Something in The Way

"Comparing the jocks at the Planet and the Edge
with the on-air staff at CFNY
is akin to comparing Piel's beer with Sam Adams lager."
from "The Battle of The Alternative"
subtitled "Bumbling Into The Brave New Territory of The Dreaded 'A' Word... Alternative and The Battle For The Top of The Heap in Buffalo's New World of Alternative Radio"

"Remember, civil disobedience and
taking matters into your own hands can get you into trouble..."
Civil Disobedience, The DMV & Growing Hemp in the 90s
by Strick

It the guise of Kurt Cobain I am wearing 3 shirts and wool hat in the office tonight. In fact I have been running around in piles of clothes for weeks. I think today was the longest period of time in one day where I didn't have a hat on my head constantly- besides while sleeping of course (but don't think I haven't thought about it!). Oh, I think it was 5-1/2 hours, by the way. So yeah, it's cold as hell.

Slack issue #17- The Radio Issue August 1995
(published 06.09.95)

This is one of the last four issues of Slack. As this lumbering beast was approaching it's 2-year anniversary and the end of it's reign the following Spring, we kept driving with our eyes closed. I have been thinking about Kurt a lot lately as I have just finished reading a very tactile Cobain Unseen by Charles R. Cross and the weather has forced me to dress like him- layerly. This issue from Fall 1995 had a review of the new release by Dave Grohl's new band the Foo Fighters. Reviewer Doug McKee added, "By using a formula familiar to him, he (Dave Grohl) still might make a name for himself." Good prediction Doug!

This, the Radio Issue is full of Buffalo radio 1995- Toronto's CFNY versus everyone else including local station, The Planet with Kerry Grey (ick) and the birth of a new station 103.3, The Edge. It has a lot of anti-alternative rhetoric as the term 'alternative' was starting to get bandied about as the post-grudge, 90s suck-rock began to flutter onto the air waves. There's an article about specialized 90s radio stations (All Elvis Impersonators Radio), History of Rock and Roll Radio, and a cool club DJs perspective on radio DJs by Dre. More period piece record reviews include: Sleepy Eyed by Buffalo Tom, the self-titled Treble Charger LP (more Toronto boys) and another love-fest review for the 7th Ani sunnyDiFranco record, Not a Pretty Girl by me.

All and all there is a lot trashing of local radio in this issue, in 1995, and it doesn't seem like much has changed. Still no one listens to the radio to hear what's new anymore. The only radio I listen to is news, hockey, some BNY, or weird AM transmissions that sometimes sound like they are from another planet.. and they may be for all I know.

Final Note: The Comix by Hump (as seen below) asked the question that people still ask me: Who is Bitter Boy? Veteran Slack writers still think it was me, and as far as I know, there are only a handful of people who do know who he was/is. I can tell you it wasn't me, though strangely enough we have always possessed a lot of the same ill will in the past....

Download PDF here:
Slack Magazine n. 17, the Radio Issue (3.5 mg)

Don't forget these issues already up (2 more to go)!:
Slack Magazine n. 18, The Two-Year Anniversary! issue
Slack issue n. 16- The Summer Fun Issue (#2)
Slack Magazine n. 15, The Local Music Issue
Slack Magazine n. 14, The Cartoon Issue
Slack Magazine n. 13, The Food & Beverage Issue
Slack Magazine n. 12, The One-Year Anniversary Issue
Slack Magazine n. 11, The True Crime Issue
Slack Magazine n. 10, Summer Fun Issue
Slack Magazine n. 9, The Dead Rock Stars Issue
Slack Magazine n. 8, The Beer Issue
Slack Magazine n. 7, Slack Goes to The Movies Issue
Slack Magazine n. 6, The Buffalo Issue
Slack Magazine n.5, The Slack TV Issue
Slack Magazine n. 4, SEX in the '90s Issue
Slack Magazine n. 3, The Politico Issue
Slack Magazine n. 2, The Travel Issue
Slack Magazine n. 1, The Debut Issue