In 1992, the launch of WNNX (99X) Atlanta was one of several format changes that helped touch off radio’s “New Rock Revolution.” Stations like KITS (Live 105) San Francisco and WKQX (Q101) Chicago signaled a shift to better signals and larger-group ownership for the format. It also signaled an increased presence of Top 40 programmers (sometimes holding on to their CHR reporting status to the industry charts) as that format descended further into its mid-‘90s doldrums.
99X’s first song, “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the song that the station relaunched with this morning, moving from its most recent translator to the frequency of the current WNNX, Active Rock 100.5. Its second and third songs at the time were U2’s “Mysterious Ways” and 10,000 Maniacs’ “These Are Days,” a reminder of the poppiness of Alternative radio when grunge was new to radio and not yet the centerpiece of the format. (Listen to the 1992 change here.)
99X was known for fostering the pop/alt one-shots that were a key part of the format until the late ‘90s, from Primitive Radio Gods to Shawn Mullins. That music influenced CHR rival WSTR (Star 94) and as a result, CHR in the South was really Modern AC until the end of the decade when the then-Clear Channel “Kiss” stations pushed the format in a more R&B/Hip-Hop direction.
That legacy meant that 99X logically became one of the major Alternative outlets to shift to a gold-based format in 2004. (Here’s what was written at the time.) It was what led the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Rodney Ho to commemorate the station’s 25th anniversary with this 2017 oral history. Even the Active Rock format had some 99X in its DNA when it launched in fall 2019 (as well as WKLS’s harder-rocking competitor, Project 9-6-1).
A full-scale comeback for 99X has seemed pretty likely since last year’s relaunches of XETRA (91X) San Diego and Q101. The official relaunch is scheduled for January 3 and some major lineup announcements are expected.
Here’s 99X in its first 90 or so minutes at 6 a.m., December 5:
- Buggles, “Video Killed the Radio Star”—the 1992 sign-on song
- Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
- R.E.M., “The One I Love”
- Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill”
- Collective Soul, “Shine”
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Dani California”
- Candlebox, “Far Behind”
- U2, “Pride (In the Name of Love)”
- Stone Temple Pilots, “Interstate Love Song”
- A Flock of Seagulls, “I Ran (So Far Away)”
- Green Day, “When I Come Around” (7a :00 ID song)
- Tears for Fears, “Shout”
- Soundgarden, “Black Hole Sun”
- Fatboy Slim, “Praise You”
- Duran Duran, “Come Undone”
- Pearl Jam, “Jeremy”
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com