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109-491: The Nixons are an American alternative rock band formed in 1989. They found commercial success during the mid-1990s, releasing two albums through MCA Records in 1995–1997. The band is best known for the hit singles "Sister" and "Wire" from their album Foma . The Nixons were founded in Oklahoma City by singer and guitarist Zac Maloy, guitarist Jesse Davis, bassist Ricky Brooks, and drummer Tye Robison. According to Maloy,
218-411: A UHF-TV permit in the mid-1960s to construct channel 21 (today KTXA ). The company sold off AM 870 to raise capital. In 1966, KJIM-FM changed their call letters to KFWT-FM and improved its signal, going from 2,900 watts at 165 feet to 100,000 watts at 1,000 feet HAAT from the antenna tower that would also transmit KFWT-TV (channel 21). (KFWT-TV went on the air in 1967 and signed off in 1970;
327-647: A bilingual AC format, known as "Magic". The station was authorized by the Federal Communications Commission in 1960 to broadcast as KFMF, but it was not immediately built. KJIM (870 AM; now KFJZ ) purchased the KFMF construction permit and it signed on the air on April 10, 1962, as KJIM-FM. At first, KJIM-FM simulcast the daytime-only AM sister station , to allow programming to be heard after sunset. Later, KJIM-FM switched to an automated easy listening instrumental format. KJIM-AM-FM acquired
436-555: A mainstream rock format via iHeartRadio until the show's end. On February 1, 2018, it simulcast iHeartRadio's "Rock Workout" station, with an upbeat Mainstream Rock format. As of April 2018, the former alternative rock format was revived on KDGE-HD2 as "102.1-HD2 The Edge". In late December 2023, "The Edge" branding and format were once again jettisoned, this time in favor of a Bilingual English/Spanish AC format known as "Magic", however, on April 29, 2024, when KEGL flipped back to active rock as "97.1 The Eagle", "The Edge" returned as
545-550: A Fort Worth image, and to lessen confusion with then- CBS network affiliate KDFW-TV Channel 4). In 1983, CBS Radio bought the station. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the station aired variations on the rock format, including classic rock and mainstream rock . The "Q102" branding has nothing to be confused with Top 40 / CHR station KDSQ in Sherman - Denison . Morning hosts Bo and Jim were popular Q102 DJs for most of Q102's existence. Though KTXQ maintained high ratings for years, by
654-484: A confessional tone. Rites of Spring has been described as the first "emo" band. Former Minor Threat singer Ian MacKaye founded Dischord Records which became the center for the city's emo scene. Gothic rock developed out of late-1970s British post-punk . With a reputation as the "darkest and gloomiest form of underground rock", gothic rock uses a synthesizer-and-guitar based sound drawn from post-punk to construct "foreboding, sorrowful, often epic soundscapes", and
763-523: A cynical response to an "authentic" rock movement. Bush , Candlebox and Collective Soul were labelled almost pejoratively as post-grunge which, according to Tim Grierson of About.com , is "suggesting that rather than being a musical movement in their own right, they were just a calculated, cynical response to a legitimate stylistic shift in rock music." Post-grunge morphed during the late 1990s and 2000s as newer bands such as Foo Fighters , Matchbox Twenty , Creed and Nickelback emerged, becoming among
872-539: A flurry of British bands emerged that wished to "get rid of grunge" and "declare war on America", taking the public and native music press by storm. Dubbed " Britpop " by the media, and represented by Pulp , Blur , Suede , and Oasis , this movement was the British equivalent of the grunge explosion, in that the artists propelled alternative rock to the top of the charts in their home country. Britpop bands were influenced by and displayed reverence for British guitar music of
981-586: A full-length album, Insomnia Suite . Davis played in Anchor the Girl and released music produced by Grammy-nominated musician Wes Sharon . Ricky Wolking went on to play bass for the rock band Edgewater and later recorded a solo album as Honky Mofo. Original drummer Robison is a co-owner of January Sound Studio in Dallas, and has worked as a producer/engineer with Drowning Pool , Cas Haley , and Dennis DeYoung . In January 2017,
1090-571: A headliner in 1998. In light of the festival's troubles that year, Spin said, "Lollapalooza is as comatose as alternative rock right now". Despite these changes in style however, alternative rock remained commercially viable into the start of the 21st century. During the latter half of the 1990s, grunge was supplanted by post-grunge . Many post-grunge bands lacked the underground roots of grunge and were largely influenced by what grunge had become, namely "a wildly popular form of inward-looking, serious-minded hard rock."; many post-grunge bands emulated
1199-692: A late night new wave show entitled "Rock and Roll Alternative". " College rock " was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the college radio circuit and the tastes of college students. In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture . According to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red , NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called "Alternative Charts". The first national chart based on distribution called
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#17328445301551308-420: A majority of groups that were signed to indie labels drew from a variety of rock and particularly 1960s rock influences. This represented a sharp break from the futuristic, hyper-rational post-punk years. "Alternative music is music that hasn't yet achieved a mainstream audience, Alternative isn't new wave any more, it's a disposition of mind. Alternative music is any kind of music that has the potential to reach
1417-678: A new lead singer, Garin Murdock. The band gigged heavily and reportedly signed a recording contract with Epic Records, but broke up in mid-2002 after independently releasing one EP. John Humphrey went on to play drums in the band Seether . Zac Maloy released several albums as a solo artist, and later relocated to Nashville to work as a songwriter and producer with artists including Carrie Underwood , Skillet , Our Lady Peace , Halestorm , Hanson , Chris Daughtry , David Cook , and Bowling for Soup . Jesse Davis formed roots rock band 4 Points West in 2002, which released an EP titled Lonesome Demise... , and
1526-476: A new station, KTXA , would reactivate channel 21 in 1980.) KFWT-FM was sold to Marsh Media of Amarillo, Texas , and subsequently changed its call letters to KFWD. In 1973, the station flipped to album rock , and was bought by the Southern Media Company in 1975. In October 1978, new general manager Bud Stiker led the change of the call sign to KTXQ and the branding to "Q102" (to launder the station of
1635-461: A new wave of post-rock bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Rós emerged who further expanded the genre. In 1993, the Smashing Pumpkins' album Siamese Dream was a major commercial success. The strong influence of heavy metal and progressive rock on the album helped to legitimize alternative rock to mainstream radio programmers and close the gap between alternative rock and
1744-460: A number of genres, including Krautrock , progressive rock , and jazz . The genre subverts or rejects rock conventions, and often incorporates electronic music. While the name of the genre was coined by music journalist Simon Reynolds in 1994 referring to Hex by the London group Bark Psychosis , the style of the genre was solidified by the release of Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1996) by
1853-495: A series of trades with Capstar. At Noon on August 27, 1998, on the same day that Chancellor announced that they would merge with Capstar to form AMFM, Inc., KTXQ discontinued its long-running rock format and began stunting with simulcasts of other AMFM stations from across the country (including KYLD , WHTZ , KYSR , and WUBE-FM ), as well as redirecting listeners to KZPS . On August 31, at 3 pm, KTXQ flipped to rhythmic oldies as "Magic 102". The first song on "Magic"
1962-418: A speciality show on The EDGE. Neilson was impressed by Gimarc's music knowledge, consulted with owner and general manager Steve Allison, and made the decision to put Gimarc on as the afternoon drive air personality. Gimarc proved to be a good hire and his influence on the station over time was invaluable, but he had nothing whatsoever to do with the "founding" of "The Edge". "The Edge" became an important force in
2071-404: A version of the station's alternative rock format with reduced commercials and some tracks never before played on the radio. In July 2012, KDGE-HD2 switched formats and began airing a classic alternative format, renamed as "Old School Edge", with the playlist leaning toward adult alternative . In October 2013, it flipped to airing recent episodes of " Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx " in addition to
2180-488: A wariness of its "macho" aesthetic. While indie rock artists share the punk rock distrust of commercialism, the genre does not entirely define itself against that, as "the general assumption is that it's virtually impossible to make indie rock's varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes in the first place". Labels such as Matador Records , Merge Records , and Dischord , and indie rockers like Pavement , Superchunk , Fugazi , and Sleater-Kinney dominated
2289-560: A wider audience. It also has real strength, real quality, real excitement, and it has to be socially significant, as opposed to Whitney Houston, which is pablum." —Mark Josephson, Executive Director of the New Music Seminar speaking in 1988 Throughout the 1980s, alternative rock remained mainly an underground phenomenon. While on occasion a song would become a commercial hit, or albums would receive critical praise in mainstream publications like Rolling Stone , alternative rock in
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#17328445301552398-608: Is an iHeartMedia adult contemporary commercial radio station dually licensed to both Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas . Star 102.1 switches programming to Christmas music during the months of November and December. The station's studios are located along Dallas Parkway in Farmers Branch, Texas (although it has a Dallas address), and its transmitter site is off West Belt Line Road in Cedar Hill . KDGE broadcasts using HD Radio technology. Its HD2 digital subchannel carries
2507-505: Is often difficult because of two conflicting applications of the word. Alternative can describe music that challenges the status quo and that is "fiercely iconoclastic, anticommercial, and antimainstream", and the term is also used in the music industry to denote "the choices available to consumers via record stores, radio, cable television, and the Internet." However alternative music has paradoxically become just as commercial and marketable as
2616-644: The Billboard 200 album chart. Soundgarden 's album Badmotorfinger , Alice in Chains ' Dirt and Stone Temple Pilots ' Core along with the Temple of the Dog album collaboration featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were also among the 100 top-selling albums of 1992. The popular breakthrough of these grunge bands prompted Rolling Stone to nickname Seattle "the new Liverpool ". Major record labels signed most of
2725-451: The Billboard 200. They departed MCA Records following the release of the self-titled album. Consistent gigging ensured a strong cult audience for 1998's Scrapbook EP (featuring b-sides, live and acoustic performances, including covers of Elton John 's "Rocket Man" and Cheap Trick 's "Heaven Tonight"), which saw the band return to Rainmaker. Their third full-length album, Latest Thing ,
2834-448: The Billboard charts. Pearl Jam also continued to perform well commercially with its second album, Vs. (1993), which topped the Billboard charts by selling a record 950,378 copies in its first week of release. In 1993, the Smashing Pumpkins released their major breakthrough album, Siamese Dream —which debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 4 million copies by 1996, receiving multi-platinum certification by
2943-520: The Indie Chart was published in January 1980; it immediately succeeded in its aim to help these labels. At the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, rather than simply distribution status. The use of the term alternative to describe rock music originated around the mid-1980s; at
3052-610: The RIAA . In 1995, the band released their double album, Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness — which went on to sell 10 million copies in the US alone, certifying it as a Diamond record. With the decline of the Madchester scene and the unglamorousness of shoegazing, the tide of grunge from America dominated the British alternative scene and music press in the early 1990s. As a reaction,
3161-495: The hair metal that had dominated rock music at that time fell out of favor in the face of music that was authentic and culturally relevant. The breakthrough success of Nirvana led to the widespread popularization of alternative rock in the 1990s. It heralded a "new openness to alternative rock" among commercial radio stations, opening doors for heavier alternative bands in particular. In the wake of Nevermind , alternative rock "found itself dragged-kicking and screaming ... into
3270-551: The "grunging of America" to the mass-marketing of punk rock, disco , and hip hop in previous years. As a result of the genre's popularity, a backlash against grunge developed in Seattle. Nirvana's follow-up album In Utero (1993) was an intentionally abrasive album that Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic described as a "wild aggressive sound, a true alternative record." Nevertheless, upon its release in September 1993 In Utero topped
3379-516: The (then-)newer styles of dance-club music including techno , trance and electropop (a direction the station was increasingly taking in 1994–95, after the departure of Gimarc, and with the increasing prominence of Jeff K). Notable artists featured on the CDs early in their careers included Course of Empire , Horton Heat , Deep Blue Something , Tripping Daisy , Sister 7 (as "Little Sister"), and Poi Dog Pondering . All told, over 100,000 CDs were sold in
The Nixons - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-553: The 1970s, which served as a progressive alternative to top 40 radio formats by featuring longer songs and giving DJs more freedom in song selection. According to one former DJ and promoter, "Somehow this term 'alternative' got rediscovered and heisted by college radio people during the 80s who applied it to new post-punk, indie, or underground-whatever music." At first the term referred to intentionally non-mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by "heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave" and "high-energy dance anthems". Usage of
3597-479: The 1980s was primarily featured on independent record labels, fanzines and college radio stations. Alternative bands built underground followings by touring constantly and by regularly releasing low-budget albums. In the United States, new bands would form in the wake of previous bands, which created an extensive underground circuit filled with different scenes in various parts of the country. College radio formed an essential part of breaking new alternative music. In
3706-463: The 1980s, alternative bands generally played in small clubs, recorded for indie labels, and spread their popularity through word of mouth . As such, there is no set musical style for alternative rock as a whole, although in 1989 The New York Times asserted that the genre is "guitar music first of all, with guitars that blast out power chords, pick out chiming riffs, buzz with fuzztone and squeal in feedback." More often than in other rock styles since
3815-402: The 1980s, magazines and zines , college radio airplay , and word of mouth had increased the prominence and highlighted the diversity of alternative rock's distinct styles (and music scenes), such as noise pop , indie rock , grunge , and shoegaze . In September 1988, Billboard introduced "alternative" into their charting system to reflect the rise of the format across radio stations in
3924-423: The 1990s also contributed greatly to the rise of alternative rock. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial rock or pop. The term's original meaning was broader, referring to musicians influenced by the musical style or independent, DIY ethos of late-1970s punk rock . Traditionally, alternative rock varied in terms of its sound, social context, and regional roots. Throughout
4033-465: The 1990s with the likes of the grunge subgenre in the United States, and the Britpop and shoegaze subgenres in the United Kingdom and Ireland. During this period, many record labels were looking for "alternatives", as many corporate rock , hard rock , and glam metal acts from the 1980s were beginning to grow stale throughout the music industry . The emergence of Generation X as a cultural force in
4142-736: The 2000s with multi-platinum acts such as Fall Out Boy , My Chemical Romance , Paramore and Panic! at the Disco . Bands such as the White Stripes and the Strokes found commercial success in the early 2000s, influencing an influx of new alternative rock bands that drew inspiration from garage rock , post-punk and new wave , establishing a revival of the genres. In the past, popular music tastes were largely dictated by music executives within large entertainment corporations. Record companies signed contracts with those entertainers who were thought to become
4251-468: The American indie scene for most of the 1990s. One of the main indie rock movements of the 1990s was lo-fi . The movement, which focused on the recording and distribution of music on low-quality cassette tapes , initially emerged in the 1980s. By 1992, Pavement, Guided by Voices and Sebadoh became popular lo-fi cult acts in the United States, while subsequently artists like Beck and Liz Phair brought
4360-505: The British indie scene through the end of the decade, as various bands drew from singer Morrissey 's English-centered lyrical topics and guitarist Johnny Marr 's jangly guitar-playing style. The C86 cassette, a 1986 NME premium featuring Primal Scream , the Wedding Present and others, was a major influence on the development of indie pop and the British indie scene as a whole. Other forms of alternative rock developed in
4469-700: The British music press at the end of the decade along with the Madchester scene. Performing for the most part in the Haçienda , a nightclub in Manchester owned by New Order and Factory Records , Madchester bands such as Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses mixed acid house dance rhythms with melodic guitar pop. The Amerindie of the early '80s became known as alternative or alt-rock, ascendant from Nirvana until 1996 or so but currently very unfashionable, never mind that
The Nixons - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-614: The Butler, Jerry Lentz, Roger King, Ernie Mills, Jeff K, Josh Venable, DJ Merritt, and Valerie Knight. In 1994, Steve Allison sold KDGE for $ 16 million to the broadcast-arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , which also owned classic rock station KZPS. After that ownership change, Gimarc, Naylor, and the entire Phoenix contingent were shown the door and the station changed direction dramatically, now being "corporate" programmed. A year later, Clear Channel Communications bought all of
4687-580: The Chicago group Tortoise . Post-rock was the dominant form of experimental rock music in the 1990s and bands from the genre signed to such labels as Thrill Jockey , Kranky , Drag City , and Too Pure . A related genre, math rock , peaked in the mid-1990s. In comparison to post-rock, math rock relies on more complex time signatures and intertwining phrases. By the end of the decade a backlash had emerged against post-rock due to its "dispassionate intellectuality" and its perceived increasing predictability, but
4796-517: The Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. Edgeclub was taken off the air in 2010. Josh Venable became the program director in 2011. In January 2013, KDGE was briefly re-branded as "102-1 KDGE"; it later returned to the "Edge" moniker. On November 16, 2016, at 3 pm, after playing " Out of My League " by Fitz and the Tantrums , KDGE began stunting with a continuous loop of " Closing Time " by Semisonic (for
4905-523: The EDGE was basically an evolution of Allison's Phoenix radio station, KEYX "KEY 100.3" an alternative station which he founded in 1986. Allison bought then-KZRK for $ 3.6 million cash. KZRK programmed the syndicated heavy metal format ZRock. Soon after debuting KDGE, Allison then immediately took on the construction of a 2,000-foot tower in Collinsville, Texas to improve the station's signal. Steve Allison chose
5014-461: The Edge on the cutting force of promotions in Dallas. Important contributions were made by Gimarc, Naylor, and almost all staff members. Gimarc also assembled a series of 11 compilation CDs of local bands under the name Tales from the Edge . Released between 1990 and 1996, each CD featured between 15 and 20 bands, mostly from Dallas , Austin and Denton . The CDs were value-priced: the first four include
5123-506: The Elephant , Cake , Flogging Molly and Drowning Pool . The first Edgefest was documented in the Jerry Lentz film "Angry Blue Planet". There were also seven editions of The Edge Home Movie, a free rental - full hour of music videos hosted by Edge DJs. One was filmed at Edgefest in 1994, and another at Lollapalooza that same year. Other notable jocks during this time include Alex Luke, Brian
5232-855: The Lollapalooza festival became the most successful tour in North America in July and August 1991. For Dave Grohl of Nirvana who attended the festival at an open-air amphitheater in Southern California , "it felt like something was happening, that was the beginning of it all". The tour helped change the mentalities in the music industry: "by that fall, radio and MTV and music had changed. I really think that if it weren't for Perry [Farrell], if it weren't for Lollapalooza , you and I wouldn't be having this conversation right now". The release of Nirvana's single " Smells Like Teen Spirit " in September 1991 "marked
5341-921: The Mormon broadcasting company's stations nationally. Clear Channel later changed their name to IHeart Radio. The station's 'unofficial' 20th Anniversary party was on July 3, 2009, at the Lakewood Theatre with performances from Zac Malloy of the Nixons, John Easdale of Dramarama, Deep Blue Something , Pop Poppins, and the Bat Mastersons. Specialty programming included the Saturday night electronic/dance music show called "Edgeclub" with DJ Merritt (nation's longest-running and highest-rated mixshow), and Sunday shows "The Old School Edge" with Jeff K, "The Adventure Club" with Josh, and "The Local Show" with Mark, which features music made in
5450-613: The Replacements upended a number of underground scene conventions; Azerrad noted that "along with R.E.M., they were one of the few underground bands that mainstream people liked." By the late 1980s, the American alternative scene was dominated by styles ranging from quirky alternative pop ( They Might Be Giants and Camper Van Beethoven ), to noise rock ( Sonic Youth , Big Black , the Jesus Lizard ) and industrial rock ( Ministry , Nine Inch Nails). These sounds were in turn followed by
5559-510: The Story) Morning Glory? (1995), went on to become the third best-selling album in the UK's history. Long synonymous with alternative rock as a whole in the U.S., indie rock became a distinct form following the popular breakthrough of Nirvana. Indie rock was formulated as a rejection of alternative rock's absorption into the mainstream by artists who could not or refused to cross over, and
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#17328445301555668-580: The Top 40 and spawned a number of jangle pop followers. One of the many jangle pop scenes of the early 1980s, Los Angeles' Paisley Underground revived the sounds of the 1960s, incorporating psychedelia, rich vocal harmonies and the guitar interplay of folk rock as well as punk and underground influences such as the Velvet Underground . American indie record labels SST Records , Twin/Tone Records , Touch and Go Records , and Dischord Records presided over
5777-459: The UK during the 1980s. the Jesus and Mary Chain 's sound combined the Velvet Underground's "melancholy noise" with Beach Boys pop melodies and Phil Spector 's " Wall of Sound " production, while New Order emerged from the demise of post-punk band Joy Division and experimented with disco and dance music . The Mary Chain, along with Dinosaur Jr. , C86 and the dream pop of Cocteau Twins , were
5886-577: The US by a more pop-oriented focus (marked by an equal emphasis on albums and singles, as well as greater openness to incorporating elements of dance and club culture) and a lyrical emphasis on specifically British concerns. As a result, few British alternative bands have achieved commercial success in the US. Since the 1980s, alternative rock has been played extensively on the radio in the UK, particularly by disc jockeys such as John Peel (who championed alternative music on BBC Radio 1 ), Richard Skinner , and Annie Nightingale . Artists with cult followings in
5995-610: The US received greater exposure through British national radio and the weekly music press, and many alternative bands had chart success there. Early American alternative bands such as the Dream Syndicate , the Bongos , 10,000 Maniacs , R.E.M. , the Feelies and Violent Femmes combined punk influences with folk music and mainstream music influences. R.E.M. was the most immediately successful; their debut album, Murmur (1983), entered
6104-562: The United States by stations like KROQ-FM in Los Angeles and WDRE-FM in New York, which were playing music from more underground , independent, and non-commercial rock artists. Initially, several alternative styles achieved minor mainstream notice and a few bands, such as R.E.M. and Jane's Addiction , were signed to major labels . Most alternative bands at the time, like the Smiths , one of
6213-473: The Velvet Underground , which influenced many alternative rock bands that would come after it. Eccentric and quirky figures of the 1960s, such as Syd Barrett have influence on alternative rock in general. The Dead Kennedys formed the independent record label Alternative Tentacles in 1979, releasing influential underground music such as the 1983 self-titled EP from the Butthole Surfers . By 1984,
6322-553: The advent of Boston 's Pixies and Los Angeles' Jane's Addiction. Around the same time, the grunge subgenre emerged in Seattle , Washington, initially referred to as "The Seattle Sound" until its rise to popularity in the early 1990s. Grunge featured a sludgy, murky guitar sound that syncretized heavy metal and punk rock. Promoted largely by Seattle indie label Sub Pop , grunge bands were noted for their thrift store fashion which favored flannel shirts and combat boots suited to
6431-475: The aesthetic to mainstream audiences. The period also saw alternative confessional female singer-songwriters. Besides the aforementioned Liz Phair, PJ Harvey fit into this sub group. In the mid-1990s, Sunny Day Real Estate defined the emo genre. Weezer 's album Pinkerton (1996) was also influential. Post-rock was established by Talk Talk 's Laughing Stock and Slint 's Spiderland albums, both released in 1991. Post-rock draws influence from
6540-529: The alternative rock community" including Henry Rollins , Butthole Surfers , Ice-T , Nine Inch Nails , Siouxsie and the Banshees (as second headliners) and Jane's Addiction (as the headlining act). Covering for MTV the opening date of Lollapalooza in Phoenix in July 1991, Dave Kendall introduced the report saying the festival presented the "most diverse lineups of alternative rock". That summer, Farrell had coined
6649-437: The alternative/independent scene and dryly tore it apart." David Lowery , then frontman of Camper Van Beethoven, later recalled: "I remember first seeing that word applied to us... The nearest I could figure is that we seemed like a punk band, but we were playing pop music, so they made up this word alternative for those of us who do that." DJs and promoters during the 1980s claim the term originates from American FM radio of
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#17328445301556758-605: The band announced two reunion shows with the classic Foma lineup (Maloy, Davis, Brooks, and Humphrey), playing in their native Oklahoma and also as part of the KDGE "The Edge" Edgefest 25th Anniversary lineup in Frisco, Texas. At the same time, the band launched official Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter social media pages. In June 2017, a newly recorded song titled "Song of the Year" was released on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. The band released
6867-444: The band during these shows, as his father had prior commitments with Seether. In 2019, the band entered the studio and re-recorded three of their fan favorites: "Wire", "Baton Rouge", and "Sister", each with the year 2020 added to the title to distinguish them from the original recordings. In addition to the three newly re-recorded songs, the band also recorded new music. "Crutch" was released digitally on July 2, 2019, and "Favorite Lies"
6976-674: The band's name has no political meaning: "'The Nixons' was short, sweet and I always tell people it had an 'x' in the middle so it looked cool on t-shirts and stickers. That's about it." The group independently released a self-titled album in 1990 and followed it with the EP Six in 1992, both on Dragon Street Records . John Humphrey replaced Robison on drums, and the Nixons issued Halo in 1994 on Dallas-based Rainmaker Records. This album featured several songs also included on Foma , their official debut LP, released in May 1995 on MCA Records . Foma included
7085-505: The brand new Song of the Year EP along with the re-release of their debut album, Halo , on vinyl for the first time, newly remastered by original producer Kerry Crafton. Both albums were supported by touring in late 2017. In October 2018, they performed in Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Houston, TX as part of the lineup of Buzzfest festival. Jaxon Humphrey, son of drummer John, performed with
7194-460: The death of Layne Staley and the subsequent disbanding of Alice in Chains in 2002, and the disbanding of both the Cranberries and Stone Temple Pilots in 2003. Britpop also began fading after Oasis ' third album, Be Here Now (1997), was met with lackluster reviews. A signifier of alternative rock's changes was the hiatus of the Lollapalooza festival after an unsuccessful attempt to find
7303-459: The decisions were business people dealing with music as a product, and those bands who were not making the expected sales figures were then excluded from this system. Before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sorts of music to which it refers were known by a variety of terms. In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term Alternative Music to describe the groups he was writing about. In 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had
7412-453: The early 2000s, when indie rock became the most common term in the US to describe modern pop and rock, the terms "indie rock" and "alternative rock" were often used interchangeably; while there are aspects which both genres have in common, "indie rock" was regarded as a British-based term, unlike the more American "alternative rock". The name "alternative rock" essentially serves as an umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in
7521-545: The first few hours, it was interspersed with " It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) " by R.E.M. ), while redirecting Edge listeners to KEGL and that a new format would debut the following day at 5 p.m. on KDGE. At that time, the station shifted the stunting to Christmas music with the new branding of "Star 102.1". The first song played under the Christmas music stunting
7630-429: The formative influences for the shoegazing movement of the late 1980s. Named for the band members' tendency to stare at their feet and guitar effects pedals onstage rather than interact with the audience, shoegazing acts like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive created an overwhelmingly loud "wash of sound" that obscured vocals and melodies with long, droning riffs, distortion, and feedback. Shoegazing bands dominated
7739-430: The foundation for its large cult following. The key British alternative rock band to emerge during the 1980s was Manchester 's the Smiths . Music journalist Simon Reynolds singled out the Smiths and their American contemporaries R.E.M. as "the two most important alt-rock bands of the day", commenting that they "were eighties bands only in the sense of being against the eighties". The Smiths exerted an influence over
7848-457: The instigation of the grunge music phenomenon". Helped by constant airplay of the song's music video on MTV, their album Nevermind was selling 400,000 copies a week by Christmas 1991. Its success surprised the music industry. Nevermind not only popularized grunge, but also established "the cultural and commercial viability of alternative rock in general." Michael Azerrad asserted that Nevermind symbolized "a sea-change in rock music" in which
7957-422: The key British alternative rock bands during the 1980s, remained signed to independent labels and received relatively little attention from mainstream radio, television, or newspapers. With the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream, and many alternative bands became successful. Emo found mainstream success in
8066-454: The local music scene in Dallas, is the only station to play local and national "alternative" styles. (KEGL had switched to a more modern format around 1982 but by 1989, that station was largely playing hits from national playlists.) Coinciding with the KDGE start-up, Steve Allison and Tom Duran formed a separate event promotion company called "Cutting Edge Events", which was the promotion force behind
8175-420: The local weather. Early grunge bands Soundgarden and Mudhoney found critical acclaim in the U.S. and UK, respectively. By the end of the decade, a number of alternative bands began to sign to major labels. While early major label signings Hüsker Dü and the Replacements had little success, acts who signed with majors in their wake such as R.E.M. and Jane's Addiction achieved gold and platinum records, setting
8284-489: The mainstream rock, with record companies using the term "alternative" to market music to an audience that mainstream rock does not reach. Using a broad definition of the genre, Dave Thompson in his book Alternative Rock cites the formation of the Sex Pistols as well as the release of the albums Horses by Patti Smith and Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed as three key events that gave birth to alternative rock. Until
8393-559: The mainstream" and record companies, confused by the genre's success yet eager to capitalize on it, scrambled to sign bands. The New York Times declared in 1993, "Alternative rock doesn't seem so alternative anymore. Every major label has a handful of guitar-driven bands in shapeless shirts and threadbare jeans, bands with bad posture and good riffs who cultivate the oblique and the evasive, who conceal catchy tunes with noise and hide craftsmanship behind nonchalance." However, many alternative rock artists rejected success, for it conflicted with
8502-494: The mainstreaming of rock music, alternative rock lyrics tend to address topics of social concern, such as drug use, depression, suicide, and environmentalism . This approach to lyrics developed as a reflection of the social and economic strains in the United States and United Kingdom of the 1980s and early 1990s. Precursors to alternative rock existed in the 1960s with proto-punk . The origins of alternative rock can be traced back to The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) by
8611-502: The mid-1980s, college station KCPR in San Luis Obispo, California , described in a DJ handbook the tension between popular and "cutting edge" songs as played on "alternative radio". Although American alternative artists of the 1980s never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on later alternative musicians and laid the groundwork for their success. On September 10, 1988, an Alternative Songs chart
8720-449: The mid-1990s, the station fell into a steep decline, particularly after the debut of KRRW 's similar-sounding classic rock format. In its final book in the summer of 1998, KTXQ was ranked 19th with a 2.4 share of the market. In early 1997, CBS sold the station to New York City-based SFX Broadcasting. By August of that year, however, Austin -based Capstar merged with SFX. Six months later, locally based Chancellor Media acquired KTXQ through
8829-460: The more melodic, diverse music of college rock that emerged. Azerrad wrote, "Hüsker Dü played a huge role in convincing the underground that melody and punk rock weren't antithetical." The band also set an example by being the first group from the American indie scene to sign to a major record label, which helped establish college rock as "a viable commercial enterprise". By focusing on heartfelt songwriting and wordplay instead of political concerns,
8938-497: The most popular rock bands in the United States. At the same time Britpop began to decline, Radiohead achieved critical acclaim with its third album OK Computer (1997), and its follow-ups Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), which were in marked contrast with the traditionalism of Britpop. Radiohead, along with post-Britpop groups like Travis , Stereophonics and Coldplay , were major forces in British rock in subsequent years. KDGE KDGE ( 102.1 FM )
9047-448: The most popular, and therefore who could generate the most sales. These bands were able to record their songs in expensive studios, and their works were then offered for sale through record store chains that were owned by the entertainment corporations, along with eventually selling the merchandise into big box retailers . Record companies worked with radio and television companies to get the most exposure for their artists. The people making
9156-443: The music is still there. — Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s (2000) By the start of the 1990s, the music industry was enticed by alternative rock's commercial possibilities and major labels had already signed Jane's Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dinosaur Jr. In early 1991, R.E.M. went mainstream worldwide with Out of Time while becoming a blueprint for many alternative bands. The first edition of
9265-511: The name "The EDGE" and changed the call letters to KDGE. He also designed the station's logo and chose and developed its format. Larry Neilson, the former program director of KEYX in Phoenix was chosen as the original EDGE Program Director. Wendy Naylor, who had worked for Allison at his various stations in Phoenix since 1982, was chosen as the music director and morning show co-host along with KEYX alumni Roger King. Also relocating to Dallas from Phoenix
9374-556: The past, particularly movements and genres such as the British Invasion , glam rock , and punk rock . In 1995, the Britpop phenomenon culminated in a rivalry between its two chief groups, Oasis and Blur, symbolized by their release of competing singles " Roll With It " and " Country House " on the same day on 14 August 1995. Blur won " The Battle of Britpop ", but they were soon eclipsed in popularity by Oasis whose second album, (What's
9483-418: The prominent grunge bands in Seattle, while a second influx of bands moved to the city in hopes of success. At the same time, critics asserted that advertising was co-opting elements of grunge and turning it into a fad. Entertainment Weekly commented in a 1993 article, "There hasn't been this kind of exploitation of a subculture since the media discovered hippies in the '60s." The New York Times compared
9592-463: The prominent slogan "Still Only $ 2.94!" (sponsorships and advertising paid for the bulk of production). Several later issues were double-CD compilations, with one CD featuring current local bands, and the other being more specialized, including one focused on the area's earliest punk bands, including tracks by The Nervebreakers , The Telefones , Stickmen With Rayguns , and The Hugh Beaumont Experience , while another, put together by DJ Jeff K, featuring
9701-579: The radio hits "Sister", "Wire", "Happy Song", and "Passion". The group capitalized on their success with big tours, including dates with KISS , Sevendust , Slash's Snakepit , Brother Cane , Soul Asylum , Radiohead , and Toadies . Foma eventually peaked at No. 77 on the Billboard 200 . The band replaced Ricky Brooks with Ricky Wolking and released The Nixons in June 1997 on MCA/Universal. The record featured three singles: "The Fall", "Miss USA", and "Baton Rouge". It eventually peaked at No. 188 on
9810-427: The rebellious, DIY ethic the genre had espoused before mainstream exposure and their ideas of artistic authenticity. Other grunge bands subsequently replicated Nirvana's success. Pearl Jam had released its debut album Ten a month before Nevermind in 1991, but album sales only picked up a year later. By the second half of 1992 Ten became a breakthrough success, being certified gold and reaching number two on
9919-474: The same format one year after KDGE dropped the format. On January 4, 2022, it was announced that KDGE will be adding Delilah 's nightly show to their schedule starting January 10. This makes Delilah's return to the Dallas/Fort Worth market since being dropped by longtime affiliate KVIL in January 2014 during its gradual evolution to CHR/Top 40. KDGE's HD 2 channel originally broadcast "The Cutting Edge"
10028-563: The series. The station featured an annual music festival called Edgefest once a year, plus an annual EDGE B-Day party concert and party. Past Edgefest acts included Pearl Jam , The Charlatans , Sugarcubes , Tripping Daisy , Seether , The Origin , Nickelback , Staind , My Chemical Romance , Muse , The Killers , Placebo , Kaiser Chiefs , Weezer , The Toadies , Blue October , INXS , Beck , Social Distortion , Everclear , Sponge , The Mighty Mighty Bosstones , Default , KoRn , Deftones , Hole , Phoenix , The Black Keys , Cage
10137-421: The shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging. Minneapolis bands Hüsker Dü and the Replacements were indicative of this shift. Both started out as punk rock bands, but soon diversified their sounds and became more melodic. Michael Azerrad asserted that Hüsker Dü was the key link between hardcore punk and
10246-478: The sound and style of grunge, "but not necessarily the individual idiosyncracies of its original artists." Post-grunge was a more commercially viable genre that tempered the distorted guitars of grunge with polished, radio-ready production. Originally, post-grunge was a label used almost pejoratively on bands that emerged when grunge was mainstream and emulated the grunge sound. The label suggested that bands labelled as post-grunge were simply musically derivative, or
10355-514: The stage for alternative's later breakthrough. Some bands such as Pixies had massive success overseas while they were ignored domestically. In the middle of the decade, Hüsker Dü's album Zen Arcade influenced other hardcore acts by tackling personal issues. Out of Washington, D.C.'s hardcore scene what was called "emocore" or, later, " emo " emerged and was noted for its lyrics which delved into emotional, very personal subject matter (vocalists sometimes cried) and added free association poetry and
10464-503: The station. They along with the station's Promotion Director, Tara Allison (Steve Allison's wife) created unusual events and promotions from 1989 through 1992. A collaborative effort by the Allisons, Duran, Neilson, Wendy Naylor and George Gimarc was the driving force in making The Edge a player in the Dallas market. From "Take the Edge on Vacation", to "Dinner on the Mayflower", the group kept
10573-513: The subgenre's lyrics often address literary romanticism, morbidity, religious symbolism, and supernatural mysticism. Bands of this subgenre took inspiration from two British post-punk groups, Siouxsie and the Banshees , and Joy Division . Bauhaus ' debut single " Bela Lugosi's Dead ", released in 1979, is considered to be the proper beginning of the gothic rock subgenre. The Cure 's "oppressively dispirited" albums including Pornography (1982) cemented that group's stature in that style and laid
10682-644: The term Alternative Nation . In December 1991, Spin magazine noted: "this year, for the first time, it became resoundingly clear that what has formerly been considered alternative rock —a college-centered marketing group with fairly lucrative, if limited, potential—has in fact moved into the mainstream." In the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific. In 1997, Neil Strauss of The New York Times defined alternative rock as "hard-edged rock distinguished by brittle, '70s-inspired guitar riffing and singers agonizing over their problems until they take on epic proportions." Defining music as alternative
10791-514: The term would broaden to include new wave , pop, punk rock , post-punk , and occasionally " college "/" indie " rock, all found on the American "commercial alternative" radio stations of the time such as Los Angeles' KROQ-FM . Journalist Jim Gerr wrote that Alternative also encompassed variants such as "rap, trash, metal and industrial". The bill of the first Lollapalooza , an itinerant festival in North America conceived by Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell , reunited "disparate elements of
10900-522: The time, the common music industry terms for cutting-edge music were new music and postmodern , respectively indicating freshness and a tendency to recontextualize sounds of the past. A similar term, alternative pop , emerged around 1985. In 1987, Spin magazine categorized college rock band Camper Van Beethoven as "alternative/indie", saying that their 1985 song "Where the Hell Is Bill" (from Telephone Free Landslide Victory ) "called out
11009-484: The type of rock played on American 1970s Album Oriented Rock radio. In the early 21st century, many alternative rock bands that experienced mainstream success struggled following the suicide of Nirvana 's Kurt Cobain in April 1994, Pearl Jam 's failed lawsuit against concert venue promoter Ticketmaster , Soundgarden 's break-up in 1997, the Smashing Pumpkins losing its original members in 2000, L7 's hiatus in 2001,
11118-405: The wake of punk rock since the mid-1980s. Throughout much of its history, alternative rock has been largely defined by its rejection of the commercialism of mainstream culture, although this could be contested since some of the major alternative artists have eventually achieved mainstream success or co-opted with the major labels from the 1990s onward (especially into the 2000s, and beyond). In
11227-604: Was " Last Christmas " by Wham! . At Midnight on December 26, after playing " Same Old Lang Syne " by Dan Fogelberg , KDGE officially debuted their permanent Mainstream Adult Contemporary format (under the "Star" branding), with " Lucky Star " by Madonna as the first song played. The flip brought the format back to the Dallas-Fort Worth media market for the first time since 2014, when former longtime AC station KVIL evolved to Hot AC , and then to Top 40 / CHR . KVIL has since flipped to Alternative as "Alt 103.7", picking up
11336-545: Was "Shotgun" by Jr. Walker & the All Stars . In 2000, as a condition of Clear Channel 's purchase of AMFM, sister station 94.5 FM , along with the intellectual property of Magic 102, were sold to Radio One . When Radio One moved the rhythmic oldies format to 94.5 at 6 a.m. on November 9, 2000, Clear Channel moved 94.5's alternative rock format to 102.1 as KDGE, "102.1 the Edge". Created by Founder and original owner Steve Allison in 1989 (Allison Broadcast Group, Inc.),
11445-544: Was Tom Duran as the Sales Manager and a major player in helping create The EDGE's promotion and concerts. Months before The EDGE debut in June 1989, the KEYX Phoenix crew was formulating the station's format, promotions, etc. from a temporary suite while the EDGE studios were being built out next door. Two weeks before the EDGE debut, program director Larry Neilson was contacted by Dallas local George Gimarc about possibly doing
11554-520: Was created by Billboard , listing the 40 most-played songs on alternative and modern rock radio stations in the US: the first number one was " Peek-a-Boo " by Siouxsie and the Banshees . By 1989, the genre had become popular enough that a package tour featuring New Order , Public Image Limited and the Sugarcubes toured the US arena circuit. Early on, British alternative rock was distinguished from that of
11663-465: Was released by Koch in early 2000. It featured songs co-written by Marti Frederiksen and Jack Blades of Night Ranger fame. Davis and Humphrey left the band after the album release. The band continued touring, replacing them with Scott Bush and Ray Luzier (of Korn and Army of Anyone fame), respectively. However, when the tour supporting the album concluded, they quietly disbanded. Davis, Brooks, and Humphrey reformed in early 2001 as Huver, with
11772-429: Was released digitally on May 22, 2020, and contained all new music recorded since the band's reunion. Current Former Touring musicians Alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music , alt-rock or simply alternative ) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in
11881-421: Was released on November 15, 2019. Both new songs received positive reviews throughout US radio markets and were noted as "a reminder that rock music was still alive". After touring in late 2018 and throughout 2019, including with rock band Sponge , the Nixons released the three previously re-recorded songs on April 22, 2020, and also officially announced the forthcoming issue of a new EP, titled Sonic Boom . This
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