WOXY-FM’s ‘Modern Rock 500’ Countdown Finally Returns in May After 20 Years off the Radio Dial

Here’s some great news I got via Facebook where it’s spreading like wildfire—at least within my social graphs. Quotes from and links to reporting are below.

Allison Babka this afternoon on citybeat.com:

The new iteration of the “97X Modern Rock 500 countdown” will be broadcast on Inhailer Radio’s website and app as well as on WGUC 90.9-HD3 in Cincinnati. The countdown will air in five 100-lap segments May 22-26 and will be repeated May 27-29.

The countdown had previously aired on 97X between 1988 and 2003 and continued on WOXY.com from 2005 to 2009.

According to a press release, 30 former WOXY DJs will host the broadcast, including many who were on the air in the 1980s and 1990s. The broadcast also will serve as the culmination of the 97X-focused podcast Rumblings from the Big Bush, hosted by former WOXY DJs Dave Tellmann and Damian Dotterweich.

Writing on wvxu.org, Tana Weingartner notes:

The timing is special because its marks 40 years since the station signed on.

Both of those reports lean heavily on a press release that I can’t actually find on its own web page. Updated March 21, 2023: The press release was posted on 97xbam.com on March 10.

The 97X – Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast is at woxy.podbean.com or whereever you get your podcasts, with a companion site at 97xbam.com. It’s definitely worth the time to listen.

Also in May, the long-anticipated book, The Future of Rock and Roll: 97X WOXY and the Fight for True Independence by Robin James will be published by UNC Press.