as listeners gravitated to the different genres played. The station encapsulated the harder edge thumping of Industrial, the darker atmosphere of Goth, the shimmering distortion of Shoegaze, the jangling chords of Power Pop, the catchy beats of New Wave and Post Punk, the wocka-wocka of Madchester... For others it would be the eccentric songs from They Might Be Giants, Mojo Nixon, Camper Van Beethoven, and Devo. And where else could you tune in and hear music from bands with names like Elvis Hitler, Legendary Pink Dots, and Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. For me, it was Dreampop that meant most to me. For about a year or so, Tears For Fears was my favorite band. I especially liked their first album, "The Hurting." Then when I heard the song "Ballerina Out Of Control" By The Ocean Blue, they instantly became my favorite band and have remained since then. My other favorite bands of that period were The Sundays, Trash Can Sinatras, The Charlatans UK, Lush, New Order, and The Smiths.
Things were going great until 1993. Up until then, KUKQ played music I didn't care much for, like Jane's Addiction, Violent Femmes and Red Hot Chili Peppers, but the station still had great variety and was great to listen to until 1993. That's when the Seattle grunge movement reached its crescendo and took over the airwaves. "Alternative" was no longer associated with people who like indie bands, and instead became associated with brooding kids who always wear flannel ---even during the summer. Sure, this music was there all along, and was celebrated with the stupid Lolapalooza tours (known as Lolapaloozer among my friends). (The only bands to play in Lolapalooza that I ever liked were James, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Lush, and Shonen Knife. There may be more, but those are the ones I can think of now.) Before then, Grunge came in small doses with bands like Mother Lovebone and was just one sub-genre among the Alternative palette, but with the release of the angst-ridden song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana in '91, the tide began to turn, and eventually by '93 the airwaves became buried in a mountain of plaid flannel with bands like Stone Temple of the Dog Jam Garden Pilots in Chains. So, I stopped listening to radio when radio stations refused to clean the dirty laundry, so to speak. My favorite Shoegaze, New Wave, Madchester, Britpop, Mod, "Goth" (although I hate that term), and Dreampop artists seemed to disappear. I often saw Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam on TV, who couldn't seem to be able to sing without making weird facial grimaces as though he was taking a dump on stage. I remember in my second year of college or so, The Ramones were the opening act for Pearl Jam in concert, and that made me sad.
For awhile, there was a new station called KFMA 93.7FM. This was fairly similar to KUKQ, only on FM. Some of my favorite DJs like Jonathan L. migrated to this station. The only problem is that it was broadcast from Wickenburg (if I'm not mistaken) way northwest from Phoenix! Even living on the West Valley, it was difficult to receive the signal. Then along came another FM station called The Edge 106.3FM, which I believe began my senior year of high school in '94. At first I ended up listening to this station frequently because I was getting tired of the selection on KUKQ that was getting harder and grungier. At first The Edge was playing music I liked. But this station had more of an "establishment" feel to it and not so much "alternative." At first I was happy to hear the music I like once again on air. It's The Smiths on radio again! KUKQ had almost ditched them. Oh, but guess what? The Edge would only play "How Soon Is Now?" and maybe one other song by them. Moreover, the quirkier music was ignored, and the range of songs was diminished. If they played Echo & The Bunnymen, it was only "Lips Like Sugar." If they played Psychedelic Furs, it was only "Love My Way." Kind of boring.
By that time, Alternative had eventually become mainstream, and thus an oxymoron. (Do you know what an oxymoron is? It's a contradictory phrase like "jumbo shrimp" and "rap music.") This led people to refer to the genre as "Modern Rock." Even the dumb jocks at school were listening to The Edge, and that terrible song by Blind Melon was driving me crazy.
Meanwhile, KUKQ lost listeners and died. Towards the end of '93, KUKQ was increasingly focusing on harder music, and they lost listeners like myself. KUKQ is the station is what introduced me to Enya even, but it began to focus more on stuff like Nine Inch Nails and such, which sort of put me off. I could be wrong and I admit that I am biased, but speaking from my experience, I ended up tuning in to The Edge on FM because I was hearing songs I hadn't heard in a while. The Edge's bumpers were annoying and their library was not as deep, but at least it had more of what I wanted to hear. Actually, I remember quite a build-up because before The Edge launched, it was just ambient sound of wind blowing accompanied by a ticking analog clock. When they finally began playing music, it was just nonstop music with no DJs at first. It was unique. Ultimately though, it did not have the charm as KUKQ did back in '91 when I fell in love with it.
KUKQ was later revived while I was in college, but the music had a much harder sound to it, which I did not care for. I only tuned into KUKQ during the noon hour to listen to their "Ramones Hour." After once again losing sight of its original popularity for playing good, fun music, it died a second death. It was for the best, since the Grunge movement had prevailed in the mid-'90s, and the epitome of that crap genre was a song by Crash Test Dummies literally called "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm." Between that and the harder stuff they were playing, KUKQ had taken a totally different direction and was not the same station I once loved. By that time, I had become so tired of switching off the radio in disappointment that I began listening solely to my own music collection and only encountering new music from friends and trying new music at record stores. It's how I discovered The Orb and Stereolab. I had given up on radio completely. and haven't listened to any radio since then.
(I'd like to note that Grunge music never became popular in England. There was one UK grunge band I've heard of, Bush, but they were more popular in America than in England. Maybe British have better tastes in music. Actually, the majority of my favorite bands come from the UK, hence my bias.)
These days I never listen to the radio for music. Unless it's talk radio, or the classical station or the jazz station, I'm always listening to CDs and MDs in my car and at home. I absolutely refuse to listen to pop stations. Since KUKQ's quality went downhill and eventually turned into a sports station, I lost faith in radio.
I am saddened with the state of music these days. I guess that makes me sound like an old fogey. There is so much self-pity and hate-filled, teen angst-ridden tripe out there and I wonder how people today can fill their heads with that constantly. In a recent discussion about this on an Internet forum I frequent, one guy summed it up perfectly by saying how he can't stand listening to singers "crying about losing his girlfriend and life as a teenager(when they are 30-years-old)."
This self-pity seems so prevalent these days. A good example is the boy band Linkin Park. These guys look like the teen-angst alternative to other pretty-boy groups like N'Suc and Backdoor Boys. Here's my take on their typical lyrics:
I'm a pumpkin full of pain Mom won't let me borrow the keys to the car tonight My soul is shattered Like so many shards of glass on the floor The pretty girl in biology class won't talk to me Boo hoo hoo. Your lies have filled my mind I must cut my head off to get rid of them And to free myself from your terrible control And my memories of you I'll never find another girl to love ever again Boo hoo hoo.
For more fun at Linkin Park's expense, there's a really funny article at SomethingAwful.com. Also check out the random Linkin Park's lyrics generator page.
And to rant further, I think that the majority of modern Punk music has lost sight of its original purpose. In the 70s, Punk was a reaction to the hippie movement, and in my opinion it saved rock 'n roll from the hands of hippies and metalheads. There are few punk bands that I like, like The Clash, The Ramones, and Social Distortion. I can't respect this new stuff much at all. Green Day has always gotten on my nerves, especially the way that the lead singer would prance around naked with his guitar like a moron. But besides that, Punk nowadays has become practically indistinguishable from the liberal, politically correct hippie crowd, going off on empty-headed political tirades and telling their fans how to vote. They claim to be anti-establishment, yet they kiss the ring of George Soros.
For the past ten years, I have had to discover decent bands by researching and by word-of-mouth, but it's rare when I find someone who is remotely interested in the styles of music I like. I have a friend who has introduced me to bands like The Postal Service and The Shins. The Internet, particularly Amazon.com, has been an excellent resource to expand my musical tastes. For example, I recently saw on Amazon.com that New Order has finally made a comeback in recent years! Since I do not listen to the radio (Have I mentioned that already? It's true, you know), I would not have known about that. I recently got their new CD, "Get Ready," and I'm so glad that New Order has picked up where they left off with their early 90s album "Republic."
Since it is rather difficult for me to walk into a music store and find the music I enjoy, I purchase most of my music online at Amazon.com. In fact, I recently bought Starflyer 59's Silver album, and I've been looking for that CD for a long time. Amazon has exposed me to great bands like The Innocence Mission, Interpol, Tahiti 80, and The Orange Peels. Amazon also allows browsers to listen to samples from the songs, and since I'm not into downloading MP3s and such, this is a real big help for buying decisions. Initially, I never thought much of this purchasing tool until I started using it more and discovered how accurate it is to matching my musical tastes. With this helpful research utility, I get a better exposure to the music than I could at a typical electronics/music store. I used to be in favor of non-corporate, privately-owned music shops, but as the music I like grows more obscure, I've given up on such stores and the greasy kids who work there. Currently on my to-buy list are CDs from Stone Roses, Slowdive, Ride, Midnight Oil, Crowded House, and The Primitives.
I've been making nostalgia collections on MiniDisc of music I grew to love while listening to KUKQ. I love MiniDiscs because they have CD quality sound with the recording convenience of audio cassettes. MD Walkmans can also record MP3s from the computer, but are far more convenient and versatile than MP3 players. MD Walkmans are far more battery efficient than CD Walkmans, and are more portable. Anyhow, here's the track listings of the KUKQ compilation MDs I'm listening to over and over again:
(This list is perhaps not entirely the most accurate, but I am going off of both memory and perhaps tracks that were probably played on KUKQ. Notice the absence of stuff like Primus, Tool, and Jane's Addiction because I've never cared for stuff like that. In fact, I had stopped listening to the station when the pendulum was swinging too far in that direction, as well as Grunge.)
MiniDisc 1: 1 Quick As Rainbows - Kitchens of Distinction 2 Between Something and Nothing - The Ocean Blue 3 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths 4 There She Goes - The La's 5 There's No Other Way - Blur 6 The Only One I Know - The Charlatans UK 7 Don't You Forget About Me - Simple Minds 8 Long Day In The Universe - Darling Buds 9 Pure - The Lightning Seeds 10 Space Age Love Song - A Flock of Seagulls 11 Ballerina Out Of Control - The Ocean Blue 12 Goodbye - The Sundays 13 We Are Each Other - Beautiful South 14 The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen 15 Metropolis - The Church 16 Heaven - The Psychedelic Furs 17 Sweetness And Light - Lush 18 Just Like Heaven - The Cure MiniDisc 2: 1 Move Any Mountan - The Shamen 2 Regret - New Order 3 Grey Cell Green - Ned's Atomic Dustbin 4 Right Here, Right Now - Jesus Jones 5 Behind the Wall of Sleep - The Smithereens 6 Saved By Zero - The Fixx 7 I Melt With You - Modern English 8 Under The Milky Way - The Church 9 Here's Where the Story Ends - The Sundays 10 Hayfever - The Trash Can Sinatras 11 Renee Remains The Same - Material Issue 12 Caught In My Shadow - The Wonder Stuff 13 She Says (Come Around) - The Rave Ups 14 Candy Everybody Wants - 10,000 Maniacs 15 The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead - XTC 16 All I Want - Toad the Wet Sprocket 17 Sublime - The Ocean Blue 18 Waterfall - Riverside 19 Crank - Catherine Wheel 20 For Love - Lush MiniDisc 3: 1 Reach the Rock - Havana 3am 2 Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - The Ramones 3 Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division 4 Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz 5 Bang - Blur 6 Walking Through Syrup - Ned's Atomic Dustbin 7 She Comes In the Fall - Inspiral Carpets 8 Weirdo - The Charlatans UK 9 Elephant Stone - The Stone Roses 10 Far Gone and Out - The Jesus and Mary Chain 11 Policy Of Truth - Depeche Mode 12 Texarcana - R.E.M. 13 Annie Get Your Gun - Squeeze 14 The Size Of A Cow - The Wonder Stuff 15 Close To Me - The Cure 16 With Or Without You - U2 17 Very First Lie - Material Issue 18 Promised You A Miracle - Simple Minds 19 Pale Shelter - Tears For Fears 20 Smiling - Kitchens of Distinction MiniDisc 4: 1 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2 2 I Still Believe - The Call 3 Movin' On Up - Primal Scream 4 Rush - Big Audio Dynamite II 5 Kiss Them For Me - Siouxsie & The Banshees 6 Valerie Loves Me - Material Issue 7 Shining Star - INXS 8 Monsters and Angels - Voice Of The Beehive 9 What's Good - Lou Reed 10 Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet 11 The Sweetest Drop - Peter Murphy 12 It's A Shame About Ray - Lemonheads 13 Star Sign - Teenage Fanclub 14 Cars - Gary Numan 15 Tainted Love - Soft Cell 16 These Are Days - 10,000 Maniacs 17 We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful - Morrissey 18 Major Tom - Peter Schilling MiniDisc 5: 1 Drifting, Falling - The Ocean Blue 2 Lips Like Sugar - Echo & The Bunnymen 3 Alice Everyday - Book of Love 4 Jealous - Gene Loves Jezebel 5 Peek-A-Boo! - DEVO 6 Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads 7 Ask - The Smiths 8 Born Of Frustration - James 9 Cuts You Up - Peter Murphy 10 Three Strange Days - School of Fish 11 Ring Of Fire - Social Distortion 12 Groovy Train - The Farm 13 Step On - Happy Mondays 14 Birdhouse In Your Soul - They Might Be Giants 15 The One I Love - R.E.M. 16 Seen The Doctor - Michael Penn 17 Getting Away With It - Electronic 18 Red Skies - The Fixx MiniDisc 6: 1 High - The Cure 2 Locked Out - Crowded House 3 Stone Cold Yesterday - The Connells 4 It's My Life - Talk Talk 5 Oblivious - Aztec Camera 6 Don't Change - INXS 7 Here Comes Your Man - The Pixies 8 Cities In Dust - Siouxsie & The Banshees 9 Until She Comes - The Psychedelic Furs 10 Blue Hotel - Chris Isaak 11 Love - The Sundays 12 Crazy - Seal 13 This Is How It Feels - Inspiral Carpets 14 Rio - Duran Duran 15 Love Plus One - Haircut 100 16 Blood Makes Noise - Suzanne Vega 17 Black Metallic - Catherine Wheel 18 Caribbean Blue - Enya MiniDisc 7: 1 Burning Down The House - Talking Heads 2 Beat On The Brat - The Ramones 3 So Alive - Love & Rockets 4 How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths 5 The Ghost In You - The Psychedelic Furs 6 Two Worlds Collide - Inspiral Carpets 7 Pearl - Chapterhouse 8 Reap The Wild Wind - Ultravox 9 Eyes Without A Face - Billy Idol 10 She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult 11 Reptile - The Church 12 Lovesong - The Cure 13 Top of the Pops - The Smithereens 14 Beds Are Burning - Midnight Oil 15 Mexican Radio - Wall of Voodoo 16 Come Anytime - Hoodoo Gurus 17 Cool For Cats - Squeeze 18 Bizarre Love Triangle - Frente! MiniDisc 8: 1 Way Down Now - World Party 2 Suedehead - Morrissey 3 Don't You Want Me - Human League 4 Someday - Concrete Blonde 5 Blue Sky Mine - Midnight Oil 6 Unkind - The Mighty Lemon Drops 7 Native Son - The Judybats 8 Sold Me Down The River - The Alarm 9 Sweet Divine Thing - The Soup Dragons 10 So You Think You're In Love - Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians 11 Anything - Dramarama 12 Dogs Of Lust - The The 13 Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury & The Blockheads 14 Jacky - Marc Almond 15 Chorus - Erasure 16 Electricity - OMD 17 Mrs. Rita - The Gin Blossoms 18 Candy - Iggy Pop 19 Dear God - Midge Ure 20 More Than This - Roxy Music MiniDisc 9: 1 Ms. Freelove '69 - Hoodoo Gurus 2 Buddy Holly - Weezer 3 Teen Angst - Cracker 4 A Million Miles Away - The Plimsouls 5 Mesmerise - Chapterhouse 6 Vapour Trail - Ride 7 Dreamtime - The Heart Throbs 8 Dreams - Cranberries 9 See the Lights - Simple Minds 10 Woman With the Strength of 10,000 Men - Peter Himmelman 11 Instant Karma Coffee House - Loud Sugar 12 Train In Vain - The Clash 13 Take a Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed 14 Always On My Mind - Pet Shop Boys 15 Veronica - Elvis Costello 16 A Town Called Malice - The Jam 17 Twiggy vs. James Bond - Pizzicato Five 18 Get the Message - Electronic 19 Mirror In The Bathroom - English Beat MiniDisc 10: 1 Take The Skinheads Bowling - Camper Van Beethoven 2 Not Too Soon - Throwing Muses 3 I Fought The Law - The Clash 4 Metal Mickey - Suede 5 Cannonball - The Breeders 6 Welcome To The Cheap Seats - The Wonder Stuff 7 Diane - Material Issue 8 Camouflage - Stan Ridgway 9 I Wear Your Ring - Cocteau Twins 10 Inside Out - The Mighty Lemon Drops 11 Honeydrip - Ian McCulloch 12 Get A Room - The Psychedelic Furs 13 Original Sin - INXS 14 Coast Is Clear - Curve 15 Sooner Or Later - The Feelies 16 Sway - Ocean Colour Scene 17 Mrs. Robinson - The Lemonheads 18 The Stand - The Alarm 19 Power And The Passion - Midnight Oil 20 Punk Rock Girl - Dead Milkmen Minidisc 11: 1 Little Fluffy Clouds - The Orb 2 Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones 3 Going Underground - The Jam 4 Jumping Someone Else's Train - The Cure 5 Drive That Fast - Kitchens Of Distinction 6 Nothing Natural - Lush 7 Salome - U2 8 Oceanside - Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians 9 Anytime, anyplace, anywhere - Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine 10 Revenge - Ministry 11 Let Me Go - Heaven 17 12 The Last To Know - Del Amitri 13 Genius Of Love - Tom Tom Club 14 Don't Let It Start - They Might Be Giants 15 Head On - The Jesus and Mary Chain 16 Twisterella - Ride 17 Not Sleeping Around - Ned's Atomic Dustbin 18 People Are Still Having Sex - La Tour (this song always cracks me up) Minidisc 12: 1 Radio Free Europe - R.E.M. 2 Holiday In Cambodia - Dead Kennedies 3 Johnny Hit And Run Pauline - X 4 Don't Want To Know If You're Lonely - Husker Du 5 The Cutter - Echo & The Bunnymen 6 Senses Working Overtime - XTC 7 Message of Love - The Pretenders 8 I Will Dare - The Replacements 9 Blister In The Sun - Violent Femmes 10 Birthday - The Sugarcubes 11 Madonna Of The Wasps - Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians 12 Ana NG - They Might Be Giants 13 She Bangs the Drums - The Stone Roses 14 Swamp Thing - The Chameleons UK 15 24 Hour Party People - Happy Mondays 16 Monkey Gone to Heaven - The Pixies 17 Kundalini Express - Love & Rockets 18 Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies 19 World Shut Your Mouth - Julian Cope 20 Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush Minidisc 13: 1 What You Do To Me - Teenage Fanclub 2 Move - Inspiral Carpets 3 Don't Look Back - Fine Young Cannibals 4 Please Yourself - The Darling Buds 5 Pain Lies On The Riverside - Live 6 Tomato Head - Shonen Knife 7 You Don't Understand - The House Of Love 8 I Go Crazy - Flesh For Lulu 9 Solar Sister - The Posies 10 International Bright Young Thing - Jesus Jones 11 In The Name Of Love - U2 12 Creep - Radiohead 13 Roam - B52's 14 In Your Room - The Bangles 15 Fields Of Gold - Sting 16 Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears 17 The Passenger - Iggy Pop 18 If I Can't Change Your Mind - Sugar 19 Life During Wartime - Talking Heads 20 Other Side Of Summer - Elvis Costello 21 Bitchin' Camero - Dead Milkmen Minidisc 14: 1 Kill Your Television - Ned's Atomic Dustbin 2 Does This Hurt? - Boo Radleys 3 Last Night I Fell Again - Moose 4 Can't Help Myself - Icehouse 5 In A Big Country - Big Country 6 Hippychick - Soho 7 Sanctify Yourself - Simple Minds 8 If Looks Could Kill - Transvsion Vamp 9 Feed The Tree - Belly 10 The Life of Riley - The Lightning Seeds 11 Nothing - Frazier Chorus 12 Everyday Is Like Sunday - Morrissey 13 Destroy The Heart - The House Of Love 14 Fire Woman - The Cult 15 Our House - Madness 16 No More Words - Berlin 17 Up All Night - Boomtown Rats 18 The Promise - When In Rome 19 Love Missile F1-11 - Sigue Sigue Sputnik 20 Soon - My Bloody Valentine Minidisc 15: 1 If You Leave - OMD 2 Pretty In Pink - The Psychedelic Furs 3 Bring On The Dancing Horses - Echo & The Bunnymen 4 Throwing Back The Apple - Pale Saints 5 Gobbledygook - The Wendys 6 In Between Days - The Cure 7 Shine - For Against 8 I'm Free - The Soup Dragons 9 She's In A Trance - The Heart Throbs 10 Stay Beautiful - Manic Street Preachers 11 Tour De World - Northside 12 Vote Elvis - Popinjays 13 Planet Love - The Dylans 14 Sunshine and Ecstasy - Tom Tom Club 15 Sometimes - The Millions 16 Unbelievable - EMF 17 Dream All Day - The Posies 18 Postcards From Paradise - Flesh For Lulu 19 Sunshine Smile - Adorable Minidisc 16: 1 I Will Follow - U2 2 New Year's Day - U2 3 Pulling My Fingers Off - The Wendys 4 Girl U Want - Devo 5 Spooky - New Order 6 Sure Thing - The Darling Buds 7 Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees 8 Friday I'm In Love - The Cure 9 Two Princes - Spin Doctors 10 Steam - Peter Gabriel 11 Don't Call Me Dude - Scatterbrain 12 Into The Fire - Sarah McLachlan 13 Build A Fire - Drivin'N Cryin' 14 Josephina - Gene Loves Jezebel 15 Desperate but not Serious - Adam Ant 16 Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats 17 Psyche Out - The Seers 18 Celeste - The Telescopes 19 (Where Do We Go From) Heaven - The Mighty Lemon Drops Minidisc 17: 1 I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones 2 Lucky Number - Lene Lovich 3 People Who Died - Jim Carroll Band 4 Our Lips Are Sealed - The Gogo's 5 White Wedding - Billy Idol 6 Heartbreak Beat - The Psychedelic Furs 7 Love My Way - The Psychedelic Furs 8 Beacause The Night - Patty Smith Group 9 Joey - Concrete Blonde 10 Not Enough Time - INXS 11 Enjoy The Silence - Depeche Mode 12 More - Sisters Of Mercy 13 Favorite Shirt (Boy Meets Girl) - Haircut 100 14 Voices Carry - 'Til Tuesday 15 Istanbul - They Might Be Giants 16 Mary Quandt In Blue - The Dylans 17 Tell That Girl to Shut Up - Transvision Vamp 18 Lazy Day - The Boo Radleys 19 Hard To Get - Starclub Minidisc 18: 1 Birds Fly (Whisper To a Scream) - Icicle Works 2 The One Thing - INXS 3 I Ran - A Flock Of Seagulls 4 One Thing Leads To Another - The Fixx 5 Hazy Shade Of Winter - The Bangles 6 Der Kommissar - After The Fire 7 Cult Of Personality - Living Color 8 Something About You - Level 42 9 Ship Of Fools - World Party 10 No Myth - Michael Penn 11 Indigo Eyes - Peter Murphy 12 Blue Highway - Billy Idol 13 Ziggy Stardust - Bauhaus 14 I Eat Cannibals (Part 1) - Toto Coelo 15 Love Is the Drug - Roxy Music 16 Song For A Future Generation - B52's 17 Fame - David Bowie 18 Sing Your Life - Morrissey 19 Small Caravan - Blind Mr. Jones Minidisc 19: 1 Enola Gay - Orchestral Manoevers In The Dark 2 Rollercoaster - The Jesus And Mary Chain 3 Ever Fallen In Love - Buzzcocks 4 Janie Jones - The Clash 5 Eyeball In My Martini - The Cramps 6 Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child - Mojo Nixon 7 Psycho Killer - Talking Heads 8 Wave of Mutilation - The Pixies 9 Rise - Public Image Limited 10 Life's What You Make It - Talk Talk 11 Mercy Seat - Ultra Vivid Scene 12 Rave Down - Swervedriver 13 Hit - Sugarcubes 14 Get Better - New Fast Automatic Daffodils 15 The Headmaster Ritual - The Smiths 16 Disappointed - Public Image Limited 17 Higher Ground - Red Hot Chili Peppers 18 Generals And Majors - XTC Minidisc 20: 1 Vagabonds - New Model Army 2 I Love a Man in Uniform - Gang of Four 3 Cretin Family - The Ramones 4 Crash - The Primitives 5 Lifetime Piling Up - Talking Heads 6 Changes - David Bowie 7 Walking Down Madison - Kirsty MacColl 8 Can You Dig It? - The Mock Turtles 9 World Class Fad - Paul Westerberg 10 Mayor of Simpletown - XTC 11 The Crying Scene - Aztec Camera 12 Cemetary Gates - The Smiths 13 Goody Two Shoes - Adam and the Ants 14 Saturday Night - Ned's Atomic Dustbin 15 Eastern Block - Thomas Dolby 16 1969 - Easterhouse 17 Birth, School, Work, Death - The Godfathers 18 Infested (Darwin Goodman Mix) - Course of Empire
I've come across a page on the Net that attempts to revive KUKQ: KUKQ.com It's a Net radio station, and it's playlist is fairly impressive, although it is a bit limited. Still, it's nice to find some Websites dedicated to the memory of KUKQ's glory days.
Links:
KUKQ Memorial Page Plenty of nostalgia images and even recordings of the station during its heyday.
KUKQ.com Net radio revival.
Listen.To/KUKQ Another nostalgic attempt that doesn't seem to be working...
JL Radio Jonathan L has his own website! This includes his personal history with KUKQ and other radio stations, and how he made Arizona a major hub for Alternative music, back when Alternative used to be truly alternative.
Amazon.com Comprehensive music recommendations.
MiniDisc.org If you don't have an MD, you should consider it!
UPDATE FEBRUARY 2024:
I've created a YouTube playlist to recreate a KUKQ experience, minus the Pearl Jam and Nine Inch Nails type stuff. Also, ever since operating systems switched from 32bit to 64bit, PC interactivity with MD players is now kaput. My MD stero player no longer works and all I have now is my MD Walkman. Times have changed...
Go back to the "Greg's Life" Table of Contents
"I had a dream I wanted to sleep next to plastic. I had a dream I wanted to lick your knees."
---Camper Van Beethoven
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