G Rock 106.3 (and 106.5), an alternative rock station in Jersey, is no more as of today. It doesn’t seem like there was any warning that it would happen, and I can’t even find any news articles talking about it; the only confirmation I saw was on Wikipedia, written by a seemingly peeved off fan.
It’s really too bad, because it was a good station. They played a lot of crap that I’ve already heard ad nauseum from modern rock stations, but they also mixed in a lot more obscure things that you normally wouldn’t hear.
RIP G Rock. You will be missed by the many who don’t appreciate the “musical” talents of Avril Lavigne (whom I heard when I tried tuning in tonight–it was almost like this new format was pissing on the old by playing her crap).
Bwuh? Really? Huh…well, ever since we sold our second car a few months ago, I don’t drive that much and so I haven’t been listening to much G-Rock. However, it’ll still leave a bit of a hole.
That said, that particular part of the dial hadn’t much much above the mainstream ever since they went from being FM106.3, “Modern Rock At The Jersey Shore”. I mean, G Rock was good, but when was the last time you heard any Dramarama or Material Issue on there? That kind of sound was a staple back when Matt Pinfield was running the show. Remember when once or twice an hour they’d actually play something punk? Anymore, you’d be lucky to hear them play London Calling.
So, the station will be missed, but I’ve been missing it for years already anyway.
106.3 was based in Eatontown, so it had good coverage throughout Monmouth and northern Ocean counties. Around 2000 they started simulcasting on 106.5 which was based somewhere in southern Ocean county, and gave coverage all the way to Atlantic City to the south and out where I am near Philly to the west.
If I recall correctly, when traveling north on the GSP I’d keep good contact up into the 140’s.
The worst part is that I don’t think even the staff knew. I was listening Sunday night until about 4 am Monday, no problem. When it went to the G-Rock format a few years ago, it was still listenable. Now, it’s just…wrong.
I had it tuned in on the car stereo. When I turned the car on today, I heard some rap, and absent mindedly hit the radio thinking it was tuned to Z-100. No such luck.
RIP 106.3 I’ve missed you ever since Mary Elizabeth wasn’t on the air anymore.
Man, the more I brood on this, the more it sucks. I hadn’t been listening as closely in years past – partly because of the retooling, and partly because becoming a telecommuter meant much less time in the car – but still, I miss the station. I’ll never be able to count the number of fantastic bands they introduced me to.
My ratty old t-shirt with the old FM106.3 logo is still part of my regular wardrobe rotation. I was stopped by a guy on the street a couple of years ago who offered me 25 bucks for it.
Well guys, thanks for the tunes. Oooo, and now that I think about it, the swag as well. You all were so fricking generous with your morning giveaways. I still have tons of CDs you gave away, and went to dozens of concerts on you. Thanks for the meet-n-greet with Soul Asylum. Thanks for the tickets to Woodstock '94. Thanks for kickstarting my brain every day with the More Useless Knowledge question that always came on right as my alarm clock went off. Thanks for everything…you’ll be missed.
This morning, as I get into the car, I hear “Let It Rock” by some top-40 faux hip-hop “artist”. I thought to myself: This is quite a stretch for my favorite radio station. Maybe it’s Matt Murray’s guilty pleasure or something. Then I heard the station describe itself as “Hits 106.3”. This is when I started thinking the worst: some other station has set up shop nearby and is taking away my G-Rock signal. Since I’m at the northern bound of G-Rock’s signal, I thought that I’m going to have to move further south. I started planning my move for some time around spring.
Never did I suspect this! I just texted “U Suck” to 45911.
I’ve been listening to G-Rock for about 20 years now. In my opinion, the most recent rendition of the station was their best. They didn’t play Material Issue much, but Dramarama was still a regular on their playlist…especially “Last Cigarette” and “Work For Food”.
I must say that today is a bittersweet day for me. Obama moving into the White House and G-Rock shutting down. I’m in shock. I won’t be able to get any work done today.
DJs and other staff are often left out of the loop, and out in the cold, when there’s a major format change. A number of stations have changed format in the SF area over the years, and they have, more often than not, cut off the old format at a predetermined hour, let weird transition sounds air for awhile (bells ringing, cryptic slogans, etc.), then start running the new format as if nothing had happened.
We had one kick-ass modern rock station around here, and it got converted to R&B last year. Like we didn’t have enough R&B stations already. Now we have one modern rock station, and it largely sucks.
