The Future of Rock and Roll: 97X WOXY and the Fight for True Independence

by Robin James

In 1983, an Ohio radio station called WOXY launched a sonic disruption to both corporate rock and to its conservative home region, programming an omnivorous range of genres and artists while being staunchly committed to local independent art and media. In the 1990s, as alternative rock went mainstream and radio grew increasingly homogeneous, WOXY gained international renown as one of Rolling Stone's "Last Great Independent Radio" stations. The station projected a philosophy that prioritized such independence—the idea that truly progressive, transgressive, futuristic disruptions of the status quo were possible only when practiced with and for other people.

In The Future of Rock and Roll, philosopher Robin James uses WOXY's story to argue against a corporate vision of independence—in which everyone fends for themselves—and in favor of an alternative way of thinking and relating to one another that disrupts norms but is nevertheless supported by communities. Against the standard retelling of the history of "modern rock," James looks to the local scenes that made true independence possible by freeing individual artists from the whims of the boardroom. This philosophy of community-rooted independence offers both a counternarrative to the orthodox history of indie rock and an alternative worldview to that of the current corporate mainstream.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

185 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 6, 2023

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book, and it totally rose to the challenge. Robin James has written a book that both meticulously recounts the story of 97X as well as brilliantly analyzing its philosophical and historical significance. As someone who lived in Cincinnati for ten years, I so enjoyed her account of the station’s history as well as her smart insights about the music it played—especially her analysis of the annual Modern Rock 500. But just as important was her more fundamental analysis of what the station’s success demonstrated: that “true independence is possible only if you practice it with and for other people.” Such a great book!

[Trixi · Rating 5 out of 5]

97X was the radio station I listened to for many years. Robin does a wonderful job detailing how unique it was from beginning to end. But it's not just about the radio station...it's about how independence means working with others, not excluding them. It is eyeopening how things have changed (and not for the better) in the name of independence. I finished reading this book while 97X was celebrating its 40th anniversary by doing what was once their annual Modern Rock 500. A labor of love by many former DJs, that brought so many listeners back together again for a week of memories, fun and great music, and goes a long way in proving the uniqueness that Robin speaks of....that we're better together.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Future of Rock and Roll: 97X WOXY and the Fight for True Independence, by Robin James, gives the reader a glimpse into our horribly warped vision of freedom and independence through the story of a beloved and empowering radio (and internet) station.

I only became aware of this station (Dustin Hoffman aside) when I was at Ohio University in the late 90s. I used popular culture in my classes and some of my students suggested I might like their local station, which happened to 97X. My partner's family was in Louisville so whenever we passed through the Cincinnati area we would tune in, and I did enjoy it. I wasn't, however, aware of just how devoted their following was/is. Because I was one of the early followers of streaming stations, I did rediscover them several years later but they were one among a number of online stations I followed, each for certain music moods I might be in.

This book blends the personal with the analytical, looking at how our idea of freedom and independence has become something which runs counter to those ideals. Using something most of us can relate to, music (especially as a community builder), James illustrates how deregulation and corporatization have led people to serve almost primarily big business and the already wealthy while thinking we are showing our independence and freedom of choice (within algorithmic limits, of course).

While I was never a part of the 97X community, this book brought to mind some of the stations I remember from my youth, from the late 60s through the 70s mostly, that seemed to really create a community. I don't think I ever knew which were independent, and for all I know even some corporate stations at that time might have given their stations a little more leeway, but in some of the larger markets I lived in (we moved a lot when I was growing up) my guess would be that the stations I gravitated to, since I was a perpetual outsider everywhere we went, were the independent ones that spoke to me.

I would recommend this to readers and researchers who have an interest in the intersection of popular culture and, well, the direction our society is taking (politically, culturally, economically, etc). For the more casual reader who is after entertainment as much as education, it is fun to venture online to see just how big the 97X community is. In fact, next month (May, 2023) there is going to be a Modern Rock 500 countdown online at Inhailer Radio.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book, I have read Mrs. James previous works (directly) on WOXY when I was once a keyboard warrior on the WOXY message boards. I knew of WOXY before heading to University of Cincinnati in the fall of 1998 as a college freshman, and even when I transferred to another university after those fateful three trimesters, WOXY came with me via is streaming website and those message boards.

Fast-forward to this year--in its many iterations and final demise in 2010--and Cincy-based Inhailer Radio's resurrected Modern Rock 500 which brought back DJs, personalities, and WOXY devotees alike. I found out about James's well-timed book and nabbed a copy, glad I did.

Not because of the nostalgia trip, because James does a solid job of avoiding those pitfalls but also not treating fond memories coldly, but because of the spirit of community that runs through the narrative. That sense of community, even as the web continues its Big Bangesque expansion, feels lost thanks to the divisiveness of modernity. And James seems to understand that, applying an academic touch to both the world at-large and WOXY's legacy.

All of this results in a relatively breezy read, though I would caution that anyone hoping for an in-depth history and anecdotal stories from WOXY's personalities and staff will be left wanting more (though there is a podcast for that, and James plugs it a few times in this tome). But I believe people need to read this not for the spirit of radio so much as the spirit of what independence truly is and how it is intertwined into the benefit of whole communities: not just WOXY, not just its listeners, not just Cincinnati, but the interconnectedness of human kind. The internet was supposed to bring us closer together, but has become an instrument to tear us asunder. James doesn't delve into that mire, but it's well intimated in highlighting why WOXY was unique, remains unique, but could be just as unique and necessary now.

[Logan Kedzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good thing about this book is also its weakness, namely that it is much less a history of 97X and much more a cultural review of alt rock and the business of broadcast radio in the 90s and 00s. There are many interesting takes on what Alternative was, the implications of race and gender in it, how the station centered its listeners as a sort of message in and of itself, and the role of law and technology in what happened. But the two should not have been mutually exclusive, and I think that the book would have been much better as a history, or even as an oral history, with the crit as thesis, rather than the book's inversion of that.

[Lyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book that is about far more than a (really singular and arguably the best ever) radio station.

Certainly anyone interested in radio and broadcasting should read this. Through a singular station, James provides a history of radio from the late 1970s to today. But equally important, this book shines a spotlight on how terms and ideas get twisted by politicians espousing neoliberalism. The 97x ethos of independence as community and punk’s DYI culture get revamped in ways that divide the masses rather than find community.

[Bradley Morgan]

My interview with the author for New Books Network: https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-futur...