A SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY!
Occupation: radio station owners
Last Seen: Traverse City, MI
Awarded For: bringing a rock icon to northern Michigan
In the past 25 years, radio in general has become a total joke.
Too many hard-working jocks are out of work. It seems that most DJs that get hired are total douchebags and too many radio stations that can't achieve a two share last too damn long.
And sadly, northern Michigan is no exception.
When I launched this here site 21 years ago, it was to attack the fact that northern Michigan radio was hell. I was a teen, and there were virtually no radio stations for my age bracket. I was a rock guy, and my choices were the incredibly stale KLT, The Bear - which had the boring Bob and Tom show, plus more stale classic rock - and The Zone, which had *some* decent tunes, but you had to sit through a lot of wuss music to do so. Were you into bands like Tool, KoRn, Rage Against the Machine and White Zombie? Well, fuck you. Tragically, most radio station owners had the untrue mindset that hard rock and metal would never work for northern Michigan and that dreck from The Goo Goo Dolls, Counting Crows, Hootie and the Blowfish and Jewel were just perfect for the area. Hell, if The Zone was still around, I would imagine Maroon 5 having a presence on their current playlist.
Fast forward 21 years, and KLT now has new owners. Same with The Bear, though Bob and Tom have long been jettisoned for a local (and better) morning show. And The Zone - which shitcanned a ton of wuss music in late 2000 for most of the aforementioned good bands - became what was first called Real Rock 105 & 95-5 in 2009. Even though the station was a trainwreck in the beginning (c'mon... Heart into Rage Against the Machine? Buckcherry into Ted Nugent?), they've realized that classic rock belongs on The Bear and KLT, period.
Over all, northern Michigan radio is still an abortion. KLT's former North Dakotan owners sold off most of their stations to a mix of competitors like Midwestern Broadcasting (KLT) and MacDonald-Garber (106.7) and non-comms like Air1 (98.9), Central Michigan University (94.3) and Good News Media (105.5). However, 92.5's future is still up in the air, and its sale might have been hampered by COVID-19. And yes, there's that lawsuit that has kept 101.9 WLDR off the air for over a year.
But, leave it to Black Diamond Broadcasting to know the hole from their ass.
Today, it was announced that longtime WRIF Detroit jock Anne Carlini will be the new midday voice at Rock 105 & 95-5. When she will start will soon to be announced. Carlini was at WRIF for 33 years until being let go due to buget cuts earlier this year from station owner Beasley. Allegedly, Carlini and her husband moved to northern Michigan to start a new life.
Bear in mind that one of BDB's owners, Mike Chires worked at WRIF's former parent, Greater Media for many years and probably knew Carlini. It explains why several of Rock 105/95-5's jocks, past and present were WRIF alums.
Now, the question is, is that will Carlini's show be live? Personally, it would be cool if it were, since she'll definitely be a kick-ass alternative to the puke-worthy Terri Ray over at KLT and her burned-out Meatless Cafe-er, Leetsville Cafe. Currently, the midday slot is filled by Roxanne Steele, who voicetracks her show out of Detroit.
You know, I wish Rock 105 & 95-5 was around when I was in high school. If they had bumper stickers, I'd have them all over my rusty-ass car when I was a teen. It's funny how in the world of rock radio, Rock 105 & 95-5 is doing what bigger city radio stations were doing in the 1990s: they were edgy, in your face and fun. Of course, corporate radio fucked it up, big time. Sometimes, I wonder why in the hell Matt Hanlon destroyed KLQ here in Grand Rapids or why Clownsquare thought that they needed GRD to start playing Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Yes, Rock 105 & 95-5 ain't perfect. Their 400 lb. morning guy voicetracks his show from Wisconsin. Their "recently rocked" section on their webstream is loaded with grammatical errors (the Avatar song is "Colossus", not "Coulussus"). But, Rock 105 & 95-5 doesn't load their playlist with shitty 70s drivel that boomers love. The station is what a real active rock station should sound like: a good deal of currents mixed in with post-1990 material and very little - if any - pre-90s. Just because classic rock is a popular format doesn't mean that I want to hear Kansas segued into Slipknot. Leave the butt rock to The Bear and KLT.
But otherwise, thank GOD that northern Michigan has an awesome alternative to KLT!
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