Q101 Fades Away

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 13, 2011 7:40PM

Tomorrow marks Q101's last day as the alternative rock station we once loved but grew to hate before Randy Michaels’ Merlin Media changes that spot on the dial into an all talk format. In an unusual move when it comes to format changes, the current roster of DJs are being allowed one last day to say their farewells. We know a number of the on-air crew and we're sad a bunch of decent folks are losing their jobs. At the same time we're not sorry to see Q101's wheezing take on alt-rock take a final bow.

We've been reading a bunch of eulogizing about the station and it seems no one seems to remember that the only time Q101 was actually halfway decent was almost 15 years ago. What was once an honest-to-god fresh voice introducing little known yet sonically daring acts to the public long ago turned into the tired equivalent of a poorly programmed classic rock station depending on the same extremely limited and sonically similar playlists.

So cry for the talented employees losing their jobs. Cry over the fact Michaels has found yet another way to wrangle his influence over the local media-scape. Heck, cry over the fact that big business and stilted playlists killed the potential of our "alternative rock station" so long ago. Cry because those people allowed Q101 to fade away when it would've been better to burn out.