LOOKING OUT THE studio window of the radio station where she'd worked for 29 years, DJ "Mistress Carrie" Sarao could see a crowd gathering outside. It was a Friday night, Feb. 21, 2020, and freezing, but that didn't stop hundreds of Bostonians from flooding the parking lot when they heard the news. There was no invitation, just an impulse, an impromptu meetup of loved ones known and unknown. At midnight, the city would lose its last rock radio station.
Debuting in 1970, WAAF helped launched the careers f local bands like Aerosmith and God-smack, and put national groups like Shine-down on the map. To many listeners, the station was as much a part of Boston as Fenway Park and clam chowder. WAAF was, Mistress Carrie's longtime colleague and fellow WAAF DJ Mike Hsu told me, a "local Massachusetts club of troublemakers and assholes." At big rock concerts, chants of "AAF! 'AAF!" were as common as feedback. Sometimes WAAF loyalists would come to blows with devotees of their onetime competitor - rock station WBCN - before the latter went off the air in 2009. For Mistress Carrie, a 51-year-old, purple-haired rock evangelist, WAAF was the soundtrack to her adolescence, as it had been for so many other Bostonians.
In the days leading up to the end, the mood at WAAF was somewhere between hospice care and a rowdy Irish Catholic wake. Old friends flooded in; listeners called with high-octane send-offs; Aerosmith's Tom Hamilton stopped by to pay tribute. But as the clock ticked toward midnight, there was a quiet in the on-air studio. Mistress Carrie's voice broke as she told her listeners to keep their heads high, shoulders back, and horns up. "We're goin' out proud," she said. "Because we were all part of something special." "It was awesome," Hsu replied solemnly.
Six minutes before midnight, Mistress Carrie and Hsu taunted the soon-tobe owners of their beloved station.
"There's only one way to go," Mistress Carrie said.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2024 من RollingStone India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2024 من RollingStone India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
The Amy Winehouse Business Is Booming
Thirteen years after the retro-soul singer’s death, tribute bands, album reissues, and a new biopic are keeping her rebel spirit alive
'No Filter Neha': B-Town Celebs at Their Unfiltered Best
No Filter Neha' is spilling the beans while also providing insightful analyses of celebrity narratives that are worth learning about, capturing the essence of human experiences and emotions
Tiger Baby Records Unveils 'Dance With Me,' a Funky Collaboration with SoBo House of Music
The EP includes vocals by students from SoBo House of Music
Kathleen Hanna
The punk icon on her memoir, Lyme disease, and Kurt Cobain
BECOMING A.C.E
TAKING IT FROM BUSKING TO COVERING POPULAR DANCE CHOREOGRAPHIES TO THEIR BEGINNINGS TO BECOMING K-POP ARTISTS, AND THEN COMING BACK AFTER A HIATUS, A.C.E’S STORY IS AN INUNDATION OF FOND MEMORIES
Omar Apollo
The Mexican American star on befriending SZA, jamming out to Beyoncé, and making music for arenas
'Khosla Ka Ghosla' Composer Dhruv Dhalla Has New Music and a New Perspective
The keyboardist and composer’s next song will appear in Bollywood film ‘Mr. & Mrs. Mahi,’ with singer Kavita Seth and lyricist Devendra Kafir
Diljit Dosanjh on 'Amar Singh Chamkila' and International Collabs
All eyes are on Netflix’s latest biopic on the life of a legendary Punjabi voice, which is essayed by the singer-actor
The Highs and Lows of Girl in Red
The super-relatable pop singer from Norway is ready for her close-up after touring with Taylor
FAISAL KAPADIA ON TURNING TO SYNTH-POP AND HIS FAVORITE INDIAN INDIE ACTS
ONE HALF OF LEGENDARY PAKISTANI POP-ROCK DUO STRINGS, KAPADIA TALKS ABOUT EVERYTHING FROM ‘COKE STUDIO’ TO HIS SOLO ALBUM ‘ZINDAGI JAHAAN LE JAAYE’ AND A POTENTIAL COLLABORATION WITH ANKUR TEWARI, KARSH KALE AND ARNOB