97X - Rumblings from the Big Bush

There's no denying that the music is what attracted a small-but-mighty tribe of forward-thinking listeners to 97X. But the commercials, promos, contests, station ID liners and DJ breaks helped contri…

Luann Gibbs started listening to 97.7 FM in Oxford in the pre-97X/Dr. Demento days of the late 70s. When 97X debuted in 1983, she became an avid listener. When the 97X message boards started, she was…

Matt Soden moved to Oxford on Memorial Day weekend in 1990 and immediately got hooked by 97X's annual Modern Rock 500. He parlayed his college radio experience into a DJ gig at the station for a year…

Geography, fate -- and a cool dad -- turned David on to 97X in his preteen years. He never stopped listening, through high school (he and his dad went to a PiL show at Bogart's together!), his colleg…

Mike "Stead" Winstead grew up in Oxford and dreamed of working at 97X. When he got out of the Army in 1994, he "bugged" (his word) the station until he finally landed a job as Director of First Impre…

Bill Douglas (a.k.a. "Billy D the Fresh MC") spent most of the 90s working at 97X, starting out as a weekender back in 1990 when he was still in school at Miami University, and continuing on (in two …

Craig Snyder grew up in Oxford, Ohio, listening to 97X and making mixtapes for his friends. That love of music stayed with him as he interned at EMI, worked as a producer at Little Steven's Undergrou…

Ali Castellini got her 97X gig by accident, when a fellow Miami student phoned her early one Friday morning and asked her to do the weather forecast on the Breakfast Club. She wound up spending a few…

Joe Long grew up a 97X fan and started his "Each Note Secure" music blog in 2004... right about the time the terrestrial station signed off. But when woxy.com got its second wind in 2006 (the Lala er…

A self-described "97X listener/scenester/scruffy little punky New Wave dude," Howard started playing in bands as a teenager and has never stopped rocking. His current band, Cereal Killers, played the…

Musician. Producer. Recording Engineer. Photographer. Non-traditional college student... John Curley is best known for his work with the Afghan Whigs, but he's also played in a few local bands, and p…

Joe Sampson joined 97X as a Miami University student intern (a.k.a. "Breakfast Club co-producer") in 1993 and stuck around as a weekender after he graduated before moving on to short stint as a write…

Kathie Lucas worked at 97X for a decade, yet was never live on the air. Instead she handled a number of crucial behind-the-scenes roles from 1994-2004... "Director of First Impressions," Traffic Dire…

A self-proclaimed "bit player" at 97X in the late 80s, Timothy Hiatt joined the station fresh out of high school, stayed for only a year, and has gone on to a great career as a world-renowned photogr…

Bryan Jay Miller joined 97X as a Breakfast Club student intern in the mid-90s, and stuck around after graduating from Miami U., working in sales, promotions and eventually managing the station's digi…

Matt Harris was already a radio veteran when he joined 97X in 1984, having worked in college radio at Ohio U. and the local rock station in Athens, Ohio. He spent a few years at WOXY, doing overnight…

Rob Ervin (also known as "Rowdy Rob" when he hosted Gridloxx) worked as a part-timer at 97X in the 90s. He also co-hosted the Chris & Rob Late Night Talk Show on WAIF-FM and later was part of the wri…