There was a time when NU107 (107-dot-5 MHz in Pasig) was a religion. “Zach and Joey in the Morning” was the sermon and the music was, well, church music, I guess.
As with any religion, there were zealots. Kids who were obsessed with the DJs and struck up slightly awkward but slightly cool relationships with them. Sending food to the booths or stalking them or whatever. With a decidedly baduy showbiz scene, being sort of friends with a DJ was almost as cool as being in a band.
And NU107’s ads were psalms, or at least scripture that kids could quote for their own ends. The tagline of an ad for “In the Raw”–their show for undiscovered bands–became the catchphrase for having anything interrupted by your parents.
Whether it was half-hearted masturbation to fall asleep or cutting classes to go the the mall, “Uy, Daddy mo!” meant one thing: you’re nicked.
Other lines culled from their radio ads like “you betrayed me, Joey!” and “would you go out with me?” and “welcome to my humble abode…” also saw much use among NU107 fans.
Given the varying tastes of their listeners (some people didn’t like the Christian rock show “Against the Flow,” for example,) the ads were sort of the glue that held the entire sub-subculture together. A common touchstone for a generation still only discovering Attention Deficit Disorder.
The ads weren’t always good. And like the station’s overplaying of Cheech and Chong’s “Santa Claus and His Old Lady” every Christmas, they got to be grating after a while. Still, they were on the cutting edge of something. As close to quirky and tongue-in-cheek as a corporate organization selling an image could get.
Ten years later, NU107 comes out with an ad that can be best described as old, unoriginal and downright lazy. In the ad, the defendant, NU107 request show “Remote Control Weekend,” has been accused of being the best rock radio show (or whatever.) And, of course, it pleads guilty(or whatever.) So, the verdict is that “Remote Control Weekend” is, as a matter of legal fact, the best rock show (or whatever.)
I guess a radio station has to grow up with its listeners. At 27, I’m not as quirky or tongue-in-cheek I used to be. I doubt that the legions of NU’s camp followers are either, some may even have settled down to live decidedly unrock-and-roll lifestyles.
Maybe the Home of Nu Rock has finally decided to become respectable and is now focused on a career in law or something. Maybe it woke up one morning thinking it can’t keep partying all night without causing long-term damage to major organs.
I guess there’s a line between being a young hellion and being that guy who used to be funny and now just sits chuckling to himself, and we all have to cross it some day. As the voice of our generation, NU107 has shown us how.
8 Comments