What an absolutely amazing party it was culminating in a WMMS employee cutting the cord on the broadcast and killing a live broadcast event.
Absolutely the peak of Stern at the peak of his national popularity - celebrating taking down the 2 decade long champion of the Cleveland airwaves in the ratings.
WMMS had long been the champion of FM radio - but the last half of the 80s saw a serious downfall - and as Stern gained steam at the same time - the 2 were on a collision course. Stern HAD to make a show out of defeating one of the last bastions of independent radio in America. It marked the final wave of the corporate radio takeover and the beginning of the end for the WMMS we all remember - the one that gave rise to shows like Stern’s.
Can you imagine if someone took down a live broadcast in today’s world and the shit storm it would become ? It was bad in 1994 - but nothing compared to what we would have today.
It’s sad looking back but it really was a funeral - not for WMMS but for local radio itself. Now it’s all syndicated radio broadcast from some studio a thousand miles away without a local connection. There are no more “local” DJs - spinning whatever the hell they want and helping to introduce new bands. Nope - it’s the same ClearChannel KISS FM with the same 30 songs on loop and some Ryan Seacrest imitator trying to not offend anyone and keep advertisers happy.
