Philadelphia Alternative

Y100
As I had mentioned in the last blog Alternative Rock Music was mainly aired on college radio airwaves till about the late 80s early 90s. It was about that time that Alternative Rock Music started to be mainstreamed on commercial radio stations. Y100 originated on mainstream commercial radio in 1993. According to the Philadelphia Encyclopedia, it was the home of Alternative Rock Bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins, and many more. By 1997 Y100 became the "solitary rock station of Philadelphia". They soon started a yearly tradition called the festival. This allowed alternative rock bands to come together for one of alternative’s major concert events of the year. Some of the bands at attended the event were Alternative Rock Group Green Day, Fuel, and The Mighty Mighty Bostones. The festival tradition lasted till about the year of 2005.

Y100 would also do what they called “Sonic Sessions”. A band would come into the studio while in town and record an acoustic set of their music. Y100’s most known program was their morning show originally hosted by disc jockey Preston Elliot and Marilyn Russell. They soon added disc jockey Steve Morrison and the show became an absolute hit. On February 24, 2005 Y100 became hip hop station 100.3 The Beat. Y100’s disc jockeys started to record from an undisclosed location, an online petition was started, but all the efforts didn’t pay off. Y100 was no more and Philadelphia lost their favorite alternative station.



WMMR
Originally WIP-FM, WMMR changed its call letters in 1966. The station played bands and artists such as Billy Joel and Yes. WMMR was also known for introducing Bruce Springsteen to the Philadelphia airwaves. The radio station has changed its music format throughout the years, going from classical to a mainstream rock station. WMMR is known for its coined phrase “WMMR- Everything that rocks”. It would promote grunge or alternative music. WMMR had competition with mainstream rock stations such as WYSP and Y100. WYSP had Howard Stern as their radio personality on their morning radio show and Y100 had the famous Preston, Marilyn, and Steve. In 2005-2006, Y100 was taken off of the airwaves and WYSP had the departure of Howard Stern. WMMR was free to rule the Philadelphia airwaves. WMMR soon became the new home to Y100’s Preston and Steve Morning Show. The show aired for the first time on WMMR May 16, 2005. WMMR was the new home of Alternative Rock Music.




Radio 104.5
On May 16, 2007 dial number 104.5 became “Radio 104.5”. It was introduced officially on May 23, 2007 as call letters WRFF (Radio One O Four Five). Radio 104.5 plays alternative rock music such as Nirvana, Gin Blossoms, R.E.M. and many other great alternative rock bands. It is becoming to be yet another great alternative rock station.

By reading on the history of these three major alternative rock radio stations I was able to come back to my roots. I pretty much grew up on rock radio station Y100. I remember going on camping trips as a little girl and listening to casette tapes that had hours of Y100 music recorded on them. I totally forgot that the Preston and Steve Morning show originated on Y100's airwaves. I remember the day that I turned to radio dial 100.3 and didn't hear the alternative rock music that I have loved to listen to for so many years.I am currently a religious listener of radio 14.5 and WMMR 93.3. They are what radio station Y100 used to be, They play old alternative as well as new alternative. They are the alternative rock stations of Philadelphia.


All Experts.WMMR:encyclopedia. Retrieved October 2009, from http://en.allexperts.com

Greater Media-WMMR.Wmmr.com. Retrieved October 2009, from http://www.wmmr.com.

Radio 104.5.Radio 1045.com Retrieved October 2009, from http://www.radio1045.com

Wikipedia. Y- Rock on XPN.Retrieved October 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y_Rock_On_XPN