Dear WAAF, I miss you so.
1 year ago this weekend (Feb 20-21) we said goodbye to you on the air. A fitting 2 day tribute to one of the most groundbreaking, career making, influential, and badass radio stations the rock world had ever seen. 2020 was supposed to be your 50th anniversary, and instead in was your funeral. With only a couple of days notice, we threw you the best party we could. We brought staff new and old together with the bands, listeners, and advertisers to swap stories, relive the old days, and mourn the loss of something we all loved, and something that changed all of our lives. You were a magnificent bastard, that took no prisoners, and left destruction and legendary stories in your wake.
I loved you from my childhood. You are in every one of my memories where music was involved. You taught me about Rock, introduced me to my favorite artists, and provided the soundtrack to my formative years. Starting my internship on July 1, 1991, is a day I will never forget. It was my foot in the door, and the peek behind the curtain at the great and powerful Oz. Unlike the movie however, you were more impressive behind the curtain than in front of it. The staff, the crew, the listeners, we made a gang that no one dared to f*ck with. Marathon Monday 1994, was the first day I got paid to wear your iconic logo. And when I started as the full time night host on April 17, 1998, I thought I had made it… and I had. I was in the front row, of the craziest 3 ring circus that ever was, and I loved every minute.
I wouldn’t trade one day, one memory, one good time or bad, for anything in the world! I made some of the best friends I’ll ever have. I learned to work hard, be creative, and to never take no for an answer. I poured my heart and soul into everything I did with you. It’s been a year since you’ve been gone, and I am still heart broken. Your loss in my life is immeasurable, but I will always have you in my heart, and in my crazy stories that some people still cannot believe. Trust me, the stories you’ve heard barely scratch the surface of what really happened! The list of bands you helped break, that changed the lives of countless rock fans, cannot ever be accurately documented. You changed the world, and you definitely changed mine. I would do almost anything to have you back, but I know in my heart that won’t happen. I’ll just have to go from being sad that you’re gone, to happy that I had you for as long as I did. Being on the air in your final minutes was an honor that I will be grateful for, until I’m gone too. You were loud, unapologetic, dirty, and bold… and then you were silent. I cry just thinking about your final moments.
All of the lives you touched have moved on in one way or another, but we all miss you. I wear your logo with pride still, and when I see it on other people, we just give each other a look because we know… we just know. This last year without you has been hard. All I can do is imagine what we could have done together, and how much fun that would have been. You were my first great love, and you’ve left a hole in my heart. I will miss you every day, and I am trying so hard to carry on your legacy, introduce people to their new favorite bands, and to charge into this crazy future with reckless abandon. Your badass heart still beats in me, and in those who loved you most. I hope we make you proud. I miss you so!
“Head up, shoulders back, horns up, we’re going out proud, because we were all part of something special!”
“AAF…AAF…AAF…AAF…AAF…”
