Why you should listen to the 2023 Modern Rock 500 even if you don’t care about WOXY
Airing online May 22-5, and then again Memorial Day Weekend
The 2023 Modern Rock 500 starts in less than a week! It’s a meta countdown of what the former station staff consider to be the 500 songs that most defined WOXY. Because the 2023 countdown focuses on songs WOXY played from its beginnings in 1983 through the end of its broadcast days in 2010, it covers no music released since May 2010.
The 2023 MR 500 is being broadcast on internet radio station Inhaler Radio, 9-5 Monday May 22nd through Friday May 25th, and then all weekend Memorial Day Weekend (as the 500 was traditionally broadcast).
I’ve spent the last four years studying the MR 500 in lots of detail, I have previewed most of the pre-recorded 2023 countdown, and I am here to make the case that you should listen to to some or all of this year’s countdown even if you have no interest in WOXY in and of itself.
It offers a more accurate and in-depth account of the history of post-punk/modern rock/indie than any of the orthodox narratives about how The Sex Pistols, then Nirvana, then The Strokes, then Daft Punk or whatever group of overhyped white dudes supposedly “changed everything.” For example, it’s clear from this countdown that women of color have been important figures in post-punk/modern rock/indie since the beginning. It’s also clear that hip hop, reggae, and electronic dance music have always been deeply in conversation with post-punk/modern rock/indie.
It’s a chance to discover new-to-you music. At 97X there was one cardinal sin in radio broadcasting, and that was repetition. Compared to industry standards, WOXY played a significantly higher volume of songs at vastly lower rates of daily repetition. This meant they played more songs and artists than your typical alt rock station or playlist would ever include. Chances are that if you never listened to WOXY, there’s a new-to-you song or two (or more) in the MR 500.
With a wide variety of genres from electronic dance music to alt country to hip hop (for listeners unfamiliar with WOXY, there will be some big surprises here regarding artists included in the countdown!) to industrial to singer-songwriter to spoken word, there’s something here for just about everyone.
It has real human DJs: over 30 former WOXY DJs have recorded breaks for the whole countdown. They appear every four to six songs, and many of them are mini-oral history episodes where the DJs recount their experiences at the station. This will be of special interest to radio history scholars and fans.
It will make you laugh: there are old in-house produced ads that appear throughout the countdown, and many of them are funny (in the haha way, though I guess some were funny in the hmmm way too). Just WAIT till you hear Damian’s Lou Reed impression, or the “Rock and Roll Grocer” ad made by having a local grocer sing “grocer” over “high school” in the chorus of The Ramones’ “Rock and Roll High School.” There are also some both haha funny songs like [redacted - no spoilers!]
It will make you think: For example, one DJ asks “Is Radiohead the most boring band in modern rock?” Another thing to think about: 30+ people would volunteer their free time to put together a program they used to get paid to compile and put on air nearly 20 years ago only if WOXY and the MR500 were something really special.
You want to feel that you are a part of something: I will definitely be live-tweeting the MR 500 at #ModernRock500, and I bet I will not be the only person doing so. If there’s anything WOXY excelled at, it’s making people feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves (see point #5 above), and this wouldn’t be a true MR 500 without the shared experience of listening together.
So join me in listening to the 2023 Modern Rock 500 - find me on twitter as @doctaj
If you want to know even more about WOXY, buy my new book about the history of the station and the history of modern rock/alt/indie from the 80s through today. And if you want to learn more about some of the anecdotes the DJs refer to (like the infamous A Day In Eden episode…), check out Dave & Damian’s podcast Rumblings From the Big Bush, where WOXY staff and a few listeners recount the history of the station (available here or any of your favorite podcast platforms).