UPDATE:

Everything is set for the WXXP reunion in Pittsburgh. For two nights at a place called the Rex, former WXXP radio announcers and local Pittsburgh musicians will gather and entertain with the proceeds going to charity. You can purchase tickets for the Oct. 7th & 8th event on Ticketmaster.

----}-

Good evening Pittsburgh and everywhere else, I'm DJ Bird and you're in the Birdcage. I know, another non-hockey article. We'll have plenty of time to talk about the possible NHL CBA deal in the next few weeks. Today I want to go back in time about 20 years, to 1986 when I took a job as Music Director and on air personality at WXXP in Pittsburgh. Most of you know of my work with WLIR in NY. What you may not know is that WLIR purchased a station in Pittsburgh in an attempt to spread the LIR format.

Denis McNamara who was the PD at LIR had asked a few different people to take the gig at WXXP (we called it double X) but no one wanted it. I had only been on the air for a year or so but was heavily involved with the music selection process for close to four and continued to spin records at the biggest and best clubs in the NY area. Looking back I can now see that I had way too much success way too fast and I combined that with an over indulgence in the various substances available to those in the rock & roll world. Yet unlike the other LIR DJs I had no real desire for a career in broadcasting. For me it all kinda happened by accident. My passion for the music, bands and the fans of those bands helped overcome my lack of a real radio voice. So, when Denis asked me if I'd consider the XX job I said yes. What the hell, right?

I was only 23 yrs old and getting out of NY just might be the best thing as I could avoid all the crap I was abusing and concentrate on the music. Denis and I flew in to Pittsburgh so I could get a feel for the place and make an informed decision. The whole way there Denis was selling me on what this opportunity could mean for me and insisted that my street smarts would help me overcome the lack of experience. I knew I could handle it....but was it something I really wanted? As we passed thru the city and crossed a few bridges we ended up in a little tiny town called Millvale. This place had the look and feel of a town out of the 50s. You had to see the looks I got as I crossed the street in my long black hair and leather. There was an old man in his 80s named Junior Dinkus sitting on a bench with a boom box playing Polka music next to the station entrance. My first impression was one of complete shock. This was the complete opposite of NY. If it wasn't so funny it might have been scary. I was in a twighlight zone episode.

Entering the station I was impressed with the newness of the place as I had been used to the old WLIR studios. The on air studio was packed with all the latest equipment and frankly it blew away what LIR had. The people at the station were awfully nice as were everyone else I met. Denis and I then began to discuss the format. It would be similar to the LIR format with some rock and roll thrown in. Since I supported a harder edged sound for LIR I figured this would be a great place for me to program the station exactly the way I thought it should be done. Denis then took me to a watering hole by the hotel we stayed at and some mad drinking added to this format conversation. Yup, I was going to do this.

While there were a bunch of stations in the area, only three were any good. KDKA was the monster AM station, B-94 was the "Z-100" like station complete with a morning zoo and WDVE was like WNEW with a more narrow playlist. WXXP would have no competition. In studying the market, the first thing that grabbed me were all the colleges in the area. We wouldn't have to create listeners....they were already there just waiting for someone like us to come in and blow the town away. While there was a small scene happening, none of the local stations supported it. I took the gig.

Most of the airstaff was already in place. Several of them were veterans but knew nothing of this punk/new wave format so there was some work to be done. Lucky for me Denis had recruited Deb Brady from WFNX in Boston and she was the real deal. Great voice, great ears and a solid background in the scene. The other jocks were pros and picked up what they needed pretty quick. Pittsburgh was now being exposed to bands they had never heard before and it didn't take long for the kids to find us.

I flew in to Pittsburgh to begin this adventure and with me was the assistant engineer from LIR, John Carrachiola. That first night we took our rented car and went to a club (Graffiti) where a band called the Thrashing Doves were playing. When we got to the door someone said, "hey, you're the guy from NY, c'mon in". Somehow there was already a buzz about me coming to town. The bands manager knew me and I was whisked backstage and asked to intro the band. However, WDVE were the big boys in town and their PD, Greg Gillespie was there to do the intro even though they didn't play any of the new bands. He had the big, deep voice of a radio pro. I decided to introduce myself in my own smartass way. Greg hated me right away and I loved it. I had not even done one show yet and people at the club were already coming over to drink with me. I'm still not sure how John and I got home that night.

I lived at a hotel for the first couple of weeks and had to eat out each day and night. I remember going to one of those drive thru fast food places and after placing my order, drove up to the window to pay for and retrive my food. The girl there said and I quote, "Yins talk funny". Excuse me? Yins? Hello pot, meet kettle. The people of Pittsburgh have a language all their own......but I'm the one who "talks funny". OK.

My first friends in Pittsburgh were a salesperson named Judy and her friend, Duncan. We hit it off right away and became good friends and drinking buddies. In fact, I was there the night Judy met her husband Doug who worked at a large record store. Judy helped me find an apartment in Shadyside and was always there for me while Duncan became a big supporter of WXXP and he and I spent many nights partying.

I ended up partying way too much but I was having a blast and didn't care. I have to admit that I struggled a bit with my show early on. I think I was trying too hard to be cool. Denis suggested I have a few artists call in for my show and I decided that I'd tap some of my friends. Joey Ramone was more than happy to come on and we had a blast. Joan Jett was also quick to jump on and help. It took a little while but I think the show was getting better.

As a station it was hard for us to get big ratings but our success was easy to measure. We brought in and promoted our own bands. The Cult, The Ramones, New Order, The Smiths, The Human League, Gene Loves Jezebel as well as others came to town and we sold them out each time. The listeners were there, ratings or not.

Phil was our morning guy and a real pro. Garret Hart did the 10a to 2p shift and was also a pro. Outside of my music knowledge there was little I could teach these guys, it was more like the other way around. The 2p to 6p slot was Deb Brady who I already mentioned and there was nothing I could teach her. She excelled in all areas and while we differed a bit in musical taste I became a huge fan. I had her do a weekend show where she highlighted some of the local bands and she was great at it. The other DJs all had a great desire to become broadcasters and already began to show signs of success. I'm not so sure I helped any of them except as an example. If I could do this, they certainly could. I'm happy to find out that most of them went on to have long careers in radio.

As I sit here trying to remember different things about the year I spent at WXXP I can't help but think about some of the fun stuff I was lucky enough to be a part of. The NY Mets won the World Series, the NY Giants won the Super Bowl and that was kinda neat. I flew home from time to time but I became attached to the city of Pittsburgh and it's people. Shawna was a neighbor of mine and we had some great times together. A dude named Whiz was a guy who knew everyone and he introduced me to the after hours bars. I spent countless hours around the block from my apartment at a bar called the Elbow Room which is where I watched the Mets beat Boston in game seven and won a bet with Boston native Deb Brady.

Shawna, who I believe was a vegitarien would bring me delicious steaks from her job in the meat department at the "Gint Igle" which is how people from Pittsburgh pronounced, Giant Eagle. She went on to be part of an all girl band called the Barbed Wire Dolls and I believe they played at the Electric Banana which was a small but cool place that booked a lot of punk bands.

One of the things I noticed as I drove around town was the lack of street signs making it easy to get lost if like me, you were new to the area. I made fun of the lack of street signs in a silly comedy bit I used to do, a rip off of Letterman's Top Ten list. One day I was pulled over by a cop as I had wandered into an area known as "The Hill". This was the area that inspired the TV show, Hill Street Blues. The cop asked me a few questions and then recognized my voice and asked if I was Bird from XX. Turns out that he was a listener and gave me an escort to a "safer" part of town.

Just one of the great events during my time at XX was the release of U2's The Joshua Tree. By this time all of America understood how huge the band was so we couldn't get it early as WLIR had been able to do with earlier U2 releases. The record company sent out copies to all the stations on the same day and set a time when you could air it. I set my alarm to wake up at 6am as Phil our morning guy would be the first to play it. Ironically, the first song (not including With or without you, released as a single earlier) played off the new LP was, "Where the streets have no names". I still find that funny. Phil did a great job that morning as he debuted a bunch of tracks and gave it the historical feel that LP release deserved.

On a night out at a place called the Upstage Lounge for a great show by the Eleventh Hour, Shawna introduced me to Cheetah Chrome who had been the bass player for the Dead Boys, a band fronted by Stiv Bator who later formed the Lords Of The New Church. The Dead Boys were part of the whole CBGB's scene with Blondie, The Talking Heads and the Ramones in NYC. Cheetah and I got to talk about the people we both knew and he was kind enough to share some cool stories with me. I'm pretty sure we drank too much that night.

I can't remember the name of the place but there was a little tiny club that could hold all of 50 people packed in that was the site of the Sex Pistols first US gig. I was told that U2 had played there in 1980 and Bruce Springsteen had played there as well. I can't remember who was playing that night but like I did everywhere else I went, I consumed plenty of Iron City Golden Lager, a delicious beer made locally.

One night during one of my shows at XX I got a call from my friends in the Outlaws. They were going to be in town as the opening act for Stevie Ray Vaughn at the Syria Mosque. I was on the air the night of the show and arrived late, just as the Outlaws were wrapping up their set with a killer version of Green Grass and High Tides. I shot backstage to visit and one of the guys introduced me to Stevie. I wasn't really up to speed on SRV's brilliance so when he invited me to hang out after the show I didn't think much of it. Of course, the minute I watched him play I realized I was in the presence of greatness. Stevie ended the show with his version of Voodoo Chile and I made a b-line for the backstage entrance. After the obligitory meet and greet, Stevie and I ended up drinking most of the night and we became freinds. He gave me his number and told me to keep in touch. We spoke one more time when I was back in NY but before we had the chance to get together he died in a helicopter crash. Not only did the world lose a great musician, we also lost a genuinly nice guy.

OK, how about a few funny stories? Judy and Doug invited me over for Thanksgiving. Now Judy was not a cook at the time and the turkey wasn't done until like, midnight. We had so much to drink I should never have attempted to drive home but in the car I went. We had had a snowstorm and my car ended up sliding down a hill, ending up in some ladies back yard. I slept on Judy and Doug's couch and the next day, called a tow truck. The truck also slid down the hill and got stuck so a second truck was called in and finally got us both out. We still laugh about that night.....and the turkey.

Once a year, WLIR broadcast a special program called "Drunk on the Air", an attempt by us to expose the kids to the dangers of drinking and driving. Denis decided that I should be the one to do it at XX. So, one Saturday afternoon we brought in Pennsylvania State Trooper Novak, a bottle of Jack Daniels and on-air personality Paul Cramer to take over the controls after I consumed too much to continue. The event was sponsored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). During a 4 hour show I would drink 4 ounces of Jacks every 15 minutes or so and then take a breathalyzer test along with a manual dexterity test to prove to the kids just how much of an effect the alcohol had on a persons ability to drive. After the first 4 ounces my reaction times actually improved and I had to lie to the listeners. By the end of the show I was sloppy drunk and out of control. I threw up in the bathroom before someone drove me home. Lucky for me, my neighbor Shawna came over to take care of me. I'm quite sure I never drank that much Jack Daniels in one session either before or since. I still have the tape of that show somewhere.

Of course I had to get my hockey fix and attended many Penquins games. One night when the Rangers were in town I nearly got in a fight at the Igloo when Mario Lemieux scored in OT to beat our beloved Blue Shirts. Former Ranger Pierre Larouche had a house in Pittsburgh and his wife called in as they became big DJ Bird and WXXP fans.

Unfortunately for me, not all of my time in Pittsburgh was fun. All the partying I was doing was taking it's toll. I once had to do a show so hung over that I didn't open the mic to talk until the last hour of my show....after I had a beer. While Denis had encouraged me to "be creative" with my music selection he trusted me not to cross the line. I would play a set of U2 songs each show and played the entire catalog, every song U2 ever recorded up to that point. But cross the line I did. I got my hands on a new Cult song way before the LP was released and against orders played it on my show and then added it to the regular rotation. "Fire Woman" turned out to be a big hit for the band and while I know Denis would have allowed me to play it if I asked, he was away on vacation. When he got back he was pretty pissed off. It was hard for him to program WXXP from NY and if he couldn't trust me to follow orders he felt he had to act. So I was relieved of my duties in Pittsburgh and returned to WLIR back in NY. While my on air show was the best it had ever been, my off-air antics got way out of hand. I became a huge pain in the ass to deal with I'm sure. A combination of the partying and a huge ego made me into what I'd call an asshole. Too bad as I could have developed into a pretty good radio announcer if I tried.

WXXP was eventually sold off as WLIR was going through some FCC problems in NY and Elton Spitzer needed the money. I would end my career in Radio in less than a year. The short time I was in Pittsburgh will always be a happy memory for me. The work we did there as a group had a hell of an impact on the city and the listeners. Many of the DJs went on to have great careers in radio and the music we brought to the area lives on. The local bands we worked with were perhaps the best part of the whole thing. This coming Friday, Oct. 7th and Saturday Oct. 8th (2005) many of the bands will play in a charity event with the two nights being a celebration of WXXP. My understanding is that all of the former DJs will attend and the mayor declared Oct. 7th "WXXP Day" in Pittsburgh. All the proceeds will be donated to charity. I will attend of course and look forward to seeing my old co-workers, the bands and of course, the listeners who remember us.

Like my days at WLIR I was quite lucky to have been a part of what happened at WXXP. I was treated wonderfully by the people of the city despite my NY punky attitude and out of control partying. I'm not sure how my fellow DJs and co-workers put up with me but I can say that I was proud to have worked with them and tickled pink to have been a part of Pittsburgh's Station That Dared To Be Different, 100.7 WXXP.

Are you a former WXXP listener? Want to send me a note? Go ahead, right here. I'll respond to each one when I get the time. Also, you can discuss the article or the upcoming reunion on the messageboards, here.

----}- Bird

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