In Memoriam - WBCN

“CBS RADIO TO LAUNCH BOSTON’S NEWEST AND ONLY FM SPORTS STATION, 98.5 THE SPORTS HUB, ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 13

Sports Station To Be Available At 98.5 On The FM Dial
Local Favorite, MIX, Home To Today’s Best Variety, Relocates To 104.1 FM

WBCN To Live On At www.wbcn.com And 98.5 HD 2”

- Excerpt from CBS Radio Boston Press Release, July 14, 2009


My cousin introduced me to WBCN when I was in 4th grade, and he was 22 or 23 and living in the basement of my family’s house. At the time, I didn’t know much music—I knew that I liked the Beatles, and that I generally enjoyed the Top 40 programming that was on the radio during the carpool rides to school and back. But as a dorky, insecure kid at that age where kids start separating into the cool and not cool crowds, I was looking for a way in, some area of conversation and knowledge through which I might be able to achieve a measure of social legitimacy.

Music seemed the perfect solution. I already knew that I liked music, and my cousin, an avid music listener, lived right downstairs. Fortunately, he was more than happy to introduce me to the music that he enjoyed, and I was more than happy to adopt his musical tastes as my own. One of the first pieces of advice he gave me was to drop the Top 40 radio in favor of WBCN, a local alternative station which, at the time, was unknown to me. I eagerly followed his advice, and consequently became exposed to some of the bands that would dominate my listening for the next five years—Nirvana, Weezer, Oasis, The Beastie Boys. I began collecting CDs, my first purchase being Oasis’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? I attended my first rock concert, a free Harvey Danger (remember “Flagpole Sitta”) show sponsored by WBCN. I was introduced to a great deal of music, and, for the first time, was passionate about a lot of it.

My relationship with WBCN ended in the late 90s as it moved towards the heavy rock of bands like Korn, Godsmack, and Nickelback. I’ve never really listened to it since, but yesterday’s announcement still saddened me. While ‘BCN will be remembered for many remarkable achievements—for helping to break U2, Elvis Costello, The Cars, The Ramones, and the Clash, among others—I'll remember it (as I'm sure many other Bostonians will) as the soundtrack to a certain formative stage of my life.

Here are a couple of tracks I associate with WBCN: a song from the first album I ever bought, a song from the first concert I ever attended, and the first rock song that WBCN ever played, in the late hours of March 15, 1968: Cream’s “I Feel Free.”

Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger (YSI) (filesavr)
Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta (YSI) (filesavr)
Cream - I Feel Free (YSI) (filesavr)