WOXY (FM)

Infobox_Radio_station
name = WOXY-FM


area = Oxford, Ohio

branding = Max FM
airdate = September 1983 as 97X
May 14 2004 as X97.7
Spring 2005 as Max FM
frequency = 97.7 MHz
ERP =
format = Syndicated adult hits
callsign_meaning = WOXY (Oxford)
owner = First Broadcasting
website = [http://www.radiomaxfm.com/ radiomaxfm.com]

WOXY-FM (97.7 FM), WAXZ-FM (97.7 FM), and WAOL-FM (99.5 FM) are three FM radio stations in the Cincinnati, Ohio area that simulcast a signal called Max FM, which is a syndicated adult hits format without disc jockeys, similar in style to the syndicated Jack FM brand.

Before WOXY-FM (97.7 FM) became known as "Max FM", it was known as "WOXR" from the 1970s through 1983, and then most popularly, "" from 1983 to 2004, a station that has since transitioned to the Internet at WOXY.com.

1970s-1983: WOXR

Based in Oxford, Ohio, WOXR was broadcast at 97.7 FM and largely targeted at Miami University students. WOXR also played listener requests. WOXR featured a blend of top 40 and album cuts during the day, an hour long oldies show at 5 PM, with the evening music again a top-40/album rock mix that became more and more album-oriented as the night got later.

WOXR was known for playing uncensored versions of songs such as Steppenwolf's recording of "The Pusher" (written by the late Hoyt Axton), Country Joe and the Fish's recording of the "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" (which contained the word "fuck" that most stations bleeped out), and late at night played uncut versions of long songs such as Neil Young's "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Down by the River" and Traffic's "John Barleycorn Must Die".

The station was among few in the U.S. to play the cult classic "Je t'aime... moi non plus" "("I love you... me neither")", performed by the late Serge Gainsbourg and his partner Jane Birkin, which most stations refused to play (or were forbidden to play) because of its sexual explicitness in the form of the lyrics being sung to a background sound of a female orgasm (which some say was the sound of the couple actually having sex).

WOXR also showed an irreverent on-air personality, in the form of identifying itself as coming "from the city by the water tower" (a take-off on Chicago's WLS identifying itself as being "from the city by the shore"). WOXR played on the culture shock many Miami students from large cities experienced at the start of the school year when they found themselves confined to a town much smaller than their hometowns by identifying itself as being "Down on the Farm", sung to a twangy beat.

Every April Fool's Day, WOXR would play the same song repeatedly for an entire hour (then playing a different song repeatedly during the next hour, etc.). WOXR featured contests with prizes consisting of album rejects (called "The Worst Contest"). One of their newscasters always referred to then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as "Hank" Kissinger. Another newscaster who was a Boston native and Red Sox fan would only give the score of the Red Sox game, while failing to mention the scores of any other games.

They also featured on air classified ads identified as the "Dog-Gone Bulletin Board". This was a pun based on classified ads often being used by dog owners to let everyone know that their dog was missing--or "dog-gone."

WOXR was also among the few FM stations at the time to carry live broadcasts of sports events. During the 1970's, WOXR broadcast games of the Miami University football and basketball teams and the Cleveland Browns, tapping into the vast Southern Ohio fan base that the legendary NFL team cultivated long before the Cincinnati Bengals were established.

1983-2004: 97X

Launched in September 1983, 97.7 FM began broadcasting a Modern Rock format, which soon became dubbed . The station benefited from a large youthful audience at adjacent Miami University as well as listeners in urban and suburban areas of Cincinnati and Dayton, but a majority of its broadcast area was rural.

The first song played when WOXY-FM made their transition to a modern rock format was "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2. This award-winning station was available terrestrially at 97.7 FM on the dial for the next 21 years; May 13, 2004, to be exact. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was also the very last song played by the station to end their terrestrial 97.7 FM transmission.

Beginning in July 2004, 97X programming became solely available as an Internet radio station as WOXY.com until returning to Cincinnati airwaves via Cincinnati Public Radio Inc. in August 2007.

2004-present: Max FM

Currently, WOXY-FM (97.7 FM), WAXZ-FM (97.7 FM), and WAOL-FM (99.5 FM) are three FM radio stations in the Cincinnati, Ohio area that simulcast a signal called "Max FM", which is a syndicated adult hits format without disc jockeys, similar in style to the syndicated Jack FM brand.

First Broadcasting owns all three stations. Before merging into "Max FM," WOXY-FM was known shortly as "X-97.7," a modern rock station from Oxford, Ohio; WAXZ-FM was known as "97.7 The Rooster," a country music station from Georgetown, Ohio; and WAOL-FM was known as "Classic Country 99.5," broadcasting from Ripley, Ohio. In Spring 2005, all three stations were rebranded "Max FM."

External links

*fmq|WOXY
*fmq|WAXZ
*fmq|WAOL

ee also

*WOXY.com