Goodbye Y100

No one should be surprised by radio's troubled state of being. Owned by a fistful of major conglomerates with names like Clear Channel and Infinity, the music that once inspired a generation of pot-smoking, free loving hippies has degenerated into synthetic, prefabricated, and derivative sounds that are only slightly less annoying than radio static. This shouldn't feel like a sprung upon shock to anyone. In the summer of Nickelback's How You Remind Me and Linkin Park's In The End, it was common to flip through a dozen stations, only to find that they were all playing the exact same song. This was perfectly fine if you found the bland taste of commercial radio satisfying, but if you wanted something beyond the same three chords, disfranchisement appeared to be the only option.

When it appeared like the musical wasteland stretched on like a post-apocalyptic stroll through Southern California, the revolution began. Acts like Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse, The Killers and a revamped Green Day exploded on the radio. Their lyrics were intelligent and the music didn't feel like the churned out musings of an MTV executive. Modest Mouse played calypso-inspired indie music that has been a long time coming, and Green Day wrote a punk rock opera about the State of the Nation. Artists were no longer standing outside locker rooms writing down self-loathing observations and diary poetry. Maybe not all the lyrical observations were brilliant, but they aggressively won you over with the excitement that a new musical movement engenders. It would appear that those who had bidden their time waiting for redemption, the Messianic era of post-modern rock arrived. Even Bright Eyes, refusing to sign to a major label despite heavy pressure, had two number one radio singles.

At this point I deliberated whether to spell the conspiracy out for you. While it seems obvious to me, no one else has connected the dots. Clearly, the monopolistic powerhouses who run our music have an anti-Rock agenda that equals the most elaborate and frightening conspiracies. No sooner had Rock returned to the sound waves that Y100, the only station for alternative music in Philadelphia, shut down. Or rather, was shut down to be replaced by an Urban format radio station. Full disclosure: I was born at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia. I've lived in New York for the last six years, but my home is Philly. When I heard about the closing of Y100, I was overcome first by a sense of immense sadness and loss, quickly altering to confusion. I mean, considering that Alternative music was booming, why would they shut down the only alternative radio station in Philadelphia? Philadelphia is now the biggest city in America without an Alternative Rock station.

Lest you believe that this is not your problem, here are some reasons why you should be alarmed. When Howard Stern flees the sinking ship of FCC regulations, K-Rock will be changing format. Rock in New York will go the way of Philadelphia, and soon your The Smiths albums will be made illegal. The Republican political machine will forbid any guitar playing on a song. You will yearn for the day of Creed. President George W. Bush will personally execute you if you are caught listening to Punk music. A righteous Savonarola burning of America's Rock music will take place, and Toby Keith will be elected Minister of Music of the repressive regime. Rock journalists will be hunted down and you, the listener, will do nothing. You will simply move onto hip-hop and country and forget about the prophesies about the redemptive nature of rock. Modest Mouse will just be an ellipse, an anomaly on your radar. You will speak about your young days as a rock fan like you speak about your brief flirtation with Britney Spear's first album, amid stammering and hesitation.

Even if this doesn't occur, the radio landscape will revert back to the boring monotony of the 90s. While you, hipster-America, will take refuge in your vinyl and iPods, what of your children? What will my young brother do without a radio station that plays quality music? Recently he told me that he was a fan of Mars Volta. Apparently he heard their new single, The Widow, on Y100. Mars Volta is a prog-punk, experimental and ferociously creative band whose members once belonged to the seminal emo band, At the Drive-In. Without Y100, he will never hear The Widow again. Instead he will be exposed to 24 hours of fabricated nonsense. Even if he can withstand the dangers of boring music, will all teenagers be able to? I don't fear for myself but for the next generation of music lovers. Who will teach them about Arcade Fire if Y100 doesn't?

For those of you committed to fighting wrongs, listen. To those who feel passionate about rock music, and the beauty inherent in it, listen. To those who hate George W. Bush, this isn't really relevant to you but listen nonetheless. Y100rocks.com has begun to protest the removal of Alternative Rock from Philadelphia. They put up a petition. If you care at all about the future of Alternative Rock music, visit Y100rocks.com and add your name to the 58,000 (as of the writing of this article) signatures protesting the dispersion of quality music in Philadelphia. This is the battle before the war. If we can reestablish Y100, perhaps we can put off the inevitable destruction of humanity and all things glorious. Beck, whose new album Guero is coming out, was broken into the mainstream with Y100's help. For years Y100 and stations like it have helped us listen to music worth listening to. Now it is our turn to return that help.

Music listeners of the world, unite!