What happened to Detroit radio?

As a child of the 80s, I can remember when listening to the radio in Detroit was the shit. In the early to mid 80's there was the electrifyin’ Mojo. He appreciated music and it showed. He wasn’t some talkative asshole, there was no teenage girls giving long winded shout-outs to everybody in the city, there was no playlists, there was no bullshit. It was a nightly education in music. It was through him that I learned that good music transcended race. There was no “black” music and there was no “white” music, just good music that made you dance. Especially if you were a fan of funk music. Artists like Prince (in his prime circa 1981-1986) and Parliament Funkadelic were mainstays on his show, but traditionally white artists like the B52's (before they got all corny with that “Love shack” bullshit) and the Talking Heads also got a lot of love on the predominantly black radio stations he worked for. And us black folks gigged off of songs like “Rock Lobster”, “Private Idaho” and “Once in a lifetime” just as hard as we did to “Flashlight”, “One nation under a groove”, “Lady Cab Driver” and “Partyup”. He even played a lot of hip hop when it was still in his infancy. I don’t remember where I was the first time I heard “The roof is on fire” as I was only like about 9 years old, but I do remember I was listening to Mojo. Same with the slept on classic “Fly Girl”. I miss that shit!

Then in the mid to late 80s there was Jeff Mills A.K.A. The Wizard. The Wizard was Detroit’s answer to DJ Red Alert. He had the dopest mix show, and no matter what you were doing, it stopped every night at 9.If you were not near a radio, you rushed home or to your whip so you could hear his latest mix of hip hop, electro funk, house and of course techno, and is named by some of the hottest DJ’s in Detroit as their biggest influence. And rightfully so. If you are from Detroit, and was born before the Reagan administration more likely than not, you’ve heard his show at least twice, and if not, you need to have your “Detroit” pass revoked.

And of course, if you have been a supporter of Detroit hip hop since the early days there should be a name that should be at the top of your list of Detroit hip hop icons along with the late Proof and the late J Dilla: And that name is Billy T. From 1988 to 1996, Every weekend he played the dopest Detroit shit, you know the shit that didn’t (and still does not to this day) a second look by any other radio personality. A lot of Detroit MC’s, DJ’s and producers got their start through him. He even made that bullshit station WJLB worth listening to on Saturdays along with his partner TJ (back in the day known as the troublesome juvenile).

And finally there was the late Phil Blak. From 1996-1998, Big fella came with the fire from the D, every night. But what I respected about this brother was he kicked serious knowledge, but didnt come off as self-righteous or preachy...He came with the real. There were a few times when I personally called his show, just to request a song, and not only would he play the song I requested, but we would kick it like we had been homies for years but didn’t know each other from Adam. I always thought that was some real shit that he would be approachable to his listeners.


Jumping the shark

The beginning of the end of the glory days of Detroit urban radio came around 1994. Yes deregulation had a lot to do with it, but it also had a lot to do with the overuse of live remote broadcasting, and format changes. When Lisa Lisa (no not the extremely hot latina singer) signed off for the last time to make way for 96.3 changing from a hip hop and dance music format to lame ass alternative rock station, as well as 105.9 changing from a traditional jazz/AC station to mainstream hip hop (read: hip pop garbage) station, as well as format driven radio shows such as “old school sundays” and “the rap blast”(originated by Billy T, but continued in name after he left) being broadcasted from club pretentious asshole and the 1st-of-the-month-check-day-baller bar, while other shows like the hip hop explosion on WHYT and the B-Love show on WGPR being discontinued altogether. The last straw for me was when WHPR switched to basically an all talk/religious station some time in 1998. I havent listened to Detroit radio since.